2022 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion

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Austin Peay - Asst. Coach

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Assistant Cross Country and Track & Field Coach

The Assistant Cross Country and Track & Field Coach is responsible for assisting the Head Cross County and Track & Field Coach in all areas of running a successful Division 1 Cross Country and Track & Field program that compe...

Link:apsu.peopleadmin.com/postings/14273

High Point - Asst. Coach

Good Luck With That wrote:

Mid Majors wrote:

Seems like the nature of mid majors. Just a pit stop for experience and then move on. Although often enough many end up leaving coaching altogether. These assistants aren’t making anywhere near what the power 5 schools are paying. What does an MVC school assistant make, 35k?

A lot of mid major assistants make 30k - 45k. (To put that in perspective, fast food places in my neighborhood are paying $37k to kids who just graduated from high school.)

You REALLY need to have a passion to be a college coach because you certainly aren't doing it for the money.

From a financial perspective they're actually better off being a high school teacher making 60k - 80k and coaching their high school team.

How much fun can it be to spend years as an assistant coach making starvation wages?

The only way you are making 60-80k a year as a HS teacher and coach is if you’re in the right school district and state and have about 10-15 years of experience. And most people do not realize the struggles and challenges of being a teacher these days. Spend a week teaching in some Public schools and see if you’re ok with a 35-40k a year coaching salary after that.

I agree. So many people come on this board and bash other coaches. I think it’s bc those throwing stones are jealeous bc they can’t get the job those they are bashing have. Be positive here and help give info on jobs and not info on why someone shouldn’t have a job! If some of you used your real names on here you might find yourself in court with a defamation lawsuit.

Agreed. Don't fall for the "high school coaches make more than college coaches" bit. High School TEACHERS make the same or more, that's true. But you have to actually perform an entire full time job called TEACHING and then you make a few thousand bucks to coach on top of that.

Contrast that to only having to perform the duties of a coach. Even for less money, that's a much better job in my opinion. And reading the horror stories of teachers on twitter reinforces that.

yes and no. as a high school teacher you aren't spending 20+ hours a week recruiting/official visits/etc. you aren't dealing with scholarships. you aren't traveling nearly every weekend from August through Oct and from Jan through June. you aren't gone for many if any 2-3 day meets. in most states you aren't working through an indoor track season.

college coaching is about 80% administrative/recruiting/traveling/etc and 20% coaching. high school coaching is probably the exact opposite of that; 80% coaching kids and 20% of the other crap.

iffyy, The 80-20 percentages that you state are way off. My time allotment in an average week for XC is maybe 50% teaching, 20% coaching admin., 30% practice / meet time in roughly a 55 hour week. For track Id' say 50% teaching, 25% coaching admin., 25% practice / meet time in a 60-70 hour week. To your numbers- overall, I spend about an equal amount of time doing "track administration" of entries, results, meet prep, equipment, checking grades, athletes' injuries, college admission, etc...

For others the numbers may be different and certainly for an assistant coach there is far less track administration.

-Adam Kedge, Albuquerque Academy

Kedge, I hear what you are saying. I was referring just to the actual coaching part. If you add in the teaching, then it does shift the percentages some. However, you do get a full three months of summer off. You do make more $, in many states (not all).

In some ways it's apples to oranges. Both fruit, but different types of fruit. Which means it might be preference. I have coached both high school and multiple levels of college. I was not a teacher when I coached high school. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

I do think a lot of the college coaching desire is ego though. If you want to coach and want to help kids, there are amazing opportunities everywhere. Taking $30k to work 60+ hours a week as a college coach has a lot to do with pride in many cases (or it is often subconsciously about hanging on to the good times they had as a college athlete). A lot of college xc and tf coaches think they are special. They are unaware that most of the world couldn't care less if they are a "college" xc and tf coach.

Believe it or not, there are many college coaches that really enjoy coaching that don’t care much about salary or ego. We do it because we love the sport and the challenge. I started out making $5K a year and was loving life coaching. Do not care what anyone thinks of my ability. I enjoy helping my athletes reach new levels of success. Thats my “Pay” and motivation. I make enough to live a good life (Under $40K) and could care less about ego’s.

Not ego. I just have no desire to be a teacher. And I'm tired of teachers coming on here wanting to feel better by saying they have a better deal than a full-time coach. That job is called TEACHER--that's what you're (majority) getting paid for. I like coaching and I don't mind the administrative stuff. Everyone overstates how taxing the administrative stuff is. Its not hard at all. I'm not saying it takes less time than teaching. I'm just saying that teaching is a very different job and I enjoy being a coach much more.

Sorry, loved this response!!!

Not sure your point. If you’re a college coach and you don’t enjoy traveling to meets each weekend then why do you do it? That’s why we coach! We live for weekends for a reason most don’t. Some of us enjoy recruiting: I can handle sorting in my office for a few hours a day over babysitting 180 kids each day and dealing with parents, grading papers, doing lesson plans, etc. As a HS teacher and coach, I think I worked about 100 hours a week including weekends and there was only pet of it I enjoyed. Teaching is not the same as it used to be. Not at all.

I have no problem saying that I do in fact care quite a bit about my salary.

If a coach can afford to live off of $5,000 long enough to survive with under $40k then more power to you. I respect that stance but personally wouldn't be happy being that undervalued especially living in an area where that wouldn't afford you a shared apartment.

One of the biggest flaws of our profession is that there is always someone willing to work for less so our leverage as coaches is never as much as it should be when negotiating salaries. But my passion for this sport and helping my athletes should not be an excuse to be paid poorly.

Back to jobs.

Well said.

Who takes over Ole Miss? Heard Van Hoy is headed out West.

Confirmed. Vanhoy is leaving Ole Miss for Cal Poly job.