Districts Should Do More

[gatorman-uf]

I think a lot of people misunderstand what it is to be a coach (and teacher) in today's world. The expectations of how much time and effort that are put in to the field, the level of commitment, the level of expertise that is demanded is no longer a joke. You can't just be a guy who played back in the day. You have to be year-round committed when a school has dreams of championships. Are you willing to do that for $4,200-6,000? Are you willing to have a little less commitment and do that for $2,500-3,000 as an assistant?

I will say this a million times over, but school districts are doing a disservice to their schools, when they don't find ways to increase the compensation for coaches. Do I know the magic number? No, but schools are losing coaches at alarming numbers. The program isn't just the head coach, but the assistants as well. Most of these assistant coaches can work at Lowe's for half the time and make more money and insurance than they get as coaches. 

Schools are being hard pressed to put great teachers in the classroom (as they should), but it is hard to find that great teacher and person who is willing to coach. If you think about an average school, they have maybe ~100 teachers on campus, you have 8-10 coaching spots (including head coach). Is the principal/school board going to go out of their way to add those coaches on to their faculty and not hurt school academics? Add in volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, track, cross country, cheerleading... and all of a sudden those 8-10 spots become easier to fill, but at a higher cost that some assistants won't make the cut. 

Quick math...

Governor DeSantis made it a goal of starting pay for teachers at 47.5K.
Teachers are generally paid for 190 days a year at 7.5 a day.
Quick math says the hourly wage works out to $33.33 as teacher.
If we assume that a minimum coaches work 2.5 hours a day (as coaches), 6 days a week, 14 weeks (10 games, 1 off week, 1 kickoff classic, and 2 weeks preseason) that same math say 7K should be the minimum salary. Find me the Florida district that pays a coach 7K, just as a coach (not an administrator). 

I know the push back from average teachers would be, why pay so much for a coach if you can't pay teachers a decent wage. I would generally agree, but how much are we really talking about here. Let's use Duval County, they have 16 High Schools and if we make some basic assumptions (1 HC, 9 Assistants for football, 1 HC and 3 Assistants (JV and Varsity) for team sports, and a Head Coach and Assistant for non-team sports at the current rate in Duval for over $2 million (assuming every school has all teams and fills all coaching spots). Duval County has a total budget of 1.6 billion. The 2 million is a little over .11% of the entire budget. It should be really easy to increase that amount overall. 
 

[badbird]

pay for teachers and coaches in Florida is pathetic.  

[gatorman-uf]

24 minutes ago, badbird said:

pay for teachers and coaches in Florida is pathetic.  

I agree, but the arguments I hear on why we don't coaches and sponsors more always surprises me.

As the pittance that they receive is ok, but I do feel that coaches are to blame for this as well. They aren't organized. They don't press their pay concerns and explain it big picture. That after school programs (sports and clubs) are programs that kids off the streets and under somebody's supervision until the late hours. Why wouldn't a community want that? Kids who are involved in two or more extracurriculars are more likely to graduate. These organizations are some of your drop out prevention programs. And no, not every kid who plays a sport is going to win a championship or earn a scholarship and that is okay. Sports have other uses than rings and scholarships. They are about educating and serving the whole student and too many of our districts have forgotten that. 

 

[HornetFan]

If you're in it for the money, maybe you shouldn't be coaching. I love watching high school football, whether it's a HS game, a practice. or going out to see the kids play 7v7 in the off-season. When my grandsons were coming up through youth football, I admired the dedication that coaches showed being out there every evening after working a full day at their regular job. Then, on Saturdays, they'd be out there coaching the kids, manning refreshment stands when needed; helping to run car washes to raise funds for their youth leagues, whatever it took, all for the love of the game and helping the kids. I see the same dedication with some of the coaches at our local high school. They'll go the extra yard and work with kids on their academics and physical conditioning, as well as improving their football skills. They provide guidance for kids that may not necessarily receive it at home. I don't think the best HS coaches are in it for the money; I believe they love the game and truly want to have a lasting positive impression on the kids.

[Perspective]

16 hours ago, HornetFan said:

If you're in it for the money, maybe you shouldn't be coaching. I love watching high school football, whether it's a HS game, a practice. or going out to see the kids play 7v7 in the off-season. When my grandsons were coming up through youth football, I admired the dedication that coaches showed being out there every evening after working a full day at their regular job. Then, on Saturdays, they'd be out there coaching the kids, manning refreshment stands when needed; helping to run car washes to raise funds for their youth leagues, whatever it took, all for the love of the game and helping the kids. I see the same dedication with some of the coaches at our local high school. They'll go the extra yard and work with kids on their academics and physical conditioning, as well as improving their football skills. They provide guidance for kids that may not necessarily receive it at home. I don't think the best HS coaches are in it for the money; I believe they love the game and truly want to have a lasting positive impression on the kids.

HornetFan, you make some great points.   However, I don't think the two concepts are mutually exclusive.   I think coaches can be in it because they have a love for the game and a passion for helping kids and, at the same time, be fairly compensated for their time and efforts.   It's just a matter of finding that sweet spot. 

[gatorman-uf]

On 2/10/2021 at 6:01 PM, HornetFan said:

If you're in it for the money, maybe you shouldn't be coaching. I love watching high school football, whether it's a HS game, a practice. or going out to see the kids play 7v7 in the off-season. When my grandsons were coming up through youth football, I admired the dedication that coaches showed being out there every evening after working a full day at their regular job. Then, on Saturdays, they'd be out there coaching the kids, manning refreshment stands when needed; helping to run car washes to raise funds for their youth leagues, whatever it took, all for the love of the game and helping the kids. I see the same dedication with some of the coaches at our local high school. They'll go the extra yard and work with kids on their academics and physical conditioning, as well as improving their football skills. They provide guidance for kids that may not necessarily receive it at home. I don't think the best HS coaches are in it for the money; I believe they love the game and truly want to have a lasting positive impression on the kids.

Your appreciation of coaches does not put food on the table for their families. At some point that is a consideration, again, I am not advocating Texas or Georgia type money. I am advocating for the same hourly rate that the governor and state legislature think that teachers should be making at a minimum and taking hourly rate and applying it to the job that coaches do . I am not even advocating for winter/spring/summer payment, but simply just fall payment. You want mentors to stay, I agree, but I also don't think they should have to take a vow of poverty in order to do it.