What PhD would be most beneficial as a collegiate cross country coach

None

PhD. - none.

How about accounting and business. Otherwise known as "how to get 14 athletes to an out of state meet with a $350 travel and food budget".

Coaching 102 wrote:

Hola ~

My college cross country coach held a Ph.D. in chemistry, and I thought it absolutely benefited the team as our workouts and training plans were a little more scientific than most other programs (IMHO). I'm curious what might be the most beneficial degree to hold that might help runners progress and stay healthy. Physiology? Kinesiology? chem? bio? Medical degree?

Child psychology. John Madden said that child psychology was the most useful course for coaching that he took in college.

Honestly I think you might be giving your coach too much credit.

I see no reason a coach would need a PhD at all unless it is a small college and he/she teaches as well as coaches (or has some other job at the college).

In terms of training, the exercise science a coach needs does not need to be that in depth. Plenty of excellent coaches have no degree in exercise science and do quite well.

Someone else wrote finance or business...I think this is an area where a lot of people could benefit. I never had a class in budgeting and yet ended up in positions that required me to come up with a budget and track it. I was good at creating the budget and staying within it, but things like running projections were more challenging.

Coaching 102 wrote:

Hola ~

My college cross country coach held a Ph.D. in chemistry, and I thought it absolutely benefited the team as our workouts and training plans were a little more scientific than most other programs (IMHO). I'm curious what might be the most beneficial degree to hold that might help runners progress and stay healthy. Physiology? Kinesiology? chem? bio? Medical degree?

To me it seems more likely that the way your coach thought led him to pursue a PhD and also led him to go full nerd on distance training. It seems unlikely that the degree itself was very useful.

That said, either sports psychology or kinesiology/physiology seem like the best fields of research for a college coach, for somewhat obvious reasons.

For a post collegiate coach, a law degree could be useful, since they could double as agent and deal with contracts, etc.

Business acumen can also be useful, to run a successful training group with good marketing, etc.

Coaching 102 wrote:

Hola ~

My college cross country coach held a Ph.D. in chemistry, and I thought it absolutely benefited the team as our workouts and training plans were a little more scientific than most other programs (IMHO). I'm curious what might be the most beneficial degree to hold that might help runners progress and stay healthy. Physiology? Kinesiology? chem? bio? Medical degree?

There is no need for a coach to have a PhD. That being said, if he/she had one the ideal degree would be in Exercise Physiology IMO.

Are you contemplating a graduate assistant type situation where the university is comping you a phd?

I will second what others said; a PhD is not really necessary for college coaching.

The career is not technical enough (it is as much recruiting and program management as it is coaching), nor does the compensation really justify such advanced credentials.

Read studies, go through Techniques, and be familiar with the most common general training theories. But also understand it is just as important to understand equivalency, know the ins and outs of your institutions specific financial aid packages and work on recruiting--regarding it as a skill to be developed.

Here is the truth of it...good recruiters beat good coaches (athletic development) who neglect recruiting. The best programs do both at a high level.

A phD that would allow you to be employed if the coaching thing doesn't work out.

I don't know if I would even want a coach with a PhD. Coaching isn't science, it's an art.

A PhD wouldn't really help with college coaching.

That being said...Pure Math. Preferably with a focus on algebraic geometry, number theory, or differential topology.

As a runner I want a coach that has successfully coached runners IDGAF about his academic credentials.

Look at Jack Daniels, very smart, great technical knowledge, but how many great runners has he coached? Would you rather be coached by Daniels or Gags? I know who I'd chose.

quickndirty wrote:

A phD that would allow you to be employed if the coaching thing doesn't work out.

I don't know if I would even want a coach with a PhD. Coaching isn't science, it's an art.

Old Villanova coach Jumbo Elliott was a construction equipment salesman.

Maybe sales helped him recruit.

You sound like a Millennial trying to find a way to put off joining the real world.

My college distance coach was also a psychology professor at my university.

I think the degree in psychology probably helped some; but I also think that the rigors of going through a PhD program also helped in the way that some of the other posters mentioned in connection with specific areas of study. Analytical rigor and an ability to research and distill a large collection of information are skills that most PhD's develop without regard to the substantive area of study, and those tend to pay off well.

All of that being said, exercise physiology, kinetics and biomechanics are all other substantive areas where the underlying knowledge may add quite a bit of value (although I can reasonable see arguments to the contrary).

quickndirty wrote:

A phD that would allow you to be employed if the coaching thing doesn't work out.

I don't know if I would even want a coach with a PhD. Coaching isn't science, it's an art.

If you have a PhD and are coaching XC at any level I think you need to rethink your career choices.....unless you’re making close to 6 figures or more.

Alan

Computer science. In addition to all its benefits in managing your athletes' training and team finances and recruiting, you might be able to develop an app that would generate enough income to offset what you're being paid to coach.

I'm entirely serious.

Sliding Scale wrote:

I will second what others said; a PhD is not really necessary for college coaching.

The career is not technical enough (it is as much recruiting and program management as it is coaching), nor does the compensation really justify such advanced credentials.

Read studies, go through Techniques, and be familiar with the most common general training theories. But also understand it is just as important to understand equivalency, know the ins and outs of your institutions specific financial aid packages and work on recruiting--regarding it as a skill to be developed.

Here is the truth of it...good recruiters beat good coaches (athletic development) who neglect recruiting. The best programs do both at a high level.

Very helpful comments. I guess I was assuming a great coach would invent new science or training advancements to successfully develop her/his athletes. But the state of the science is so well understood that reading studies and getting crisp on the recruiting, sales, and financial side of things is probably much more significant.

A part of my question was also around trying to get a coaching job at a smaller university with a small budget for coaching. Doubling as a professor and coach would help pay the bills....

Bra-ket wrote:

A PhD wouldn't really help with college coaching.

That being said...Pure Math. Preferably with a focus on algebraic geometry, number theory, or differential topology.

Hey! I was a college coach and my PhD was in the sub discipline of algebraic geometry! Do I know you?!

I think a degree that lets you perform a lot of research, in much the same way that someone like Dr. Joe Vigil did at Adams State. Probably in chemistry or biology, though I can see the advantage in something like performance prediction in psychology as well, as you’d have a lot of freedom to take what science classes you want while really understanding what makes people perform at a higher level. You could recruit those athletes and foster the right type of environment for success.

I think you would want to keep doing research and teaching at a University while coaching, even if it’s just one class, and have an additional source of income so you don’t get resentful.

Don't know why this was deleted, but PhD in pharmacology would be the best PhD to have by far.