Are the personal lives of being a Collegiate Coach very stressful?

Just my two cents, my college coach seemed like the most laid-back guy I have ever met. If he was ever stressed out about anything, I couldn't tell. Plus, he hadn't paid for an article of clothing in years.

SomeCoach wrote:

How can you commment on what I know and what I don't know?

Because of what you said below. You have no idea what it's like to coach D1. So please don't comment.

It used to be that most men worked 10 hours a day and half a day Saturday.... AND, after practice ends, all the teaching paperwork kicks in as well. Obviously recruiting is substantially different, but recruiting kids out of the hallway is still a part of it .. and we get to deal with your recruiting piece on the other end of the process.

I was a collegiate coach for many years and one of the reasons I got out of coaching was missing out on family life. For those that are saying if family is important to you, you can make it work, I say not true. When my children were little, I WAS able to make it work by basically being there for my wife and kids any second I wasn't doing something with coaching. As my kids got older and got into sports themselves, I was missing almost all of their events due to practices, traveling to meets and recruiting. I had to choose between being there to support my kids or being constantly gone. I eventually chose to support my kids, but it is virtually impossible to do both, especially if you coach both men and women, cross country and track.

To the high school coach trying to compare it to DI collegiate coaching, there is no comparison. Yes the paperwork is much more extensive and recruiting is literally non-stop, 365 days a year. Also, if you are a head coach of men's and women's track and cross country, you can have up to 100 athletes or more, with often a smaller coaching staff than most high schools. Also, college runners are away from home and therefore need more attention than high school kids. While you are teaching all day, I was often spending the entire day just talking and counseling athletes between their classes. On those days when a lot of athletes came in to talk, I had to take all the paperwork home with me and do it late at night after I spent most of the evening on the phone making recruiting calls. Also, a collegiate cross country and track season last much longer than high school seasons and the travel is much more extensive.

Yes, high school coaches work hard, but don't try to compare to a DI coaching until you have done it.

you are clueless wrote:

Because of what you said below. You have no idea what it's like to coach D1. So please don't comment.

I wasn't aware that we were only allowed to comment in this thread if we were college coaches. Sorry. I will stop commenting now.

I don't coach at a DI school, but I do coach at a college. The OP is on to something. College coaches have to have very understanding spouses to make things work. In my case, mine is not very understanding and things look like they are coming to an end. Here's the bottom line, would you rather do what you are passionate about or work some crappy job you hate and resent the living crap out of the person who won't let you chase your dream?

You want to coach? Go for it... If you can get the job in the first place. When you get what you wish for don't whine... Do your job!

fnoter wrote:

I don't coach at a DI school, but I do coach at a college. The OP is on to something. College coaches have to have very understanding spouses to make things work. In my case, mine is not very understanding and things look like they are coming to an end. Here's the bottom line, would you rather do what you are passionate about or work some crappy job you hate and resent the living crap out of the person who won't let you chase your dream?

You want to coach? Go for it... If you can get the job in the first place. When you get what you wish for don't whine... Do your job!

I am sorry that you do not have an understanding spouse. That has to be very frustrating. I was very lucky to have an outstanding wife that was very understanding of my job. I am sure many other coaches have great spouses as well. The bigger problem is once you have children and they get older and you have to miss out on most of their activities. I know for some coaches that isn't a problem, but for many of us, we want to be there for our kids, at least once in awhile.

Also, to add to my previous post, I realize there is a big difference between coaches and their time commitment to their profession. I think I over generalized a bit about DI coaching being more time consuming than high school coaching. I have known a couple of DI coaches that didn't start their work day until noon or later, had assistant coaches do most of their recruiting, etc. And I have known high school coaches that have put in way more hours than most coaches would. So in general I still say a DI coaching job SHOULD be more demanding, but as with any job, it depends on what you want to get out of it.

Brr My forearms are cold wrote:

I wasn't aware that we were only allowed to comment in this thread if we were college coaches. Sorry. I will stop commenting now.

Yes, please do.

