Advice for young coaches, from a young coach

ne of the most challenging (and fun) things about coaching for me has been the fact that I have always been the, or one of, the youngest guys in the room. From coaches' meetings to clinics, I have always looked around and seen people older than me. With that being said, I always take being the young guy with a grain of salt. The world of football is huge with years and years of experience and ways of coaching behind it. I never wanted to be that coach that planned to reinvent the wheel, the one who thought he had the answer for everything. To me, the most important thing was to learn and to know my place. My motto is I should never be the smartest guy in the room. IF I am the smartest guy, I should find another room to be in. thankfully, that has never happened. I want to always be learning. I come from a non-sports background. I am the only one in my family that really cares about sports. My family watches two sporting events every year, Daytona and the Superbowl, for the crashes and the commercials. While there is nothing wrong with that, it meant that I did not have much of a sports background to build off of. The learning curve was huge for me as a young coach, it still is.

I have been fortunate to able to grow over my last four, going into my fifth, years as a coach. There are a few things that I try to keep in mind every day. The first is a quote a professor at WVSU told me, YDKN, "you don't know nothin." The second is do the jobs that no one else wants to do. The third is to push yourself to be the best coach you can possibly be, be a players' coach.

The first thing that I carry with me is the fact that I don't know nothin. While this is an assault on the English language and makes the English teacher in me cringe, it is really solid advice. Understand that you are the young guy with a lot to learn, take advantage of that. Be a sponge and soak up everything that you can from coaches' meetings, film sessions, practices, and games. Be sure to push yourself to learn something new every single day that will help you sharpen your sword and make you a better coach. Understand that you do not know everything, you probably should not be the person that does the most speaking in meetings. Listen to the people around you, ask questions, and learn.

There's a ton of resources for young coaches. I personally like using social media and podcasts as a way to learn. Use the obvious resources that are around you for good and pushing yourself to be better. There are a ton of twitter chats that you can log on to and learn from experienced coaches all around the U.S. There are several podcasts that deal with coaching that you can listen to that come out on a weekly basis. I like Run The Power podcast because I am an O-line junky. Currently looking for a LB/Defense geared podcast, feel free to respond with any podcasts that you know of!

My second bit of advice is to do the jobs that no one else wants to do. Buy in completely to the program that you are at. Whether it's riding to games on the bus, hauling off junk, taking the trash out, or helping with inventory, always be willing to help do the small stuff. Eventually, that small stuff will build up into having the responsibility of taking on the big stuff. Buy into the program that is around you and do everything you can to build it up. The coaches around you will see that you are wanting to build and grow as a coach, so will the players. All the people in the program will see that you care (as you should.) Football is family, we ask our athletes every day to come in and do work, to push themselves, do the things that maybe they do not want to, why shouldn't we ask the same of ourselves?

The last bit of advice that I have for younger coaches is to push yourself to be the best coach you can be on and off of the field. Take time to hone your skills and learn new things. There is value in the old ways of coaching and there is value in the new ways of coaching. Take all the resources that you can to help you form your own philosophies on coaching. Another thing that I like to keep in mind is that players work hard for coaches they know care about them. Take time to know our players. Get to know not just the top athletes, but talk to the quiet JV kid also. Ask your athletes how their day went, how is school going, what'd they have for dinner last night. One difficult thing about being a young coach is drawing the line between being a coach and being a friend. You are close in age to the kids that you are coaching. If they see you as a friend discipline is impossible and teaching them is difficult. You have to let your kids now that you care but do not be their best friend, be a role model and a teacher.

Being a young coach comes with its own set of difficulties, and we have to be ready for that. Football is an old game, there is a ton to learn! Push yourself every day to be better than you were yesterday not just for yourself, but for the kids that you coach.