Co-Coordinators: How to make it work?

OVER COMMUNICATE! Make sure both of you know what the other is doing so 1. It gets done and 2. You're not stepping on each others toes. Break down everything from scouting to practice to game plan to play calling. I think one guy needs to be the play caller but he has to LISTEN to the other coordinator who may see something that needs to be taken advantage of. It can work - if both of you want it to.

LOL, I think Co anythings exsist when the top man cannot make the call on who to give the job to or is worried about upsetting one or the other. In high school I think it's clearly a one man job IMO.

I can't think of any particular school right off the top of my head, but it seems that a lot of colleges have gone to "run game coordinator" and "pass game coordinator" set ups. I know sometimes comparing this to your situation would be apples and oranges but contacting a school could give you some help.

Communication will be huge for sure, but does anyone have ideas about how to break it down (duties I mean)? I have heard of offensive co-coordinators ("run game" and "passing game") like wolverine55 said...my situation is defense. I have experience coordinating the 3-5, my fellow coordinator has one year of experience as a position coach at the varsity level.

Any thoughts?



I totally agree with this. My concern is, like eric58 said, will we have the same situation he mentioned? ("It worked out in the beginning of the season but eventually everyone saw who had more knowlege and experience.") I don't know that that will be good for anyone.

I'm not a fan of co-coordinating situations. One of Clausewitz's principles of war is Unity of Command, meaning that somebody has to be in charge. In the heat of battle somebody has to make the decisions and somebody has to be accountable. I believe that that principle applies to football (or any leadership position) and I believe that cases where co-anythings work are rare.

In the NFL it's more about keeping an assistant on staff. Guys with certain titles cannot move to other teams except for a HC job.

I was a co-DC and it worked out for one reason: the two of us each had about half a functional brain which made us whole--okay not exactly but sort of. He hated the details, the scripts, the drawing the cards, the organizing practice, the stats, the film cut-ups, etc. but had a great eye for what was going on in the game, made great calls and could see the whole field well.

On the other hand I liked putting the package together, doing those little things, scripting, etc. and the like. He loved the booth, I like the field. He was a chart guy, I'm a "they're gonna screen us now" guy.

But the essence is that deep down we had the same philosophy and belief. I knew the scheme better, he had a better gameday presence in the calls. I could adjust on the fly with kids on the field, he was great at seeing what needed adjusting and fixing it at halftime.

And we went on veto power. If my instinct told me not to blitz and he wanted me to send it in, I'd voice my opinion. I think I did it about 6 times that season and he changed the call every time but one. It worked out the other 5 and the 1 time he didn't change we got beat on screen.

He'd ask my opinion on which stunt--do we bring it inside or outside? I'd offer advice, he'd call.

Mutual respect.

But I think that situation was totally unique and we're both better from it. I'm a better play call guy now which is great because he has since moved on.

So my advice (and it sounds totally lame) is to have the 2 guys write down on paper their top 5 areas of comfort and what they most like in the game. Then talk it through. You may find that one guy is absolutely fine not calling the shots on Friday but he'll totally get the crew ready on Monday thru Thursday. You may be surprised to find out that like me and my buddy, you too have half a brain!

I thank all of you for your responses. I hate to say it now that you went to the trouble to help me, but I have removed myself from that situation. I couldn't take the job for MANY reasons (okay, I took it but have since given it back!)

Thanks for all your help! I'm of the opinion that it doesn't (and wouldn't have) worked. I think it would have "worked" but it was not going to be the best situation for the team. One guy should be given the reigns to run with, preferrably a guy with experience. ;D

Thanks again everyone!!!!!