Getting started in the new generation.

Not too many football coaches in America have celebrated their 20th birthday during their first week as an assistant coach at their alma mater.

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My adventure started auspiciously on my first day of football practice at Fountain Hills H.S. When I heard the defensive coordinator bark at someone to fall into line for the stretching, I looked around--and discovered it was me! By this time, all the seniors with whom I had played for three years were chuckling.

My next adventure was with a transfer player in the weight room who asked whether I was his competition for a starting position.

Over the course of the season, I also had any number of visiting coaches ask me to find a coach who could open the locker room for them.

I learned how to laugh off the more negative assumption made by young coaches. Four years later, it is astonishing to realize that I have put in more time on the program than anyone except the head coach--the person who had gambled on me as a wide receiver and then again as a coach at 19, both times against the advice of his colleagues.

Young coaches who provide energy, player insight, and fresh perspective to the sport can add much to the program. First, however, they have to overcome the head coach's hesitancy about hiring inexperienced young coaches. The only way to ease the anxieties of veteran coaches and ADs is for the young coaches to reassure them by providing their competency, commitment, professionalism, and productivity.

The following suggestions will help young coaches do this:

INEXPERIENCE:

1. Coach a youth sports team for local park and recreation groups. (They usually pay better than school districts.)

2. Volunteer. A low-risk position that will enable a head coach to evaluate you while you gain experience.

3. Take a JV or freshman team--and maybe move up with them.

4. Most importantly, gain experience with kids; know your sport and learn how to teach it to adolescents.

PROVE YOUR COMPETENCE:

Skeptics of young coaches--adult staff and players alike--don't think you know enough about your sport to teach it at the high school level. The best way to earn their respect from both is to prove that you do.

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1. In all your years of watching SportsCenter, playing interscholastically in high school, intramurally in college, or interactively on your Playstation, you may have learned as much about your sport as your head coach has forgotten between seasons: Be a sponge! Be humble. Learn more.

2. Attend clinics, subscribe to coaching literature, watch game films, talk to other coaches, schedule visits to successful programs, etc.

3. Listen when the other position coaches are teaching. Learn what the other areas of your sport are doing so that you can teach all of the players, not just your position.

THE AGE GAP:

I actually had some of my players ask me to buy them a beer after one of our games in my first year. After I made them do 100 pushups, I laughed with them because I couldn't buy a beer, either!

1. Some of your players will have friends as old as you. Don't give them any reason to associate your age with their own social level. Don't attend any post-game parties or events unless the entire coaching staff is invited and will be present.

2. Make your age irrelevant by establishing authority and respect.

3. You don't need 17-year-old friends; be a coach and mentor, not a pal.

AUTHORITY:

Our fullback/linebacker/punter/kicker told me off profanely when I advised him to hurry up and get into his pads, shoes and helmet for a special teams' pre-game warm up.

It was like the movies: Every player in the locker room froze and looked at me. What would the new, young coach do?

I wanted to annihilate the player. But I took a slow, deep breath and said: "Forget it, you won't need the gear. You can watch from the stands tonight."

I then started to walk out to do my job. As the player looked at me incredulously, I added: "And we'll talk later about how to take orders."

The kid came trotting out to the field five minutes later, and I sent him right back. He now knew that my threat was sincere.

I never had a problem with him or any other player from that day on. Players anticipate and expect you to provide discipline and accountability, as long as it is done in a fair and consistent manner.

1. Some players may feel threatened by you because of your age and will try to challenge you in front of others.

2. Avoid any situation that pits you against a player. You will lose even if you win.

3. Never allow a player to undermine your authority, especially in front of others. Address challenges to authority immediately. Send the message to everyone. Resolve the situation with the player after practice or during down time after you have both regained your composure.

4. Never say anything personal to a player. Don't tolerate him/her doing it either.

EARNING RESPECT:

Players and coaches will usually solicit unwarranted respect for a short-term trial period while they size you up. It is imperative for you to solidify their respect during this time.

