Is It The High School Coaches Job?

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I think the HS coach's job is to tell the truth. He should also be enthusiastic in support of a player if warranted.

I also think a good HS coach WILL go out of his way to promote a player when that player doesn't seem to be getting the appropriate attention. Make a few calls...get someone who can make a difference out to see the player. We all know players are missed for various reasons. Help the kid out if you have a way to do so.

Best coach I ever saw was a man by the name of Milt Axt who coached at a high school for over 35 years before retiring.

He made it his pride and joy to promote his players, both in baseball and football.

He belonged to every club and association relating to those two sports that he could join. He was the dean of high school coaches and was inducted into the Bay Area Schools Hall Of Fame (BASHOF)

He was the representative to the East-West Shriners Classic Football Game for all alumni players who graduated from high schools in San Francisco.

His main accomplishment was the number of players he sent up to the college ranks and on to the NFL and the major leagues.

He always said that a coach's best friend is a strong bench. So he stocked the bench with good players by promoting the players and getting them signed to college scholarships and Minor League contracts. He did that for me and I was a total nobody.

The best coaches care about their players and their futures during and after the seasons are over. Milt was one of those...and I can't thank him enough for what he did for me.

I have found that many, not all but many, HS coaches do not go that extra yard for their players. My son's coach was a great guy and knew his baseball but knew nothing about recruiting, nothing at all.

I still chuckle when I think of him stopping to chat with me at a HS football game and then says to me " I got a call from Fresno State yesterday about your son. Who are they?" And that is the truth--he actually asked me that.

He also called me at my office one day asking why I was contacting schools and they in turn were calling him. I asked if I were hurting my son by doing that and he said " No--I guess not--but why are you doing it?"

Most college coaches I know go to the travel programs nowadays for info on the kids they have interest in. Most players are in reputable summer and fall programs.

Bottom line for me is that a good HS coach is not necessarily a good guy when it comes to the recruiting process

Is it his job? I think you get as many if not more coaches telling you no than you will telling you yes. And it matters not what age or how experienced the HS coach is. The pattern is the same.

I learned to live with it and took measures into my own hands for my boys.

The HS coaches situation is the major reason we have incorporated recruiting assistance in our showcase package for anyone who wants and needs it.

A few thoughts from my experiences

The situation for each coach is different, and there are a lot of factors that influence whether a coach can devote the attention to promoting his players that they think he should. At least where we live, most, if not all, high school coaches (in any sport)have a full time job other than their coaching position. My husband is a high school football coach, works 50 hours on third shift a week, coaches our younger son in midget football (with games on Sunday), besides coaching the high school football team with practices 5 days a week and games on Saturday. This does not leave a lot of time to actively promote his players. He takes phone calls from coaches and makes phone calls to coaches when asked to by players, he skips sleep during the day to meet with coaches regarding a certain player, he provides game tapes to the players and talks with the college counselors on behalf of the student/athlete. I don't think there is any excuse for not being helpful and knowledgeable about the recruiting process for your players. My son had a lot of support and help from his high school coach...but I know of players who didn't think they got the help they needed. In this case I think that they were of the opinion that they were much better players than they really were and when the college coaches didn't call they blamed their high school coach...I think in baseball, a high school player needs to start the ball rolling...he needs to communicate with his coach about possibilities of playing college ball, he needs to contact college coaches, fill out questionnaires, go to showcases, play on travel teams, and not expect someone else to lay it all in his lap. Again, I don't think high school coaches should be indifferent about the recruiting process, but when it comes down to it...if you think your coach is not helping you enough..you need to talk to him about the recruiting process...or get your butt in gear and do it yourself.

In rural areas, the HS coach may be the only evaluation of a player that a college coach can get. Not everyone has access to or can afford good summer/travel/select teams. The bigger problem I have seen is that quite often the HS coach is not interested in helping. It is not "his sport" and there is no reward for him whether you succeed or fail.

At our school, incoming freshmen were given four pages of xeroxed instructions on how to get recruited in your senior year. It was designed to cover all sports offered by the school, including the girls. The main jist of it was, "work hard and they will come." It also recommended going to football camps every summer (Gee, I wonder who wrote it?). Our coaches worked to get their football players in college, but did very little for anyone else.

I have often thought that school boards ought to offer some bonus to a teacher or a coach that is instrumental in getting a kid a scholarship. I think a reward system would motivate many coaches. Fortuantely, our current coaches feel it is their job to promote their players to colleges.

