
Being a first year Head Coach can be nerve-wracking! It can be glorious! It can be a nightmare. It can be everything wrapped up into one! You’ll surely go through every emotion known to man during your first year.
I know. I was a Head Football Coach! I became a Head Coach when I was just 27 years old.
I have also been an Athletic Director and Athletic Administrator for more than a decade. I’ve mentored many Head Coaches a few different campuses where I supervised coaches. I sat across the desk from these men and women who also went through every type of emotion. From the glorious first win as a Head Coach to the confounding ways that parents come at us to knowing how to put together an effective coaching staff to learning how to write a productive practice plan. Head Coaches do it all!
I released my fourth book, The Head Coach Blueprint, in September of 2024. I spent a few years writing it. There is nothing like it on the market, I can guarantee you that! You can read the online version here, or get it on Amazon.
I conducted extensive surveys, engaging with nearly 500 high school and college coaches, (there were 38,000 data points collected for this project!) all of whom share your journey as a coach, to illuminate their trajectory toward becoming a Head Coach. This enlightening book unveils their well-kept strategies and demystifies the intricate job search process, fresh from the eyes of a former Athletic Director and current Principal.
One of the chapters is below, right from the Head Coaches mouths, no commentary from me. If you’re a new Head Coach, or aspiring Head Coach, I challenge you to find 3 things from this list, and incorporate these things into your program this season.
Chapter 43: What Is One Thing You Would Change About
Your First Year As A Head Coach?
A better OL and DL Coach, we were weak there staff wise and it was obvious in games.
A better understanding of the day-to-day grind of a division 1 program versus a smaller school, it really is a huge difference
A little tougher and less worried about pleasing everyone
Actually, I would not change anything. I was not prepared, and I learned a lot! It brought me to the harsh realization of what I got myself into. It was a real eye-opener.
After being a HC for 37 years I would say keep your friends close but your enemies closer
Allowing coaches to not meet program standards for too long.
Asked for help/advice instead of learning the hard way.
Baseball, has a better assistant coach.
Football, this fall will be 1st year.
Be a little more flexible with people in general.
Be a little more flexible with some “rules”.
Be intentional about gaining trust of the players and coaches above anything else. Relationships!
Be less stubborn and more open-minded.
Be less demanding of the players to be all in too early. In the program I came from we won many championships. I knew what that type of program looked like and I wanted the players to trust me way too soon.
Be less of a hard ass and build relationships with kids.
Be more aggressive in what is needed for the program, build better relationships with stakeholders and fundraisers like crazy
Be more assertive with certain staff as far as expectations.
Be more confident in your ability to coach
Be more creative – I was too conservative as a play caller – I wanted to make sure players knew everything we did – sometimes QB & WR can tweak or LB & DE can change – NOT everyone needs to know – got better with that as I’ve gone along – It’s not about Wins and Losses – I used to take losses hard!
Be more decisive in my dealing with parents
Be more detailed and prepared
Be more hands on with assistant coaches.
Be more in tune with your coaches.
Be more myself, and confident. I remember letting my assistant handle a few more of the “baseball” things just because I wasn’t sure if I knew enough. I felt like the system, structure, discipline model etc were all solid and kids understood and bought in, it sometimes I lack confidence in my knowledge of the Xs and Os
Be more open minded
Be more organized and more open to change.
Be more present and understand the name you’re making for yourself will change. How much depends on you, not your circumstances
Be more proactive in communication as well as remembering to be good at my day job
Be more relationship driven in a purposeful way.
Be much more specific and intentional with my assistants.
Be myself. do not try to be someone I wasn’t.
Be prepared for anything. Just when you think you have everything ready, the unexpected will happen.
Be prepared for covid. Do a better job of fundraising. Do a better job of coaching my coaches.
Be stern and be a Head Coach for everyone. Employ others who would assist in administration and other parts of the job involved.
