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Post by flexspread on Feb 14, 2007 15:11:16 GMT -6
I was wondering why you, as a football coach, choose to coach football? I feel that the variety of coaches on this board and their responses are encouraging and enlightening. In saying this, I hope that people will feel free to write their honest reasons as to why they are a football coach and that others do not criticize their resoning. Thank you.
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Post by brophy on Feb 14, 2007 15:42:10 GMT -6
1) Altruistic intention of sharing the JOY of football. The best experiences of my life came as a direct result of this game. The highs, the lows, the lessons, and the girls....er...wait..... The point is; it is a GREAT sport that is rivalled by none and it can provide so much to so many. 2) I enjoy the endless competitiveness of the game. The scheming...the balance between mental, physical, psychological, and emotional factors that go into being the best at any given play. There is no slowing down, the game evolves each week, you can never sit still on what you did yesterday. Teaching the game on so many levels (it's not just X's & O's, but a way of relating information for an end result) and equiping players with tools to make themselves bettter than they could have ever been on their own. 3) More than X's & O's this game is primarily about RELATIONSHIPS (and mentoring). No other sport out there brings so many different types of people TOGETHER to form lasting bonds. No other sport can do what football does. 4) It's about the only thing I think I'm good at. Stick to what you do best, they say.......  5) Some guys hunt, some guys fish, some guys boat........I coach.....it's what I do to unwind and gain control over life. The game is simple, it is defined, it is regulated....there is 'normalcy' and safety in the confines in this game. 6) I've had roughly around 30 coaches in my life (coaching ME as a player).....THREE were great men who TAUGHT me the game. THOSE are the kind of guys I want to be (the other 27 were horrible). |
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Post by revtaz on Feb 14, 2007 16:01:31 GMT -6
I coach for a few reasons.
1. First and foremost, for love of the game. Sometimes I look up in the middle of practice, a game, or any other part of my day, the leaves have just turned (Welcome to the north) and think to myself "I am truly blessed to coach such a wonderful sport." The kids matter and the game matters, but how coaching can make one feel is above anything else.
2. I am ultra-competitive. I love competition and feel it adds a certain electricity to life. It's when you live and die with everything that happens on the field that makes it a great sport.
3. I always see it as a battle. You line up your guys, I line up my guys and you will not get by me. Just an excellent way to teach things like teamwork, communication and hard work.
4. I am not that interested in any other sport. Football is the perfect speed for me. I don't really do anything better, like brophy.
Revtaz
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wccoach
Sophomore Member
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Post by wccoach on Feb 14, 2007 17:00:01 GMT -6
I am an off campus coach at an inner city HS. The only on campus coach for football is the HC and the program relies on coaches like myself to function. I am at every practice and workout and use my vacation for camps and two-a-days. Our program has a study table with tutoring everyday after school for the football team. Every player participating in our program is required to be at study table. No study table - No practice/workout! Our practices/workouts start @ 4:00 pm and I am able to arrive in time for the start. Many of our coaches will arrive shortly after the start but are there by the time stretches are complete. I run a successful family business in a very competitive industry. If I could do everything over again, I would have left the business and started as a GA and stayed with coaching football as my profession, but I am too old and too big a part of the business now to do that, but I have always coached football on some level since my playing days were over. I know that is not answering the question of why, but it helps others to understand my answer when they inquire.
My answer has always been the same. "Football is who I am, either as a player or a coach, it has defined how I see myself and how I conduct myself." "I coach because I cannot live without it." Some of my buddies laugh and tell me you cannot define yourself with a game, you define yourself by your profession and family. They are probably correct, but I am a coach and will always be a coach until I physically can no longer be effective.
I don't do it just for "the kids". The kids are just part of the benefits of the game. I would coach any team that needed the help whether kids or adults. Coaching at the HS level does have some special attraction for me, but I have coached from 1st graders up to the old guys in the Semi-Pro leagues and each experience was fulfilling in its own right and allowed me to get out of bed each morning with a spring in my step and a positive outlook. I cannot imagine not being a football coach. I have to do this! It is who I am.
Sorry about being so sappy. I am sure I have some type of mental problem that needs a doctor's attention.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2007 17:50:12 GMT -6
My number one reason for coaching is to stay in the game. I then realized how much I enjoy teaching and working with kids in general. To me, there is nothing more American than Friday nights in the fall. In fact, I hardly look at the flag during the anthem--I look at both teams, both sets of stands, and appreciate being in that moment.
