Coaching in college instead of high school

Nicholas, in the mid to late 80s, I was an up and coming coach and was approached to be a college assistant. I didn't take it. The pay is low and the demands are great. Besides the typical workload you would expect an assistant coach to do in season, there are the recruiting efforts. They are year round. In the summer, you are on the road a lot. In the winter, you are hosting recruits on both official and unofficial visits while taking care of email questions and player ratings for recruitment. Then, you have to deal with all of the off season drama which might include failing students, homesickness, ... Yes, the head coach has to deal with much of this as well. In short, high school ball offers more stability and can be equally gratifying. Maybe more so. JMHO!

Coach, I would not mind the work, but man, the pay is next to nothing. One would almost have to set out to be a college coach. I was always intriqued by it, but knew I was going the high school path first, before I realized the little money there is in college ball, meaning a wife, child, and house make entering college ball hard.

N25: Like B25 it was the mid 80's and i did take the job. I was a head coach at a small NAIA and I loved every minute of it... but there was almost no budget, facility was horrible, and a new dean was hired that i just could not communicate with... he and i were just not on the same page at all... it was a tough decision but I had to leave as we had 2 small children.
The school, in the 90's, made a great recovery (got rid of that Dean) and would be a pretty good place to coach now...
I found that i could enjoy coaching summer ball and high school, only very rarely do i regret leaving college ball, but it was a good feeling working with guys who were there for what you had to offer.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholas25:
Coach, I would not mind the work, but man, the pay is next to nothing. One would almost have to set out to be a college coach. I was always intriqued by it, but knew I was going the high school path first, before I realized the little money there is in college ball, meaning a wife, child, and house make entering college ball hard.

N25,
Interesting thread.
Let's change it up a bit.
If you could wave a magic wand and instantly be a Div. 1 head coach with a salary you could live on, would you do it? (assuming it's a middle of the pack program with reasonable college administrators).

N25,
Interesting thread.
Let's change it up a bit.
If you could wave a magic wand and instantly be a Div. 1 head coach with a salary you could live on, would you do it? (assuming it's a middle of the pack program with reasonable college administrators).[/QUOTE]

freddy77:
Interesting question. I go back and forth. On one hand, I coach at the only high school in my city/county. There is something to be said for that. I enjoy the influence I can have over 14-18 year olds in a crucial point in their lives. This is also my hometown, where I played, so that means a lot too. You know, I do not really know. But like trojan-skipper was saying, I think I would enjoy a good NAIA program, especially one on a Christian campus. I would enjoy more access to the players, as our state association rules are tough. I would also enjoy building my own roster, as in a small high school community, it goes in cycles. Interesting topic for sure.

In another life I was both a D1 Asst and a Head Coach at a "small school"

Far and away the most rewarding experience of my life was coaching kids at a small college who were there to
1. get a degree
2. be a better person
3. because they genuinely loved the game and their teammates.

Picture a team with essentiall no ego's and kids who actually wanted to go to school to better themselves.

Only downsides were the recruiting process (parents not kids!)and it's more time at that level than you an imagine.

I didn't mind the pay since I started at the college level, I understand it would be hard to go backwards in $ but if you start out that way it isn't a major issue. I actually was paid pretty well for a small school guy and hopefully they paid the next guy as well after I left.

I'd do it.

On another not how old do you guys think is too old to try and make the move?