Best states to coach high school in?

I am in Pa and i can tell you, its a school to school thing. there are schools that look to hire teachers first, then there are those that hire guys who are drinking buddies with teh school board members...its an individual thing. I think teaching helps you get in the door ONLY IF they have an opening in your subject area....otherwise, if youre the right guy, they can manufacture a job...(ie, youre a big name, they will hire you and find a spot SOMEWHERE in the district doing SOMETHING)


regarding phys ed...well, i have been looking for a HC position for about 5 years and have yet to see a phys ed opening.

I've been in 3 states: Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska (2 schools). By far, my best experience has been in Nebraska. I teach 1/2 time (PE- Athletic Weight training) and am 1/2 time admin. (AD and AP...small school). Pay is not great, but cost of living is very low. Actually, I make a little more now (Class A school) than I did in Colorado (Class 5A school) and my house is exactly 1/6 the cost it was in CO. I taught more classes in CO (but didn't have any administrative duties). From what I have experienced, and have heard from friends and family who coach all over (IA, CA, TX, LA, MT, WA, OR, KS), Nebraska is (generally) a good place to coach HS football. Drawbacks: mostly really small schools; almost half play 8 man football, weather sucks (seasons are: Winter, winter, winter and damn hot), and there is a helmet law for motorcycles. Property tax is pretty high too (relatively, but again houses are cheap outside of Omaha and Lincoln). Football is still the main thing here, and coaching class A here is, in a lot of respects, a bigger deal than coaching 5A in a metropolitan area in Colorado.

I do agree with coachcal... it has been a school by school thing no matter what state (and we need those schools to do it all wrong so we always have someone to beat even when we are down). I have it great here- when I go to clinics or spring practices... it all gets counted as professional days, not personal. Plus, during playoffs, the Superintendent has no problem with me taking a day off to drive and pick up game films. Every football player gets to lift weights year-round in class. Our facilities are good- we have a weight room equivalent to schools 4 classes higher than us, our field is in great shape (we just put in a new press box last year). Some schools in our conference have an old bus for a press box, holes in the ground on the field and have a few weights in a closet... so it really depends on the school and the value football (and athletics in general) have there.

so... pay is OK, PE is sparse, smaller schools have HFBC/AD combos a lot, Driver's Ed. is usually a summer course here (between 8th-9th, as they can drive here at 14). and most places you can get an emergency or provisional certificate.

I second buddy,

Georgia is great.

1) Supplement pay for assitants range form 3 to 6 G's. HC from 6 to 8's and a lot schools booster clubs kick in money anywhere from 3 to 20 G's.

2) P.E. Openings are average here

3) The smaller schools and counties have their AD as HC as well. At the big schools less likely, if they fire you they want you to leave.

4)We do, but hard to get a job in that position/

5)You need to be a teacher, but we pay great!

In the southeast, I sya Georgia, lower Flordia, but I dodn't recommend them, South Car. followed by Bama and then NC.

What is up with taking pot shots at Cali? Besides the great weather, BTW 80 degrees today and beautiful. Did I mention it is Feb. 11??

California produces some of the top players year in and year out. The general rules allow you to work with the players year around. The section I coach in is much larger than most states and one of the most competive.

The reality of coaching football comes down to where you are happy. Regardless of it is in Wyoming or Florida it comes down to the people and school you are at and how they treat you. I am from Southern California and don't plan on ever leaving. I coach at a school that is 15 miles from where I grew up and I live 4 miles from work now. We have a great community that supports football and we really have a small town feel, even thought we are at a big HS and in a fairly large city.

as former Pacfic lutheran coach frosty westering says

Make the big time, where you are.

airman... you sound like my wife with that quote. We've been talking about places to move because I don't feel MD is a big football state and her words are always, "do something to make it a big football state". Least to say, we haven't moved and in fact we just bought a new house.

be the change you want to see in the world.

Hands down Texas high school football is the best. We've had and will have the best high school football team in the country.

Of course I am Biased, but Texas is great. I've been to HS games with 40,000 people watching. The pay is the best around. LOTS of coaches on most staffs. Athletic period during the school day. Plus, next to God, HS football is just about the most important thing in TX.

as my great aunt who teaches in texas says" it is a great place to coach/play football but a lousy state to teachget a education in"

the city she is in will constantly pony up money for the football program but new text books, now that is another story. 22 million for a new stadium but text books from the 1980s in the math department.

Just passing the Praxis Test

I am currently taking classes to gain my teaching certificate but at the same time I am always curious about other avenues as well. What if a person knows they want to be an AD? Are they suppose to go to school for 4 years to gain a teaching certificate in a subject that they may never teach just to say they are a certified teacher? Would it not be more logical for future AD's to have actually earned a degree in a sports related field instead of Social Studies or Math?

I realize that most schools want to hire someone with years of experience as their AD but at the same time I believe if you want a job bad enough and are willing to move where ever that job might be available then you will probably find it.

The grass isn't always greener.