Be willing to hire coaches instead of retaining the current ones
Because of drastic changes of offensive schemes I would have done more football specific work in the off-season.
Been more clear on expectations and roles for my assistant coaches. Coaching your coaches is another huge aspect.
Being able to delegate to the assistant coaches more.
Being at the school I was at.
Being less my way or the highway. Change is hard, especially when you are resetting the priorities to put the athletes as the focus, so getting buy-in from other coaches and parents. Sometimes this athlete focus can come across as favoritism when the parents do not see it as directed at their kid, so make sure you are being clear about that for them as well as the kids. The kids know what is going on, but the parents have to see it for them to not think you’re “pulling one over them”
Being more aware of the situation I was walking into.
Being more consistent. I was not very good with consistency when it came to discipline.
Being more organized (8 coaches said this)
Being more positive with athletes
Being more strict over the entire program
Being myself more and trusting the decisions I made
Better communication with parents
Better communication with student-athletes about their positions and getting them in the right positions.
Better communication with team & parents in between games & team events. Send more “team” emails, updates, etc.
Better delegation. Assistant coaches are there to help and want to help, so let them.
Better staff.
Build in time to spend with my wife and family.
Building off my last answer, I’d be myself more, for one. Secondly, I would have stayed the course more. Background: we went 0-10 that first year. Hardly what I had envisioned for my first year as a Head Coach. I didn’t know what to do when the times were tough. My answer was to reinvent, change, scrap the playbook mid-season, etc. None of those were the right decision. Ultimately we should have stayed the course and continued to practice and get better at what we had been doing all season, not change things each week and hope and pray things got better.
Calm down- keep it simpler. Set standards and do not let assistants or anyone change those standards. Standards should have NOTHING to do with winning. Advertise your standards- wear them and base all decisions on those standards. Seek to find a mentor or two completely away from your program/community to seek guidance from.
Check on the availability of a secretary and booster club.
Checking my ego
Coach your assistant coaches
Collaboration across different levels of the program
Communicate more. Ask more questions to my AD
Communication with community and how our program would fit into it
Cut back on the X and Os. More is less. You need to go into games with enough schemes but error on the side of having too little instead of too much. Too much means your players are likely not confident in any of it. If they are not confident their talent level doesn’t matter. They won’t execute
Cut some bad attitude seniors.
Defend the screen up late in the game vs. Eastmoor.
Delegate a bit less.
Delegate more (4 coaches said this)
Delegate more and hire a couple older or experienced assistants that may have had some HC experience, do not be intimidated by that! I took a D1 asst job after being a Hc with a First time HC and I believe I helped him a ton his first two years before I left for my Fourth HC job!
Delegate, delegate, delegate! I had no one to delegate to that first year cause I was such a late hire and gained 20 pounds and a case of insomnia from the stress. My staff has been together for four seasons now and I trust them to do their duties and most go beyond the job description and make my life so much easier.
Didn’t know different aspects of the game
District/admin support
Do a leadership class
do not hire your buddies as assistant coaches!
do not put too much pressure on yourself. I used to lose so much weight thinking about parents, admin, coaches and what they thought of me.
do not try and install the whole vision at once. Prioritize!
do not hire friends just because I thought it would be cool to coach with them.
do not let the little things slide, they become big things
do not let the parents intervene.
do not neglect your teaching duties
do not sweat the small stuff. Love the kids and teach them about football and life.
do not try to be buddy buddy with the players. You can build a relationship with the kids without being their friend.
Enjoy it more, relax more.
Enjoy the moment!! Take time to reflect on success and failures. Find the right assistants!!
Enjoy the ride! Trust your preparation, and have fun. do not want to miss out on these special moments in the lives of the kids for over analyzing everything, for fear of making a monumental mistake. The mistakes are going to happen anyway. Are you doing your very best? If so, even still you cannot account for everything. When the players, staff, & community believe in what you’re building, it won’t matter. They’ll still have your back through both the good and bad times.