So, put me down as one with the experience that the HS coach did nothing, but should have. Put me down as one that feels that promoting his players is a responsibilty of the coach.

I don't think a hs coach has the time or is it his responsibility to be calling numerous colleges for all of his/her players. This would be an additional full time job. I do think it's his job to give advice to players and take calls from colleges. I've said before, many coaches do things behind the scenes with colleges that parents and players have no idea they're doing. I think different coaches are going to have different levels of expertise in recruiting, but I think all should be willing to give direction. However, it's the players and parents that need to take action. All I expect from my son's coach is honest advice and honest evaluations/information to the colleges. He does a very good job at this. Legitimate recruiting agencies including NSR are here in Kentucky that can be a valuable tool, just like showcases, etc. However, it depends on what each family can afford. Bottom line: it's up to mom/dad and player.

I, like TR, was pro-active on my son's behalf. Look at it this way who's gonna go that extra mile or look out for his future and do the best job of it? You or the HS Coach?

Most HS Coaches simply do not have the time or desire to get involved, period. If you've got one that does, you had better hold onto him.

I can tell you, if you want to do it right it takes a bunch of time just for one player much less the whole list of seniors and juniors on the team. Just imagine you got say 12 juniors and seniors and you as a coach are trying to market these players to colleges. It is very time consuming folks.

And contrary to popular belief, NO - THEY DON'T COME LOOKING FOR YOU ! You had better learn to market your son unless he knocks the ball over the fence at every at bat and can throw 95 miles an hour, and believe it or not some of those are not even found out about.

BE PRO-ACTIVE, don't depend on someone else to do it for you.

CV

Many high school coaches do a great job of promoting their players and helping them get in contact with college coaches. I can use the word 'many', just as those of you who have the opposing view use the word 'many'.

In my experience as a college coach, I received hundreds of letters from high school coaches each year with detailed information of players on their teams.

As the father of a college player, I can also say that his HS coach performed his role in the recruiting process very well.

I am not saying that players and their parents shouldn't do their own homework, but please do not paint all HS coaches with that broad negative brush, as many people on this site do.

I posted my opinion on what a High School Coach's job was last spring and was raked across the coals. I'll look for it and repost it if I can find it.

Based upon what I have seen, it would appear that showcases and playing for a strong summer team have more to do with your kids chances to advance to the college level then any DIRECT effort by his HS coach. However, I am sure there are exceptions to this.

The realities of today's market place dictate that it's not the HS coach's "job" to promote kids to college coaches as college coaches appear more interested in the player's summer team and showcases/tournaments. If the HS coach has any "job", it would be to try and get his players onto a good summer team.

This thread should be relabeled as a warning to those HS coaches who insist on "thier" kids playing for "their" summer team that they are screwing "their" own players!

Like some others have said, "let me try this again."

As a taxpayer, I pay the HS coach's salary. I know that part of the interview process the AD goes through has to do with a coach's implied obligation towards helping his players advance. The AD said it was an obligation, and the AD hired the baseball coach. Since I am paying the salaries, I want to receive what was paid for.

I know that doesn't mean the coach becomes every player's advocate. However, I expect the coach to work with the players that want to advance. It should mean more than a copied handout provided the freshman year.

We were never told the value of summer or select ball - or showcases, for that matter. We were told one time about a JUCO tryout, at the end of the senior year. I think a pro-active coach would look for players that want to go on. He should help them be realistic and help them seek venues (summer/select teams, camps, tryouts) that could help them. Afterall, it is easier for the folks running summer/select teams, camps and tryouts to locate a limited number of HS coaches with information versus a large number of possibly disinterested players.

As a parent, I know the bulk of the burden lies on me and my kid, but we are novices at this sort of thing. A good HS coach should be an expert. Once again, the HS coach is not the be-all & end-all, but he should be a good start and an advocate for any of his players that want to advance.

Afterall, if the player does advance, doesn't it make the coach look good.

oldcat,
since you PAY the salaries (a bunch of **** i may add)why don't you give the coaches in your area a pay raise?? i get sick of spoiled parents like you, using that staement. what do you do for a living?? not many of you EXPERTS would work for about $1 an hour. most high school coaches work for the love of the game and because they like working with young adults. too bad some of the old adults can't act like the young ones.
i work hard in helping my players move on to the next level (like the large majority of high school coaches do).
in my opinion the select TEAMS not showcases are going to ruined youth baseball like it has with basketball. play for your community team (legion or whatever it may be) and then go to the showcase camps. (this is where the scout truly are)just my opinion.

hey since you pay the salaries etc. why don't you supply the bonuses for the coaches sending kids to college. i buy merchandise....does that mean i pay for your salary????????