FROM PLAYERS:

1. Show your commitment and loyalty to the team by attending all team-sponsored events/practices in the off-season. The players will appreciate your sweating alongside them in off-season workouts, as long as it isn't an act.

2. Earn it by giving it. Develop personal relationships with your players subtly; learn who they are as people, not just players.

3. The best way to teach is by modeling. Actually being able to perform the skills you ask of your players will build your credibility. However, be very careful when interacting physically with athletes. Don't hurt them, or, just as bad, don't let them hurt you and your ego--thus destroying your credibility.

4. Use your age as an advantage when dealing with personal issues. But don't let it mar the perspective of your players. Always remember what it was like to be 17.

5. Be consistent. They are watching.

6. Never make a promise or threat you can't or won't keep. Your authority is only as good as your word. Select your words carefully.

7. Commend before you critique, and sometimes just commend.

FROM COACHES, STAFF, COMMUNITY:

1. Be professional: dress, act, and speak like you take your job seriously.

2. Be early, leave late. Show commitment to your profession and program.

3. Take the less glorious jobs. Head coaches have been doing laundry, trading films, organizing dinners, etc., their whole careers. Take the load off them.

4. Do your best to win over the teaching staff and support all extracurricular activities. Attend plays, congratulate the band director, and do your best to include the cheerleaders.

5. Win over the maintenance staff; they can make your job as hard or easy as you want. Appreciate their efforts with a t-shirt, or cap, or even a simple "Thank you." Take a few minutes to ask about his job and how your team might lighten his late night work.

6. Involve the administration when possible and recognize their support at appropriate times.

KNOW YOUR ROLE:

You are a support staff for the head coach; buy into the program's mission. Realize that as much as you have invested into the program, it's not as much as the head coach, and while you may have purchased stock, you're not the CEO.

1. Learn the art of suggestion. A veteran head coach doesn't want some "kid," possibly younger than his own kids, to tell him to "switch to a zone defense if he knew what was good for him."

2. Give credit: head coaches take the heat for bad coaching decisions, even yours; let them enjoy the good ones, even yours.

3. Don't step on toes. Coaches pride themselves in the nuances of their roles. You have to earn the right to give pre-game and halftime pep talks.

4. Until you are comfortable with all the players and coaches, and they with you, you may initially be received more successfully by small groups or individuals rather than the entire team.

5. Loyalty: Never disagree with your head coach or express your disapproval of his decisions in front of players, parents, or community members. Save disagreements for closed staff meetings.

PROVE YOUR WORTH:

Hopefully, you were hired for more than just a lack of applicants. Even if that is the case, people have invested in you. Make them feel that you have made a lucrative investment.

1. Bring your unique abilities/skills to the table.

2. Make the program, team, and staff better because of your involvement.

3. Be passionate; get excited.

4. Develop your coaching philosophy. You'll need to know it for your interview, and you need to know it to effectively reflect on your performance.

5. Continue to grow as a teacher-coach over your entire career.

BE PRODUCTIVE:

Unfortunately, the only way the public evaluates a coach's success is by concrete numbers--the win-loss record. Assistants are no different when being evaluated by head coaches and ADs. Are your players as good as they can be or would they be better off with another coach?

1. Focus on your area and making those players as successful and productive as possible.

2. Quantify your productivity. Set weekly goals and chart them. Compare stats game-to-game and season-to-season.

3. Over-prepare every practice, game plan, etc. Time management is one of the most essential skills a coach must possess because he will always be running out of time.

BE WHO YOU ARE:

Never be the kind of coach that you aren't. Every coach has a different approach and personality, and every player will respond differently to him. Like the team itself, a successful coaching staff will depend on a perfect combination of personnel to maximize the team's potential.

One last comment: do not forget your family, especially the lady who is there for you day and night, in any kind of weather, in good times and bad times, win or lose.

Finally, after all that talk of professionalism, respect, competence, and commitment, make sure you enjoy going to work every day, and make it obvious that you do.

BY JUSTIN MAC DONALD

WR/DB Coach

Fountain Hills (AZ) High School