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Head Coaches areas of profession?


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Stealing this from another thread I was reading through...(below is copy/pasted response that got me thinking of this)

Are most Head Football Coaches around the State PE and/or Strength teachers?? Or have "other administrative" roles within the school.  Is being a "classroom teacher" and trying to be the head football coach a thing of the past?? Seems like with all the academic hoops/rigors to jump through, it may well be just that.  Curious as to how many examples there are out there and other subjects, besides Strength/PE, they might teach. (And don't jump down my throat with all the PE is a class too....I understand that, but for the purpose of this discussion, I'm asking for maybe more academic rigorous courses.)

 

 

"Most, not all, but most high school coaches teach as well as coach.   What is reasonable for a school to ask for as a time commitment from their Head Coach?  Couple hours a day for practice, then there is that flex time before and after so it ends up being more like 3 hours.  Then they have their commute.  With most of them teaching, they are likely to have some sort of lesson planning, test writing, grading time in their evening, then they have to make and eat dinner, practice planning for the next day, most will want to watch some film,  some staff to staff text and phone calls throughout the evening.  This is all before any parent or player issues are dealt with, youth league work is done, or any time is spent with family.  

That's not evening mentioning the weekend grind. Time with the varsity kids in film (which the coaches were up watching til 2 am the night before) and/or JV football on Saturday morning.  Maybe you get to collapse on the couch for a little while Saturday afternoon but then back to the film.  Sunday morning, film, church, lunch film, mow the lawn, change a light bulb, pay the bills, staff meeting in the evening, and getting ready to teach for the week, etc.  

Again, this is just in-season grind............lets not start on the off season. 

Seems like a lot to ask for the few thousand bucks that most coaches are paid at the HS level.  Is their any "fix" to this crazy work-life mix that coaches face today? "

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I know that Coach Mosser at Adams Central teaches social studies, as well as being their head track coach. Coach Sehy at Blackford teaches English as well as their head track coach. Coach Hess at Wes-Del teaches Biology. Coach Moser at South Adams teaches business. Coach Wilhelm at Yorktown teaches science. That's just the guys I know, and they all do a fine job. My guess would be that more teach outside of the PE/Health realm than you would think. That being said PE/coaching complement each other well.

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Was just curious as to what else was out there. I think every HEAD coach in my conference (PAC) has a PE/Strength position or an administrative role. 

What are some "creative" positions that have been formed in the schools to fit a coach in?? Those sometimes make me chuckle ...

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13 hours ago, CoachVeatch said:

I know that Coach Mosser at Adams Central teaches social studies, as well as being their head track coach. Coach Sehy at Blackford teaches English as well as their head track coach. Coach Hess at Wes-Del teaches Biology. Coach Moser at South Adams teaches business. Coach Wilhelm at Yorktown teaches science. That's just the guys I know, and they all do a fine job. My guess would be that more teach outside of the PE/Health realm than you would think. That being said PE/coaching complement each other well.

When Coach O'Shea was at LCC, he taught math. 

I recall, growing up, that almost all of my high school coaches for football taught classes other than PE/gym/health.  I think we had a total of three that taught PE and/or health.  The rest taught speech, government, history, English, and had one that taught honors biology and advanced biology teacher.

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Piggy back question.............how do schools navigate this?   Some schools will jump all in and put a football or basketball coach in a job that doesn't require much of their time outside the school day.  Other schools or principals don't want to show an bias and are very careful to make sure that the football coach isn't shown any favors as far as a teaching load.    

2nd question, how does the football coach that is teaching Geometry, writing tests, writing lesson plans, grading, etc. compete with the coach who doesn't have any of those things on his plate?   Is it fair to compare those two coaches to each other in terms of success on the field?  

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Now, I do agree that great coaches are GREAT teachers, and if I was a principal, I would want those coaches contributing to the academic development of kids.  But the time requirements of a classroom teacher inevitably make it more difficult to do all the things that a successful football program now requires.   So how do schools strike a balance?   

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Budget restrictions at small schools limit the ability to "lighten the load" for coaches. There is also union concerns, that tend to arise.  You are absolutely correct in saying it is hard to strike a balance, that is why I think so many schools are finding it hard to hire committed coaches in a lot sports these days.  

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1 hour ago, foxbat said:

When Coach O'Shea was at LCC, he taught math. 

I recall, growing up, that almost all of my high school coaches for football taught classes other than PE/gym/health.  I think we had a total of three that taught PE and/or health.  The rest taught speech, government, history, English, and had one that taught honors biology and advanced biology teacher.

Definitely think it's beneficial/advantageous having coaches within the school system - but I was asking about positions for HEAD coaches. I'm sure there is plenty of assistants that teach a number of subjects. 

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1 hour ago, Wedgebuster said:

Now, I do agree that great coaches are GREAT teachers, and if I was a principal, I would want those coaches contributing to the academic development of kids.  But the time requirements of a classroom teacher inevitably make it more difficult to do all the things that a successful football program now requires.   So how do schools strike a balance?   

