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Is there a coaching shortage brewing?


Guest DT

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Been watching all the open coaching vacancies and it suddenly hit me.  Similar to the referee situation, is high school football facing an impending coaching shortage in the near or short term futures?

I wonder if the Covid experience has had a negative impact on the coaching profession, and on education careers in general.  I see that Northwood just hired a 26 year old new head varsity football coach.  Is this a sign of a lack of supply, a lack of interest, or just a case of a superstar young coach making his first big move?

Many young people have chosen to put off careers,  put off marriage and home buying, sit on the sidelines and collect government compensation, and basically become regular feeders at the public trough.  This type of lifestyle generally leads to a life of dependency rather than a life of productivity.

Teaching and coaching are hard work, and dont pay well.  Are educators and admins concerned, given the current environment, that jobs will be tough to fill in the not too distant future.

 

 

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COVID has had a huge impact on education in both the public and private sector; however, I think the key is pay. There are just so many administrator positions to be had so people scramble when one of the positions comes open. There is a lack of desire to work the long hours of a coach with the low stipend amount or in the case of an assistant no stipend. You haver to have love of the game and be in the position for all of the right reasons, not using the job as a stepping stone to the private sector. The private sector may appear to be a better deal with better pay. It sometimes is all about the $$, once the transition is made the time investment is about the same. The problem the corporation owns your ass, you are told you have to invest at least one weekend day to the job, be prepared to travel in a moments notice, cancel vacation plans, miss celebrations with the family. Are are all corporate positions the same, no they are not. It takes a special individual to be a teacher/coach and oftentimes compensation can't be a concern. I think the decision is yours, do something you love or go to a job with more pay that you will hate within a year. 

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1 hour ago, Goose Liver said:

COVID has had a huge impact on education in both the public and private sector; however, I think the key is pay. There are just so many administrator positions to be had so people scramble when one of the positions comes open. There is a lack of desire to work the long hours of a coach with the low stipend amount or in the case of an assistant no stipend. You haver to have love of the game and be in the position for all of the right reasons, not using the job as a stepping stone to the private sector. The private sector may appear to be a better deal with better pay. It sometimes is all about the $$, once the transition is made the time investment is about the same. The problem the corporation owns your ass, you are told you have to invest at least one weekend day to the job, be prepared to travel in a moments notice, cancel vacation plans, miss celebrations with the family. Are are all corporate positions the same, no they are not. It takes a special individual to be a teacher/coach and oftentimes compensation can't be a concern. I think the decision is yours, do something you love or go to a job with more pay that you will hate within a year. 

No, they don't.  Only if you allow it to be so,  just the same as in a public sector job.

 

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10 hours ago, DT said:

Been watching all the open coaching vacancies and it suddenly hit me.  Similar to the referee situation, is high school football facing an impending coaching shortage in the near or short term futures?

I wonder if the Covid experience has had a negative impact on the coaching profession, and on education careers in general.  I see that Northwood just hired a 26 year old new head varsity football coach.  Is this a sign of a lack of supply, a lack of interest, or just a case of a superstar young coach making his first big move?

Many young people have chosen to put off careers,  put off marriage and home buying, sit on the sidelines and collect government compensation, and basically become regular feeders at the public trough.  This type of lifestyle generally leads to a life of dependency rather than a life of productivity.

Teaching and coaching are hard work, and dont pay well.  Are educators and admins concerned, given the current environment, that jobs will be tough to fill in the not too distant future.

 

 

Northridge.

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Just a general observation from my local area, but we are seeing a trend of more females going into teaching than males with more open positions being filled by women than men. For Pioneer, only head coach Adam Berry works full time at the school while the rest of the staff work elsewhere.

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22 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

No, they don't.  Only if you allow it to be so,  just the same as in a public sector job.

 

I'm sorry, I should have expressed that clearer... when I say the corporation I mean the public sector job not the school corporation .  Coaching took a back seat to my corporate job for many years. It was not until I retired I was able to devote more time to the job I truly love... Coaching. Believe me management positions in corporations own your soul. You don't dance to the tune of the man you get a bad evaluation, are placed on work improvement, and terminated since you are an at will employee. 

