This is an excerpt from my book THE HEAD COACH BLUEPRINT. It is Chapter 5 of my 50 chapter, 500+ page book that features interviews 38,000 data points from 488 Head Coaches from 45 states and 3 countries who have 4,584 years of Head Coaching experience across 18 different sports! Nobody has done this type of research, or written this type of comprehensive book for coaches who want to be Head Coaches!
There are 3 ways to buy THE HEAD COACH BLUEPRINT! Hard Copy or Kindle or PDF
Chapter 5 – What Made You Think That You Were Ready To Be A Head Coach?
“Do not hurry and wait until you’re ready. REALLY ready.” – Ray Lokar, 21 years as a Head Coach, Covina, CA (seen below at his first Head Coaching job, 1992, St. Anthony’s High)
“You’ll never be ready.” – Bill Blankenship, 32 years as a Head Coach, Bixby, Oklahoma
There is no doubt at all that one of the most frequently asked questions that I get in the Twitter DMs or by email or phone text is “How do I know if I’m ready to be a Head Coach?” Or “Hey Fore, let me ask you a question: how did you know that you were ready to be a Head Coach?
It is a fair question. And to be very honest, I think that if you are asking this question, you are probably ready. There is an adage: measure twice, cut once! Carpenters use this sentiment to guide their actions so that they are not doing twice the work, or wasting their wood supply, or not making their deadlines.
I fear for the coaches who do NOT ask this question. I started coaching in the mid-1990s. You did not even THINK about becoming a Head Coach for the first 5-10 years of your coaching career back then. Shoot, some old timers would argue 10-15 years! But now I get messages from coaches who have coached for as little as two years saying, “I want to be a Head Coach.”
For instance, coaches who have never even coordinated one aspect of football (Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator or Special Teams Coordinator) or even coached varsity basketball yet, think they are ready to be a Head Varsity Football Coach or Head Varsity Basketball Coach. I truly do not understand that mentality. Very, very, very rarely do these guys come from great programs so that explains some of what they are thinking. They have seen a bad example of being a Head Coach for a year or two, and just assume they can do a better job.
I firmly believe that in the world I come from, football, you have GOT to be a Coordinator before becoming a Head Coach. In fact, I have hired a Head Football Coach just once as an Athletic Administrator, and that was a prerequisite for us: you had to have at least been a Coordinator or we weren’t even going to read your application. In my mind, you have to show that kind of maturity, and leadership development. There is a progression to this business, and that is part of the progression.
I know what you are thinking. Wait a minute Fore, just a couple of chapters back you explained that you were only twenty-seven years old when you got your first Head Coaching position, and only coached for four years before becoming a Head Coach! Listen, I am not advocating for a certain number of years. I do not think you have to coach for a certain number of years before being eligible to be a Head Coach. But I do argue that you have had to have shown a certain level of increased responsibility within your program, and a successful run at that.
As you read with my own journey, I was asked to be the Head JV Football Coach at Linfield just a few weeks into starting with them because of the meetings that I had with the Head Varsity Coach, because of the little things that I was given to accomplish that I did a great job with. All of those things added up to school administration finally saying, “Fore is the guy.” They had watched me on their campus for two years as the Head JV Coach, Varsity Special Teams Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. They had watched me doing all of the film work, doing the laundry, being responsible for leading the stat crew, creating and making the program all by myself. Those things showed them “Fore is ready.” So, although I was only a coach for four years, I was in a place where I had extra responsibilities given to me, I excelled at those responsibilities, and was acknowledged for that work and dedication to the program. There was a need. I filled it.
Becoming a Head Coach is a significant responsibility that requires a combination of skills, knowledge, and personal qualities. While the path to coaching success may differ for each individual, there are several key indicators that can help you determine if you are ready to take on the role of an athletic Head Coach. In this article, we will explore these indicators in the context of Chris Fore’s writing and provide insights on how to assess your readiness for this demanding position.
Taking the giant leap to be a Head Coach is a significant step in your career. This step takes responsibility, it takes a combination of skills, knowledge, and highly sought after personal characteristics. While the path to becoming a Head Coach will differ for each person, I believe that there are several key indicators that can help you determine if you are ready to take on the role of Head Coach.