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Post by warrior53 on Feb 14, 2007 18:19:06 GMT -6
To influence kids lives like so many had done to me (my father).
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Post by slydaddy on Feb 14, 2007 18:47:37 GMT -6
I love coaching football for all of the above reason...love of the game, competitive nature, teaching kids, having fun...
But, if you are honest, you guys know coaches that are only in it for THEMSELVES, where winning is the bottom line, and they will do anything to get it. These coaches may win some games, but they do so with a lack of discipline and arrogance that makes me sick. They also forsake their families and the families of their assistants. How do I know? I have worked for one such individual. I could go on and on explaining what I mean...but I think most of you know what I am talking about.
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Post by coachcb on Feb 14, 2007 18:58:43 GMT -6
1. I love instilling the love of the game and work ethic in the kids I work with. It's great to pass on something so positive to the next generation.
2. It gives me an atmosphere of continual learning. Whether we're talking schemes, off season conditioning or sports psych; there's always something new to learn about coaching football.
3. Football is the truest, purest team sport. In no other sport do the parts of the machine have to work so closely together for a team to be successful. It provides a great challenge and great satisfaction. Everytime we busted off a big gain this year, I thought to myself-
"That happened because we had 11 5-6th graders all working towards the same goal at the same time.
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Post by kboyd on Feb 14, 2007 19:56:45 GMT -6
It started because I go a lot out of football as a player, so I felt I owed a lot back. I fell in love with the coaching side as much as the playing side and more. My best friends are my fellow coaches and I love being able to help kids any way I can. I'm going into my 15th season as a coach and was paid for my first year when I coached in North Dakota but the last 14+ seasons have been as a volunteer back at my old high school in Canada. Coaching football gets in your blood.
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Post by spartancoach on Feb 14, 2007 20:08:43 GMT -6
For the chicks!
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Post by CoachJohnsonMN on Feb 14, 2007 21:02:39 GMT -6
Darn it, Spartan, you took my answer!  |
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Post by wildcat on Feb 14, 2007 21:23:59 GMT -6
I owe a lot to this game...could have went down a bad road in high school if it wasn't for sports keeping me straight. Got to go to college because of football and met my wife because of football. Got my first teaching job because of football.
I think what I love the most about it is the preparation...going to clinics, opening the weightroom at 6AM, drawing up plays over a couple of beers and a pizza...networking with other coaches and learning from them...that's what I love about this game. And then when all that preparation pays off in the fall...hard to put a price on that!
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Post by touchdowng on Feb 14, 2007 21:33:27 GMT -6
These are not in any particular order. I feel passionate about any of these.
1. To help develop young people to realize their potential and to be courageous enough to do something about it.
2. To show others (coaches, players, and anyone who might be paying attention) how to work with cohesiveness and to model what it means to place a priority in a group effort over our own priorities.
3. To try to win at everything we do but to be smart enough to know that others will watch to see how you handle this.
4. To learn
5. To have young people feel the returns they can get from a game that is all about delayed gratification. One really has to work long and hard and work with a group in order to get that feeling. It is rewarding to watch a group come to this realization.
6. The game is so much like life and it's a safe place to teach and learn those life lessons.
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Post by coachjimmer on Feb 14, 2007 22:08:44 GMT -6
Flexspread - why do you choose to coach football? I am curious...
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Post by jrjbritt on Feb 14, 2007 22:51:45 GMT -6
this is my first year as a JV coach.. I played football and have always wanted to help coach at my high school. just never took that step. well i did this year and am very much looking at teaching and watching the kids improve from my little knowlegde.
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Post by khalfie on Feb 14, 2007 22:56:09 GMT -6
Had a bad coach my senior year... almost ruined the game for me...
Pledged to never let a kid have to deal with what I went through...
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Post by midlineqb on Feb 14, 2007 23:44:06 GMT -6
I grew up in a small school in western Oklahoma where we only had 2 coaches. They began coaching football in the seventh grade all the way through HS. They were great coaches and great men. I looked up to them and decided very early that I wanted to be a coach just like them. They taught me about living a moral life, being a good sport, working and playing hard in both practice and games, accepting responsibility for my actions, to show respect for my teammates, and to get an education. I chose to coach because I wanted to return to others what I had received from coaches when I was a student. I've tried my best to lead my athletes by example just as my coaches did. It is very rewarding to see the athletes accomplish the various things that are going to make them men and positive contributors to our society. After 36 years of coaching, I still hear from former athletes who have gone into coaching and the business world. They continually give thanks for some little thing that I said to them or did for them. That is pretty much why I went into coaching.
