Welcome to Coaching Football 101, class is now in session. Today's episode barely scratches the surface of all that a new football coach needs to know, but we only have an hour.

A football coaching friend likes to say that every man in America thinks he can do two things: grill and coach football (in 2020 you can add doctor to that list). But every experienced football coach knows at least half of that is not remotely true.

What You'll Learn in Coaching Football 101

This podcast isn't the place to get into the details of coaching football. The little things like how to design a good play, decide which play to call, or figure out what drills to run during your practice. That's what a lot of new coaches are looking for. But in Football Coaching 101, we need to start at the beginning.

Instead, today's lesson is going to focus on 10 things every football coach should know. Young or old. Youth, High School, College or NFL. First year coaches and 30 year veterans.

10 Things Every Football Coach Should Know

Here's the list of 10 things every football coach needs to know that we'll kick off Football Coaching 101 with. You coach long enough, you'll learn all of these things through trial and error. Most of these I've learned through a lot of pain and suffering.

I want you, new coach, to skip all that. I want you to start out in the fast lane. It's a better way to live. I'll go into each point in depth in the episode, which you can listen to at the bottom of this post.

It's all about relationships. That'll get beat into your head any time you ask a coach the most important thing to know.
You do not need to learn any plays to get your first job.
Drills are for solving problems. Don't waste time on worthless drills.
There is no RIGHT way. But there is OUR way.
Confidence is critical. Being 'mean' or 'violent' is not.
If you're new to coaching football, accept that you know very little. And that's OK.
Drop all the excuses. You're a coach.
Keep your composure.
Terminology in football coaching is not universal.
Execution of plays, not the play itself, wins football games.

This is a great list to get started. But as I said earlier, it's just scratching the surface. There's a another great post on the most common mistakes youth coaches make here, but it applies to all coaches in my experience.

And then there's all the fun stuff you're really looking to learn. The X's and O's of coaching football. There's a great place to start learning more of that too, with JDFB Coaching Systems.

Shaken But Not Defeated - Part 2 - 15 March 2023