Here are 4 ways to know if you are “ready” to be a Head Coach
You have a great knowledge of the game
The first thing that you have absolutely got to have in your arsenal is your knowledge of the game. If you do not know the game inside and out, if you can’t teach any position on the court or field, forget about interviewing for a Head Coach position. In my opinion, you are not ready to be a Head Coach. Notice that I didn’t say “You have coached every position” but you “can teach any position.” When I became a Head Coach, I had never coached linebackers, defensive backs, or quarterbacks. But I COULD teach every one of these positions. To date, through 17 years of coaching, I have never coached linebackers. Over the years, I coached every other position.
You have to be able to get on the whiteboard to teach the game in your interview. When I interview potential Head Coaches, it is THE most important part of the interview in my opinion. You better be able to explain your strategies, and why those are your strategies. You better be able to withstand the “stress” of the interview panel when they say “Your (basketball team) is down by 2 points, you have 4 seconds on the clock, and you’re taking the ball out from the half court sideline. It’s timeout. Draw the play you’re going to use to win the game and teach it to us.” Or “Draw out how your defense plays when you have runners on first and third with no outs (baseball).”
People follow you because you have great leadership skills
As a Head Coach, you are responsible and expected to be the leader of the program. For some of you, it might be leading 250 young men (football) or just 6 girls (cross country). If you do not like leading, do not pursue being a Head Coach. If you do not like getting up in front of a full room of people to say, “Here is where we are going, and here is how we will get there,” being a Head Coach is not for you.
Coaching involves far more than just teaching a kid how to hit a fastball or teaching a young lady how to defend her goal. Leadership is the most significant part of being a Head Coach in my opinion. Leadership covers a very wide array of topics. Under leadership comes vision, and mission, and communication, and follow through, etc. etc. But the core of what I mean when I say leadership is “do people follow you?” Are you someone people look to for guidance?
Have you demonstrated effective communication ability in your previous jobs? Are you able to inspire your staff and your players through your communication? The buck stops with you as far as communication in your program goes.
One football season, I saw an absolute favorite team, favored by 20 points to win the game, absolutely choke, and lose by a touchdown. And it was 100% on the failure of the Head Coach to actually lead. I love watching coaches. And I was close enough to the Head Coach to watch him intimately. As his team was slowly losing grip on a game, they for sure should have won, he “lost” his team. His coaches weren’t following him. His players weren’t following him. His failure that night was pure and simple leadership. He wasn’t a leader. He had no followers on his own sideline.
You are an organized and administratively gifted person (or know you aren’t!)
Head Coaches have SO much to do, as you may have experienced, or at least will through reading this book. Parents, officials, budgets, administrators, equipment, buses, officials, practice fields, rules, regulations, student-athletes, teachers, custodians, fundraising, politics, and the list goes on and on and on!
Successful Head Coaches handle a wide variety of administrative and organizational duties every single day. I’ve seen great leaders, who knew the game very well, but failed as a Head Coach because they were not organized. They weren’t administratively gifted, AND not smart enough to admit it. What I mean by that is that they didn’t surround themselves with other people on their staff who WERE administratively gifted, or who liked to do certain tasks off the field. They sank beneath the hundreds of demands. The little details took them down. They got sloppy with fundraising, or they didn’t schedule a bus to a major game or were constantly changing practice times with last minute communication to parents or one of a number of other things that they just couldn’t handle.
Efficient Head Coaches either do everything themselves, and have solid X and O people around them, or are doing more of the X and O work and have administratively gifted people around them. Think of the most successful programs you know, and you will usually see one of these two methods of program management. Head Coaches do NOT have to be the administrative geniuses of the athletic world. But if they are not, they better have someone on their staff who is.
You understand and value emotional intelligence
Coaching is more than winning championships. It is more than just developing phenomenal athletes. Coaching, specifically at the high school level, is about mentoring young student-athletes. Administrators value this side of coaching more than your xs and os most of the time. Some do not. Some just want to win. But the good ones, the ones you want to work for, the ones who will have your back when you go 2-8, those ones understand the value of coaching beyond Friday nights, and they are going to look for Head Coaches who understand this.