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10 minutes ago, FarmerFran said:

Just a general observation from my local area, but we are seeing a trend of more females going into teaching than males with more open positions being filled by women than men. For Pioneer, only head coach Adam Berry works full time at the school while the rest of the staff work elsewhere.

Good observation... lots of schools could not operate a program without outsiders, sometimes volunteers participating.

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17 minutes ago, Goose Liver said:

Coaching took a back seat to my corporate job for many years. It was not until I retired I was able to devote more time to the job I truly love... Coaching. 

I assume you were also raising and providing for a family at that time?  If so, then IMHO your priorities were in perfect order.  If one doesn't want Coaching to take the 'back seat' at any point in their lives then they need to find higher paying coaching jobs at the college or professional ranks.

 

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3 hours ago, BDGiant93 said:

Since we're in a teacher shortage, I'd say that it's not silly to say that it carries over to the coaching side.

Definitely agree with this. 

3 hours ago, FarmerFran said:

Just a general observation from my local area, but we are seeing a trend of more females going into teaching than males with more open positions being filled by women than men. For Pioneer, only head coach Adam Berry works full time at the school while the rest of the staff work elsewhere.

I can't comment on the male/female split because I don't know for sure and haven't looked at the data.  I can agree that I have seen the growth of the "lay coach" assistant in the SIAC.  Many assistants work elsewhere - whether it be a different school or outside education completely. 

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When I was in high school during the mid 70's, every coach at our high school was a teacher in the building.  I remember our Athletic Director taught 4 English Classes, had his teaching prep and one extra for AD duties, with no secretary.

Now...almost 50 years later, things have changed. About half the head coaches are teachers, and the AD is now a full time position with a secretary.

Have things become more complicated? Maybe so

Are there fewer teachers entering the field? More than likely, yes

Do new teachers think they can handle coaching and teaching?  Looks like more no's than yeses.

Coaching has become a year round activity, it's seems that fewer teachers are willing to put that time to do both jobs.

Does the football coach need to be a full time position? 

 

 

 

 

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53 minutes ago, LaSalle Lions 1976 said:

Coaching has become a year round activity, it's seems that fewer teachers are willing to put that time to do both jobs.

Then perhaps sports need to be deemphasized in our high schools.  After all it's just a game, played by children.

54 minutes ago, LaSalle Lions 1976 said:

Does the football coach need to be a full time position? 

At the high school level and lower?  No.

 

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I'm not sure if shortage is the right word, but even 5-10 years ago, it was not easy to fill a staff with qualified individuals. This can be especially true in more rural areas. If prospective coaches aren't teachers, who actually has the luxury of a schedule that will allow them to work around practice and game times? What about the year round stuff? Anywhere I coached, much of the staff was not able to be there year round or chose not to be. Ideally, everyone is there all the time to reflect that all-in atmosphere. But that is often not realistic.

At the end of the day, staffs may get filled, but it may be with individuals who can run a drill or maybe just be a body to monitor a group. Coaching is not easy. It is generally thankless and it is not something you do for money. There will always be people who want to be a coach. There are far fewer that are willing to do what it takes. 

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There is a shortage of men going into teaching who want to be coaches.  There are also multiple concerns for admin when they hire, and many times they feel pressure to hire for some other reason than the fact that the person can coach.  Multiple young teachers who do coach do it for a few years and then quit to specialize in one sport, or quit altogether due to the long hours as they start a family, or due to the fact that things didn't work out due to the issues that come up in many school districts.  If there are issues, the stipend isn't enough to get them to stay, and they go on and do something else with their time.  I dont think covid has anything to do with it....it is just a problem in Indiana right now across the board.  DT original concern is a valid one that in a few years the teacher/coach pool will continue to shrink

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This is a really good topic and interesting topic. 

I am a 30 year old public educator and here are my observations.

1. It gets more difficult every year for kids entering college to justify spending $40k on a college degree to make $40k as a starting salary. I don't think a lot of parents are telling their kids: "Hey, I think you'd be a good teacher - you should go do that". 

