Why are so many coaches resigning
- Thread starter OCBoy
- Start date
Kids these days probably driving coaches crazy. So different now you have to be a babysitter/friend/big brother. Too much for little pay
I don't think the kids drive them crazy....no more than they have in the past. I can believe that the parents drive them crazy. Also, these coaches should be compensated more than what they are. Coaches should get a percentage of the home revenue that's generated from their sport. If the coach wins games, more people come...that's a fact. If they lose, they get fired. What's wrong with the coach getting say 5% of the revenue generated by football games, on top of their piddly coaches salary.
All coaches in general, or just football coaches? Because face it, football is the only revenue producing sport in HS. If you spread the wealth from football among all the sports, then what about the Marching Band Director? What about the assistant coaches and support staff? Big can of worms here. The current model where the athletic revenues go into one big pool could use some tweaking. I'd like to see the Marching Bands share in the revenue, because football and marching band go hand in hand. Basketball sometimes has a pep band too.
In Salem the band director puts every bit of the time in that the football coach does and his pay reflects it.
Don't know if all schools are set up the same or not...but marching band is a class in schools (to my knowledge), so they get to practice during the school day. I also believe band teachers get a stipend, and they don't generate money in my opinion. If the football team goes 0-10 for 3 years, nobody is coming to see the band except for the band parents.
It depends on what type of band you have. In Salem they start practice in early August by going to camp. Then they practice every day after school. They play for every game home, away and playoffs no matter rain or shine. Then they participate in band competitions all over the state (sometimes out of state) on Saturday. When marching band is over the teacher is working with the jazz band and orchestra. Salem has a great music program.
Not to be smart, but if the football team goes 0-10 for 3 years about the only people that will likely come to the games will be families of the football team, band, cheerleaders, and teenagers wanting to make out under the bleachers!
It depends on the school when it comes to the band. Some schools bands just sit in the bleachers and some rarely play at halftime. But I get your point in reference to spreading the wealth because it does generate money for other sports. The south hires their coaches as coaches and coaches only look at the old Oscar Smith coach Morgan. That’s the exact reason he left other than making 6 figures
Head coach or all coaches? The assistants are a big reason for teams success, and put in the same amount of time
The band directors put in a tremendous amount of hours. However, many of them get multiple supplements. I know of a band director on an 11 month contract while the head football coach is not.
Why are so many coaches resigning?
The overall majority of coaches (of all sports) do it for the love of their student-athletes, their sport and community, to assist young people into becoming fine adults, and for the thrill of competition. Sports is one of the last holdouts where the goal is to win - where success is cut and dry - program improvements can be, for the most part, easily measured.
Yes, many coaches (and football is by far the most demanding and stressful, but the reward is football is the most visible and basically "important" to high school or college level communities) do decide to resign or retire from the profession.
1) Time - to be good (great) at coaching any high school sport requires an insane amount of time for extremely low levels of pay.
Now, coaching is basically often a year around job, yet the pay remains the same.
IMO, whether you are a teacher or work elsewhere, coaching is basically another full time job - except you are poorly compensated for your time in terms of money. Coaching does have many rewards but certainly not in economic terms.
Coaches miss a terrible amount of time from family events - many coaches realize it is difficult to balance it all and be great or even good at both.
The overall majority of coaches (of all sports) do it for the love of their student-athletes, their sport and community, to assist young people into becoming fine adults, and for the thrill of competition. Sports is one of the last holdouts where the goal is to win - where success is cut and dry - program improvements can be, for the most part, easily measured.
Yes, many coaches (and football is by far the most demanding and stressful, but the reward is football is the most visible and basically "important" to high school or college level communities) do decide to resign or retire from the profession.
1) Time - to be good (great) at coaching any high school sport requires an insane amount of time for extremely low levels of pay.
Now, coaching is basically often a year around job, yet the pay remains the same.
IMO, whether you are a teacher or work elsewhere, coaching is basically another full time job - except you are poorly compensated for your time in terms of money. Coaching does have many rewards but certainly not in economic terms.
