Have you ever thought what it would take to become a college football coach? The road to becoming a head football coach at a Division-I college is very long and difficult. Some good coaches never get a chance to lead a program because there are very few coaching openings available each year. That’s why anyone who wishes to become a head coach must be prepared to spend many years toiling through the ranks.
Here’s the typical path that most coaches take to become a head coach. To illustrate this path, I’ve included some examples of D-I coaches who have taken the long way to become a college head coach. Perhaps you’ll gain a better appreciation of what a college football head coach does every day if you understand how he got there?
Many coaches start their careers as players. The vast majority of coaches started out as quarterbacks on either college or on professional teams. Since the quarterback is the team’s “field general” during a game, it makes a lot of sense that many quarterbacks wind up becoming head coaches. Many successful quarterbacks learn the management skills that are needed to lead a group of players on the field. They also learn how to stay calm enough to deal with the stress that comes with trying to execute a play in key situations. These skills are valuable to anyone who wants to become a head coach because it teaches people how to explain to others how football should be played.
Here are a couple of current D-1 coaches who started out as players. (All biographical data were obtained from www.wikpedia.org. The hyperlinks represent each coach’s respective Wikipedia page.)
Penn State’s Joe Paterno was a quarterback at Brown University. He also was a cornerback and still shares a school record with 14 interceptions.
The University of Washington’s Steve Sarkisian was a successful quarterback at BYU. In 1996, Steve led BYU to a 14-1 record! He also played briefly in the pro ranks in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
After one’s playing career is over, many young coaches start out in the coaching ranks as graduate assistants.
They help the coaching staff do the thousands of little things that are needed to make practice and game preparation run smoothly. They also learn from the beginning how to recruit players to a program. As a result, graduate assistants learn what it takes to successfully run a college football program.
One of the more well-known coaches who began their coaching career as a graduate assistant is current UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel. He started out as a graduate assistant with UCLA and helped one Troy Aikman become a special quarterback.
After learning the ropes about the coaching profession, many graduate assistants find work as assistant coaches on a head coach’s staff. Most coaches work as assistants in the college and pro ranks for at least 3-5 years before they get a chance to become a head coach For example, New Mexico’s Mike Locksley worked for 17 years as an assistant coach before he got a chance to become a head coach. Notre Dame’s Charlie Weis was an assistant coach in the NFL for 15 years before he took the Irish job. Here’s a general idea how coaches like Charlie Weis and Mike Locksley work their way up the assistant coaching ranks to become a head coach.
Assistant coaches strive to advance up through the ranks with the hope of one day becoming a head coach. To start, they usually given a few position players to coach at a time. This helps the coach learn how to communicate effectively with players and fellow coaches. As they advance, most coaches then learn how to coach a unit of players by leading a group of offensive or defensive players. As they get better at it, they eventually work their way up to becoming an offensive or defensive coordinator.
When a college coach makes it this far along, the chances are good that one day he’ll become a head coach. This is because the coordinators have almost as much responsiblity as the head coach. These responsibilities give the coordinators the experience that they need to become good managers of a football program.
To learn how to become such good managers, the coordinators help the head coach run the team both on and off the field. During the season, they help the head coach prepare for upcoming opponents. They could also help the head coach with play calling during the game. During the off-season, they could help the head coach with such things as fund raising and recruiting players.
As you can see, the coordinator’s job is a year-round task that entails lots of hard work and determination. Those who stay at it eventually become head coaches themselves. In the end, the coaches who get to run a college football program have demonstrated that they can successfully lead and teach players to do their best. There aren’t that many coaches who can do these things well. That’s why it’s important to think about the long road most coaches take to become a head coach. These special people have what it takes to lead and to teach young people to do their best both on and off the football field.
Therefore, the next time you see a college head coach on TV, be nice to him! He’s worked hard enough to earn your respect!