Enjoy the small moments
Enjoyed the moment much more and built better relationships with the community
Establish some cultural traditions
Even after all these years, I still do not have an answer to this question that really makes sense.
Everything
Figure out a way to better manage time between teaching and coaching
Find someone to help with fundraising
Fire non-loyal assistant coaches
Focus more on culture building than xs and o’s
Focus on the upcoming season prep as opposed to the down the road stuff
Focused more on how we teach schemes rather than getting frustrated trying to jam the round peg in the square hole doing the same style as at previous places
For football since I was going to a new place, I might have changed my first contact with the athletes. I wish I did a better job in the opening meeting.
Found a better way to work with our new admin. I was hired by a previous admin
Gain more knowledge regarding CIF rules
Get an actual personal life.
Get at least one win in the first 2 years
Get better families in booster positions.
Get information to the players as soon as possible, I’d try to hand out play books and manuals sooner than we did.
Also learn to say “no” to parents and others a lot sooner.
Get rid of some of the bad apples sooner.
Get to know players better.
Getting more coaches
Getting more involved in the community. More patience with players. I was too young and strong headed
Give coaches more responsibilities.
Give my assistants more responsibility.
Go out of my way more to build relationships in the community
Got the job in February not June
Gotten better assistants
Hard to answer because I had to learn… so nothing. I had a lot of problems, lost a lot, learned a lot.
Have a better off season training program
Have a right hand guy that you come in with if you can. Someone you trust and can talk to
Have a veteran/experienced Assistant Coach. You will need them day in and day out
Have more fun
Have more synergy between the offensive and defensive staff. Have the game plans be in sync with the needs of the team. Identify two way players and play our best 11 when we need them.
Having a sit down meeting with returning starters who were committed to the previous Head Coach to better address their concerns but to also make my expectations clear in hopes of getting them to better buy-in rather than question everything throughout the season.
Having more realistic expectations
Headmaster not retiring and school being forced to hire their 3rd choice who ruined school and was fired a year after I left.
Hindsight is 20/20 and I would have removed the 2 poor character players and not given as many chances.
Hire a better staff.
Hire assistants that buy in
Hire better assistants, spend more time researching candidates
Hire more assistants that know more than me.
Hire more assistants.
Hired new assistants that I chose.
Hiring better assistants, delegating more
Hiring more qualified assistant coaches
Hiring of staff
Hiring the correct/right staff
Honestly I had about 6 Seniors that quit because they liked the outgoing HC so much, I wish they would have given myself and staff a chance to help them make the most of their Senior Year, sure it was going to be more difficult to play for us, because we had higher standards, but I feel like for the Seniors that played for us it was their best year of their career.
How I went about dealing with administration and staff. I would listen more to those around me and learn as much as I could.
I didn’t have to burn the midnight oil seven days a week and needed to spend more time with my family.
I do not know if I would change anything….other than winning more.
I do not have anything in mind. It’s a learning process.
I do not think I would change anything because I learned and grew so much from that experience.
I knew a lot of people since I was in high school and have been teaching there… One thing I would change is I would not try to let the relationships that I had affect the things I knew I needed to ask for but always thought I could get things done even without the things/demands I knew I needed to make.
I knew that the AD and I were not in step and I should’ve tried a little better to get us aligned.
I made a bad defensive coordinator hire. It really set us back. I also would have done a better job molding our offense to our players.
I needed to be more involved on both sides of the ball
I know a lot more now.. I would say to be more proactive in communication
I should have kept their offensive language (offenses were similar) instead of asking 70 players and 9 coaches to learn mine
I should have made more cuts early. I depended on the best athletes only due to their ability and potential, not their attitude and character.
I should have relied more on the assistant coaches. I tried to do too much.
I think I was crazy for taking the job in the first place. But now, 25 years later, I look back and so appreciate all I learned from that experience and have found memories. Biggest regret, may be that I should have adjusted our splits tighter to help my OL out since we were so big. Que sera-sera.