The role of a Head Coach is that of counselor, mentor, father figure, teacher, role model, marriage counselor, therapist, and much more! When it was 2:00 am back in 2002, and my phone rang, I picked it up because I saw the name of one of my players on that screen. He was one of my baseball players. I answered it. He needed his coach at 2:00 am. Why? Because his mother was in the hospital, close to death after a car accident. I went right to the hospital. He didn’t care about my ability to organize practice. He didn’t care about my ability to put players in the best position to make a play on the cleanup hitter with one man on first, and our best lefty pitcher on the mound. He just needed Coach, because he knew that Coach cared. Coach was the second person he called; his best friend was the first.
Do you have the ability to build relationships with your staff, your student-athletes, and other parts of the community in such a way that you can build up their emotional intelligence? Dr. Jeanne Segal defines emotional intelligence in this way in her article “What is Emotional Intelligence.” “Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.” In other words, you are helping your student-athletes to develop life skills that they’ll use far past graduation.
I hope that these four indicators can help you determine if you are “ready” to be a Head Coach.
- Do you have great knowledge of the game?
- Do people follow you?
- Are you organized administratively (or at least admit you are not)?
- Do you understand and value emotional intelligence?
There is probably a checklist floating around somewhere with 101 characteristics of a Head Coach, or 101 “gotta haves.” This is a short list of four very important aspects that I think encompass the most important parts of being a Head Coach. Most everything will follow under these four key areas. Determining your readiness to be a Head Coach can be a journey. Maybe you have three of these four, or just two of these four. I’m not saying you aren’t ready now. But you better align your staff in such a way that your one or two areas of weakness are covered by their strengths, and then you need to start working hard at those areas of weakness or you will simply NOT last as a Head Coach.
Now, let’s turn our attention towards what fifty different coaches from all over America said about being “ready” for their first Head Coaching position.
“I wasn’t!” – Matt Perotti, Phillippi, WV
“During my first-year coaching football I was the pass game coordinator. I showed up to our homecoming game against our school’s rival whom we had never beaten to find out that our offensive coordinator wasn’t going to make the game. The Head Coach at the time promoted me to OC for the game. We went on to score 72 points and beat our rival for our school’s first win against them. The OC ended up not being able to finish the season, so I took over full time and helped lead our team to the CIF semifinals. After that season I knew that I wanted to become a Head Coach someday. Little did I know that it would happen sooner than later. The day before Spring football began the Head Coach at the time resigned. I made the decision to start spring practices on time and run them until they found a new coach. Within a week of smooth practices, I decided that I felt ready to lead the team. I ended up applying and 3 weeks later I was named the new head football coach. Even though my first Head Coaching opportunity came as a result of an out of the blue resignation, my leadership skills helped me be ready!” – Benjamin Alberry, San Luis Obispo, CA
“After 12 years I thought that my skill set as a person would allow me to succeed as a Head Coach, and that my experience and prior success would qualify me. It wasn’t necessarily the X’s and O’s that I thought made me ready, but the ability to interact with the community and kids on a daily basis and provide a positive experience.” – Mark Allen, Marlborough, MA
“Success as an assistant, preparation, and in hindsight probably arrogance and impatience.” – Seth Bass, Leonard, MO
“I took time while being an assistant coach to learn from my Head Coaches. I learned how to develop program culture, be organized, and effectively run a football program. My knowledge of x’s and o’s came from many years of playing football, then enhancing my knowledge through clinics and demonstrations.” – Corey Bell, Clarkston, MI
“I had been an assistant for 20 years. However, you are never fully ready.” – Jason Bohannon, Sayre, OK
“I was aligned with the actions of my successful mentors. They put me in roles to be ready.” – Rob Cullinan, Palm Desert, CA
“Had worked my way up the ladder until I had confidence that I was capable to lead a program.” – Derek Bedell, Long Beach, CA
“I had coached for 20 years under 10 different Head Coaches and held multiple different roles and taken on various responsibilities in those roles that made me feel I was ready to make the jump to Head Coach. Plus, previous Head Coaches I worked with encouraged me to become a Head Coach.” – Steve, Bowers, Temperance, MI
“A former Head Coach I respected a lot told me that when I had multiple seasons that I thought I could do a better job than the current Head Coach, it was time to move on and prove it. That happened with the next Head Coach I worked for after him.” – Neil Breight, Ramon, CA
“I was an assistant (position coach) for 3 years and coordinator for 6 (DC) and assistant HC for 1 season. I felt I had the experience needed.” – Michael Calahan, Laguna Hills, CA
“I do not know if you are ever ‘ready.’ I think you just have to try and learn on the job.” – Shane Fidler, Summerville, SC
“Understanding the job outside of football.” – Bruce Eien, Enterprise, OR
My friend Bruce Eien passed away in Oregon in December of 2022. He most definitely understood the job outside of football, and the number one piece of that for Bruce was easy: the players.
