What is a Coach? Merriam-Webster defines it as:
[from the concept that the tutor conveys the student through examinations]
a: a private tutor
hired a coach to help her daughter prepare for the test
b: one who instructs or trains
an acting coach a birth coach
especially : one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy
a football coach a pitching coach a gymnastics coach
At the heart of this definition there are several things to think about.
First the examination portion. The examination most likely if you're looking at this blog post is most likely related to the sport of football, the examination is the game for the players to show understanding of technique game plan etc. It is just not an examination for the players but also the staff if you're not teaching well wins and losses could show this. It's not the end all be all in Coaching relationships and experience are crucial most if not all of us wouldn't be coaching if we didn't have transformative Coaches help us become better versions of ourselves and give us the idea to give back. The wins losses however are part of the business of Coaching and can help you continue to build relationships, develop young people, and provide positive experiences for our athletes. Think of each scrimmage or game as a test and the win loss record as a final test grade.
The next portion is instructing or training. Pedagogy is the art of teaching teachers. Coaches at heart at all levels are Teachers. Not all have formal teaching training backgrounds but all Coaches at some point will explain their progressions in teaching techniques, which is pedagogical at the core. You may be a part-part-whole progression, it may be a focus on the final and introduce parts and work back from the final progression. The progression matters, the verbiage matters, the details matter for teaching techniques in a way the athlete or student in what you're teaching can grasp the concept. Each student learns differently this is true in all people and in all skills not just related to athletics. It is our jobs as Teachers and Coaches to grasp this, see what works best for specific student athletes and work in a way to teach them the skills and concepts needed to succeed.
The add on to the portion is "one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy." This portion is more the meaty part we as Coaches tend to focus on. You may be early in your coaching journey and learning as much strategy, technique, and fundamental skills now to put yourself in position to get your first position job. You may be focused on the fundamentals of a specific position like offensive line to work be the best teacher of techniques to be the best OL coach around, or many other points of focus.
These points are critical to reflect and think about in the off season, and this is probably not the best timed blog for this with spring football in full swing but better late than never. As you're in your off season if you want to improve your skills you should have goals of what you are planning on studying or improving in just like our students should be doing the same. It can be technique, interaction, could be behavior management skills, could be a certain philosophy or scheme over arching, could be improving the nitty gritty of certain techniques in a scheme you want to improve in.
The rest of this blog will talk about ways we can improve as Coaches professionally. Some ideas or tips here may be feasible for you with a big budget, some may be doable with a low budget, the goal is for everyone to be able to take something and have tools to improve no matter the situation if they want to.
The easiest example of ways to improve in my mind that have been tried and true in Coaching are to attend clinics professional development conferences, or attend practices in programs that will allow you to see how things are done. A perfect example here would be the AFCA conference. It occurs around the national title game each year in January. The AFCA has a ton of Coaches in from all over the country at all levels great way to connect see old friends, make new ones, but more importantly talk some ball or teaching. There are buzz sessions, and large speaking rooms where people often share many of the topics involved in Coaching. The draw back on AFCA is it can be expensive or overlap with recruiting events with the new recruiting cycle. If it isn't something doable the AFCA has a video vault of presenters as well as Coaches clinics for people to use and access anywhere they have access to the internet. Most States have State wide clinics which may have Coaches from a smaller geographic area but also are very valuable. These clinics are often a little more open than the AFCA because they're smaller. Same goes for more regional clinics like portions of the state. Glazier clinics are bigger but have great Coaches from all over, as are Nike Clinics and other bigger third party clinics. Finally many large schools will have smaller coaching clinics often linked to watching a spring practice around this time of year. Attending and building a relationship with a specific program is definitely something that can be helpful especially if their is basis in their scheme. Mike Leach and many of the air raid coaches are renowned for their openness to teaching their offensive philosophy to other coaches and having an openness to discussing and sharing it. This may be based in Hal Mumme receiving an open door treatment to watch film for years at BYU which helped build the basis of the Air Raid. These in person sessions are great think they're probably the best way to build relationships over time but not always feasible due to cost distance and some Coaches being less willing to share or open doors.
More paid options include books another tried and true method Coaches Choice, as well as various Coaches have written books on everything to philosophy to scheme. CoachTube has sport specific clinics you can complete designed by Coaches as do other sites.
The internet has made not just football but most things easier to research, long gone are the days of going to the library finding documents or reels to try and find pieces of information. The internet makes something very available with an easy search. YouTube has more videos and content than any one person could consume in their entire lifetime and is constantly being added upon, this is a great place to search. If you know a coach or scheme you want to research can use those or other keywords to search the topic and it may lead to finding more information to find what you're looking for if you haven't found it. There are great websites for playbooks old and new from Pro level to youth levels from any scheme, philosophy, or Coach you can think off usually can be found by searching the internet. Last but not least FootballScoop is not only a good website to know what movement is happening in the profession but they also have great sound bites and content from Coaches often from press conferences or press releases that can help spread more information not only on culture but the state of football currently.
Social media has led to some awesome communities and football is no different. Coaches of all levels connect and communicate through Football Chats which help connect Coaches all over in the offseason. Podcasts have made it so you can listen to clinics or discussions through audio while traveling or if you want in any setting. Twitter in particular has given us Coaches sharing ideas and film, as well as sport historians sharing forgotten history of the sport, sports psychiatrists, nutritionist, strength and conditioning coaches, as well as others a voice and ability to find quick answers and connect quickly. These have expanded into zoom sessions amongst Coaches, as well as zoom clinics like Laurens First and Goal Clinic which is a great clinic for a great cause. Names of Coaches like Coach Vass, Coach Dan Casey, Alex Kirby, have made strides in helping educate the football Coaches and fans alike. E-Mail mailing lists with new scheme reports or ideas sent out daily. There are some outstanding journalists as well who are much more connected to the game at a higher level than your daily talking points you would've seen in your local paper or sports radio host 30 years ago discussing the intricacies of the game.
Resources
NC State Learning Styles Survey: (Great Tool to see how players and Coaches learn)
Football Resource Websites:
AFCA Website:
Football Scoop:
Coach Vass Website:
Coach Dan Casey Website:
Coach and Coordinator Website:
CoachTube Website:
Our Coaching Network Website:
Football Playbooks Website:
Throw Deep Publishing Website:
Coach Kou Website:
Space Coyote BSD Blog:
http://breakdownsports.blogspot.com/
TXHSFBChat Website:
HogsFBChat Website:
Would love to add more content or information on the content as I find new ones will update this blog with additions.
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