 

 

1 hour ago, Wedgebuster said:

Piggy back question.............how do schools navigate this?   Some schools will jump all in and put a football or basketball coach in a job that doesn't require much of their time outside the school day.  Other schools or principals don't want to show an bias and are very careful to make sure that the football coach isn't shown any favors as far as a teaching load.    

2nd question, how does the football coach that is teaching Geometry, writing tests, writing lesson plans, grading, etc. compete with the coach who doesn't have any of those things on his plate?   Is it fair to compare those two coaches to each other in terms of success on the field?  

Essentially the purpose/motivation behind this thread. Was interested in what was all out there for Head Coaches.... 

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It is very difficult to be a head football coach and be a normal classroom teacher. At least for the bigger sized schools that is. There are many obligations and responsibilities for the head football coach throughout the day during the season and in the offseason.

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I taught Economics and Us History when I was a head coach.  You show up early to make sure you have grading/ lessons finished.  You can manage just fine. Now as an administrator, I want my coaches to be full time teachers.  I believe that good coaches are great teachers.  If you cannot teach how can you be a good coach?  Coaching and teaching are very similar if you cannot teach the game you will fail as a coach, if you can not deliver content you will fail as a teacher.  

   As far as competing with others that do not have the same teaching load, it definitely is an advantage for them.  They have more time for game planning, reviewing film, meeting with players etc.  Not that that always leads to more success, but they have more time to devote to coaching.

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6 minutes ago, Indiana Fan said:

It is very difficult to be a head football coach and be a normal classroom teacher. At least for the bigger sized schools that is. There are many obligations and responsibilities for the head football coach throughout the day during the season and in the offseason.

 

Is there a dividing line at some level of ball where you can or can't be a full time class room teacher?  

Example: 2A you can, but 5A you can't?   

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1 minute ago, Wedgebuster said:

 

Is there a dividing line at some level of ball where you can or can't be a full time class room teacher?  

Example: 2A you can, but 5A you can't?   

I think it may depend on what your opponents do...It's going to be hard to make my HC a full-time teacher AND be successful as a football coach if none of the HC's I play against are full-time teachers. 

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I co-taught with a head coach in a Special Ed Life Skills classroom.  In addition to the teaching duties, he had to do IEPs, student surveys, OT/PT consultations, and any issues regarding his Teacher of Record kids.  I tried to help him as much as I could in the fall.  In the spring, there was too much work for me to be of much help to him.

He did a tremendous job considering all that was on his plate.

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1 hour ago, LAKER54 said:

I teach US history, government, Indiana Studies, psychology and AP psychology.....while being the boys and girls varsity track coach

Understand - but we're asking about Head FOOTBALL coaches. 

41 minutes ago, CoachPeo said:

I taught Economics and Us History when I was a head coach.  You show up early to make sure you have grading/ lessons finished.  You can manage just fine. Now as an administrator, I want my coaches to be full time teachers.  I believe that good coaches are great teachers.  If you cannot teach how can you be a good coach?  Coaching and teaching are very similar if you cannot teach the game you will fail as a coach, if you can not deliver content you will fail as a teacher.  

   As far as competing with others that do not have the same teaching load, it definitely is an advantage for them.  They have more time for game planning, reviewing film, meeting with players etc.  Not that that always leads to more success, but they have more time to devote to coaching.

So you recognize that you may be putting your Coach and football program at a disadvantage? And you are OK with that/? 

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I am 100 percent alright with that.  My job as an educator is to educate my students.  I want the best teachers in my building.  Football which is a a sport that I hold dearly,however, it  is an extracurricular.  If that means out sports programs are at a disadvantage, but they receive a great education, I can sleep just fine at night.

 

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Being the head coach, I was given last hour prep this year.  Other than that, I teach a full load and split time between middle school and high school. 

In the middle school I teach business and computer science (6-8 grades).  

In the high school I teach AP Computer Science, PLTW Civil Engineering and Architecture, and PLTW Digital Electronics.  It's a full day.  

I'd give my right arm for a lighter load, just for the sake of less classes to prep for.  I've been asking for years but we're a small district and they cannot afford it.  

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1 hour ago, Wedgebuster said:

 

Is there a dividing line at some level of ball where you can or can't be a full time class room teacher?  

Example: 2A you can, but 5A you can't?   

I think if anyone wanted to do it then good for them. But being at a bigger school and taking care of more kids is going to be more difficult.

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40 minutes ago, CoachPeo said:

I am 100 percent alright with that.  My job as an educator is to educate my students.  I want the best teachers in my building.  Football which is a a sport that I hold dearly,however, it  is an extracurricular.  If that means out sports programs are at a disadvantage, but they receive a great education, I can sleep just fine at night.

 

I'm sure your coaches appreciate it. 

As long as they don't receive any community/school board pressure to produce on the field, I'm sure they are fine with it too....

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7 hours ago, jets said:

Was just curious as to what else was out there. I think every HEAD coach in my conference (PAC) has a PE/Strength position or an administrative role. 

What are some "creative" positions that have been formed in the schools to fit a coach in?? Those sometimes make me chuckle ...

Dave Stephens at Pike Central works for a special education co-op and Joe Morris at Washington is the head of chamber of commerce for Daviess Co. so those 2 are not Strength teachers or administrators. 

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