Former coach wrote:

Also, to add to my previous post, I realize there is a big difference between coaches and their time commitment to their profession. I think I over generalized a bit about DI coaching being more time consuming than high school coaching. I have known a couple of DI coaches that didn't start their work day until noon or later, had assistant coaches do most of their recruiting, etc. And I have known high school coaches that have put in way more hours than most coaches would. So in general I still say a DI coaching job SHOULD be more demanding, but as with any job, it depends on what you want to get out of it.

I hesitate to jump into this pissing match, but I appreciate your follow up comments recognizing that coaching at both levels can be all-consuming. Personally, I think it's comparing apples to oranges to some degree and, as you said, it really depends on the extent of someone's commitment to their profession. To SomeOtherCoach, no offense, but if your HS teaching/coaching job was cush, then you weren't very good at one or both.

Other general comments... I know there are high profile programs where you had better be successful, but in our sport that appears to the exception and not the rule. There are PLENTY of D1 coaches who continue producing mediocre results without any jeopardy of losing their jobs. My HS cross season went from August 9 to November 20, name the college programs with a longer season? Finally, Jose, do you realize those same "emotional" stresses exist coaching HS athletes?

This might be the post of the thread. Good insight.

Brr My forearms are cold wrote:

you are clueless wrote:

Because of what you said below. You have no idea what it's like to coach D1. So please don't comment.

I wasn't aware that we were only allowed to comment in this thread if we were college coaches. Sorry. I will stop commenting now.

Duh, nobody but a college coach can even comprehend what a challenging, demanding career could be like. So STFU.

Most college coaches coach cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. The seasons run together so most college coaches are "in season" from August until mid-June.

Wow, working from August to mid-June must be terrible. I can't imagine what I would do if my company shortened our summer vacation to two months.

longer seasons wrote:

Most college coaches coach cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. The seasons run together so most college coaches are "in season" from August until mid-June.

I would say the same is true for coaches of successful high school programs ... very few have coaches who only do one season. Of the strong programs in the Northeast I can say over 90% go from XC through to outdoor.

Somecoach I completely agree with you about some parents these days hovering around their children too much. I grew up in a house like this and it sucks!!! I often wished they had more work so I could have some friggin privacy and be my own person. The media loves to hate on the 70 hour week folks, but they do it for their family so they should be encouraged.

To clarify, HS teaching and coaching were cush jobs compared to the college level positions that I've had. That's just the facts. I worked my ass of at the HS level, won titles, taught advanced and honors level, graded essays, department chair, blah, blah.

DI coaching takes way more out of a person, imho.

I started out as a high school coach for many years, went to the DIII level as a head coach, then went to the DI level as assistant, before getting to a head gig at DI. No comparison. High School was a cake-walk compared to college. The biggest difference is that at the high school level the kids (generally) go home to their parents, which takes that stress of the coach. At the collegiate level they stay with you the coach and the coach takes all the responsibility. When you have 100 athletes in a combined program there are bound to be half a dozen issues each day. NCAA paperwork (compliance, budgeting,etc) is significantly more than any high school coach could ever do. Are both professions demanding? Certainly so, but collegiate coaching, especially at the DI level is so intense its not even comparable. Would I do it again? Yes. Have there been family sacrifices at the collegiate level that I didn't have at the high school level? Yes.

No high school coach can ever truly understand what a demanding lifestyle being at a good DI school can be like.

Ok, here is my point of view for what is is worth. I have never been a high school coach, but I can assure you the time being a college coach is far greater then the high school level. Many time the team takes priority over person life. Weddings are skipped, as are funerals (yes my grandmothers funeral was skipped to hose recruits), as are your childrens birthdays, and anniversaries because of meets and recruits. I have worked 48 hour straight without sleep (more then once) becuase of making recruiting calls. Starting on the east coast, working west ward, then making the international calls very late at night/very early mornings. Then making my way straight to the "normal" working business hours.

As for the person who thinks the job runs August to June....that is just the part where we travel every weekend for competition and are away from family. June to August, the caoches with the good programs, are recruiting and doing home visits.

The point is, yes, family takes a back seat 99% of the time. And no way high school coaching is comparable.

Just my 2 cents.

coaches from elite high school programs in the Northeast > more work than SOME college coaches

Why can't Obama put more labor laws in to prevent these kinds of complaints?