Coaching Search Scenario...

[gatorman-uf]

School A: Solid Program, consistent winner, but not winning championships, but 2-3 players a year going earning Division I (FCS or FBS).  

School B: Mediocre Program, .500 over the past 5 years, some spot history of success every few cycles of talent, followed by a couple of down years. Program makes the playoffs once every 4 years or so.

School C: Doormat, homecoming opponent level. 2-3 wins a year with a good year being that you end up with a winning season.
________________ 

As an active booster/teacher/parent/community member, you are asked to serve on a selection committee. What characteristics/resume are you looking for in a coach? Does your selection criteria change depending on if you at School A, B, or C? If it does, in what ways does it change? 

As a coach, what are you looking for in a program? Supportive Administration? High Salary? Community Support? Tremendous Talent? Hometown? Alumni? Potential to win State Championships within 2-3 seasons? Why are you looking for that?

Just somethings to think about.. 

[Coach]

As an aspiring HC, I think that you need an administration that has your back and believes in your vision - especially if you're a first-time HC. I'd say a supportive community would be great but that will come with success on the field. Every coach is a competitor and wants to compete for/win championships but that's not why you take over a team. Gotta be in it to build better sons/young men and future employees, husbands/fathers. If you're in it for that reason and find an admin who supports you, you are doing something right.

 

[HornetFan]

As a booster on a selection committee, I would try to be realistic. What is the available talent pool of players in our locale; expectations of the coach should not exceed his available talent pool? How big is our school? What is the character of the coach; many programs serve as more than just a football team, for some kids, a good adult role model is more important than our team being championship caliber. In the end, it's supposed to be about the kids.

[SportsNut25]

8 hours ago, Coach said:

As an aspiring HC, I think that you need an administration that has your back and believes in your vision - especially if you're a first-time HC. I'd say a supportive community would be great but that will come with success on the field. Every coach is a competitor and wants to compete for/win championships but that's not why you take over a team. Gotta be in it to build better sons/young men and future employees, husbands/fathers. If you're in it for that reason and find an admin who supports you, you are doing something right.

 

Agree with the quoted 100%. 

To build on it based off the potential boxes to be ticked by OP: 

- Salary: well, in normal situations sure. But I don't think that is much of a consideration in FL (assuming the schools being considered are all FL schools). 

- The talent is sometimes dependent upon a coach. Are they using the talent right? Are they bringing the best out of players? 

- Alumni: again, can't necessarily focus on this too much when deciding which school to go to

[Sharkbait]

As a booster/parent I want the best coach available and let's do whatever it takes to get him. He must have a commitment to winning and be willing to accept that anything short of a championship is a failure.  I realize this is a little unreasonable but it is the expectation.

As a coach I think long and hard before taking a job at a school with unreasonable expectations and look inward to see if I have broad enough shoulders and thick enough skin to handle it.

[badbird]

13 hours ago, Sharkbait said:

As a booster/parent I want the best coach available and let's do whatever it takes to get him. He must have a commitment to winning and be willing to accept that anything short of a championship is a failure.  I realize this is a little unreasonable but it is the expectation.

As a coach I think long and hard before taking a job at a school with unreasonable expectations and look inward to see if I have broad enough shoulders and thick enough skin to handle it.

Here is what is wrong with society.  Give me a coach that builds men of character 1st. 

[Jags904]

As a coach here’s what I’d be looking for:

1. Supportive administration. Beyond important. Are they willing to hire coaches as teachers? To build good young men, you need to have multiple sets of eyes in the building. Are they going to have your back with parents?

Then the general questions like: do I want to live here? Can my wife get a good job here? How is the talent? Etc 

 

[badbird]

James Franklin Penn State head coach just said if all I care about is wins I would be coaching in the NFL.   Winning is important but in my opinion in high school football winning is down on the list of what is important.  Everybody wants to win and everybody is trying to win but if winning a football game is the best moment of your life then your football coaches failed you.  

[Proseteye]

On 12/28/2019 at 10:18 AM, badbird said:

Here is what is wrong with society.  Give me a coach that builds men of character 1st. 

I kind of agree with your premise. However, parents are supposed to build men of character. A coach is supposed to build a football team. That takes extreme knowledge of the game and the discipline to impart that knowledge to each and every player. Football is all about execution. If each player is trained properly any team should be able to execute like clockwork. Just my take on this.

[badbird]

10 hours ago, Proseteye said:

I kind of agree with your premise. However, parents are supposed to build men of character. A coach is supposed to build a football team. That takes extreme knowledge of the game and the discipline to impart that knowledge to each and every player. Football is all about execution. If each player is trained properly any team should be able to execute like clockwork. Just my take on this.

It takes a village to raise a kid.  The Football coach is one of the most important people to a high school kid that plays football.