2. Because of point #1 the candidate pool in many subject areas is almost non-existent. Math, Science, Foreign Language Teachers are very limited. And it seems like it is pretty rare to hire a teacher nowadays who is also an all-in coach/sponsor for anything. It's hard to find teachers and coaches, but finding a student council sponsor isn't a cake walk either.

3. At a smaller school, you're not going to have a 5-6 coaches that are in the building nowadays - if you do, you're very lucky. Having a lot of lay coaches is fine, but whoever is in the building has to be a pretty dynamic person in terms of recruiting the hallways, monitoring offseason work, grades, behavior etc.

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Just to be clear, there is a teacher shortage in SOME subjects. Primarily Math, Science and Special Ed. I know several PE/Health, History and Elementary teachers who have struggled to find jobs. 

Now to the coaching. There is never one answer to a question like this, but I believe the biggest problem is Admin. Willing to coach should help a teacher get a position. I actually feel like it hurts candidates more than it helps them. I've had multiple interviews and NEVER during those interviews have I been asked "Are you willing to coach?". It's not a factor for most admin. A lot of coaches do/are willing to coach multiple sports. Until Admin makes it a priority, a coaching shortage for a lot of corporations will only get worse. 

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5 hours ago, NEIFootballGuy said:

This is a really good topic and interesting topic. 

I am a 30 year old public educator and here are my observations.

1. It gets more difficult every year for kids entering college to justify spending $40k on a college degree to make $40k as a starting salary. I don't think a lot of parents are telling their kids: "Hey, I think you'd be a good teacher - you should go do that". 

2. Because of point #1 the candidate pool in many subject areas is almost non-existent. Math, Science, Foreign Language Teachers are very limited. And it seems like it is pretty rare to hire a teacher nowadays who is also an all-in coach/sponsor for anything. It's hard to find teachers and coaches, but finding a student council sponsor isn't a cake walk either.

3. At a smaller school, you're not going to have a 5-6 coaches that are in the building nowadays - if you do, you're very lucky. Having a lot of lay coaches is fine, but whoever is in the building has to be a pretty dynamic person in terms of recruiting the hallways, monitoring offseason work, grades, behavior etc.

Why on earth would you go to a college/university and spend 40K to become a teacher?

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5 hours ago, vicvinegar said:

Just to be clear, there is a teacher shortage in SOME subjects. Primarily Math, Science and Special Ed. I know several PE/Health, History and Elementary teachers who have struggled to find jobs. 

Now to the coaching. There is never one answer to a question like this, but I believe the biggest problem is Admin. Willing to coach should help a teacher get a position. I actually feel like it hurts candidates more than it helps them. I've had multiple interviews and NEVER during those interviews have I been asked "Are you willing to coach?". It's not a factor for most admin. A lot of coaches do/are willing to coach multiple sports. Until Admin makes it a priority, a coaching shortage for a lot of corporations will only get worse. 

I also think some younger coaches and teachers decide to go to the Administrative side, because that's where the money and higher paying jobs are in education. If you have a family, being in administration helps pay the bills as opposed to coaching which normally pays minimal for all of the time a coach puts in. And in most corporations, admin are not allowed to coach. 

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At the school my kids attended football HC was also the AD & softball HC (obviously did not teach), and all the assistant football coaches were full-time teachers and also assistants in other sports. One of the football assistants was the baseball HC and also full-time teacher.  Full disclosure this is a 2A school, so everyone is expected to wear more than one hat.  Other area schools in 1A-3A, are to the best of my knowledge the same with one or two exceptions.  Can't speak for 4A - 6A.

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On 3/24/2021 at 7:32 AM, NEIFootballGuy said:

3. At a smaller school, you're not going to have a 5-6 coaches that are in the building nowadays - if you do, you're very lucky. Having a lot of lay coaches is fine, but whoever is in the building has to be a pretty dynamic person in terms of recruiting the hallways, monitoring offseason work, grades, behavior etc.

I think you are correct, but this may also lead to an even bigger coaching shortage.  If you are asking a HC and one assistant to do the work of what was done by 4-5, burnout is going to get very real.  I think we are already seeing it and it does not look like a situation that will improve any time soon.

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