How to Become a Professional Football Coach

So you want to become a professional football coach. The quickest way to achieve this goal is to have played professional football, or to have a father who may have been named, say, Bill Walsh. However, for the remaining 99 percent of the population, starting down this road is very challenging, very time-consuming and carries a very low rate of success. There are no guarantees in life, but there are even fewer in this profession. This article will provide you tips and advise, but at the end of the day it's going to be a combination of hard work and luck that drive people to their goal.

Things You'll Need

  • Time
  • Money
  • Willingness to move
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Instructions

  1. .

    • 1

      Prepare yourself. Read every book you can about coaching--techniques, drills, motivation, whatever you can find. Take notes, keep a journal about what makes sense to you. Watch all the football you can--NFL, NCAA, Arena. Record games and go back and watch all the components of a play over and over again. Watch the plays develop without watching the ball.

    • 2

      Get experience. Start by going down to your local high school and volunteering for the freshman squad. This is better than coaching your local pee-wee squad, simply because there is some expectation to win and the kids take it more serious. Take whatever position you can get, and show up every day, without fail. Apply the techniques you've learned in books and experiment: see what works, what doesn't and what the kids respond to. Talk to other coaches on the squad and learn. There might be a varsity coach who has the same position as you.

    • 3

      Write to your local NFL and college squads, and volunteer to work on gamedays. While there is no way you will be allowed anywhere near the sideline, there's a number of odd-jobs you can do, from running stats in the press box to pulling wire on the sideline for the camera crews. This doesn't get you any more experience, but will allow you a chance to meet the people you will need to help get you the job you want. Show up early, stay late and meet everyone you can.

    • 4

      Spend your vacation, every year, in Indianapolis during the third week of February. While this certainly isn't a preferred vacation destination, it is the home of the NFL Combine. You probably won't be able to get in to the actual events, but this really doesn't matter. Watch the combine on television in your hotel room while studying the photos of all the scouts and staff of NFL teams on their websites. When it's over, spend time in the hotel lobbies, bars, restaurants, any public places in and around the Lucas Oil Stadium and Convention Center. Eventually you will run into everyone you need to know.

    • 5

      After a year or two, start writing to all the NFL teams and contacting the people you meet while networking, offering to do any scouting or coaching internships that might come available. You will get rejected plenty of times. Keep at it, updating your resume as you move up the coaching ladder.

    • 6

      Repeat and repeat. This process will take a minimum of 10 years. Take any coaching position you can that moves you up the ladder--varsity, junior college, graduate assistant positions. Once you move yourself into the four-year college ranks, take a position as Pro Liaison. This will allow you to be the point-man for all NFL scouts that come through your school, which allows you to expand your network. Eventually you will build enough experience and a large enough network that someone may give you a shot.