Coaches miss a terrible amount of time from family events - many coaches realize it is difficult to balance it all and be great or even good at both.
2) Stress - it is never ending, besides the pressure of trying to have a winning program, some parents will drive coaches insane, "little Johnny is the best player on the team why is he on the bench"?, "what a horrible call", and so on.
For example, a wonderful female volleyball coach from many years ago who loved the game and coaching the kids, resigned. I asked her why she gave it up as it was her passion, she said she just couldn't take it anymore as some of the parents of the girls who did not start were downright cruel and caused her to cry often on the way home.
Coaches (even more so today it seems) must be a counselor, academic adviser, a politician as everything is political, a cheerleader, help pay for kids from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, be a role model, and the list goes on, while trying to win games as well.
Sometimes it seems, actual coaching the game (the x's and o's for example) is one of the last things a coach can focus on.
Heck, I am not surprised that it seems more coaches are resigning these days, I am amazed that schools are able to keep so many great high school coaches year after year to begin with.
Pros and cons....
For example, a wonderful female volleyball coach from many years ago who loved the game and coaching the kids, resigned. I asked her why she gave it up as it was her passion, she said she just couldn't take it anymore as some of the parents of the girls who did not start were downright cruel and caused her to cry often on the way home.
Coaches (even more so today it seems) must be a counselor, academic adviser, a politician as everything is political, a cheerleader, help pay for kids from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, be a role model, and the list goes on, while trying to win games as well.
Sometimes it seems, actual coaching the game (the x's and o's for example) is one of the last things a coach can focus on.
Heck, I am not surprised that it seems more coaches are resigning these days, I am amazed that schools are able to keep so many great high school coaches year after year to begin with.
Pros and cons....
Only head coaches. They have to deal with way more crap than the assistants. HC is the face of the program.
Some places sure, some not so much.
And if you are talking about time put in, it is the same. And if you are talking about job security, most times it is the same. And the HC gets all the credit or all the blame, and neither is true.
Never heard about asst coaches resigning because of stress....at any level. Pay scales at each level are heavily skewed in favor of head coaches, and should be IMO.
I just disagree. Asst coaches deserve more credit at any level below D1. Most put in time at least equal the the HC and some are volunteer, w/o any pay at all.
Probably don't hear about it, but I'm sure it happens. Assistant coaches are talked about as much. And probably a small percentage resign for that reason.
I'm not saying coaches shouldn't get more money, but the assistants deserve it as well. Sure they don't get the blame as much, but not the recognition either. And the same hours, and miss time with their families just as much. If these assistants weren't extremely important, then why do so many get jobs of their own.
From what it seems like, ALL the coaches at Salem deserve a ton of credit for the turn around they made. It wasn't just the head coach
That is because you never hear about it if they resign. I know two assistant coaches that did not stop coaching but they got divorced. I know 3 assistants coaches that will not be returning next year because of the time demands. I would agree that it is not as stressful but it is the same amount of time. It also depends on the program, at some programs it is run like a job and assistant coaches show up only if they are required. I stopped by Glass the oth%er day to check in on my friends and during the winter in the middle of the week there were 9 coaches and 50 plus kids. I am sure that they are not required to all be there but if you want a good program then you have all your coaches invested. And pay scales are not heavily skewed, head coach make very little and assistants make less. It varies from school to school but most head coaches are contracted as 11 month employees and some 12 month employees. You can look up pay scale for any county and figure out the amount usually 3500-5000 and then they typically receive a 5-8% stipened. Asst. coaches usually receive a 5-8% stipened. Then the school typically gives weight room stipens and the head coach can keep those. (12 - 15%) However, most head coaches use those to pay other coaches because they don't receive enough stipens to field a varsity and jv staff. Every coach I know does it for the love of the kids and the game.
