Trying not to step on toes...

I have been in a similar situation for a number of years. I am beginning my 8th year and at least two or three of those years I clearly knew more than the HC. As a college student getting my teaching certificate this December, I was only able to be a lay coach...lay coaches cannot be HCs. I always ask, "how much do you want me to do?" "Do you want me to run the show, do you want me to give suggestions, or do you just want me to follow through with your orders?" Sometimes they want me to run the show, sometimes they want frequent suggestions, one time I was essentially told to follow orders.

Bottom line...I would suggest asking what they want, and then be the good soldier and follow those guidelines. I feel that approach, combined with my hard work, has earned me the HC spot as soon as the current one departs (now that I will finally be certified). It may also score me a high school position, if I want one in the future, through the guys I have worked with.

My first $ job was a similar scenario. I was brought into coach 7th grade football and teach at a JH that had no previous FB success at all in it's first six years.

I was the lone guy with some college playing experience and had coached during my student teaching under a guy who later went into our state's coaching hall of fame. I was lucky.

When I got to the JH, we had a great run of athletes and for whatever reason, many thought it was because of my influence. Probably 1% of that would be true as there were other coaches busting their butts, too.

The admin brought me in during the winter and questioned me as far as what I was seeing happening at the 8th and 9th grade levels. "Why aren't they winning?"

To be quite honest, the coaching at these levels was adequate but not to the level I was accustomed to. The best athletes were the 7th graders and the older kids were below average.

There was no way I was going to throw any of our coaches "under the bus" but I did feel it was important to throw out my 2 cents worth on how I thought the entire program could improve - based on my limited experiences. I'd also shared these observations with all of the coaches about mid-season.

The admin brought the 9th grade HC in and he thought the program would be in better hands if I was appointed the HC and he became my assistant. I agreed with this because he was a quality man.

The switch was smooth and all coaches remained for the next four years and all we did was WIN, WIN, WIN. Again, a good run of athletes and probably much more preparation than before.

The main point is that I kept my conversations with the staff in a very non-threatening level - I asked a lot of questions and kept our conversations privy to the staff.

When the Admin called me in, I notified the HC that this meeting was taking place. He knew that he could trust me not to trash the program. Building relationships is the key here.

I think you need to open up an ongoing dialogue filled with lots of good questions - to seek to understand the beliefs and strategies of your HC. Keep those conversations between the two of you and you both will learn. If you get in a mode where you seem to be out for his job, it will not be a good scenario for anyone.

Right now you are an assistant in the program - either as 8th grade of varsity - and you need to be LOYAL to the HC or politely resign. Share your concerns with him NOW and offer to help in any way he would like. Maybe he will offer you OC/DC status, maybe he'll spit in your eye, but to just lay low and wait for him to screw up is, IMO, completely unethical. Sounds like you have some knowledge and he doesn't. If he wants to win, he should listen to you. Don't come across as a know it all, simply offer to help out and see where it goes. If he ends up bailing out after the season, you can document (to yourself and to others) that you tried to support and help him and he declined. Do the right thing.

I don't see any posts here that suggests this. What am I missing?

Here's some wording suggestions-

"What do you think about doing _______?" vs "This is what we should do."
"Can we do this?" Vs "This is what I want to do."

Phrase things as questions will help you out immensely when dealing with other coaches. Just make sure that when you make a suggestion/ask a question you cover the Whys and Hows in detail. And don't do what my first assistant did to me : "Well, this always works in Madden..."

AND KEEP EVERYTHING BEHIND CLOSED FRIGGIN DOORS!!! Figure stuff out in coaching office and make sure everyone leaves on the same page. If an assistant pulls me aside during practice time, in front of the kids, with a suggestion or change, chances are I am going to get upset.

I am back to being an assistant this year, but the HC/OC is a good buddy of mine and I click real well with every one on our staff. Our big thing is making sure that we all feel that we have "ownership" of our team. We're all together and we all have input.

I would approch him one on one and suggest things, not even in front of the other coaches. That way he saves face with the other coaches, too. He may be an idiot, but you are working for him. At the end of the year evaluate your options again. I would also get some advice from someone who is closer to the situation who you are confident will not violate your trust and confidence.

Touchdowndog, I learned a long time ago that it does no good for us as individuals to talk about things that are in secret, especially negative things. I hate it when a parent or community member comes up to me and says something like, "too bad we don't throw the ball more". If I have found myself complaining to other assistant coaches, I have had to just get out of the situation, because that is a negative reflection on me. My last situation was just that, people wanted to get me on the negative band wagon and a couple of times I caught myself, but most of the times I just came back with a positive and changed the subject. Either way, that is a bad situation to be in, or at least it was for me, and I got out.

Now, I will sometimes use past experiences to point out to people how good things really are. Our HC is very methodical and almost too organized, when people make comments to me about it I si mply say, "well, it is better to be overprepared than underprepared, because I have done it the other way and it is no fun."

If you disagree with the head coach about anything, you need to talk about behind closed doors. Share your position and listen to his. When you have discussed it at length, come to a decision and then accept it and go coach the kids. DO NOT become a locker room lawyer and try to get the rest of the staff on "your side" and certainly don't go the the AD or boosters to try and get your way. You are either a member of the staff or you're not! Don't bitch and moan, and don't just sit back so you can distance yourself from the head coach IF the season doesn't go well. If you are on the staff they YOU are on the staff the whole way - not just if things go well. Be a man about it!

Thanks to all of you for giving me some suggestions.

I would like to clear up a few things about the loyalty and backstabbing issues that have been mentioned through out this discussion.

I realize that the situation I am in is not optimal, and that things look bleak. However at no time did I ever mention or intend on sitting back and letting things fall apart. I am and have always been a very loyal coach, person, and man. I would never dream of trying to drag this man through the mud.

My intent when I posted my issue was to ask for advice on how to approach the HC and to try and move some of the decision making a long. Now I can see how my last comment about “just relax and go with the flow” could have been misleading, what I was trying to say was that since I don’t have any youth experience, is this situation not as abnormal as I feel it is. Now obviously all new programs have wrinkles to iron out, and I can see that this situation is a bit abnormal, as I thought. WE will just have to find a big iron.

Things are moving along now however they are moving a little slower than I am used to. I am still trying to impress upon the whole staff the urgency of some of our issues.

Again, thanks for all the great advice gentlemen.

Hoptions

Please forgive me if I was pointing suggestions at you, I was just reflecting on my past situations that started out in a similar way and what I did both wrong and right to make the most of it. Kind of like, "what would I do differently and what I did differently to make things work".

I think that is the key, trying to work through things, you probably hit the nail on the head. Great discussion by the way.

I gotta agree with wildcat- I've been in the same situation he described. Get him to describe, in writing, exactly what he expects out of you for the season. Hell, maybe even set it up as a contract; you'll sign a copy and turn it back into him. That way, if things go south for you, you only have to take accountability for those objectives described on the list. That way, if he tries to chuck you under the train, you can pull out that list of objectives and go from there.