Coaching High School Football

[bigloum]

I will be named the head coach at a private school next week. We play 8-man football.

Are there any other football coaches in the Locker Room? This will be my first head coach role. Any tips or suggested reading?

 

[bryanscho]

This should be good..

 

[csklad]

I will be named the head coach at a private school next week. We play 8-man football.

Are there any other football coaches in the Locker Room? This will be my first head coach role. Any tips or suggested reading?

First things first. These are a must.....

 

[wbnolefan2]

First things first. These are a must.....

not nearly tight enough

 

[wbnolefan2]

Now for some actual advice - I officiated HS football for 15 years - my general observation is that offenses and defenses were too complicated for most players and many kids were nodding and saying "yes coach" when they didn't have a clue what they were supposed to be doing. I overheard some pretty amusing conversations in between timeouts and the snap

 

[HilltopperNole]

I'm entering my 10th year in coaching at 3rd as a high school head coach. I have been at a small college, some great programs and some places thahave been "rebuilding" for 3 decades. Couple points i'll share that have nothing to do with scheme as much as program organization.

• Remind App- Get all your players on this app so you can send out announcement and communicate.
• Keep everything digital- Spread sheets are your friend. Keep a master roster of shirt sizes, email addresses, parent contact, GPA's and when physicals expire.
• Number everything in your equipment room to keep it from disappearing.
  
• Coaches-You need bodies as assistant coaches. This time last year I only had 2 assistants for 50 players. You don't need everybody to be Jimbo Fisher, but some guys that are good with kids that you can teach drills to so you don't end up coaching 3-4 different positions.
• Always budget for $800 more than what you think you may ever need. There's always going to be a unexpected expense somewhere in the season.
• If you stay on top of your kids grades and behavior, are nice to everyone and keep the budget in the black most people at the school will say you're doing a pretty good job.

 

[GwinnettNole]

Do you plan on getting the parents input as much as possible? Lol

 

[GrassyNole]

Worst to First-Blueprint for Building a Championship Program by Rick Stewart is a must. Anything that you can find on building culture is key to your success. I also highly recommend the Football Coaching Podcast by Joe Daniel. Dude has great insight on a variety of topics. Another bit of device, be sure you are running an actual offensive/defensive system. Not just a collection of plays or what’s “hot”. Choose a system and stick to it. Good luck my friend.

 

[YondaimeDevilDog939913]

My hats off to you for sacrificing so much of your time as a coach. Better man than me.

 

[bigloum]

I'm entering my 10th year in coaching at 3rd as a high school head coach. I have been at a small college, some great programs and some places thahave been "rebuilding" for 3 decades. Couple points i'll share that have nothing to do with scheme as much as program organization.

• Remind App- Get all your players on this app so you can send out announcement and communicate.
• Keep everything digital- Spread sheets are your friend. Keep a master roster of shirt sizes, email addresses, parent contact, GPA's and when physicals expire.
• Number everything in your equipment room to keep it from disappearing.
  
• Coaches-You need bodies as assistant coaches. This time last year I only had 2 assistants for 50 players. You don't need everybody to be Jimbo Fisher, but some guys that are good with kids that you can teach drills to so you don't end up coaching 3-4 different positions.
• Always budget for $800 more than what you think you may ever need. There's always going to be a unexpected expense somewhere in the season.
• If you stay on top of your kids grades and behavior, are nice to everyone and keep the budget in the black most people at the school will say you're doing a pretty good job.

Thank you for this information. Do you have any recommendations on practice plans?