I think I would be more confident, especially when issues inevitably arose.
I took the job 3 weeks before the season started. Most of the season was a blur. Enjoy each moment you get.
I tried to do too much schematically. I wanted to prove to everyone how much I knew. Lesson learned, keep it simple.
I was 19 and needed to learn how to coach.
I was interviewed at two places to LEAVE my job (I was going to leave after one year), but stayed due to loyalty to the kids (it was a very poor, primarily minority student population)… In retrospect I should have not withdrawn my names from those two jobs
I was officially hired on August 1st of 2017. I wish I would have been hired in the spring to recruit and hire better
I was stubborn during my first year. I thought my ways of structuring and running things were the best. I learned quickly that I needed to adapt many things.
I was too competitive with my guys, it set up some rocky relationships that I still regret to this day.
I will answer after year 1
I wish I could have been on campus, instead of trying to rebuild a program during COVID. Two things happened on March 13th, 2020 – new equipment for our overhauled weight room arrived and we went on lock down for the first time.
I wish I could have hired my coaches with my same mindset and outlook of what a program needs to be.
I wish I had more foundation in offense, especially the pass game.
I wish I knew more about schemes and strategies. I did not know enough about the game. The support was incredible regardless. But I cost our kids a few wins by simply not having a good enough understanding of coverages, play calling.
I wish I took preparation more seriously. No matter the other team’s record, you prepare for that team like you would a championship game.
I wish I was a better play caller and was better at designing an offense. We might have won the championship all three years. But that said, the pain I suffered that year made me work all the harder.
I wish I would delegated duties more
I wish I would have built my coaching staff differently.
I wish I would have had a chance to meet with my parents prior to taking over the program.
I wish I would have received the position earlier in the year and could have weeded out those who weren’t with me and brought in my own staff. I inherited the entire staff.
I wish I would have spent more time paying attention to how we practiced overall
I wish I would have started empowering assistant coaches earlier and relying on them than doing things myself.
I wish I would have waited for another opportunity.
I wish I would’ve been more available to the student-athletes.
I would be better prepared and organized for every minute of practice.
I would be far more involved in school activities right out the gate
I would be more authentic and not try to project something I am not.
I would change how I handled the end of the season. Would have made sure that I did end of the season interviews with players.
I would change how I went about handing out duties and who the coordinators were. Making sure those with more responsibility were those who wanted to see us succeed and were willing to put in the work required to do so.
I would change how much I assumed returning players would remember and what they would try to “get away with” as a new coach, even though I had been in the program for 3 years.
I would communicate more clearly with assistant coaches.
I would definitely not have taken my first gig during Covid with an already struggling program. My admin and AD were well aware of the likely outcome of our season but that expectation unfortunately sets the bar for what others expect. I would have set standards that do not correlate to wins and losses but daily, weekly, and team wins that weren’t necessarily found on game day- grades, weight room gains/PR’s, fundraising, community service. Wins are found in each of those.
I would delegate more (This same exact phrase was mentioned five times!)
I would delegate more. I tried to do too much by myself.
I would do a better job of delegating things and not do it all myself.
I would focus less on results and more on process and developing relationships with stakeholders, assistant coaches and school staff.
I would get more things like budget and what the school would provide in writing.
I would have asked for more things upfront for the program.
I would have been more demanding of my assistant coaches, making sure they understood how I wanted things done. I think they would have been receptive to what I wanted if I had made it more clear.
I would have been more firm in my beliefs and convictions to what it was going to take to turn the program around. My second year was amazing
I would have been more flexible and less dogmatic about little issues that do not really matter.
I would have been the offensive coordinator
I would have called the offense and not have made deals or promises to land assistant coaches. Like if you coach with me, I will let you be the OC and call plays.
I would have chosen my assistants more carefully. Quality over quantity.
I would have continued to call one side of the ball.
