1. I do believe a experienced coach is a better canidate for a coaching position then a coach with no experience. However, this does not mean in any way that the coach has to be a former collegiate/pro superstar.
2. I agree with Rick, that the pulic high school rule needs to be revamped, when the Biology teacher decides that he wants to coach the high school baseball team, but isn't really qualified to do so. This generally will take a program south real quick, thus having kids either not play, or persuing other interests.
3. I also agree that each year it becomes increasingly difficult to coach. Parents generally are the sticking point for most coaches. We tell our kids and parents in meetings that we want only the kids dealing directly with us, but it's inevitable that a parent will still cross that line. We all want what is best for our kids, but a lot of times the thing we don't want them to do is grow up and have adult responsibilities, like conflict resolution.
3. Larry is dead on saying good coaches usually learn from great coaches. I have seen quite a few kids who are now coaching, and the ones that stand out are those whose previous experiences included playing for good coaches.
4. Larry again mentions that you can have a coach who can teach the game and others who can manage the game, and a few that can do both. My son just started coaching this past year at the JV level, and has had some great people coach him through the years, however, just coming out of college his knowledge base for teaching the game is stronger then his managing base. I mentored him this past year and may do one more year. He improved on the game management side tremendously as the year went on, but still needs some mentoring to become more in tune with the managing side.
5. Speaking from experience, the great teams that win year after year, have a couple of things going for them. First, they have a great head coach who is willing to bring assistants in that he can trust and who are knowledgable in specific facets of the game, with the same overall philosophies as the head coach, and second, a program (enrollment) that is able to handle the multiple sports a high school has to offer, or is the primary sport of that school. This can also be accomplished if the high school has a good baseball coach.
In conclusion, you will probably get quite a bit of hits on this, from some qualified individuals, who have already posted on here. Hopefully Howard County will see more good coaches coming your way, because nothing is worse then having a talented team with a non qualified coach. Please excuse any typos. Good luck.....