Football and Coaching- #1 Meeting Place for Football Coaches on the Internet

So you want to get into coaching, but don’t know how? Well I was in the same situation when I first started. One thing you have to remember is you are not going to make tons of money in this profession and to become one of the elite coaches in the industry, lot of sacrifice will be required. With that said lets find a way to get you into the coaching ranks….

Ok first thing to do is figure out where you are in your life and why you are wanting to become a coaching. You might have just graduated from college or just got out of the military. You could have even gotten tired of being an arm chair quarterback and see if you really have the knowledge to win the big one. Now the easiest way to get a spot a coaching staff is to volunteer. I mean who wouldn’t want free labor? Most every coaching staff I have ever been associated with had several volunteers to do all the dirty work that none of the coaches wanted to do. Again remember this is the part of the sacrifice I was talking about where sure maybe you lug the equipment bag on and off the bus, go and fill up water bottles, or the most classic is holding the cords for the coaches headsets. These are not the glamor jobs that you thought of when you wanted to become a coach, but every coach goes through it. It is what makes you appreciate and understand what it takes to run a successful program.

The next step is to figure our what level of football you want to coach. Each level of football comes with different rewards and challenges. If little league or Pee Wee football is you aspiration that is a great place to start. There are tons of local leagues that welcome volunteers to coach football. Here is a good website to start out with American Youth Football & Cheer.

Beyond contacting your local recreation leagues, the only challenge would be in understanding that the players will not be able to do the same things as the “pros”. They are just learnign the game of football and as such a youth coach’s sole responsibilty is to develop the fundamentals of the game. With those comes the passion and enjoyment that will carry them onto future success on the gridiron. If there is not a Pee Wee Football league where you live… then start one. The NFL Youth offers money and so does USA Football in the form of equipment grants and other ideas to make your league a success.

If high school is more your cup of tea, then contact your local high school and see if they have any openings. In this case, majority of the volunteers we be apart of the freshman or junior varsity teams. This not a bad thing just you get a lot of kids that are trying out for football that this is there first times or that they are just starting to grow. So each athlete comes to you with different abilities and this level of football challenges you interpersonal/management skills. Most practices are right after school gets out around 3pm or 4pm and gets done before 7. The youth football usually gets going at 4 or even 5 and last until 8 or 9. Most likely the varsity positions will be taken by teachers and ex-players. Don’t get discouraged that they might be getting paid when you are not. Most school districts prefer to hire teachers to coach over joe of the street cus it keeps the faculty involved with the kids and school.

Now college is a whole different arena. The traditional route is to become a graduate assistant (GA) with the football program right after graduation. This leads to you going through the paces and after two years being hired on somewhere as a position coach. Even if you are not a GA or an ex college player, you can still voluteer with a local college. It will be a great oppotunity to see the behind the scenes of college football. A good place to look for college openings are Football Scoop and The NCAA Job Board . If nothing comes of that then just contact the head coach himself and see if there are any openings.

Either way never forget why you want to become a coach. Always remember you are there for the players no matter what there age and ability. Coaching is not an easy profession if it were everyone would be one.