Coaching Staff

It seems like good teams have always lucked out; you look over to their side of the field and the head coach seems to have a ton of help. Parents seem to positively flock in to help winning teams! Or just maybe it’s the other way around; maybe the team is successful because of the staff. Maybe the real truth is this: behind every successful coach, there is a helpful coaching staff.

Talk to long-time coaches and you’ll discover one thing mighty quickly. Most of them have several people that have been working with them for years. They have an assistant coach, maybe even two or three. They have some parents that help with fund-raising; they may even have the same sponsor year after year.

This isn’t just luck; it’s smart planning on the part of a head coach. Smart coaches make sure that they have plenty of help, and plenty of the right kind of help. Before the season has even begun, they probably have decided on a program and gotten their assistants to commit to another season of their chosen sport. Even first year coaches can do this; they might get off to a later start than the returning coach, but they certainly should spend the pre-season finding as much help as possible.

It is important to find assistants that are skilled in areas that the head coach has little experience in, or little joy in doing. If the head coach hates fund-raising, or dealing with the officials, or even going to league meetings, then the head coach should look for assistants who enjoy these tasks. Do not find yourself in the situation where there are four coaches on the team who all want to be in charge of the same area; this is worse than having no help whatsoever!

Divide your efforts and make sure to delegate responsibility for certain tasks. Make sure that each assistant coach has a say in the decision making, yet still be willing to defer to the head coach in case of disputes. That said, don’t be afraid to allow your assistants to operate independently at times as well. Always remember that the old saying: two heads are better than one. And in the world of coaching, four or five heads are usually MUCH better than one!