Stories of Great HCs You've Worked For.

Sorry about the typos, fellas. Cutting back on the caffeine is making mornings rough. Lol

Three great things. Sure there is more but I will keep it simple.
1. No weekend meetings. Pros and cons to this but we all got our work done.
2. Makes it about the players.
3. Great relationship with the players.

I guess I've been lucky in 31 years, most all of the guys I've worked for were pretty good.  Other than the very first/two I worked for and I don't count those nightmare years I volunteered when I was young, dumb and full of ***.

1st full time job lasted 4 years.  The HC had just gotten the job and where he had been the OC.  It was large school in a high growth area and because of that was in a state of transition.  The school had no history of success (6 non-losing seasons in 54 years). We had winning seasons in 3/4 and made the playoffs all 4.  

This was 30 years ago and he had a pretty good vision of how we could be successful by throwing the ball around when most teams were still in the I formation or running veer.  He move me from being a knuckle dragging LB to a DB coach and it changed my whole perspective on defense.  

We were a small staff (6 coaches in the largest classification in the state.... most of the teams we played had 12+ coaches) so we had to work together a whole lot to get stuff done.  So I got to work with him and the QBs/WRs.  He really opened my mind to what offenses could be.  It was a lot of Coryell concepts dumbed down for HS ball.  

We didn't have a lot of resources, but he had a few connections so he took care of us the best he could.  We had decent gear, got us free meals when could, repainted the locker rooms, created a coaches office out of a big storage closet and put some couches and white boards, stuff like that.

I've worked for 5 coaches and all were different but 4 of them had these things in common:
- ability to relate to the players
- ability to teach specific skills and the game, able to simplify the things. Not just to players but coaches
- good energy, players and people in general want to be around them
- serious about the game and its lessons, football wasn't just something to do, it was a priority
- create a family feeling, our teams and staffs were close

I've worked for some great guys in my career. They all helped me get better as a coach and as a man.

Jesse Rodriguez - Mt. Eden - Great human being and a real father figure for me in my youth. Taught me that we coach kids, not football. Exceptional at building relationships with kids and then leveraging those relationships to bring the best out of us. I most model my coaching style after him. I owe him a lot.

Paul Perenon - Mt. Eden - The man has plenty of critics, but one thing you could never say about Paul was that he didn't care about his guys. He would fight tooth and nail FOR YOU if you were loyal to him and the program. Also, incredibly detailed at program management and not one thing was overlooked in regards to preparation.

Eric Fanene - Chabot College - Phenomenal culture builder. He cares about every single person who wears black and gold. I learned so much from him in regards to linear continuity between all positions on a unit. Everything had a purpose. He didn't invite you onto his staff. He invited you into his family.

Denny Molzen - Castro Valley - Incredible human being. Always made an effort to treat his coaches and their time with respect. We never got out of things late or ran over. Always made an effort to relate football to life for our kids. Really bought into the idea that if football is about life lessons, then we need to make sure we think those through ahead of time and make time for them.

I was fortunate to have coached for who I have in my career. Biggest common denominator is they were good, honest men who believed in the mission. If you don't respect the man you're coaching for, leave. Period.

Next HC I worked for was my first real step into being connected, the above job I had just got a call from buddy that they had an opening.  

I got a phone call one summer day while I was cutting grass in my front yard (before cell phones, wife come out to tell me I had someone on the landline).  HC was wanting to know if I was interested in an opening he had.... I hadn't applied.  

I grew up with one of the ACs.

Apparently another AC had called a friend and my name came up as a guy he'd hire if he was looking.

It was close to where I grew up. My dad was dying of cancer.

It caught my attention.

The HC was, and still is in his late 60's, one of the hardest working and most dedicated men I have ever been around.  He taught me a lot about working with kids.  About meeting them where they are.  He gave me a lot of leeway on being a staff member and allowed me to be a real contributor.  He also helped me take off some of my youthful brashness and be a lot more pragmatic in my approach to coaching.  

He is a honest and straight forward man and as I said knows how to me people where they are.  It was in a poor, rural district that didn't have a lot.  However, he made everyone feel like they were the king of the world as best he could.  He gave me opportunities to take the lead in several areas that allowed me to grow as a coach.  

He also provided me with a connection to my next step.  

Best HC I ever worked for was just...chill. The anti-blue collar/sergeant kind of coach.

Before he arrived to the program, I had coached under the old staff, and that staff was basically all fire-n-brimstone style coaches...God/Jesus everywhere + "be a man" lectures, + constantly yelling, over-conditioning, making kids run or do down-ups for a very long time (once saw 200 down-ups in one practice)...stand at attention...if anyone talks who's not in the current play they run...punish the whole team for one player being late, and so on.

This was my high school too. As long as I was in the system/program as a student and a coach this is how things always were. When I started coaching, I was the same way because that was all I knew. The program wasn't bad, but we weren't great either (very .500-ish). Summer workouts were basically just lifting weights and conditioning (but like Green Bay/Gasser type conditioning...no football movements).

This new guy comes in and brings his own varsity staff, and coaches up the JV, Fresh, and MS staff...and just completely different.  Instead of a life-long gym teacher/sports guy like the last HC and staff were, he was a social worker (not gonna lie, a profession my old coaches and upbringing were told to "be wary" of their "indoctrination.") 

The guy rarely swore or raised his voice, and was just as laid back as can be. His time there was by far the best football run the school ever had. 

He showed me the value of not selling short on getting GREAT position coaches, the value of over-emphasizing things like just running form in the off-season. Conditioning was worked into indy and team sessions, such as two-minute drill. The one thing that really challenged me and made me grow was NEVER using conditioning as punishment. His standard took the program from "do what I say without question 24/7," to "Hey, if you don't wanna do what we say, you're welcome to, but don't complain when you don't see playing time." If kids were goofing off, he didn't bother unless they became a distraction to the play or drill actually happening.  A couple years in, the culture had changed and players were holding each other accountable, and things like tardiness and dicking around in practice dropped drastically.  

Only twice did I ever see him swear at the kids or raised his voice...but you could tell he calculated it. I never saw a "good chewing" correct a team so quickly. That taught me the value of calculating when and where you actually raise your voice. I know I've seen the discussion here before, but if you make yelling the norm, the kids will eventually become numb to it.

I became a much better coach during his time, because he is much more my style too...I had no quick wit or "tough guy" kind of persona to do the drill sergeant act and I could tell I wasn't respected by players under the last staff. He showed me it's OK to take the high road sometimes, and to just coach your own way (there is no one single right way).

Both HS HCs I’ve worked for have been great and one MS one was too

The MS HC let me call plays when I was 20 and really kinda let me just do my own thing with the 7th grade team while he ran the 8th. Still the most fun I’ve had in a year coaching.

The first HS HC I worked for is the best football coach in the area I live in IMO. Hired me and gave me a chance and he wouldn’t necessarily just sit and try to teach me football but just being around him plus my own study habits gave me my X and Os foundation. Best thing he let me do was basically install the defense during a week where I’m pretty sure he had Covid before it was Covid and coached practice from the press box. Big confidence booster. He’s the best defensive practice coach in the state and we were always so prepared.

The guy I work for now is not necessarily as good of an X&O guy as that guy (still good) was but he’s so organized and is a really good teacher. Only worked with him for a year but I really enjoy it. It’s my dream school so that helps but it’s fun.