Let’s face it, at every level below college athletics, all coaches do it “for love of the game” no matter the sport. A very few (I.e. Chad Morris) will ever make it beyond the lower levels of collegeiate athletics. At some point, every coach that doesn’t have higher level aspirations will reach a point of saying “it’s just not worth” the time away from family, etc. For us fans, best to just admire their dedication while we can, goes for HCs and Asst coaches.
Don’t discount the role that the athletic director and school principal play. Realizing it is a two way street...Many principals don’t have any idea the demands their football coaches face. For example, do they give them a favorable teaching schedule and allow them time to meet with college recruiters who come into the building? Do athletic directors and principals support their coach when parent complaints come their way? It is hard for a head coach to be successful without open communication and support from their administration.
All assistants work extremely hard.....some maybe harder than the head coach. BUT, they are NEVER going to get the attention and/or compensation that the head coach gets. There is no reason, however, that the head coach's shouldn't get a little more than they receive. The title of this thread "Why are so many coaches resigning" was focusing on head coaches so that's why my comments focused on head coaches.
I would say just as many. I've volunteered at band camp before and I was on the band parents board so I know firsthand how much time the band directors put in. They also have indoor percussion/band competitions in the winter time. Those kids have two seasons in one year. Not to mention marching in parades for homecoming, Christmas, and if you live in my area, Apple Blossom festival.
I do discount them. Why? Because they are administrators and get paid WAY more than the teachers.
I think he was saying dont discount their role in the coaches staying or making it easier on them, not their pay or commitment
Thank you. That is what I was saying. Btw, just to bring some levity to this thread...in real life...I am a school principal.
Thread drifting, but what the hey....I remember back in my school days we had a principal in HS, and a vice principal. It seems that the front office administration has grown since then. Why so many administrators now?
Probably due to when we went to school if we caused a problem they would just wip us. Now they need more people to talk a kid down. 1 to restrain 2 to witness so you don't get sued.
I have watched this thread with a ton of interest and to be honest I never felt the stress from needing to win. My stressors came from parents who thought their kids were the next big thing and constantly harassed me about playing time. The sad part about was they always blamed it on politics or something personal. Not once in 15 years did I have a parent accept the fact that their child just was not a star player. Politics may play a role in some places, but I can assure you I wanted to win and if a player could help the team they played. I don't know much extra time my staff and I did trying to help marginal players and it was never enough. On top of that administrative support is not always the best. That my friends is where the political game really is. The Coach in a lot of instances cannot even appropriately discipline his own players. Unfortunately, or in some instances fortunately, the days of a coach running his own program are over. So often in todays world players, parents, administrators and travel ball coaches run the teams or threaten to destroy it. Its not about the love of the game or loyalty (coaches included) anymore its about notoriety, glory and greed.
Personally I believe it was because sports became year round when the VHSL took the gloves off. Some schools have increased the coach’s supplement but most have not. Year round coaching is tough.
Though I do not coach I have several friends over the course of the years coach and some with head coaching experience at the High school level. All the above reasons for stressors that you have mentioned are the same main stressors that they have mentioned over the years. It also doesn't just apply to football but all High school sports. High school coaches have extremely difficult jobs with very little pay, not much free time, family sacrifices....... Thank you BleadingNavy for your countless hours coaching young men to be better athletes and most of all better citizens. Also thank you for sharing your experience on this thread to give us a better perspective on this subject..
You owe me a new keyboard! I just spit soda all over mine!!! Truer words were never spoken!!
So freaking true. The legendary coach Willis White once drug me through a mud hole by my face mask for not diving for a pass. I told my dad and he replied "bet you will dive next time". Discussion over.
I am getting a visual of this and love it! Coach White was one of a kind. The kids loved him.
because the office/schools gets bombarded by parents on a daily basis. Education isn't what it used to be sadly. Not to mention state mandates etc. The list of duties to educators and admin is not even close to what it was "back in the day"
More like baby sitting if you ask me and yet if you try and discipline like another poster said, you better have at least 2 witnesses, kids are babied way to much now a days.
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