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So you want to be a football coach...

Photo Credit: Rob Moseley
The most common non-recruiting inquiry I receive is from people interested in pursuing a career as a Division 1 football coach. Being a D1 football coach can be a rewarding endeavor in many ways, so the interest is warranted. There is no exact path to becoming a D1 football coach, so a foolproof road map on the topic is hard to come by. This post will help fill that void.

 Note: Football is played at a number of levels, so aspiring coaches can find the right fit for their personal situation among the many options. For this entry I will focus on the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level.

Supply and Demand

With 130 FBS teams, count 1 head coach and assuming 10 assistant coaches for each team (the max allowed per the NCAA), you end up with about 1,430 available coaching jobs at the FBS level. Statistically, the profession on the whole is contracting, not expanding. ‘Football Coach’ is not likely to end up next to ‘Full Stack Engineer’ on the LinkedIn Emerging Jobs Report any time soon. The supply is low (and getting lower), but the demand is as high as it's ever been. So how does one go about landing one of these coveted positions?

Getting your foot in the door…

As we have established, landing a coaching job at the FBS level is a highly competitive endeavor. *Take it from someone that is still currently pursuing that goal.* Because of this Supply and Demand model, those doing the hiring can be selective and cautious. It is imperative that an aspiring coach showcase their skills by any available method. This is the metaphorical "foot in the door" that is often discussed. Two examples of entry-level positions to pursue are: Undergraduate Intern and Graduate Assistant.

Undergraduate Internship

Not all programs offer a formal Undergraduate Internship, but most offer an equivalent. From personal experience I can vouch for the quality of the Oregon Football internship program. For the schools that do offer this outlet, this is a great option for Undergraduate students to familiarize themselves with the day-to-day operations of a college football team. As you can imagine, these positions are highly competitive and most schools conduct a formal interview process to make their selections. As with other internships, you may begin by completing menial tasks. As you gain trust from the coach you are working with you can expect your list of responsibilities to grow. This is the ideal time to be a sponge. As Bill Walsh said, "When you're not listening, ask good questions."

Graduate Assistant

The vast majority of FBS programs offer Graduate Assistant (GA) positions. Currently, programs are allowed to have a maximum of 4 GA's on staff (previously it was just 2). Not all programs choose to utilize their maximum allotment though. You will see some schools with smaller budgets who get by with less than 4. Due to the limited amount of these positions, they are highly competitive. Prepare yourself for this reality and be willing to accept a different position on staff that will allow you to work your way into a GA role.

One of the best aspects of these GA positions is the ability to conduct on-field coaching responsibilities. For competitive balance reasons the NCAA limits the amount of coaches that are able to assist with on-field coaching and GA's are allowed to do it all. This is the perfect time to establish the value structure that will guide you throughout your coaching career. Get a feel for how you will interact with your players. Most importantly, learn from the coaches you work with. Some examples will be positive and you may choose to adopt those tactics as your own. Others will be negative, but you still want to use those as lessons on what not to do.

Sidenote: If you find yourself in a position as a GA where the program you are working for will actually allow you to complete your Master's Degree requirements, I recommend doing so. It may mean you get less sleep. It may mean you don't have much of a summer. In the end it will be worth it and likely fully paid for. Often times the coursework within a Master's program will help you become a better coach. Additionally, with that degree in hand you will open up more job possibilities within the coaching profession. Not all programs even afford you the option to work towards a meaningful degree, so take advantage if you can.

Other Avenues

Internships and GA roles are just a couple of the prominent routes available, but they are not the only ones. Other successful paths can be found in recruiting, equipment, marketing or other departments that come into contact with the football program. It is unlikely that you will jump directly from any of these auxiliary departments into a coaching role, but the first step is to get your foot into that door and make the right impression.

It feels strange to mention it last, because it may be the purest option... but if your goal is to become a FBS football coach the best way to achieve that goal may be by distinguishing yourself as a coach at a different level of football. Coaching at a different level may not be as "sexy" and you may have heard the cautions about getting "stuck", but the best way to become a better coach is to coach. Honing your craft at a different level of football and then making the jump to FBS is a path that has worked well for a countless number of people.