I would have coordinated the offense, it has been my dream to have the full reins of the offense (previously assistant OC) and gave that up out of fear of not being able to handle HC responsibilities and run the offense. Huge mistake!
I would have delegated more. I held on and controlled too much.
I would Have empathy for parents. until you have a teenager of your own, you will not know what they go through.
I would have established “my way” of doing things much sooner. I sat back and tried to get a feel of the school/former program etc. It Costs us valuable time.
I would have focused more on bringing my coaches along and realized that their development was as equally important to the success of the program as our athletes.
I would have focused more on building the confidence of my players
I would have found someone to help with the finances sooner. Once I got a guy I trusted to help with that, I was able to focus more on the football side of things.
I would have had better communication.
I would have hired a former Head Coach as an assistant
I would have implemented more off-season skill development from February (hire date) through August (start of 1st season)- we missed out on a ton of development time for THOSE particular kids.
I would have listened more, been slower to make major changes and been more careful in vetting/hiring staff.
I would have looked for more qualified assistant coaches.
I would have made more culture changes immediately. The school I took over had just won a championship and I waited to change certain things that needed improvement. I would also work more on time management.
I would have pushed the weight room more.
I would have ran my own offense.
I would have made sure that I hired better assistants
I would have made a different decision in regards to who I hired as our DC. It wasn’t a great fit and I honestly feel it cost us a few games.
I would have put less pressure on the athletes. I was too concerned about my success.
I would have reached out to the parents and 7/8th grade kids more and been a better communicator to them
I would have set my ego aside and let the “co-oc” call the offense. He was and is better than me. We made that switch in year two!
I would have sought mentorship
I would have spent less money.
I would have strengthened my play calling and offense. Some bad calls on my part lead to us losing a chance at a CIF title
I would have stressed Team By-in more than winning games as team cohesion would dictate winning.
I would have taken more time putting together my staff.
I would have tried to connect more with adults, been better about communicating, etc. Honestly, I should’ve never taken that job.
I would have tried to do less and build each year. I tried to overhaul too much and it created more work and less results.
I would have tried to enjoy it more . The stress can really eat at you if you allow it to
I would have utilized my assistant more
I would have vetted my assistant coaches better by creating a competitive environment during those interviews. Our school has difficulty attracting coaches, so my first year was mostly with the previous staff. However, I’m year 2, we were able to bring on coaches with shared beliefs.
I would have waited a few more years.
I would have waited a little longer to choose Captains. 3 of the 4 were awesome, but 1 was made a captain because of player recommendations. He was a headache as a leader all year
I would hire assistant coaches solely based on their personal characteristics rather than their knowledge. Good people with good intentions end up being better coaches than people who only know the scheme.
I would keep it simple, my first year I tried to change 1000 things and it overwhelmed the kids.
I would keep it simple. Do not attempt to impress with your knowledge
I would listen more
I would make the experience more fun for both players and coaches. I was so caught up in scheme, practice planning, administrative, duties, etc. that I lost some of the joy that comes from high school sports. I made things more like a business, and I think I took some of the fund that comes with playing sports away from our student-athletes.
I would not be as timid as I was doing what I wanted to do
I would not change anything because I would not be here without the experience I went through. I am better because of the experience.
I would not have called the offense.
I would not have run the schemes that worked with strong personnel where I had been previously. I would run schemes that level the playing field a bit, as we did on our second year. I would also delegate more.
I would not have taken the job.
I would not have tried to be such a know it all and absorbed help from trusted coach friends
I would have Focused more on keeping things simple and building up my players.
I would have turned it down and stayed where I was as an assistant coach.
I would probably not be as head strong trying to prove I deserved to be Head Coach and that a walk-on could be as good or even better than a teacher. Should have just focused on coaching and teaching student-athletes life lessons and football.
I would Read these 2 books before becoming a Head Coach: 3D COACH and INSIDE OUT COACHING. I would prioritize relationships and making football fun. By relationships, I mean with Administrators, Parents, and players. If I were the coach then that I am now, I’d still be there.
