As A Head Coach You Better Understand $$
True story. I once worked at a college football program where the players were served peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or bologna sandwiches on road trips. This was on a 10-12 hour bus ride to play our game the next day. I was not the head coach but I went to my boss and got that changed after our first road trip.
It was my first brush with managing a football budget. We solved the meal problem and ended up eating better meals on the road when we traveled. The team actually stayed at better hotels as well.
I reflect back to that season every now and then when I talk to athletic directors and head coaches at the high school and small college level.
In some cases, they have little to no idea about what they are purchasing for their staff and more importantly, their players. When you look closer it’s not hard to understand why this happens.
New Head Coaches Quickly Learn About $$
The young athletic director is too busy looking for a wealthy booster to help build a new locker room or football facility. They do not have time for a small $1000.00 game preparation tool.
The new head coach? He got hired because he can run Chip Kelly’s offense better than Chip can. Budget? That is something his wife is better at than he his.
Who suffers when the athletic director does not have time for small budget items like the football team’s game preparation? Or the head coach is too busy recruiting or putting a new staff together?
Pretty obvious…It’s the players.
After the important safety measures like equipment purchases are handled, the players should still be at the top of your consideration list.
You would be surprised at how many head coaches just check the box when it comes to very important things like HOW ARE WE GOING TO TEACH OUR PLAYERS?
2 Things Happen & Neither Is Good For Your Players
1. Your Game Preparation Tools Are Neglected
When this happens you will find coaches using sharpie pens to draw scout team cards and pdf playbooks. You will also find inefficient coaches who spend a ton of time on everything but teaching their position players.
Obviously having good and safe helmets is important for your football team. However; have you ever considered that for the cost of one helmet you could also exponentially increase the knowledge of the players who wear those helmets?
2. You Overspend Because Your Too Busy To Compare
We see it all the time. There are literally football and basketball programs who pay playbook companies twice as much for the same product that another school pays in the same state! Stop and think about that for a second. FirstDown PlayBook takes a lot of pride in the fact that we are transparent about our pricing.
The answer? Take a look at what you and your staff will need to teach and communicate with your team. Slow down. You are a head coach now and odds are that you do not have the Chicago Bears or LSU’s budget.
FirstDown PlayBook Offers You Transparent Pricing
So as we head into football coaching job season season stop and consider what gets most head coaches fired? It’s normally not because they don’t know their offense, defense or special teams.
It’s because somewhere a long the line the players were not talented enough or were not taught well enough. Worse yet, they were neglected when it came to how they were taught and or treated.
If you are a Head Football coach or an Athletic Director, it is your job to do everything in your power to provide the best for the students and the players. FirstDown PlayBook can 100% help you with that.
