A unique characteristic among great coaches is that they are coaching packrats—they keep every game plan, drill, practice schedule, bowl schedule, pre-season plan, self-scout, camp packet, team rulebook, budget, recruiting philosophy, workout manual, motivational quote and more! They all have binders and binders full of useful information. They find great resources and stick to the basics, they stick with what works!
Of all these great coaches that I’ve learned from, none of them were re-inventing the wheel. They were all great teachers, they were all confident in their plan, they had great mentors and they all held on to valuable information as they got their hands on it, sometimes for decades! At times they’d pull out a handout with logos from schools they were at decades ago and we’d retype and go!
As a coach- -an assistant or head coach—you will have a full plate 24/7, 365. A huge time-saver is to have a great head start with policies, procedures, schedules and best practices—a blueprint that you can put your own touch on. For a lot of responsibilities, you won’t have to start from scratch, you can simply tweak to add your own spin!
For example, camps don’t just involve check-in, drills and certificate handouts, they involve insurance, facility rentals, hiring additional coaches, coach background checks, parent waivers, team assignments, dining hall reservation, ordering of camp shirts and much more.
As you move on throughout your career, these resources provide a great reference to you! They can help you take care of responsibilities that you may not remember in detail (or even realize). When it comes time for you to be in charge of a particular responsibility, or in charge of an entire program, you have a head start!
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