I would relate to parents and kids better. Communicate better all around
I would spend more time coaching my coaches.
I would spend more time preparing how to coach than worrying about the x’s and o’s
I would take a step back prior to getting married. My ex wife wasn’t ready to be a football wife and got thrown into it as our first year of marriage was my first year as a Head Coach. Too much too fast! Delay one or the other.
I would take notes of everything and review them often.
I would turn down the full time position and go be an assistant
I would’ve focused on fewer aspects of the job. I tried to do everything in year 1 and wore myself out before the end of the season.
I would’ve put more of the emphasis on attaining film for only our games as well as our opponents. I felt that to prepare for our games you can do better.
I would’ve stood up to the haters
I wouldn’t have been as much of a micro manager. I knew what I wanted the program to look like and didn’t paint that picture to my staff well enough and then I stepped on their toes too much to get it the way I wanted.
I wouldn’t have taken the job.
I wouldn’t have started it in a neck brace!
I wouldn’t have taken that job
I wouldn’t have taken the job without firing the dc on staff before I came in.
I wouldn’t let the small stuff eat at me. Kids would skip practice and I would take it personal. We had a process in place for punishment and discipline for this. I kept worrying about the kids who weren’t there instead of the ones who were committed and came everyday.
I wouldn’t have listened to my AD and others as much. I was 22 and had plans but thought I should listen to others. Would’ve gone back and done it my way
I wouldn’t be such a hard ass. I was young and dumb. I thought my constant intensity would carry over better than it did.
I’d be more prepared
I’m not really sure that I would change anything, everything was a learning experience and has made me better. Obviously there are things I look back on and wish I had done something a little differently but I think I’ll do that every year of my career.
I’d have fired the guy I was told I needed to keep. He undermined me at every turn.
Ignore the papers, blogs or coaches in the stands.
Implement everything in year one, coaches, playbook, fundraising, organization, boosters, yearly program. The faster you set your expectations, the faster your program will be established.
Interview potential staff members better/more thoroughly
Invested more time in building working relationships and norms and practices for our coaching staff.
It’s more about Relationships than X’s and O’s
Keeping parents more informed or in the loop.
Kick the FG!
Knowledge of the other side of the ball
Lack of equipment, uniforms
Learning to delegate and not micromanage everything, but it’s hard if you want it done right and you want to make sure things start off and go well from the beginning. Be secure enough to acknowledge and adapt / fix things that need attention or tweaking. Nobody’s perfect or has all the answers.
Less assistants. No “dad” assistants.
Less emotion more business minded
Less strict and more flexible
Let the kids scrimmage more
Letting admin dictate what I needed to do
Listen more
Listen more to my assistants.
Listening to more people
Looking back, I wouldn’t change anything about my first year as a Head Coach. I was told that one is ever fully ready until they become a Head Coach. However, I did feel that I was prepared because I knew that things would come up and ultimately I would have to deal with them. In that regard, I never felt overwhelmed.
Loss some close games because of some game management mistakes
Make a clean break from the previous Head Coach. Your program now.
Making sure that there is a clear line of communication and clear understanding between the coaching and training staff.
Meet and engage the seniors more
method of choosing captains
More authoritative
More buy in from the town. Wish we had more kids.
More energy into the things I mentioned as advice to a new Head Coach.
More focus on building coaching staff culture and getting coaches together outside of football.
More gradual change of culture. Listen and get adults to buy in.
More support from coaches
More thorough when hiring assistants
My coaching staff
My family and I enjoyed the experience.
My insecurities and the feeling of inadequacies I had as a coach. That I was not good enough. And that in order for me to fit in with the local coaches I needed to win.
My Offensive playbook. Tried to do way too much.
No school on Fridays for us. It felt rushed. Need to have them show up earlier next season
None, all of the mistakes were great learning experiences
Not a thing. Was the foundation for a state championship the following year!
