Coaching Youth Football – Try to Secure Long Term Coaches For Assistants and Not Dads

All of my youth football coaching success comes from the coaches that have helped me over the years. I would never have lasted as long if it was not for a few of my good buddies. I can not over state how important it is to have a staff of coaches and not just Dads. Please don’t get me wrong. You will want to have as much help as possible and there are some Dads that can bring some value. I believe you are better off with long term relationships where all coaches are pretty much on the same page.

With long term coaches certain potential problems do not exist. The usual problems of playing time and player positions should never be a point of contention within the staff. I have two men that have been with me for over 15 years. We operate like a well oiled machine. We are on the same page so preparing gameplans is a breeze. There is no substitute for a long term coaching relationship.

Please understand the point I’m making. It is great to have a coach with a kid on the team as long as the coach is not just looking for a one year gig. I have been coaching with some of the same coaches for 4 years (2 on flag football and 2 on tackle). These are great friends and coaches who I know I will continue to coach with for years to come. You can definitely use the one year Dad /coach but you need a group of long term coaches.

Another advantage of having long-term coaches is that all coaches are usually on the same page. In this helps, not needing to convince or teach your methodology to a parent who is probably only concerned about how much playing time his child will get or what position he will be playing.

You will want to have both permanent coaches and parents. Each will serve a valuable service to you during the upcoming youth football season. The parents can hold the clipboard, take game stats, work with the long snapper, hold the line markers during games, and handle snacks schedules.