“I had spent almost 11 years at three different institutions and had been both an O & D coordinator at the collegiate level.” – Joe D’Agostino, Hanford, CA
“I felt like I could effectively organize practices, communicate with parents and effectively lead young men.” – Christian Dearborn, Moorpark, CA
“I had learned about every position on the field and my Head Coaches at the time told me that I needed to become a Head Coach.” – Andy Diaz
“To be honest, I fell into the first HC job. 22 years ago, I do not really recall thinking I’m ready. There was a need to fill the job & I had interest.” – Nick Douglass, Williamston, MI
“I do not know if you are ever ‘ready.’ I think you just have to try and learn on the job.” – Shane Fidler, Summerville, SC
“After 13 years of coaching college football and being an Offensive Coordinator for 2 years and a football strength coach for 3 years, I felt I had enough program knowledge to tackle the responsibilities of a Head Coach.” – Jim Gibbons, Raleigh, NC
“I was experienced in playing and coaching for high level programs, including UCLA, Notre Dame, Bishop Amat, and Chaminade. I was a Division 1 coach for five years, before becoming a high school coach who coached nearly every position and coordinated two of the three phases. We won a CA State Championship, a CIF Championship, and two league championships during my high school assistant coaching career. I had also created an award-winning student business program, which gave me experience with organization, budgeting, sponsorships, travel, recruiting the hallways, and working with administration.” – Aron Gideon, Southern CA
“I had been trying to grow yearly and two years back-to-back had coaches who I learned more not to do, than do. Rather than being frustrated I thought it was time for me to try.” – Michael Gutierrez, Bakersfield, CA
“Opportunities that I had been given early in my coaching career that allowed me to grow in the profession.” – Adam Hadenfeldt
“I came to the point where I was still learning but also contributing more ideas and in charge of more responsibilities.” – Ervin Hernandez, Chula Vista, CA
“After being a JV Head Coach at two different schools and being a Co-Coordinator at the Varsity Level, I consulted with some Championship coaches from my section, and they felt I was ready to become a Head Varsity Coach. They also wrote me letters of recommendation.” – Nate Hollister, Carson, CA
“Position opened up and I was asked by my dad to take over the program.” – Wesley Hopkins
“I wasn’t for track; I inherited a position. In football, I had been an assistant for 12 years, I thought it was time.” – Lawrence Johnson, Jacksonville, FL
“I didn’t know I was. I’ve always heard it’s one of the jobs you learn more as you do.” – Anthony Johns, El Mirage, AZ
“When I had felt like I had reached the ceiling of my leadership role as a coordinator and knew becoming a Head Coach would offer me the opportunity to impact students in a larger role.” – Maverick Lang, McLoud, OK
“I wasn’t. But someone needed to step up, and I thought I had a vision to keep the success going that we had and to build on it.” – Karl Larsen, Ypsilanti, MI
“I believed I had put enough time in to take over. Looking back, there are a lot of things I didn’t know, and a lot that I would do differently.” – George LePorte, Fort Lauderdale, FL
“First time, there wasn’t really anyone else who wanted it. Second sport, I was interested in running my own baseball program because I’m a baseball guy. Thought I knew enough based on playing experience and a little coaching. Longest tenured Head Coaching job, I felt I was in the best position to continue programs upswing due to familiarity with the previous coach’s system and personnel.” – Danny Love, Lansing, IA
“After 26 years, I’m still not sure I’m ready but I was pretty successful as the Head JV Coach and guys whom I had beaten were getting Head Coaching jobs so that made me think I might be able to do it.” – Tim Lugo, CA
“18 years of being an Assistant at 3 different schools.” – Jason Marucco, Latrobe, PA
“I’ve heard this from plenty of other coaches. You’re never really ready to be the Head Coach until you jump in and learn how to be one for yourself. It’s something that will take time but no matter when you make the transition you realize just how much more there is to do and learn. I think I was more ready for the challenge than the actual title. My hope is that by jumping in at an earlier age than most I will have further opportunities down the road to step back into a coordinator position to continue to learn about how others approach their programs. But taking over your own is truly humbling, especially if you walk into an already struggling program.” – Taylor Masterson, Kodiak, AK
