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Post by newhope on Nov 17, 2021 7:24:18 GMT -6
Agree if they are staying for the right reason... some guys get a job and just stay bc very little is asked of them and they get an extra 4 k to hang out with buddies
Yup. In my last HC gig (which will absolutely be my LAST) I inherited a guy who had been coaching at the school for 15 years. I was told that he was an "integral part of the football program". He was one of the laziest coaches I have ever seen and pretty much ended up as an assistant to an assistant by Week 4.
Putting together good staffs is not an easy process. I have a reputation in our area of having great staffs. I've had probably a dozen assistants in the last 15 years get HC jobs. I have a couple of younger coaches on my last staff who will be head coaches. Here's my advice: don't hire people unless someone you know and trust vouches for them. That's toughest when you take over a program and inherit coaches. It generally takes a year or so to weed out the bad ones you get stuck with because either you don't have someone you know and trust to tell you about them OR it's likely to cause you problems replacing them for no real reason because they're going to continue to be in your building. Anyone you bring in should definitely be someone that a very reliable person (ideally someone you've coached with or trust completely) recommends to you. Other advice: know what you're looking for in a hire. Do you need someone to do all the stuff like equipment and laundry and getting stuff to an from the field, etc or do you need someone who can run an offense or a defense or do you need someone to bounce stuff off of, etc. If you got a staff with folks who are only "thinkers", you got problems. If you have a staff that is only "grunt" guys, you got problems. Finally, I sit down and talk with them....a conversation, not a list of questions. I want to know if we're going to get along and how the fit is going to be on my staff. I have my coordinators sit in on this conversation. I hired a guy this year who was fired by friend. The friend said he didn't "talk enough". I didn't need a talker. I needed a young coach who was willing to work and learn. That's exactly what I got....he did a great job for us in the role I needed him in. He was a good fit. I didn't need someone coming in telling me or our coordinators how to do things. |
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Post by coachcb on Nov 17, 2021 8:38:48 GMT -6
Yup. In my last HC gig (which will absolutely be my LAST) I inherited a guy who had been coaching at the school for 15 years. I was told that he was an "integral part of the football program". He was one of the laziest coaches I have ever seen and pretty much ended up as an assistant to an assistant by Week 4.
Putting together good staffs is not an easy process. I have a reputation in our area of having great staffs. I've had probably a dozen assistants in the last 15 years get HC jobs. I have a couple of younger coaches on my last staff who will be head coaches. Here's my advice: don't hire people unless someone you know and trust vouches for them. That's toughest when you take over a program and inherit coaches. It generally takes a year or so to weed out the bad ones you get stuck with because either you don't have someone you know and trust to tell you about them OR it's likely to cause you problems replacing them for no real reason because they're going to continue to be in your building. Anyone you bring in should definitely be someone that a very reliable person (ideally someone you've coached with or trust completely) recommends to you. Other advice: know what you're looking for in a hire. Do you need someone to do all the stuff like equipment and laundry and getting stuff to an from the field, etc or do you need someone who can run an offense or a defense or do you need someone to bounce stuff off of, etc. If you got a staff with folks who are only "thinkers", you got problems. If you have a staff that is only "grunt" guys, you got problems. Finally, I sit down and talk with them....a conversation, not a list of questions. I want to know if we're going to get along and how the fit is going to be on my staff. I have my coordinators sit in on this conversation. I hired a guy this year who was fired by friend. The friend said he didn't "talk enough". I didn't need a talker. I needed a young coach who was willing to work and learn. That's exactly what I got....he did a great job for us in the role I needed him in. He was a good fit. I didn't need someone coming in telling me or our coordinators how to do things.
This situation was a PITA with regards to hiring assistants:
1. We had very few people apply for the positions available. The previous staff applied as well as a few dads (bad news) and a community member who couldn't made it clear he couldn't commit to any position full-time but wouldn't volunteer. There were a few bad interviews and few choices.
2. I had many talks with the administration about the previous staff and they vouched for all of them. Including the 15 year veteran I mentioned in a previous post. After a couple of conversations, I did opt to send one of the previous staff members packing (hiring hadn't been completed) and bumped up a new guy I hired for the junior high level. That coach ended up being the most reliable.
3. I had my reservations about the staff before the seasons started. But, I figured most of them were professional enough that they could learn and move forward. I was wrong; I can count on one hand the number of coaches that I would never recommend for a job and two of them were on that staff.
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Post by paydirt18 on Nov 17, 2021 10:03:41 GMT -6
I think another relevant question to consider in this topic, how many coaches do you actually have in the building?
I have myself and 1 other. Unfortunately, the rest of my guys either teach at other schools or have "real" daytime jobs.
