For our second “Coaches Confidential” question we asked Central Indiana high school football coaches the following question:
If you could wave a magic wand and eliminate something about your job, what would it be?
Previously: “What are your thoughts on IHSAA passing the PBA (Personal Branding Activity) for high school sports, which allows athletes to profit of their Name, Image and Likeness? Will the rule change lead to more recruiting/undue influence?”
Their answers:
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“The politics behind the world of education and their administrations. Every decision should be strictly made based on what is best for the kids, nothing more, nothing less.”
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“Parents telling me that their kid has to play 6A football to get a scholarship.”
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“Open transfer rule.”
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“Year-round travel sports.”
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“Travel sports.”
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“Trainers and youth travel sports.”
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“Waiting on a ping pong ball to determine my program’s path in the postseason.”
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“To adequately balance the time to be able meet the needs of the players in my program and also spend the time being a father and husband. Being a head coach is a 365-day a year job with little to no breaks.”
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“Limited contact periods. We are doing too much. I love to grind just as much as any coach, but this has now become a 365-day job. There is a reason you are seeing really good coaches get out of this profession early, even after a lot of success. The time commitment is becoming a factor. We are also asking a lot of our multi-sport athletes, especially at smaller schools. I would like to see us get back to the days of lifting in the offseason (winter and spring). Ramp it up in the summertime.”
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“I would expand the spring practice times and expand what we can do in the summer.”
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“Social media.”
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“Social media’s influence.”
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“Nothing. I’m living my dream job and there’s no aspect out there, that’s really bad that I’d want to remove. We’re very blessed as high school football coaches.”
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“I don’t think I have one.”
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“Not sure. I enjoy my job. Building relationships with students on the daily, using the game of football to mold young men. I work with a good group of people. If anything, I would wave a magic wand for program needs.”
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“I love what I do and going out each day and challenging myself and our kids. Obviously there’s headaches and things we have to deal with but I’m not sure there’s anything I could really ‘eliminate.’”
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“I genuinely love my job, even the most tedious parts of it. The relationships we build with our players and the opportunity to help them grow make everything worthwhile. If I could wave a magic wand and eliminate one thing, though, it would be the laundry. It seems like I’m always doing laundry – practice gear, game uniforms, towels – you name it. That’s definitely the part of the job I wouldn’t miss.”
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“Nothing. Absolutely love being a high school football coach and everything that it entails.”
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“Parent excuses for their kids and have them learn what it means to be committed.”
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“Dealing with the unrealistic reactions of some parents who don’t seem to understand that high school football is more about boys becoming young men.”
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“Parents that live vicariously through their kids.”
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“With the rise in outside training, NIL agents, recruiting services, etc., players have so many voices now. Some of these people are helpful for kids but there are zero barriers to entry for many of these adults and anyone can become an ‘expert’ overnight. There should be a process to become any of these positions of influence for kids, licensing, testing, certifications, would separate the helpful vs the predatory.”
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“All of the administrative paperwork.”
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“Administrative duties and gameday operations which distract from coaching a game.”
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“Administrative duties and paperwork.”
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“Navigating the uncertainty of schedule since we will not have a conference.”
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“Devastating injuries to players. It’s heartbreaking for everyone involved.”
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“Injuries. Although there is an inherent danger to the game, I wish there was a way to truly prevent catastrophic injury from being part of the risk. It would give more players an opportunity to play. And we all know the quickest way to derail a high school season is to have key players go down.”
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“Injuries to players.”
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“(I’d want to) provide transportation for players allowing players the ability to safely get to and from practice in the off-season.”
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“Schedule conflicts.”
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“Offseason pay for the work put in by coaches.”
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“The behind the scenes recruiting that is taking place. It’s already a challenge to build your team but adding those that are behind the scenes trying pull kids away is makes it even more challenging.”
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“Penalize the programs that cheat … not the kids … take them out of the tournament.”
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“I don’t think I would eliminate anything, I would instead make some of the 0s or 1s on my stipend become 7s, 8s or 9s.”
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“Transportation not being so difficult for my kids.”
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“It sounds crazy, but I would probably eliminate spring limited contact. For a school like ours it creates challenges for spring sport athletes that aren’t necessary.”
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“Just to be able to just coach ball.”
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“Setting up recording equipment.”
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“Just have more stipends for coaches.”
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“Social media.”
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“Issues regarding players knee pads in their uniforms on Friday nights.”
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“Bad attitudes and unrealistic expectations.”
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“Before school begins teacher meetings.”
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“The offseason demands that seem to only increase from year to year.”
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“Administrative work, behind the scenes stuff. Just want to go on field and coach and not worry about all the other stuff.”
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“All the paperwork and forms to fill out. Just would like to coach football.”
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“Fundraising.”
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“Having our coaches pay for their Friday night coaches gear.”
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“I feel like I need to have a complete year under my belt before determining this answer, sorry.”
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“Answering this poll … ha.”
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Coaches Confidential asks: ‘What would you eliminate about your job if you could?’
Reporting by Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
