A High School Football Coach’s Responsibilities Chart
Written by Rand Holdren via The Team Room
Twitter: @randoutwest and @TheTeamRoom1
There are many jobs when it comes to running a football program, and building a chart will help keep it all organized. Remember, if no one is responsible, then no one can be held accountable.
*The following diagram is my Coach’s Responsibilities Chart from 2019
My first year as a head coach, I struggled mightily with jobs and roles for my assistants. I got really good at assigning tasks as they came up, but never defined exactly who was in charge of what. This was never more apparent than on the way to our first game, an away game no less, when we forget the ball bag. Now I say we forgot, but as the person in charge of the program, it fell squarely on me. Luckily, I had a highly qualified assistant coach that caught this mistake on the way to the game, so it was somewhat easy to turn around and grab. However, it should never have been an issue to begin with.
The amount of tasks that fall onto a high school head coach is a large undertaking and severely understated. Practice schedules, study hall monitors, locker room monitors, scouting plan, video set-up, headsets, pre-game time, weights, offense, defense, special teams, and this list could quite possibly go on forever. Trying to juggle all of this is a delicate dance and it really becomes interesting when a problem arises. When something goes wrong in one of the categories you are left scrambling to try and fix it.
Of course, no one is sitting around waiting for fires to put out, so the head coach must take care of it, right? Well after watching me try to perform this juggling act for my entire first season, my Athletic Director, Keith Knoop, who happened to also be a Hall of Fame Coach, lent me a hand… And I was ready to take it. He showed me his chart with all the responsibilities that he always used with his staff and it was a lifesaver. Being able to lay out who was in charge of what ahead of time was a game changer. Additionally, it helped me solve any issues before the problem had even arrived.
Furthermore, having different coaches in charge of various tasks not only made me more peaceful but also gave the program a better flow. Coaches had jobs that they were responsible for and the kids knew who was in charge of certain aspects of the program.
I strongly encourage any coaches out there to adopt this practice if you haven’t already. If you have a template that you would like to share in the comment section, please feel free to do so.
THE TEAM ROOM was created to help athletes and parents expand their knowledge in the game of football. We are a football resource that has original content from a variety of writers with high experience in the game. Our contributors include coaches and players from all levels ranging from youth to the NFL.
Rand Holdren (Editor-in-Chief) – 30 years of football experience as a player and a coach. Owner of Underground Football, quarterback coach and former high school head coach.
Photo credit: Rand Holdren/The Team Room