“I was trusted with a lot of responsibility throughout my last few years as an assistant and through prayer I felt I was already enough.” – Kyle McElvany, Oregon, OH
“It’s like being a parent for the first time; you are never ready. Have confidence in yourself, work hard, have a plan and fake it till you make it.” – John Morrison, San Diego, CA
“25 years experience as an assistant and 20 years as a coordinator.” – Harry O’Neill, West Chester, PA
“Talked to my boss.” – Alan Peacock, Byhalia, MS (seen above)
“I was told by my other assistants, and Head Coach that I would be the next Head Coach of our track team, I was ready. Upon learning this I reflected why I was ready, and it came down to this, I organized workouts to each athlete’s ability and help them grow, when I would get excited and cheer for what would be the worst athlete I coached and see her triumph of making the long jump pit, it made me think I could spread the excitement for the whole team.” – Danny Perez, EL Cajon, CA
“How I was mentored by the Head Coaches I worked for in the previous years.” – Kyle Pine, La Verne, C
“I have been around the game my whole life. Growing up my grandfather was a Head Coach, and my father was a Head Coach. So, I got to see the perspective of a Head Coach at a very young age and as soon as I got into the coaching life I knew it was my calling in life. As a young coach had a lot of responsibilities. I was a strength coach, director recruiting, coordinator and position coach all within my first 5 years of coaching. I felt that I had enough experience to become a head football coach.” – Justin Randall, Claremont, CA
“I wasn’t. I was asked to be HC of track first year by the AD. I was good friends with AD and HC of football at the school.” – Alex Scott, Wilmington, NC
“I didn’t think I was ready at the time. I graduated college at the start of covid so not many schools were looking for new teachers. I filled out over 70 teaching applications and emailed every Head Coach and AD of the schools I applied to stating I would volunteer if they could help me get an interview. Only 2 schools responded but nothing came of them. A social studies job opened up at the school I’m at now which is on the other side of the state where I’m from. I was going to email the coach but saw that he was non renewed so I applied for the Head Coaching job. I didn’t think I would get it, but I really just wanted an interview. The administration liked what I had to say and believed in my vision, and they hired a 23-year-old fresh out of college to head their basketball program.” – Phil Shori, Wilmington, OH
“I wasn’t but I wanted the experience of the interview, and I got it.” – Pete Smolin, Beaumont, CA
“Lifelong passion met opportunity. I felt I was ready years prior, was offered multiple jobs, but had my eyes set on one.” – Greg Spahn, Grand Rapids, MN
“I am lucky that my career as a CEO of an advertising consultancy translates to being a Head Coach. As my career became established, I found myself drawn towards being on the football field more than in the office. I read, studied and followed the best coaches in the country by taking a little bit from each and establishing my own coaching philosophy. Between my business acumen and my learned football knowledge, the time felt right when the opportunity and leadership at my current school presented itself in 2020.” – Matt Van Praag, Evergreen, CO
“I began questioning decisions about non-football related matters (Off Season Calendar, Pre-Game meals, schedules, etc.). How would I approach this situation? What do I like and do not like? I started to make my own Head Coach Manual. I had been finished with it for a few years. I continued to change it after each season learning new material and methods. I knew I needed to put what I had learned to practice in charge of my own program.” – Eric Tilson, Telford, TN (seen above)
“I had held virtually every position possible. I felt confident in my abilities. Players and other coaches told me they felt I was ready. Also, if I’m being completely honest, I saw others who were Head Coaches and I felt I was a better coach than them.” – Austin Trotter, Huntersville, NC
“My former Head Coach gave me duties to help prepare me for some of the responsibilities we encounter.” – Wayne Voorhees, Thornton, CO
“I worked for 2 of the best high school coaches in MS. I felt as if they had molded me to become a Head Coach at a young age.” – Jordan Wren, Collinsville, MS
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