Things Head Coaches Have Done to Make Season/Job Miserable

Yes, the man in the big chair has final say.

However, I have worked for a few guys that take advantage of that final say:

-Not dismissing the staff in a timely manner after all the kids' rides have come and gone (we were just BSing and the HC probably didn't want to go home)

-Stretching the work week out.

-Drawing new plays or variations of existing plays the morning of game day, installing said play during PE, and being mad that it didn't work during the game.

-Wants help but doesn't delegate.

-Wants staff to take initiative, but would complain if we didn't do it his way (We never got an explanation of what "his way" was)..No win situation.

This is the worst...

THIS!!!


Worked for a head coach that would talk forever!! That is no fun for anyone.

I wasn't very good at many HC duties. But, I made sure I didn't waste anyone's time with unnecessary meetings or other bullchit. So much of what needs to be done can be handled from home, on a tablet or computer. One face to face meeting on Sundays that lasted a maximum of 90 minutes.

Here's a "red flag" story that was an omen for an exceptionally awful season.

I'd just been hired as a program's DC and we were running a youth camp in the summer. I was coaching the DBs and we were doing a back-pedal/t-step/ rally to the ball progression of drills.

Some random dude interrupted me in the middle of teaching. "I used to coach here and my boy is playing safety at Blue Mountain State. He has a better way of doing this. They need to chop their feet, not t-step." I quietly told him to go away as it was my drill to run. But, he and his kid hung around and coached kids that weren't in the drill. I was new and didn't want to cause a scene so I just let it go.

I approached the HC about it later and he told me that a) everyone was allowed to coach at camp and b) I needed to be open to "college" ideas.

Please share some of your stories, coach! Would like to hear them lol

I bet that technique is stellar against play action game when your man defenders are bamming to the LOS on that run read and their receiver is streaking wide open, waving to his ugly girlfriend, waiting for the band to play and cheerleaders to start doing push-ups.

Our wrestling coach used to have is do that at the end of practice. I fell asleep every time.

These two situations were the Ghost Of Chitty Season To Come and the Ghost of Chittier Politics To Deal With.

This man-man technique was the first of many one-one closed doors "discussions" he and I had for the next three months. But, this was the only time I refused to do something his way. I made it clear that this technique wouldn't be taught while I was DC, full stop.

This was the start of a bad relationship and season that damaged my professional reputation for a time.

1. The HC says this is the way we have always done it, and it surrounded by a bunch of yes men who nod in agreement.
2. The the HC doesn't listen to his assistants or let them coach.
3. The HC doens't watch film or enough film to know what is going on in all phases of the game.
4. The HC is unprepared for practice.

Those are the kinds of things that would make me miserable a coach.

Here's the thing...

The "technique" that the high-level college FBS LB was teaching those kids worked great for him because he was an elite athlete. For guys like that, technique doesn't matter because it isn't needed. The purpose of teaching players sound technique is that it provides an advantage for players of similar ability. Among players who have a similar ability level, the players with the most sound technique will be the best players. That is not true for freaks. They can simply out-athlete an opposing player who, regardless of that player's mastery of technique, is not as good of an athlete.

That's why, generally speaking, the guys I have coached with who were elite, high-level players have often been lackluster coaches. Because they were great athletes, football was easy for them. So, once they became a coach, they would often be frustrated because they couldn't get kids to do things the way they did when they were a player.
 

The other issue at play:

1. The defense was only getting a maximum of 30 minutes of practice time each day. He had told me the offense would get priority but that we'd get at least a half hour. That didn't happen: I was snagging the starters before practice and going through formation recognition so that we had some semblance of a defensive practice.

2. He wanted a base C3 defense and wanted to avoid man-man unless we were in the red zone or bringing 6-man pressure. He was quite clear about that when he laid out the defensive framework for me.

Between those two factors, we didn't have the time to devote to that technique. I presented these issues along with the potential pitfalls of the technique ad nauseum.

I didn't get obstinate until he started referring to the defense as "your defense" and the skill positions as "your DBs" or "your LBs". A few statements with those two phrases tossed in showed me I was going under the bus if the defense was bad so I figured I'd eat it.

But, I didn't know just how bad it was going to be. We were awful that year, in all phases of the game. As the offense got worse, the defense lost more practice time and he started to muck with the scheme. It was clear that this was a no-win situation. So, he'd change something, I'd present my case and then we'd go with what he wanted. I asked for more practice time on a weekly basis, didn't get it and moved on.

He and I never discussed this stuff in front of the staff as I didnt want it to get uglier than it already was. They were already on edge with everything and an argument in front of them wouldn't have helped. The assistants would come to me and gripe about the situation. I'd simply tell them that it was his show and we needed to try make it work.

By the end of the year, all but one of the staff figured I was an incompetent coach. So, I walked away with three sets of tread marks: one from the HC, another from the community and the last set from the staff.

The HC resigned and the staff member who was smart enough to see what happened between the HC and I took over the program. He asked me to come back and I agreed but I as long as I was only a position coach. We had a great season together with a brand new staff. The new HC has done great things with the program.

I'd still be coaching for him but I needed to take a job closer to my folks as they're getting older.

Once had a guy who had ELITE speed, like almost made the Olympics fast, tell our corners just stay in your backpedal until the receiver passes you, then turn and catch up. He didn't last long as a coach.

Somtimes the really talented players do not make good coaches.  When they have to teach a player how to do something, and the kid can't do it, they struggle because it came so naturally for them.  This is not just head coaches but assistants too.  It's like the math teacher saying to a student "how do you not get this?"  For some kids it does not come easy.  It takes a lot of reps to develop the skill.