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Post by saintrad on Feb 15, 2007 0:33:51 GMT -6
Actually I was recruiting into coaching football when I was stationed stateside in 89 by a friend. He got tired of me beating him in chess and said I would make a great coach (esepcially since I was coaching his 12 yr old in Little League). He got me onto the local 9th grade staff and the rest is history.
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Post by playfast on Feb 15, 2007 6:35:05 GMT -6
I love to teach the game of football and all the life lessons that I have learned from playing. There is no better feeling than seeing a group of kids conforming to team and working together in trying to accomplish whatever goals were set.
It's about the ride and relationships!!
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Post by flexspread on Feb 15, 2007 7:57:07 GMT -6
I'm a football coach because I love the fact that I can greatly impact somebody's life. When you can take a kid with a bad home life under your wing and mentor to him you can really see him grow. You don't get to see your impact in the classroom the same way that you get to see it out on the football field. With football the the results are more immediate. I also love watching the kids grow. When you get a smart mouthed, bad attitude Freshman who turns into a good student, team leader as a Junior, you can't help but think you had a part in the molding of that athlete. So I guess my main reason is selfish in that it makes me feel good.
The other parts to why I coach would be:
The Competition - I am probably the most competitive guy I know and I will try to win a competition with everything I've got. On the same side, while I hate losing, if I do lose, I am going to do what I can to get better.
The Game - I absolutely love the game.
The Skill Required - Most people think they know a lot about football and think they can coach but they don't realize all of the hard work that goes into it. I love doing that hard work because I believe that it will pay off in the end.
The last reason that I coach is that my parents told me to find a career that makes me happy. While I may be slightly more happy if all I had to do was coach, teaching and coaching High School football not only allows me to pursue my passion but also have a healthy family life. Right now in my life I can't imagine not being able to be a football coach. On a side note I need to get to a state that allows me to have spring football.
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Post by pantherpride91 on Feb 15, 2007 9:15:54 GMT -6
1. I could not agree more flexspread. I have not been in the coaching aspect of the game long (24 years old and next year will be my 2nd varsity year) but it did not take long for me to understand why I coach. The part I love about high school ball is that it has little to do with win and losses or Xs and Os. It has to do with making a difference in a young man life and being able to set them up to be a success in life. Sure winning is a great feeling, but I look forward to those days when a young man comes back to me and says coach you made a difference to me. If I can veer a young man off a destructive path by introducing him to this great game than I have done my job. On the college and pro levels you can not say the same thing.
2. The experience of the game got me to coach. I have some old friends always tell me they do not understand how I am so into a simple game. I always laugh and tell them it goes far beyond what they see on the field. It is the late night Xs and Os session in the coaches office. It is the feeling on the field when your team is able to successfully execute a game plan that we have set out. It is that family feeling that you do not get with any other sport. No other sport do you put out the effort and need the intensity to be successful. I have been a part of and talked to coaches who took teams that were not the most athletically gifted but had the mind set of no one will beat us and won a lot of games. It is 11 guys working as a family in the total team game.
3. Lastly, it is what I do best. I have been breaking down football plays and game since I knew what the game was. Like many other coaches said on here it is I could not picture myself doing anything else. I did not get in it to win a state title or get 300 career wins someday. I got in it because football is a part of me. It has brought me greatest highs as a player and my some of my hardest defeats. Through it all it shaped a boy into a man and I have used it as a metaphor for my life for a very long time, and will continue to do so.
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Post by knighter on Feb 15, 2007 9:28:19 GMT -6
I ain't good at nothin else. Not even sure I am good at coaching ball, but...
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Post by superpower on Feb 15, 2007 9:28:57 GMT -6
I once had a veteran coach (31 years as a hs def. coord.) tell me, "If you can be happy without coaching, don't coach." I tried not coaching one year, and my wife soon told me to get back in the game. I was miserable. Coaching is what I do.
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Post by threeback on Feb 15, 2007 10:22:50 GMT -6
In no particular order.
Why I coach football:
1. Because I can still remember every word that my high school coach told me when I was crying my eys out after my last high school game.
