The career of Don Casey, former coach of the National Basketball Associations Los Angeles Clippers, is typical of most that have made it to this lofty level. Coach Casey paid his dues at the high school level, culminating in his team, Bishop Eustace High School, winning the New Jersey state championship. He broke the record as the youngest coach to win the New Jersey championship; he was 22 at the time!
Coach Casey joined the basketball staff at Temple University following his tenure as a high school coach. First serving as an assistant coach and later as head coach, he continued to experience success. Prior to his service with the Clippers, he coached initially, at Notre Dame University, and as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls. Clearly the road to professional coaching is characterized by a difficult journey, but if you love your sport and love coaching, the bumps along the road will be felt less.
Lifestyles and Preparation Most professional coaches have played the game they coach-many at the professional level. Depending on their visibility and popularity, some start their coaching careers as assistant coaches at the college or professional level. With success, they move to head coach status. Unfortunately, some move too quickly from player to head coach and a mass a number of losses, quickly joining the ranks of the unemployed.
In addition to an intimate knowledge of the sport and extensive experience with it, professional level head coaches need expert skills in dealing with players, the media, and fans. Likewise, they must motivate well-paid athletes to play hard and to continue to improve their skills. Often, head coaches have expert organizational skills as they juggle their exceptionally busy schedules, involving everything from luncheon presentations and talk show interviews to reviewing videotapes of previous games and evaluation of potential draft picks.
Assistant coaches' duties at this level vary greatly. Normally, they have a special expertise: tor example, defensive end coach, strength and training coach, or pitching coach. Team's frequently have a number of specialists who work with the team in a consulting capacity: nutritionist, sports psychologist, exercise physiologist, and others.
Considerable hoopla surrounds professional sports teams, and no one can discount the glamour, the prestige, or the satisfaction of earned success. As with others in professional sports, coaches 'salaries have escalated greatly with head coaches of major sports often making more than $500,000 (sometimes more than $1 million) a year and assistant coaches exceeding $100,000. Media attention focuses no brighter anywhere in America than on winning professional coaches, nor does so little sympathy exist for a deposed loser. Fortunately, many of the skills necessary in coaching, such as organizational ability and skill in working with people, are useful in the business world. Consequently, most export coaches find employment in sales, public relations, and management. Others return to teaching while retaining an involvement in their sport by serving part-time as scouts. A fortunate few find careers as sports announcers.
The interest in sports shows no signs of slowing. There will be a continuing need for the few who make it to the select group designated as professional coaches.
Assistant Coach
The explosion of boys' and girls' sports in elementary, middle, and junior and senior high schools has created extensive opportunities for potential coaches. Many school athletic directors aggressively seek men and women to coach sports ranging from junior high girls' field hockey and soft hall to senior high boys' wrest Uganda football. They may even hire novices with little knowledge of the sport or of young people. The term assistant coach is used here to refer to all school coaches except the varsity head coach at the high school.
The ability to work with young people ranks as a major priority in selection of personnel. Intelligence and common sense plus some knowledge of the following will prove beneficial: first aid, legal issues related to coaching, practice organization, conditioning, motor skill development relative to the sport in question, coaching strategy, motivational techniques, and bench coaching. Additional knowledge in areas such as strength and fitness development, nutrition, or current developments in training and conditioning will aid any coach. Some school districts have excellent traditions of success in some sports and have dominated their regions and states. School administrators and the community carefully select and monitor even assistant coaches in their favored sport. Fierce competition for these positions would exist and the salaries would be above those of other sports. Typically, annual assistant coaching salaries range from $500 to $3,500. For instance, a middle school basketball coach may earn $1,200 and an assistant for varsity football may earn $3,000.
Do school coaches need to serve as physical educators or teachers in the schools at which they coach? At one time this was true, but it may not be today. Many schools utilize part-time coaches at all levels. These individuals have full-time jobs that permit them to coach practice in the late afternoon and participate in games on week day afternoons and weekends. Usually these coaches love their sport and working with young people. They often attend workshops, clinics, and summer and off-season camps, as well as read and study games extensively to improve their skills and move to the next level.
Often it's the assistant coach who makes a major contribution to the development of young people, as players develop their loved). If a sport and build work habits and fundamental skills at the pre-varsity level. While a varsity coach may receive adulation or criticism for the team's performance, it's often the junior varsity coach who has made the difference.