In a perfect world...the $3,000 a year or so that most high schools in my area pay their coaches should certainly buy you a professional coach who has the time, skill and desire to promote his players to the next level of baseball (I'm being sarcastic -sorry). As a coach's wife, I see the hours he puts in to his team - 3 or so hours a day practice (5 days a week, 20 weeks a year), coaches' meetings, game day which takes about 9 hours of his day (sixth day of the week). Mind you this is football, not baseball, but I know that there is not that much difference, as my son is a baseball player who will be playing D-1 baseball next year. When you start talking about your tax dollars paying for someone to be obligated to do all the things you as a parent want him to do...then your choices for qualified applicants would narrow drastically. You would more than likely have to settle for someone who is possibly retired and coaches because of a love of the game (and I don't mean settle in a bad way - I know there are a lot of qualified retired old baseball guys out there). There are not enough hours in the week for a coach to work a full-time job, coach, and do all the things required to help kids get recruited. My husband probably spends more time than most on the phone, calling and being called, getting tapes...etc., besides teaching the kids how to improve as players and young adults. I don't mean to say that coaches shouldn't help...as I said in my previous post...coaches should help as much as possible..but when you talk about your tax dollars paying for this poor part time baseball coach to be obligated to do all this, then I think maybe the Town has to think about paying more to get more. With everything my husband does for the kids and the program at our high school, he is compensated about $5 per hour, not a lot...but he is one of the unique coaches who does do it for the love of the game and teaching the kids, and he'd probably do it for free...but I don't think it can be mandated that a coach do all that you ask, it would be nice if they wanted to do it, did it and did it well, but there are not many of those guys out there. That is why if you want the best for your child, you have to rely on the person who knows him best, loves him the most and supports him through anything...and that is you, the parent.

In Texas the high school coaches are faculty members and hold teaching positions as well as coaching positions. My response assumes the premise that the vast majority of HS coaches hold similar responsibilities.

For many of the HS students in my community high school is a stepping stone in the education process leading to a college degree. In this environment HS teachers are preparing their students for college. Our local high schools exhibit some amount of pride in the number of graduates that move on to college.

Our HS teachers are often approached by students asking for reference letters for college applications and scholarship awards. Generally, the teachers comply with this request. These letters are usually addressed broadly enough so that a single letter can be used in multiple admissions applications. Certainly that was true in my son's case.

While this practice is probably not part of the official job description for HS faculty members (other than the student guidance counselors), it is an accepted part of the HS commitment to assist its students in gaining acceptance to a college.

As a member of the HS faculty, I expect no less a commitment from the baseball coach in offering assistance to his student/player looking for a baseball program and pursuing college admission.

I expect the HS coach to continue educating the player in the game of baseball preparing the player for a higher level of performance. I expect the HS coach to assist his players by completing the coach's section of the college baseball questionnaires and delivering (postage paid by student) the forms to college coaches. I expect the HS coach to be willing to write evaluation/recommendation letters and be honest & fair in his communication. I expect the HS coach to return phone calls or emails on a timely basis to any college coach who has contacted the HS coach. I expect the HS coach to have an interest in the success of his players being admitted into college and being invited to join the baseball program.

I don't think that any of these expectations are unreasonable.

Old Cat, I haven't fouund time to type much of a response to this but I shall find time. In my job interview, I wasn't asked some of those questions you imply that all coaches are asked. I was asked time and time again about class room discipline, teaching to varied learning modalities, my use of technology within the classroom setting, my projected advancement up the payscale with regards to continuing eduation and what Master's Degree I was pursuing. I was asked baseball questions as well. Most regarded setting up a program, team discipline, knowledge of each facet of the game including base running, pitching, fielding and hitting. I was asked one prominent question regarding ethics. I was also told that my reputations for competitiveness preceeded me and that I would have to be reigned in some at this institution. Well, that was pretty much my interview. I do not recall any questions about promoting players for the purposes of college scholarships. Again, I'll see if I can't find my previous posts and repost it on this subject.

dbg fan,
i agree with you. most if not all of what you expect a high school coach to do is on target. i don't know of any coaches (at least around here) that don't do what you have stated if not more.

cat36

And I agree with you. The coach should be a good teacher first. The baseball player playing after high school is a small percentage of students in general. If he happens to have the ear of college coach appropriate to one of his players, thats great. Coach can do the most good though, by being the best teacher possible. IMHO

Catamount, CoachB25 and any other coach (or spouse) that my experience may have offended - I apologize for doing so.