I think there is something to be said about that and the more guys you get in the building, the better.
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Post by larrymoe on Nov 17, 2021 10:35:37 GMT -6
I think another relevant question to consider in this topic, how many coaches do you actually have in the building? I have myself and 1 other. Unfortunately, the rest of my guys either teach at other schools or have "real" daytime jobs. I think there is something to be said about that and the more guys you get in the building, the better. In 9 years of being a HC I had a total of 5 coaches that were teachers in the same building as me. 3 of those were at 1 school, 1 year. My 7 year run as a HC saw 1 teacher in the district be an assistant for me. And that was my last year. I did coach in a 3 school co-op that had 1 coach each at the other schools so that would raise the total to 7. It is one of the things that really wore me out. |
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Post by newhope on Nov 18, 2021 10:09:38 GMT -6
Putting together good staffs is not an easy process. I have a reputation in our area of having great staffs. I've had probably a dozen assistants in the last 15 years get HC jobs. I have a couple of younger coaches on my last staff who will be head coaches. Here's my advice: don't hire people unless someone you know and trust vouches for them. That's toughest when you take over a program and inherit coaches. It generally takes a year or so to weed out the bad ones you get stuck with because either you don't have someone you know and trust to tell you about them OR it's likely to cause you problems replacing them for no real reason because they're going to continue to be in your building. Anyone you bring in should definitely be someone that a very reliable person (ideally someone you've coached with or trust completely) recommends to you. Other advice: know what you're looking for in a hire. Do you need someone to do all the stuff like equipment and laundry and getting stuff to an from the field, etc or do you need someone who can run an offense or a defense or do you need someone to bounce stuff off of, etc. If you got a staff with folks who are only "thinkers", you got problems. If you have a staff that is only "grunt" guys, you got problems. Finally, I sit down and talk with them....a conversation, not a list of questions. I want to know if we're going to get along and how the fit is going to be on my staff. I have my coordinators sit in on this conversation. I hired a guy this year who was fired by friend. The friend said he didn't "talk enough". I didn't need a talker. I needed a young coach who was willing to work and learn. That's exactly what I got....he did a great job for us in the role I needed him in. He was a good fit. I didn't need someone coming in telling me or our coordinators how to do things.
This situation was a PITA with regards to hiring assistants:
1. We had very few people apply for the positions available. The previous staff applied as well as a few dads (bad news) and a community member who couldn't made it clear he couldn't commit to any position full-time but wouldn't volunteer. There were a few bad interviews and few choices.
2. I had many talks with the administration about the previous staff and they vouched for all of them. Including the 15 year veteran I mentioned in a previous post. After a couple of conversations, I did opt to send one of the previous staff members packing (hiring hadn't been completed) and bumped up a new guy I hired for the junior high level. That coach ended up being the most reliable.
3. I had my reservations about the staff before the seasons started. But, I figured most of them were professional enough that they could learn and move forward. I was wrong; I can count on one hand the number of coaches that I would never recommend for a job and two of them were on that staff.
Yep, been in similar spots. You just get stuck with guys and don't have much option. One thing I know: don't trust admin on who is and isn't a good assistant. They don't know. They don't go to practice. Most of them aren't experienced former football coaches anymore, either. I've had admin tell me someone was good---they weren't. Had admin push me to bring in a guy because he was good. He wasn't. On the other side--if they're bad, hopefully you can get rid of them after a year. I'm demanding. If you're not cutting it, you won't want to be around me. I want coaches to hold their players responsible and I'm going to hold the coaches responsible the same way. You're right on the dads and they volunteers who can't commit. You're always going to run into the occasional conflict where a volunteer misses once or twice---but if he's not there on an every day basis and can't give you a heads up on when he's not going to be so you can plan, then you dont' need him. Best situation I ever had with the dad coaches is at one school they didn't allow it. Easy answer to the dad volunteers: "sorry, school policy" Hopefully you can add a guy or so along the way and get the people you need. Without a good staff, you're dead in the water. |
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Post by newhope on Nov 18, 2021 10:11:08 GMT -6
I think another relevant question to consider in this topic, how many coaches do you actually have in the building? I have myself and 1 other. Unfortunately, the rest of my guys either teach at other schools or have "real" daytime jobs. I think there is something to be said about that and the more guys you get in the building, the better. Yes! In the building, in the building, in the building. If your admin doesn't get that, you're going to have a hard time being successful. You NEVER have enough in the building. |
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Post by coachcb on Nov 18, 2021 11:14:39 GMT -6
This situation was a PITA with regards to hiring assistants:
1. We had very few people apply for the positions available. The previous staff applied as well as a few dads (bad news) and a community member who couldn't made it clear he couldn't commit to any position full-time but wouldn't volunteer. There were a few bad interviews and few choices.
