New Indy Star Coaches Confidential asks: 'What would you eliminate about your job if you could?'

[Muda69]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2026/08/12/coaches-confidential-what-would-high-school-football-coaches-eliminate-parent-expectations-travel/91255894007/

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For our second “Coaches Confidential” question we asked Central Indiana high school football coaches the following question:

If you could wave a magic wand and eliminate something about your job, what would it be?

 

Selected responses are below, read the article if you want the full list: 

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“Parents telling me that their kid has to play 6A football to get a scholarship.”

 

“Year-round travel sports.”

“Travel sports.”

“Trainers and youth travel sports.”

“To adequately balance the time to be able meet the needs of the players in my program and also spend the time being a father and husband. Being a head coach is a 365-day a year job with little to no breaks.”

“Limited contact periods. We are doing too much. I love to grind just as much as any coach, but this has now become a 365-day job. There is a reason you are seeing really good coaches get out of this profession early, even after a lot of success. The time commitment is becoming a factor. We are also asking a lot of our multi-sport athletes, especially at smaller schools. I would like to see us get back to the days of lifting in the offseason (winter and spring). Ramp it up in the summertime.”

 

“Parent excuses for their kids and have them learn what it means to be committed.”

“Dealing with the unrealistic reactions of some parents who don’t seem to understand that high school football is more about boys becoming young men.”

“Parents that live vicariously through their kids.”

“The behind the scenes recruiting that is taking place. It’s already a challenge to build your team but adding those that are behind the scenes trying pull kids away is makes it even more challenging.”

“Penalize the programs that cheat … not the kids … take them out of the tournament.”

“Issues regarding players knee pads in their uniforms on Friday nights.”

 

 

 

[oldtimeqb]

General question - when coaches say "travel sports" - do they really just mean baseball?

IHSAA baseball is done for the most part by Memorial day, or the Saturday after.  As of June 1, the HS coaches don't coach their players.  To me, a HS basketball player going to another HS or college for a one day shootout or scrimmages is a different thing than a baseball player going to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Orlando, etc. with the 16u Sledgehammers National Select Elite Gold. 

[Irishman]

6 hours ago, oldtimeqb said:

General question - when coaches say "travel sports" - do they really just mean baseball?

IHSAA baseball is done for the most part by Memorial day, or the Saturday after.  As of June 1, the HS coaches don't coach their players.  To me, a HS basketball player going to another HS or college for a one day shootout or scrimmages is a different thing than a baseball player going to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Orlando, etc. with the 16u Sledgehammers National Select Elite Gold. 

My guess is some coaches meant a particular sport while others meant all travel sports. As far as baseball, I do know of coaches who see summer ball as an extension of the regular season, so he expects kids to choose baseball over football. I don't agree with it at all, but it is a reality. It has been my experience too that many kids will choose their summer club team games over football workouts. 

[Basementbias]

Just now, Irishman said:

My guess is some coaches meant a particular sport while others meant all travel sports. As far as baseball, I do know of coaches who see summer ball as an extension of the regular season, so he expects kids to choose baseball over football. I don't agree with it at all, but it is a reality. It has been my experience too that many kids will choose their summer club team games over football workouts. 

Why I like that Iowa makes baseball & softball a "summer" sport and essentially they have 4 seasons.

[Irishman]

Just now, Basementbias said:

Why I like that Iowa makes baseball & softball a "summer" sport and essentially they have 4 seasons.

I noticed that recently. I had the Marquee network on while I was working around the house, and they were showing the Iowa State finals. 

That said though, it still pulls kids from summer workouts for football. Tough spot  when it comes to programs that really need to share athletes. 

[Basementbias]

1 hour ago, Irishman said:

I noticed that recently. I had the Marquee network on while I was working around the house, and they were showing the Iowa State finals. 

That said though, it still pulls kids from summer workouts for football. Tough spot  when it comes to programs that really need to share athletes. 

It seems they have some talented multi sport athletes from it, so it seems some know how to share. Ryker Dengler is a prime example.

[Donnie Baker]

4 hours ago, Basementbias said:

It seems they have some talented multi sport athletes from it, so it seems some know how to share. Ryker Dengler is a prime example.

That sounds like Dirk Diggler. I swear to God it does 

[adambetz]

The big issues a lot of the coaches at (I assume) smaller schools seem to be having is sharing. If there's an open period, you want your athletes practicing with you during that period. Most of the time at smaller schools, those athletes are already actively practicing for a in season sport.

Every missed session is a wasted day in the football coaches mind. The kids get burnt out essentially playing three sports year round. Lose lose situation for everyone.

Like a coach mentioned in the survey, lift weights all off season but don't pressure the kids to think they need to be playing football year round. Start ramping up in the summer.

Obviously for the bigger schools where one sport specialization is more common this would probably actually hurt them more than it would help. It's hard for the IHSAA because the law you write for Hamilton Southeastern has to be followed by Sheridan and vice-versa.

I feel like having less live periods would help 1A through 4A with turnout and burnout, but it would hurt 5A and 6A (and some 3a and 4a schools) where one sport specialization is more prevalent. And of course if only 1A-4A had less live periods it would leave them at an even larger disadvantage when playing those bigger schools simply due to less time spent together.

12 hours ago, oldtimeqb said:

General question - when coaches say "travel sports" - do they really just mean baseball?

IHSAA baseball is done for the most part by Memorial day, or the Saturday after.  As of June 1, the HS coaches don't coach their players.  To me, a HS basketball player going to another HS or college for a one day shootout or scrimmages is a different thing than a baseball player going to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Orlando, etc. with the 16u Sledgehammers National Select Elite Gold. 

I think they mean any sort of organized sport outside of the school. 7 on 7, AAU, travel baseball etc.

Edited 14 hours ago by adambetz

[Coach Nowlin]

We choose in Rensselaer Football to not even worry or care about those limited practice times in spring.    

I personally know it's tough right now:  Our Hoops and FB kids, start at like 3:30 in the summer and finished at 8 pm it seemed.    Hoops did workouts until 5:30:  then we had our practice set for 6-8 in the summer..  

Plus our weight program in mornings.  

 

[jets]

1. Lift weights in the morning

2. Work (if you need/choose to) throughout the day

3. Play legion baseball at night (couple times a week)

That's what summer should look like. 

Play your organized sports during the school year...when you're finished with a season, take a week, recharge, and play the next thing (if you want to)...If not, lift more weights. 

Burnout is a real thing and we (adults, coaches, etc...) should know better. 

[tango]

4 hours ago, jets said:

1. Lift weights in the morning

2. Work (if you need/choose to) throughout the day

3. Play legion baseball at night (couple times a week)

That's what summer should look like. 

Play your organized sports during the school year...when you're finished with a season, take a week, recharge, and play the next thing (if you want to)...If not, lift more weights. 

Burnout is a real thing and we (adults, coaches, etc...) should know better. 

Not saying you're wrong by any means, but I haven't heard anything about American Legion baseball in years. Does it even still exist? We used to have Pate, Funkhauser, Newburgh, Kapperman, etc. down here in SW IN, but I can't recall hearing anything for years. 

[Titan32]

25 minutes ago, tango said:

Not saying you're wrong by any means, but I haven't heard anything about American Legion baseball in years. Does it even still exist? We used to have Pate, Funkhauser, Newburgh, Kapperman, etc. down here in SW IN, but I can't recall hearing anything for years. 

Kids are playing up here...but it is watered down.