My experience does not mean to insinuate all coaches are all bad, all good or all anything. Nor was it my intent to say that ALL coaches are part of the problem. For those of you that say you aren't, I take your word for it and I am happy for your players and the community you work for. My observation was based on my community and I know what happened here.

I work in the public sector, just not in education (that would be my wife), so I am familiar with all of the comments about where people work and where salaries come from. The fact that taxes, fees or whatever pay our salaries does not bother me, nor does the fact that there are some specific job requirements we must fulfill to meet our constituents expectations. Like it or not, public funds pay both of our salaries and that does open our job requirements and performances to public review.

I am very familiar with how our previous AD's were hired. Our AD candidates were directly asked about coaches working with players that wanted to advance in their sport and the AD candidates all said that assisting them was a coach's obligation. The AD that was hired then had the responsiblity of hiring his assistant coaches, which the baseball coach is one of. Therefore, the baseball coach's boss (the AD) considered helping players that want to advance to be a job requirement (in our HS). For any sport other than football, this was an obligation that was not being met (at least in our HS).

I totally agree with dbg fan, which must mean that I agree with you as well, Catamount. I am asking for no more support than dbg fan stated. In fact, that is what our AD said was a coach's obligation (at least those working under him). Furthermore, I would wholeheartedly support giving a bonus of some sort to ANY teacher and/or coach that can honestly show where their additional efforts helped the student get a scholarship.

I know that you dedicated coaches put in lots of hours for your love the game and your players. I am sure you work with them as much as you can. I truly wish every player had coaches like that - I wish that had been our experience.

In closing, let me say again to those coaches (and spouses) I inadvertently offended, that offending you was not my intention and I sincerely apologize for doing so. I have read many of your previous posts and often wished that you coached at our HS.

I can't believe all of this antagonism against HS coaches......some of you want the hs coach to promote kids for summer teams.......the hell with that, the next step from high school (both athletically and academically) is college.

If some of you people think the hs coaches should help place guys on summer teams, then maybe you should first go to those summer coaches and ask them if they ever make contact with the hs coaches......that is one of the ways that college coaches work.

It is, in my opinion, extremely unfortunate that on a site called High School Baseball Web, that there is so much putting down of high school baseball and high school coaches.

I am not a high school coach, but I appreciate what they do. I don't mean that I appreciate what they do for minimal dollar; I don't care about that part of it......I mean that I appreciate all that they do: teach, practice, continue learning, fund raise, talk to college coaches and scouts, work on the fields, communicate with the media, etc.

Look on the college rosters......they list name, number, year in school, position, ht, wt, hometown, and high school (not 'club,select, summer' team).

Not offended. I understand your frustration. My kids never had to deal with coaches who weren't willing to help. My son who plays football in college had his father as a coach..so there was never a concern...and my son who will play baseball(catamount '09)next year had a baseball coach who had watched him play since he was 9 years old and did a great job helping him out. The key is, if you are having a bad experience with a coach helping your child in the recruiting process, there is one good alternative...do it yourself...and for your child...shoot for the moon, don't give up....anything is possible.

grateful, the reason you sometimes hear griping about hs coaches is that there are some who do few or none ( I repeat NONE ) of the things you listed in 2nd to last paragraph.

Grateful, I agree! I'm not a high school coach, but I have seen coaches talked about and have to put up with huge challenges trying to do what they need to do with the players and then having to satisfy parents needs, ideas, and wishes.

I have seen parents (from different high schools/different coaches) swear it was all a coaches fault when their son didn't play for a particular school in college. The parent never mentions that they never contacted schools on their own and the school the kid was interested in was way over their ability.

I think most coaches are happy to help with a specific situation if asked, but to say they need to spend hours each day on trying to get each player recruited is unrealistic and unfair. My son's coach has filled out every questionnaire, returned any phone calls and is always available for which I will always be greatful for.

Again, IMO, it's our and the players responsibility to take on the tasks for recruiting. We need to say thank you to the coaches a little more often for helping our sons develop into ball players AND the awesome human beings that we want them to be as men.

