high school football coaching

How to Become a Successful High School Football Coach?

It doesn’t matter whether you are playing at an international level or in a high school team, for great learning and achievement; you need some excellent guidance and teaching. Learning through an experienced and knowledgeable person can boost up your body to handle any tough situation as well as control your nerves in the game.

In short, a good football coach can make your game more effective with his experience and excellent understanding of the play. But if we discuss on how to become a football coach or high school football coach? Then it would be quite interesting for us to discuss the various areas including skills, traits requirements and high school football coach salary. That is why, today, we are going to discuss the journey of becoming a high school football coach.

How to become a football coach? 

The football coach works at various levels like from initial higher school level to college level and international to National football league. That is why the work and skills requirements may differ according to the standard. However, as a coach, you need to know about the coaching manual, formal education, skills and enjoyable experience of coaching.

So, let’s check out the requirements thoroughly-

  • Must have a bachelor degree

Like in any other profession, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in any subject. Though if you have some degree related to sports field like Kinesiology, physical education, and sports medicine, it would be great. Some other sports coaching education like bachelor in sports science consist the coursework like coaching dynamics, sports nutrition, sports marketing, management, athletic injuries, and sports psychology. The requirement of higher education is only limited to the professional level, and you can coach any youth or beginner level team without any higher qualification.

  • Develop skills and game knowledge

Game knowledge and skills development is one of the essential parts of the game. Though the understanding of the game and expertise can be gathered through playing and observing skills developed through perseverance and arduous practice. For becoming a better high school coach, you need to update yourself with every aspect of the game. It would help if you also kept informed and updated about any new rules and players and their famous techniques.  

Christian Wilkins

3) Core experience

‘Experience matters’; it is one of the famous clichés that can be used in any field. Experience matters and it will benefit you in so many ways like a promotion from assistant to head coach or school level to professional level coaching. You can’t teach or coach someone if you don’t have enough game knowledge and years of experience. That is why most of the schools in America always prefer to hire an experienced coach rather than a beginner.

If you want to be hired by the best schools in America, you also need to register yourself with apps like athlete connect app to get greater acknowledgment.

Some best football coaching tips     

1) Know your strengths

A person can only be a good coach if he/she recognizes their positives and negatives. These things are essential because you are going to coach someone and if you don’t know about your strengths, then how can you be able to give your best. So, you must realize your advantages and try to modify your techniques and skills too.

2) Patience

Things are not going to change overnight. So, it would help if you had some patience because every player has their skills, strength, fitness, and technique for playing football. And being a coach means you need to guide your players with significant commitment and understanding.

3) Leadership

Leaders lead the team through examples. Indeed, you need to have or develop some excellent leadership qualities to make your team great and do some extraordinary performances by setting some authentic standards.

In short, leadership is the art of knowing the path of support and discipline. You need to take responsibility even in some disastrous situations or when things didn’t go in a planned way.

4) Significant communication skills

An errorless and transparent communication among the players and coaches is the key to getting higher success. Excellent communication creates a healthy atmosphere and is essential for having some feedbacks and suggestions among the players. A superb interface also makes the bad phases easier with motivational talk and clearing out the confusion.

5) Positivity

The dissemination of positivity and good intent can make your coaching manual a step ahead from other coaches. Football is a game from which you can take positivity even in a defeat. The great coaches always remain calm and positive in win or loss. And they are always looking forward to the upcoming challenges of the game.

6) Passion

It would help if you had some passion for the game and team to be a good football coach. The best coaches in the history of American football or National football leagues had some fascinating passion for the team and game, perhaps that is why they are considered as the best coaches.

So, be passionate and try to disseminate the true spirit and passion among the players for the game and ultimately for the team.

American Football Lessons

How to become a volunteer football coach

To be a high school coach is not an easy task to do because it requires a lot of mental ability rather than physical. As a high school coach, you need to work arduously hard with great dedication, but at the same time, it can be your most desirous job too. In the process of becoming an elite coach, you need to keep an eye on every single suggestion and tip from those who have done this before. So, if you are also searching for the great suggestions and high school football tips as a coach, then this section is entirely for you-

1) Learning and listening

The process of learning and listening is one of the best ways to improve your knowledge and enhance your skills. You need to develop the skills of listening to others as a high school coach because everyone has their own opinion and perception that can benefit you and your game. You need to figure out how much time you need to spend with individual players.

2) Adapt the skills of time balancing

The time balance and management is one of the most significant factors that need to be considered while working as a high school coach. Indeed, the management is necessary because you need to make sure that how much time you are spending with your football team, and at the same time, how much time you are devoting towards your family and personal life.

3) Select your assistant wisely 

As a head coach of a high school football team, you need to make sure that you are selecting your assistant coaches very carefully with meticulous job requirements. Because when you work with the same field person, then your work becomes more manageable. So, try to hire a person as an assistant coach who is already known and have previously worked under you.

4) Culture of no-huddle practice

As a high school football coach, you need to teach you how to take the benefits of conditions and game situations. The huddle practice and stadium steps are some low priority drills that will not give any significance during the game. So, try to teach your players how to adapt to a particular game plan and conditions.

5) Keep updated with new trends

Any addition of modern law and information about individual players and techniques, strategies and different ideas are vital points that can make your game more upgrade and successful. Perhaps, new information dissemination is one of the critical aspects of the good coaching manual.

NFL’s famous head coaches currently-

1) Bill Belichick (New England Patriots)

Bill Belichick

We have heard a lot of good things about this man. He is a man who led the New England Patriots to the championship for the straight eight years. This amazing record of the successive streak is one of the greatest records ever held in football’s history. Perhaps that is why he is undoubtedly the top among the head coaches.

2) Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks)

Pete Carroll

Yet another great coach on the second spot! Pete Carroll is popularly known for his qualifying streak in playoffs from 2012 to 2016 and winning the Super Bowl title. And yes, who can forget the game of wild card round.

3) Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints)

Sean Payton

He has been credited for reviving the Saints from their defense based game to attacking game. Last year, the team witnessed certain playoff shortcomings, yet despite those Payton has still managed to be above.

4) Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles)

Doug Pederson

He has earned his place 4th on the list by taking Philadelphia Eagles into the Postseason successive two years.


So, these are the best ways and perfect guide that can tell you how to be a football coach for youth. So, if you also want to be a successful high school coach, then you can consider these ways and can enhance your skills of coaching.