Is playing experience a requirement?

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The short answer: No. At one time the traditional (and tremendously oversimplified) model was: Player becomes Graduate Assistant. Graduate Assistant becomes Coach. This exclusionary path is still the way for some, but thankfully it is not the only way. It is true that a large percentage of college football coaches were college football players at one point, but having played the game at a high level is not a prerequisite for being able to coach the game at a high level. David Cutcliffe, Sonny Dykes, and Mike Leach are prime examples of coaches that are at the peak of the sport, but did not play the sport at the college level.

Any downsides?

Time

Just like any highly rewarding pursuit, there are going to be sacrifices made along the way. The most prominent sacrifice among FBS coaches is the most precious resource we all have: time. You are not looking at a 9-to-5, 40-hour a week job with weekends off. It's debated, but the average worker in the U.S. clocks around 2,087 hours at their job every year. College football coaches put in much more time than that. Including weekends, holidays, and vacation the national average for days off in a calendar year is around 120. FBS coaches can expect to get a little more than half of that amount.

Family

Another well-known strain that many coaches face is on their family life. Many of these issues trickle down from the time commitments mentioned above. As a coach you are charged with symbolically adopting your players and helping them develop as people. If allowed, your at-work family can take precedent over your at-home family and a corresponding strain will be evident. Personal Example: In conjunction with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Oregon state law outlines that certain employees are provided up to 12 weeks of leave due to the birth of a child. How much time was I able to take off for the birth of our first child? A whole weekend!

Critics

As with any highly visible line of work, critics are an expectation. Keep in mind that you never truly know what someone else is going through that could be causing them to lash out. We cannot control what people think or say. What you can control is the type of person and coach that you choose to be. You can control the impact that you have on your players and the people you work with. It is your job to control the controllable, nothing else. Theodore Roosevelt said it best: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."

This sounds hard. Why become a football coach?

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Legendary University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman did not consider himself to be a traditional coach. He viewed himself as a “Professor of Competitive Responses.” As Phil Knight laid out in his memoir Shoe Dog, Bowerman viewed it as his job to, “get you ready for the struggles and competitions that lay ahead, far beyond Oregon.” Perhaps this quote is the purest and simplest answer to the question in the sub-heading. As a coach you have a special opportunity to utilize a sport as a means for preparing people for the rest of their lives. In my opinion that is the top reason for being in the profession.

The tangible rewards for being a FBS football coach have been known to be in line with other high revenue businesses (salaries, bonuses, gear, etc.), but these rewards are not reason enough to pursue a career in this field. The athletes deserve a coach that is intrinsically motivated to see them succeed. They deserve someone that is in the profession looking for more than a job, instead they are seeking a calling.

I'm all in. Now what kind of coach should I be?

Some suggestions:
  • Authentic > Transactional: Be the type of coach that establishes authentic, organic relationships with their players and co-workers. People want to be trusted and loved, provide that.
  • Be Vulnerable: If you have not watched Brene Brown's TED talk The Power of Vulnerability I highly suggest devoting 20 minutes to it. It will change the way you think about the word.
  • Be A Jungle Tiger (Growth Mindset): Familiarize yourself with Trevor Ragan. He is one of the best on this topic. The best coaches are lifelong learners. Talk to other coaches. Talk to experts from corresponding fields. Attend clinics. Read good books. Listen to quality podcasts. Never stop learning!
  • Subordinate Your Ego: Recruit talented people from all backgrounds to join your cause. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, he hired many of his political rivals to his cabinet. He did so because he did not want to surround himself with "yes-men." He valued making the correct decisions over being agreed with.
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Closing Time

As I continue on my personal path in the coaching profession, I stand on the shoulders of those that have helped me along the way: Helfrich, Greatwood, Lubick, Kelly, Foster, Cristobal and many others I won't list here. The coaching profession is in need of an influx of talented, high-character individuals from diverse backgrounds to join the ranks. Maybe that is you?

One of the goals of this piece was to "pay it forward" a bit. When you get into a similar position, please consider doing the same for someone else. Now go forth and conquer!