I started my coaching journey as a college student who just wanted an opportunity to coach football. I was fortunate enough to get an interview at the school in my college town that actually hired college students to coach very frequently. We were called GAs, considering we were high school graduates helping at the Junior High and High School level. Obviously, we were paid very little, but the amount of connections, networking, and knowledge that I obtained was priceless!
I was a college student until 3 o’clock and then a football coach the rest of the day. It could not get any better in my mind. I was blessed to coach here for three years before I graduated from college. I had multiple mentors whom I could call on at any time for advice. I learned so much from many great men who were all retired from public school football. They had won more championships than I can ever dream of winning. We would be at 7-on-7 tournaments, and they would always be dropping little nuggets of knowledge here and there. They weren’t always about scheme or how to coach a down block. A lot of times, it was what they learned along the way about being a good assistant, man, and coach.
I will tell you a couple of things I was told that always stood out to me. “Always be loyal to your head coach, no matter how bad the season is going, because one day you could be that head coach.” I am not a head coach yet, just a coordinator, but I understand so much more now than I did then. When I become a head coach, I want assistants to be loyal through the good and the bad. That has transcended further into how I handle leaving a job to take another one and keeping my head coach informed through the interview process. Another was “Demand a lot from your players, but never demean them. Demanding never demeaning.” That has stuck with me from that day forward because we had just watched another coach demean his player in front of everyone at 7-on-7.
Lastly, we were in our one spring staff meeting (this HC hated meetings) before spring practice started for Junior High and Varsity. I was moved up to the Varsity staff during my 2nd and 3rd year while coaching in college. The Varsity coaches ran and coached Junior High spring ball just like they were a Varsity team. We put all the Junior High players on the board and put them into a position group. We then followed with Varsity on the board and put them into a position group. There was one player in particular. He was the worst kid on the team. A lot of people would have just thrown him somewhere with the hopes he would quit down the road. He was a weak kid, and to be quite honest, he probably did not need to be on the team. He was scared and never put in any effort. The head coach wrote his name on the board and said, “I know he is a pain. I know he is terrible. I know that he is tough to deal with, BUT he needs us more than we need him.” I have tried to model that for my career. They need us more than we need them. It truly changed my outlook on everything as a young coach.
One mentor stood out in particular. He was and has been there for me throughout my coaching journey. He is not quoted above. Honestly, I could not pick a single quote from him simply because there are too many! He always picks up the phone. He always has a piece of advice. Every conversation with him seems as if I learn something new about myself or the coaching world. I was going to interview for a linebacker’s job, as the head coach I previously worked for took a job, and it was too far to travel for me to follow him. The head coach and my mentor knew each other well. Whenever I told my mentor I was reaching out to him, he immediately texted me back and said, “I’m on it!” I go and interview. Once again, I had been told this interview was to coach linebackers. He told me to bring any materials that I had for what I wanted to run on defense, so I did. I sit down, and we begin talking ball after all the formalities. Long story short, the coach offered me the defensive coordinator job on the spot. This school was one year removed from winning a state championship, so this was a really good job offer with the athletes and school. His reasoning for offering a coordinator job to a 26-year old coach was simple. My mentor. He had called and went to bat for me since they knew each other from many years prior. I was sitting there, interviewing with the coach, and he said, “When (my mentor’s name) says this is the guy that you need to hire… then that’s the guy that I am going to hire.”
I would have never been in that situation had I not had mentors who believed in me and my ability as a football coach. He helped jump-start my career and was a coordinator at 26, simply because I had someone who believed in me. If you work hard, and people see that, they begin to take notice. That is what happened in my case. I had a mentor that believed in my ability to be a coordinator, and fortunately for me, someone saw his faith in a young, 26-year-old, energetic football coach, and it made them believe too!
The other aspect of this is when things turn south in your life or career. I always had some mentor that I knew I could call, whether it was a scheme question or advice. Maybe it was a rough Friday night, and you’re sitting there “licking your wounds” as my mentor always said after a tough loss (he used quite a few dog analogies now that I think about it). I always had someone to call, no matter the scenario. I always called my mentor to give me advice on my next step in each job I have ever taken. He has always given me sound advice and helped me find my way in the coaching world. When things went bad, and I did not know what to do coach always had an answer.
I am sure that I am not the only coach out there who can attest to the value of a mentor. I would not be where I am today without my mentor and all of the other coaches who have mentored me along the way. If you are a young coach just starting out, just know you can’t do it by yourself. Find someone and learn from them. If you don’t know anyone, I promise there is someone who will teach you something. A mentor can help you along your way and sometimes help elevate you in your career. You never know who can help or teach you something along the way.
I hope you enjoyed reading! Thank you, and please consider following my X account Touchdown X’s & O’s @TDxsandos. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help you! DMs are always open. I also sell access to my Football Mega Drive that has film, playbooks, manuals, and more through the link below. Dm on X if you have questions! Thanks!
Case Taylor, Owner of Touchdown X’s & O’s
