Breaking in to coaching school ball

For what it's worth, I started out as a middle school coach. I moved up to high school when our high school added a freshmen program. I went on to be a varsity head coach and a pitching coach at a junior college. I stopped coaching for 7 years only to go back to coaching high school ball. I've learned at every level I've coached and it's been fun and worth it.

FWIW, I have a meeting with the MS AD on Monday. Slightly more interesting is that I've been asked to take over as league commish for our local league. Might be a busy spring...

BuckeyeGuy said:

Help me out here:





So is it better to be a teacher, or not?

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Sorry to have dropped out of the thread. These two are not mutually exclusive. The best angle to get a coaching job is almost always to be a teacher because most schools are required by contract to give first dibs on coaching jobs to teachers regardless of qualifications. It's sad but true.

However, the pay for these positions is so terrible and the pain of dealing with the parents so great that the positions often go unfilled by teachers. This is especially true at smaller schools. For example, I was the head track coach at a Division III school and made less money than the 7th grade softball coach at a border district that was Division I. Also, I coached middle school basketball and often went in the hole financially on the deal. I did it because I wanted a teaching job in the district and it was good exposure.

After years of coaching rec ball and being on the board of directors at our local rec league I got the job coaching at our local middle school 4 years ago. Now I am coaching the JV team at our local high school. This is my 2nd season. The pay sucks but I don't do it for the pay. I just think it's fun.
If I can do it you can too. Go for it.

If you're doing it for the pay...stop!! Coaching anything under college ball is a stipend. $4 to $14 an hour MAX. If you're a good coach, you're putting in 25 hours a week during the 10 week season, 50 hours of off season workouts...80 hours thinking about it and researching new stuff....50 hours trolling this website..another 30 to 100 if you recruit. I coach a private high school and I would pay money to do it. I'm not a teacher, nor a parent. I get a stipend that is a nice kicker during the summer when I'm at the beach in the summer. I can make money offseason coaching one on one with 7th and 8th graders whose parents think their kid will be a college prospect. Take any HC job you can get..and then hit up all the AD's in the offseason to let em know ur available.

Good luck on your meeting today Buckeye Guy! Knock 'em dead!

Hey Buckeye... You get this. We'll need regular updates on progress, lessons learned, successes and challenges. I think this is an awesome opportunity to get into.

Good luck!!!!

That was very anticlimactic. The 7th grade coach is a 1st time HC, but has been an AC, played at a DII or DIII school, ex-military and very gung ho. First and only real question: do you know how to teach pitching? So I'll be studying BM and java and pretty much all the pitching forum stickies. On the plus side, I'm almost guaranteed a HC spot next season.

BuckeyeGuy said:

That was very anticlimactic. The 7th grade coach is a 1st time HC, but has been an AC, played at a DII or DIII school, ex-military and very gung ho. First and only real question: do you know how to teach pitching? So I'll be studying BM and java and pretty much all the pitching forum stickies. On the plus side, I'm almost guaranteed a HC spot next season.

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You know you are well prepared when the practices are harder than the games! Congrats and good luck!

I would drill a corkscrew into my eye before coaching HS again-
my experience? more drama in HS than with a 10U rec team.
again-just my experience