Professional Standards in Coaching

I suppose I could be considered an “old school” type of coach. I started coaching football in 1991, as the Varsity Assistant OL Coach for San Clemente High. I made the drive down to San Clemente daily from my house in Santa Ana – 32 miles one way in Orange County traffic. During the offseason, I came down three nights a week to open up the weight room. I got no stipend, no compensation for my time or gas. All I knew is that I wanted to coach. The hours weren’t really all that bad. The OC did all of the game planning, he handed us a scouting report and adjustments for that week on Monday, so there wasn’t much in the way of weekend work.

The next season, the OC got hired at Westminster La Quinta as the head coach. He brought me up with him as the varsity OL/DL coach, as well as the strength coach. This was great – it was only about 6 blocks from my house! The first order of business for me was cleaning up the decrepit weight room – it was a real mess. So the HC and I got the place cleaned up and equipped with new gear. It was a real hit with the players. I ended up being in there during the offseason 5 nights a week. We put together a powerlifting team that did quite well. During the season, as before, the HC/OC did all the grunt work, so my weekend work was minimal and the commute was nothing. My pay for that? $2,000 for the year. Again, I just wanted to coach. The money was a bonus and paid a few extra bills and some extra Christmas presents.

In 1994, while attending a coaching clinic, I met George Berg, the head coach at Fountain Valley High. They were one of the “Big Dogs” of central Orange County, along with Huntington Beach Edison and Santa Ana Mater Dei. The prospect of going from a Division 9 school that had two consecutive 2-8 seasons to a D-1 school that had just gone 12-1 was daunting. I made the jump, and it may as well have been across the Grand Canyon, even though there was only about 1.5 miles between La Quinta and Fountain Valley.

It was at FVHS that I really learned how to be a football coach. I already mentioned George Berg. Hank Cochrane was the OC, Willy Puga was the QB coach and Jim O’Connell was the incumbent OL coach, who would leave that summer to take over at Aliso Viejo, a brand new school. It was a great staff!

So now, during the season, instead of an average of 19 hours a week I spent on football, it went up to 48 hours a week! I was at the school from about 3:30 until 7:00 each weekday. On Fridays it was 3:30 until about 11:00. Saturday morning we were in at 7:00am and left around 6:00pm. On Sundays we were in at 9:00am and left around 6:00pm. I had definite responsibilities that were expected of me. I have no idea what would have happened had I not done them, but with those coaches I really didn’t want to find out. Not doing those tasks wasn’t an option, period. Doing them half-assed was even worse, because then I had to do them over. I learned quickly what was expected. I finally felt like a real coach.

I was privileged to coach at FVHS for five years. Although I made more in pure dollars there, because of working summer camps and the weight room during the spring, I still only made about $1.85 an hour. However, the knowledge I gained there and the insight as to what it took to be a successful coach competing against some of the best programs in the country was priceless. I can never repay those coaches for taking me under their wing and coaching me up.

All of the above was to paint a picture of my background and where I’m coming from for this next part. Since leaving Fountain Valley, I’ve not been able to coach at the high school level due to my work schedule. I’ve always said that I’d coach high school ball again in a minute if a team would practice at night! So since then, I’ve coached mostly at the men’s semi-pro level and at the women’s level. Obviously, there’s no pay at those levels. Then again, I’m not spending 48 hours a week on it either.

Here’s the thing – last week, we lost two coaches. Experienced ones, ones that coached (or coach) at the varsity level. The reasons they left, to me, were asinine. One left because the head coach asked him to be on time to practice. The other left because he didn’t want to do a walk-through when we found ourselves with some extra time on our hands. Both these guys are friends – one I worked for before and hope to work with again – but they were dead wrong in my book.

If you’re going to demand things from your players – and this goes for the men’s or women’s side – such as punctuality, discipline and sacrifice, then you need to set the example. The players need to see ALL the coaches there on time, not just the head coach. I normally try to show up 30 minutes before the start of practice, so I can say hi to my players, answer questions and even have a short position meeting if it is necessary. Trust me, the players lose respect for coaches who wander in late. And it’s funny, because one of those coaches, who didn’t want to show up on time, used to berate male players who were late to his practice if they weren’t running to get there on time. If they were walking while late, he lit into them.

I really think it is a men’s game syndrome, this showing up when you want. My first head coaching experience was with a San Diego all star team. We were going to play a team of LA all stars. We had three practices to get everything done. So I put together the practice plans, assigned responsibilities to the coaches and showed up for our first practice 30 minutes before the start time. At the start time, I had 6 players there out of 40. Two of my other 6 coaches were there. It was extremely frustrating.

The following year, I took over as the HC for the National City Bears. My thing was that we were going to start practice a half hour later than the previous season, because almost everyone came late to every practice. So I thought we’d shorten practice by 30 minutes by pushing it back, and make up the time through efficiency on the field. Didn’t work. Only one other coach would show up early. The others would show up right at the start of practice, or 20-30 minutes late. The players continued to show up late. I don’t know what would have happened if the entire staff was on time – maybe the players would have gotten the hint. But that lack of commitment really soured me on the men’s side of things.

Fortunately with the Surge, we’ve established a culture of punctuality. It has also manifested itself onto our results – 32-3 over the last three seasons. The coaches have all (the ones that are left) bought in. The moral of the story? If you want to perform at a national championship level, there are sacrifices  you may need to make in terms of your time. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re a volunteer – heck, the players are *paying* to play! Don’t be a hypocrite – practice what you preach. It’s not about whether you’re getting paid or not, it’s about whether or not you’re among the best in the country at the end of the season.

Coaching football is demanding if you do it right, without trying to take shortcuts. Those demands are worth it in the long run, and the title of “coach” will be well deserved and is an honor in itself. Live up to that honor.