Coaching Staff Expectations - Football Toolbox

This Is Not an 8 to 5 Job, It’s Football

Coaching Philosophy For Developing A Successful Football Program. I believe, irrespective of the time element involved, an athletic program has little chance of succeeding unless the following “Musts” are adhered to:

As a head football coach you must have a definite plan in which you believe in, with no compromise on your part.
The head football coach must have the cooperation and support of the administration, who must believe in the head coach, his staff, and his plan.
The coach must be mentally tough and dedicated to football. Must have the ability to make all those involved in the program feel important to the success of the program.
The head coach must make each person involved in the program understand their role.
The head coach must have the sole responsibility and authority for selecting his staff of dedicated coaches, who must in return believe in the Head coach and his plan.
If applicable the head coach must be able to select and coordinate coaches at intermediate schools and see that the head coach at each school adheres to the philosophy of the varsity head coach. The future of any program lies in the success of the lower level programs. “Winning Breeds Winning” at any level.
The head coach must organize the football program from top to bottom in order to operate at maximum efficiency.

Head Coach Should Expect From His Coaches

To run a successful football program takes a big commitment from your assistant coaches. An assistant coach should be held accountable for the following rules:

To be the very best classroom teacher that you can be.
Never to use profanity and never allow our players to.
Never use tobacco around school at anytime.
Don’t worry about your fellow coaches are doing. Just do your job and do it well. Don’t keep score.
To be on time for all staff meetings and practices.
To be a positive role model.
To sell and defend the program.
To do everything you can do to develop a winning attitude.
To study and work hard to make yourself a great coach. Educational growth is a must for any coach in order to maintain, sustain and develop new innovative ways of coaching, new teaching techniques, and better ways to improve teaching.
To be professional in attitude, responses, work and personal appearance.
Never involve your spouse in the coaching situation in a negative manner.
To be sincerely interested in the success of your players and other members of the coaching staff.
Never give up on a player. He can always change and likely will if given the chance by you.
To be positive and never doubt that we will be successful.
To be loyal.
To be creative and have the ability to think on your own and apply gained knowledge of the game.
To be on the same page with each other when taking the practice or game field. Never take your disagreements to practice.
Don’t get complacent as the season goes on. Don’t let the little things slide in the discipline of our players. These will lead to bad habits.
Have a plan for everything. Be organized.
Do not choose favorites. Work with every player on the squad.
Never give up on a player. He can always change and likely will if given the chance by you.
Always be optimistic. The glass is half full.

The Lombardi rules used by the famous Vince Lombardi have always influenced me and the way I perceive our football program. The following rules demonstrate how our decision making process will impact our athletic program.

Expectations of The Head Coach

When taking on the title of head coach a community, school and staff should expect the following leadership from the head coach:

To be accountable for all actions.
To deal with all situations with honor and integrity.
To run an organized program so that we will be able to function efficiently.
To maintain an atmosphere that is conducive to work.
To listen to your suggestions.
To give you responsibility and authority.
To work and provide leadership to win.
To treat you like a man with dignity and respect.
To be totally concerned about you and your family, regardless of what problems confront you.
To be very loyal to you and do everything a head coach can to help you grow professionally.
To sell you to our players, the community and other coaches.
To let coach on the field within your personality.
To let you know privately when you have been derelict of duties.

What You Should Expect from Your Athletes

To give their very best effort towards receiving a quality education.
Do right.
Always give their best effort for the team, teammates, and themselves.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
To be prompt.
To hustle, give the best effort possible.
To know their assignments, be students of the game.
Abide by team and school rules.
Sacrifice for the team, each individual is only as good as the team.
Be the best person that they can be, be a role model for others.
To play with Character – “Play as well as you can for as long as you can.”
To play with Pride – “Know that you won’t quit when it gets tough.”
To be Mentally Tough – “Accept discomfort and live with it.”

Football Staff Office Hours

The basic rule is to work long enough, to get the job done. Should not get caught up in busy work, coaches need time to themselves during the season and off-season. A coach needs to be flexible, but understand that this is not an 8 to 5 job, but a profession. Do what it takes to get the job down; don’t shortchange the other coaches and or your players.

An Approach To Successful Coaching

When taking the field know where you belong, be waiting for your players. Players should not have to wait on their position coach to take the field.
Utilize time before and after practice. As a rule of thumb I use the “15 minute rule” if I arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time then I’m are on time; if I arrive 10 minutes early I’m are 5 minutes late; if I arrive 5 minutes early then I’m 10 minutes late; and if I arrive on the scheduled time then my players are waiting for me. The 15-minute rule will discipline your athletes to always be on time.
Have something to say after each effort. Remember, this is coaching and “don’t coach out of frustration.” Don’t coach what you don’t know how to fix.
Stay alert for players with injuries or heat problems. Refer to trainer.
Strive to make your group the best on the field, take pride in your work.
Do not experiment with drills during practice, have your work thought out, and make sure it fits the scheme.
Never lose your poise or confidence, coach those things that you know how to fix.
As a position coach expect to be talked to if something avoidable goes wrong.
Your practices must be organized; talk in meetings not on the field, repetition is the most important key, repetition instills learning. Don’t hold clinics on the field.
The players must do everything on the practice field with extreme quickness, hustle is a key ingredient.
Pay strict attention to the scheduled time segments.
Don’t relax during any segment. All segments are very important, or they would not be included.
Breed confidence into your team.
Gain the respect from your players, don’t demand respect, earn it.
Coach your players all year long, “talk football”. Encourage them to “hang around” and work on a position specialty skill and to work in the weight room.
Talk the importance of classroom demeanor, doing well in class, staying current on all classroom assignments and homework. Be ready to acknowledge your athletes success in the classroom and in the community.
If you get tired pray for strength, because as a staff you are only as good or as strong as the weakest link.

About the Author of this post:

Jerry Campbell has over 30 years of high school and college coaching experience. He has experience as a head coach, offensive coordinator, and various position coaches. He has written numerous football coaching articles in various publications, is the author of over 30 books on coaching football, and has produced 12 coaching video series. Additionally, he is a nationally sought after speaker on the coaching clinic circuit.