Not a thing. That first year I was blessed with a group of players and parents that believed in everything we were trying to do together. They believed in me, I believed in them, and to this day I think we would run through walls for each other. It was a special, special experience.
Not agreeing to 3 science preps
Not being a coordinator at the same time, just be the Head Coach
Not being more open to trying my ideas fast enough. From recruiting from the general PE class to scouting players on out of season sports to do track, I could have gone to more sports and reached more kids.
Not delegating enough to my qualified assistants
Not having so many kids on the team
Not make drastic changes too soon
Not much, wish we had made the playoffs but it was really an excellent introduction to being a Head Coach.
Not much. It’s all a learning process.
Every program has different needs.
Not much. Maybe win more games.
Not much. My first year was one of my best years
Not so much pressure on myself to judge by my WL record more by the lives I changed and all the kids I helped get recruited and moved on to colleges.
Not sure I would change anything. I handled what I could control and learned a lot. I had good buy-in from the guys I had coaching and we were limited in talent and numbers but that was out of my control and couldn’t be changed obviously.
not to use bad language or tobacco, kids are watching and listening
Not trying to do everything myself. Putting more of a focus on development then winning.
Not trying to do everything myself. Share the load, and go home and enjoy your family!
Not worry about how or what the assistant coaches felt about what the core dynamic of our team needed to be for us to be successful.
Nothing (38 coaches said this)
Nothing – we won a Div I Championship
Seriously, better evaluation of the coaching staff.
Nothing …. It to this day was my favorite
Nothing in all reality. I was new, the school was new, the program was new, and for the most part, the kids were new. We just all jumped in head first and made the best out of a very bad situation. One you would need to hear to believe.
Nothing, each year has been different, and unique. I think each season prepared me for what was ahead, and what we needed to improve on
Nothing, I look back and analyze things but do not regret decisions made. Always looking forward to it.
Nothing, I needed to handle/go through everything I experienced.
Nothing, it made me who I am today.
Nothing, it was all beneficial. The good and the bad.
Nothing, it was so chaotic and like a Disney sports film, so crazy that I knew if I got through that, I could get through anything, including my first full offseason not happening till this year in my 4th year as Head Coach !
Nothing, learned more in that year than I had in the previous 19
Nothing! Ignorance is bliss. It was the most enjoyable year of my career because I didn’t know what I didn’t know!
Nothing. I’m a better coach now because of what I didn’t know then.
Nothing. It got me where I am right now.
Nothing. It made me who I am.
Nothing. It was an incredible experience
Nothing. It went as smooth as it could have gone.
Nothing. Learned from the experience.
Nothing. Live and Learn.
Nothing. The growth was exactly what I needed.
One thing I’d change would be to actually be on campus. Only seeing my student-athletes once during 1st period is tough. I can; really build the connections & relationships that I would like.
One thing that I would change was sticking to the rules and discipline. I was so worried about kids leaving and us losing games that I put my own core beliefs aside.
Other than a few play calls, nothing.
Other than the 2 point conversion call in the first round in sectionals, I wish I had delegated more. The first year I had the mindset of “if I didn’t do it myself, it never would have got done”. It started a bad habit that I tried doing everything myself. I always tried to learn and do more to help the program but wish I delegated more so my assistants were more prepared for future years as well.
Over communicate with parents and players
Preparation. You can never be over prepared.
Prepare for the unexpected.
Probably the process of hiring a coaching staff, but really it was a great experience, so I would have to say “Nothing.”
Pull my d1 rb early week three. Dump the booster program asap. Go for the win before the playoff game.
Pushed more to hire a few coaches not from previous staff
Put more trust into the staff. I tried to do too many things on my own
Put your stamp on the program from day 1.
Quality over quantity of hours put in during practice; Players make mistakes, they know it, no need to “get on them” for making an error, etc.; Being more organized with dealings w/ parents and administration.
reaching out to mentors on how to deal with parents
Realizing that managing adults would be a big thing
Really tough one to answer. Had minimal problems my first year.