2. I had many talks with the administration about the previous staff and they vouched for all of them. Including the 15 year veteran I mentioned in a previous post. After a couple of conversations, I did opt to send one of the previous staff members packing (hiring hadn't been completed) and bumped up a new guy I hired for the junior high level. That coach ended up being the most reliable.
3. I had my reservations about the staff before the seasons started. But, I figured most of them were professional enough that they could learn and move forward. I was wrong; I can count on one hand the number of coaches that I would never recommend for a job and two of them were on that staff.
Yep, been in similar spots. You just get stuck with guys and don't have much option. One thing I know: don't trust admin on who is and isn't a good assistant. They don't know. They don't go to practice. Most of them aren't experienced former football coaches anymore, either. I've had admin tell me someone was good---they weren't. Had admin push me to bring in a guy because he was good. He wasn't. On the other side--if they're bad, hopefully you can get rid of them after a year. I'm demanding. If you're not cutting it, you won't want to be around me. I want coaches to hold their players responsible and I'm going to hold the coaches responsible the same way. You're right on the dads and they volunteers who can't commit. You're always going to run into the occasional conflict where a volunteer misses once or twice---but if he's not there on an every day basis and can't give you a heads up on when he's not going to be so you can plan, then you dont' need him. Best situation I ever had with the dad coaches is at one school they didn't allow it. Easy answer to the dad volunteers: "sorry, school policy" Hopefully you can add a guy or so along the way and get the people you need. Without a good staff, you're dead in the water.
I stepped away from that HC position for many reasons (search "Padlock AD"). A major factor was the inability to hire quality assistants. Our youth and junior high staff would've been good HS coaches but they couldn't commit to the HS season. There just weren't any good options to fill out the HS staff. In fact, there were only bad options and headaches.
The guy that took over after me had an awful season (again, multiple reasons) and he had worse staffing issues I did. He brought on the guys from the previous year and two caused a lot of drama. He asked me to run the defense but I foresaw things being a nightmare so I stayed away.
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Post by newhope on Nov 19, 2021 6:42:28 GMT -6
Yep, been in similar spots. You just get stuck with guys and don't have much option. One thing I know: don't trust admin on who is and isn't a good assistant. They don't know. They don't go to practice. Most of them aren't experienced former football coaches anymore, either. I've had admin tell me someone was good---they weren't. Had admin push me to bring in a guy because he was good. He wasn't. On the other side--if they're bad, hopefully you can get rid of them after a year. I'm demanding. If you're not cutting it, you won't want to be around me. I want coaches to hold their players responsible and I'm going to hold the coaches responsible the same way. You're right on the dads and they volunteers who can't commit. You're always going to run into the occasional conflict where a volunteer misses once or twice---but if he's not there on an every day basis and can't give you a heads up on when he's not going to be so you can plan, then you dont' need him. Best situation I ever had with the dad coaches is at one school they didn't allow it. Easy answer to the dad volunteers: "sorry, school policy" Hopefully you can add a guy or so along the way and get the people you need. Without a good staff, you're dead in the water.
I stepped away from that HC position for many reasons (search "Padlock AD"). A major factor was the inability to hire quality assistants. Our youth and junior high staff would've been good HS coaches but they couldn't commit to the HS season. There just weren't any good options to fill out the HS staff. In fact, there were only bad options and headaches.
The guy that took over after me had an awful season (again, multiple reasons) and he had worse staffing issues I did. He brought on the guys from the previous year and two caused a lot of drama. He asked me to run the defense but I foresaw things being a nightmare so I stayed away.
sounds like a very good idea to stay away. The role of an assistant coach is to make the HC's job easier--if he's making it more difficult--such as causing drama--he's got to go. Too many assistants don' t understand their main role--ASSIST the HC, |
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Post by 19delta on Nov 21, 2021 13:53:15 GMT -6
A big red flag for me that a coaching staff isn't doing a good job is when a team consistently commits a lot of pre-snap penalties. That's just a lack of attention to detail. An even bigger red flag is a team that commits a lot of late hits, unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and dead ball fouls. That's a lack of accountability.
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Post by Down 'n Out on Nov 22, 2021 7:43:25 GMT -6
Ive coached 6 years(4 at my current place) and all the staffs were solid with a mix of good coaches and young coaches that were dedicated to learning(myself included), with some just hanging around doing odd stuff(equipment, stats, etc). Some of those coaches have left due in part to lack of dedication (not a knock on them, we all know what it takes).
I do think its rare to get a full staff of knowledgeable and dedicated coaches. Some school districts locally require that paid coaches have to be employed by the school district, that makes it basically impossible to put together a completely qualified, knowledgeable, and competent staff.
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