2. Almost every good attribute that I have as a person comes from the discipline and hard work that football taught me.
3. Because the lights, the drums beating, and the star-spangled banner on Friday nights still give me goosebumps.
4. Because I can think of no other thing besides war that can bond a group of men closer together than football.
5. The game-planning, the teaching, and the nerves right before kick off.
6. Being able to meet another coach- and five minutes later over beers, being able to game plan on napkins or whatever else you can write on. This is the greatest fraternity in the world.
7. The chess game that begins after kick off, the second-guessing after a loss, and the validation after a win.
8. The feeling of being a state champion and the pain of going 1-9 and everything in between.
9. Getting hugged and told "I love you coach" by one of the toughest and meanest kids I ever coached after his last game.
10. Having past players come back and thank you constantly for "what you did for them" and "how you taught me so much"- all the while realizing that they have it backwards.
I could go on and on, but I guess the question is not "why do you coach?" but "why don't you coach?"
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Post by knighter on Feb 15, 2007 10:25:24 GMT -6
3 back
I concur 100%.
What else would I do? The love for the game, and the young men who play it is SO MUCH bigger than any paycheck.
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Post by bulldogoption on Feb 15, 2007 10:31:33 GMT -6
Because it is cool to see kids you coach have success using the skills you taught them.
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Post by bearcat4life on Feb 15, 2007 10:46:45 GMT -6
First of all to be called "coach" is such of a honor to me. I am not one who gets caught up in titles but, to have this one in front of your name is a great feeling. It is very humbling and something that I don't take lightly.
Think of what it means, the impact that you can possible have on the young men you come in contact with year in and year out just in your community.The lives you are able to influence, the opportunity you have to pore into a young person is great.
So keep in mind the presentation that we give from ourselves to our players, the things we say and the way we lead is key.
I know this, not a day goes buy that football does not enter my mind. Weather it be something about the players past and present. The coaches past and present and the relationships that I have with them. Then also what can I do to become a better coach X's and o's as well as being a better example to these kids in life. I am probably taking more then I am giving but I thank God for the opportunity.
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Post by coach239 on Feb 16, 2007 10:17:30 GMT -6
Yea, Im with bearcat....
I feel that its an honor to have the label "Coach" to me, it is just as significant as "doctor" or "president" (without the salaries of course!) because WE are raising the future leaders of America. Coaches are among the unsung hereoes in this world who do so much and recieve such little acknowledgement. (especially if the WINS dont surpass the losses)
I Coach because I have never been challenged to the degree that this great game has allowed me to be. Coaching fills my "cup" to the rim, and just when I think that I am about to "runneth over", a kid displays a technique that I have been trying to teach him, or a parent gives me a much needed pat on the back, or a play that I designed actually works! lol...
I Coach because I feel that it was my calling. I truly believe that the events leading up to me getting involved in coaching were designed by a higher power... There is no other way that I could explpain those things happening to me at those exact moments.
I Coach because it exposes my weaknesses so that I have the option to use those as strenghts.
I Coach to witness that 60 yard bomb caught in stride for the TD, that perfectly performed spill tech and that interception at its highest point just like we practiced.
I coach for that feeling that you get when you call the right play at the right time that produces desired results.
I Coach for that feeling that you have when you KNOW your boys played their butts off but still came up short.... I Coach for the challenge of relaying why we play the game to those boys after a game like that..
I coach because I care about my community and the people who live in it.
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Post by CoachMikeJudy on Feb 16, 2007 10:39:24 GMT -6
It's very encouraging to read everyone's responses- I'd have to concur that I coach because:
The honor of being labeled "Coach."
Influencing young people in positive ways
Showing them that being respected doesn't require gangbanging and selling drugs
Spreading the "gospel" of football- it is so much more than a game and we all know it....
It is a great feeling for a player to ask you to hand him his diploma when he crosses that stage at graduation...
In hopes I can influence someone the way my coaches and father did for me.
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Post by Rogie on Feb 16, 2007 11:06:51 GMT -6
I coach for a couple reasons.
The love of football, The hours spent watching film getting the players ready for a game. Yet still getting them ready for a life after football.
No matter what I say it won't come out on here what I am thinking.
It is not just a game. Teaching the player's respect for everyone, be organized and be a team player and a leader. The ability to see that player 5-10 years down the road and have them thank you for being there for them. And they are succesfull in both the business world and family life.
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