Run what your players can do
Saying “no” to the school that hired me.
Setting the foundation. I was stuck on having numbers so I let many stay that shouldn’t have been on the team.
Slow down
Slow down and enjoy the moment!
So many things! I just lacked perspective and experience. I didn’t know what I didn’t know but what I didn’t know I overcame with passion and love for the game. One thing I would change was when I had a bad day people knew it. I’m much better about clearing my head and locking in, not allowing external factors to impact my coaching style.
Some of my staff decisions.
Somehow bridge the communication gap w my ad
Somehow slow it down! It moved so fast, it felt like I was always behind!
Spend more time building 1 on 1 rapport with each assistant coach.
Spend more time finding assistants
Spending more time coaching Coaches.
Spent more time preparing our coaches for duties and expectations.
Stopping La Serna’s mesh play and having a better 2 min operation
Support
Taking the job in the first place. I believe I was put in a position where I could not be successful and I feel like it’s affected me with other jobs going forward.
That I had a mentor that could have taught me how to manage a program. Had to learn on the fly.
The biggest mistake I made was bringing on coaches because they promised to recruit kids to the school. I should have focused on the coaching and how they were with the kids first. We would have attracted the kids we wanted as a bi-product of a great staff.
The way I treated some umpires.
To have spent more time with my family, include them in what I was doing.
Too much to list but I would have taken better care of my family and spent more time at home
Tried to find a little more balance
Try to find another assistant. I did the offense, defense and special teams.
Try not to make everyone happy, do what’s best for the program.
Try to get more assistants
Try to make changes more gradually
Trying to get more than 14 kids on the team.
Understand that all job offers aren’t the right job offer.
Understand the importance of family
Used checklists to know what to do
Utilize personnel better as opposed to making them fit my scheme. That’s the magic of being a good high school coach in my opinion, how do you put your kids each year in the best position to be successful. It’s not about what scheme you “like”, what can your kids do well and what will give them an edge on Friday night.
Waste less time in the office. Be more assertive with assistants. do not try to please everyone.
We had a player transfer into our program mid season during my first year as a Head Coach, and hindsight being what it is (20/20), there were several things that I wish I had done differently in handling that situation. That player had some significant off-field issues he was dealing with, and I could’ve done a much better job working with him and his parents to address those prior to having him join our team and start playing in games.
We lost a game on the road in really bad weather that I had not prepared my team well for – I would change that mistake.
Win more games 😆
Win more games!
Winning a game
Wish I had gotten to know the kids better off the field.
Wish I knew what I knew now in year 11
Wishing I knew what I know now.
Work more on forming better relationships with staff and players.
Would have been at a different place
Would have been bolder in my interactions with administration.
Would have been more stern/clear with my expectations with coaches. I was too friendly/nice a guy , allowing them some room to interpret things their own way and am currently working on making sure they understand the scheme WILL be the exact same, not little differences, and the expectations aren’t optional.
Would have been nice to go at least .500
Would have delegated more
Would have installed a little less
Would have spent more time with the defense
Would never have given someone else the offense
Would of waited a while longer before jumping in
Would try to do less as a coordinator and be more firm on doing things ‘my way’. Trying to ease into things to keep some coaches around just delayed our program development.
Wouldn’t have tried to do everything in one year
Yell way less.
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Chris Fore has his Masters degree in Athletic Administration, is a Certified Athletic Administrator and served for 3 years as the President of the California Coaches Association. He coached high school football for 17 years, including 8 years as a Head Coach. He is also a court-certified Expert Witness in athletically based court cases. Fore is the CEO of Eight Laces Consulting which specializes in helping coaches nationwide in their job search process, and provides dynamite resources for coaches. Fore has been named to the Hudl Top 100 Coaches, and the Top 5 Best High School Football Coaches to follow on Twitter by MaxPreps. Follow him!