Heading to your rival team....

Completely overthinking.  With all due respect, kids will forget about it much faster than you will. We're all egocentric and get embroiled with what's going on in our own lives but none faster than a teenage boy.

JMO.

Agreed. In 2-3 years, most people at the former HS won't remember you worked there.

Egged the house over that? The fk is wrong with folks?

I started at our rival school. It was a good experience overall, very lucky to coach with the guys I did.

You’ll be fine.

Hahaha 😄

I think that same kid got in trouble during track season for going into the school I went to work at under the guise of needing to use the restroom and ended up taking a deuce on the mascot on the basketball court.

Ya. Made me such a proud alumni.

Don't worry too much about it. If you show you care and you can coach you'll be fine.

Change your signs if you ever play them.

Some people are a little too obsessive over SPORTS period. At any level. Why such visceral emotions can be brought out by the accomplishment of others that have such small relation to you (maybe geography, maybe shared school attendance) is bewildering.

It probably could be reasoned that HS sports actually SHOULD have the most "obsessiveness" in that the fans could be more connected to the players than other levels for both students and adults. The QB could be the best friend growing up, a defensive lineman might be the neighbor's kid who cuts your yard, the kicker could be in your algebra class.

What the hell connection do the people flipping cars over when a pro team wins have with those players?

Fandom is just odd. Which leads me to the next point-- dblwngr you are a coach. That means you are a football mercenary. Feeling "dirty" for coaching a team that you have coached against frequently is something you should get over. It is actually a little surprising to see these feelings from someone who has been coaching 2 decades, but I do realize everyone's experience is different. But keep in mind, Schembechler didn't seem to have issues.

I would think that for myself, the only issue I would have would be coaching AGAINST kids I had taught/coach. I teach elementary PE, so some of these kids I have taught 5-6 years. That much I have thought about as schools have contacted me to try and get back into the game. But that would just be a ME thing- I am fairly certain the kids would be oblivious to it.

Been dealing with this the last year. I applied for the HC job at my current teaching job, did not get the job, they hired someone who had no previous HC experience but came from a team that played for the state title the year before. I was a little bitter so I applied for a teaching job at the rival high school, that was supposed to be open (the teacher decided at the last minute not to retire and come back for another year) I had already been hired by the football program (because we all thought she was retiring). Decided to coach at the rival high school anyway. The new HC at my teaching job told the players not to talk to me even though I was as helpful as I could be with the transition (I had been doing all the offseason stuff while the hiring process was going on). The school I teach at sees the game as a big rivalry while the school I was coaching at sees it as a bump in the road (the school I teach at hasn't beaten the school I coach at in 23 years).

School I coach at imploded they fired the DC midseason (I was promoted on a Tuesday for the game that week) the HC is put on administrative leave and we still went to the second round of the playoffs. We beat the school I teach at pretty easily despite them stealing my signals during the game. I had a few of the kids give me grief but most of the kids understood and showed me love when we played.

The school I coach at goes on this long search for a new HC and wont tell us anything during the process. They finally hire a guy and I told him that I wanted to be in the building if I was going to coach there. Long story short, the principal didn't even call me for the interview that he set up with me for the open teaching position. So I am not coaching there anymore, but I have been hired at another high school in district for teaching and coaching. Can't wait for the fresh start and change of atmosphere.

Rewatch the NWO pro wrestling promos from the late 90s... embrace the "heel turn" as they say in the pro wrestling world


For those who don't know pro wrestling lingo:

    heel turn: noun- a reversal of position or direction, especially a change in character or affiliation perceived as abandoning a     righteous or heroic course in pursuit of an unscrupulous or villainous one.


I was in a dream coaching situation... coaching at my alma mater and making a run at the championship, until after losing the championship the HC took another job.

Admin hired from outside the staff new guy was a hatchet man. Literally <24 hours after "parting ways" rival school who beat us in championship hired me.

It hurt coaching against the kids I cared about... but MAN DID THAT HEEL TURN FEEL GOOD especially against the guy who destroyed everything I've worked towards in <7 months. (We went 2-0 against the guy and he is no longer there)

Did the same thing very early in my career, thought it was odd to wear all blue all the time. Now? Meh, I'm loyal to the people who sleep in my house, not sure if matters to me anymore.

I did this a few coaching stops ago. The only time it really was awkward was when we came up and played my former school. The transition down there was fine (it probably helped that it was a brand new staff).

Coming back was also fun. I was a celeb in the student section.