Trhit

The recruiting process? I always thought that the college coaches recruited. I coached for close to 30 years and had many players go to play in college quite a few received scholarships. Maybe i am missing something here. the kid is good. Word gets out a college coach calls me I tell him about the kid. I get a feeler from a school. If i think a kid is up to playing at that school I send the information. This thing about initiating the recruiting process confuses me. Who is recruiting? college coaches. who is selling?

Old Cat, I too apologize if I seemed abrubt. I didn't intend to. I'm also not shirking my duties to try and get my kids into college. I've been somewhat successful at doing so. I've posted those numbers before and don't want to become a bore with them. Old Cat, Teachers/coaches are always a little sensitive to charges that they are either teachers or coaches. It shows a general perception that they have to be one or the other and can't be both. I take great pride in my baseball program and in the classroom. I have numerous awards for both. I don't think that many really realize what it takes to do both. I'll save the crying towel for later.

My role as a coach entails but is not limited to:

1. Winning. If I don't, I will be fired.
2. Building character in young men.
3. Being a role model for these young men. Example, I don't drink etc. I would never let them down by not modelilng the behaviors I want them to have.
4. Teaching the game. This means that I have to be an "expert" at every phase of the game. Well, who is? I have to constantly be learning new strategies, reading more about plyometrics or weight training, increase my knowledge about the latest technologies in the athletic arena, etc.
5. Be a coach first, friend second and be the hammer when I have to be. This doesn't end when they leave. I've thrown BP countless hours to my kids when they come back from college to help them get ready for the spring. I'm a reference for their academic endeavors and via email I keep them in touch with home.
6. I have to be a fund raiser constantly. It seems I can never go one week without having to raise $$$. Today, I purchased Chrismas Presents for my staff. I have to pay for those and will do so through one of my zillion fundraisers. Total cost today that I've spent is $650. Today, I took in $47.50.
7.I have to make constant contact with coaches. BTW, what is the latest best way to do that? Well, now, I burn CD's. I did do videos. I make hundreds of phone calls. I send out thousands of emails. I don't think it is reasonable to ask me to do more. I have already received 2 sit down with the bosses this year for discussions on burnout.
8. I have to be in a gym 3 times a week at 6:15 in the morning for workouts. I have to also schedule and get those guys into the weight room.
9. I have to attend every clinic I can possibly attend. I'm going to one the 5th of December. I'll sit there in a room with two college coaches who for most of the summer were nice guys but now, they didn't get my shortstop and so, they probably won't find the time of day for me.
10.If I don't do my balldiamond, it won't get done. I was told to stay off my diamond and so, to this point, the dirt that was supposed to be put on that diamond the second week of september is still not on that diamond.

I haven't covered anything about being a son, brother,teacher, husband, parent or friend to countless other people that have an interest in my life. It is Thanksgiving. Let me take the time to say that even with all of the above, I wouldn't change places with anyone else in the world. I AM THE MOST BLESSED PERSON ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

Will

Relax--- I said many not all !!!

In this day and age I think the travel teams of high exposure are the key-- I cannot say how many college coaches call HS coaches--I only know about the calls we receive--MOST HS coaches are tough to reach out of baseball season, let alone during the season---

I can only tell you what my experience has been--yes there are some excellent HS coaches out there

Let me tell you this--the recruiting process TODAY begins with the player--the college caoch can only be in one place at a time to see a player thus the player needs to make the college coach aware of his schedue and what he is doing


Will --- if you can call me after you read this and lets chat--I think we are on the same page but not fully cogniznat of what each is saying


Tom Rizzi
800-782-3672

CoachB25 -
You good coaches really do amaze me. Although I may not sound like I recognize it often enough, coaches like you are the reason both my son and my daughter are considering teaching/coaching careers. In case no one has told you or your peers lately, "THANKS!"

We have had a change in our HS staff and attitude. Our new coaches fit your description of yourself. In fact, the new baseball coach (major college and several years in the minors as a pitcher) has offered to work with my son (Juco) on his pitching this summer. My son has never been one of his players, but this new coach is a COACH and a TEACHER.

Although parents (and youth league coaches like me) have definite opinions on the amount of involvement that a coach should have in helping a player to advance, it is ultimately you coaches that will have the final say on your input.

Once again, I appreciate your good work and I guarantee you, lots of small schools in Texas would love to have a baseball coach/teacher like you.