For most of us, pre-season practice is starting shortly. As a HC, if you have not set up a meeting with your staff… you need to do so! It is important that everyone is on the same page. This leads to effective organization and strong leadership by your coaches.
A young HC asked me recently what he should cover in his meeting. One thing I mentioned to him was… get your assistants involved. You don’t need to lead the whole time. Let your Coordinators speak. Let you Assistant HC’s speak… etc. Give them an opportunity to get up in front of the group.
I think it’s important that your entire staff know what the expectations that you have for them are. You can do this with a Staff Policy Sheet or HC Expectations. Also at this time, your staff needs to know their on-field as well as their OFF-field responsibilities. These are things like getting the equipment (blocking bags, cones, etc) out and… stored away. Locker room clean-up. Getting the managers organized with the water. The HC should not have to do all of this by himself.
During the meeting, it’s important to talk about the program’s Goals and Values. You need to make it clear to your staff what the things are that you believe in and will stand on during the season.
Remind them that they are Teacher/Coaches. The best coaches are the best teachers. You can discuss Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams philosophy and objectives at this time — and have the Coordinators speak.
One last thing that I’d recommend discussing is the daily schedule throughout August… leading up to your first game. Give a hand-out on the times of each practice and when you expect the staff to arrive and leave. Let them know when staff meetings will occur. Go ahead and state the time requirements in-season too. All of this is necessary so coaches know in advance what their time commitment is.
If you can close the meeting with prayer, do it! Then… our staff is going to have a cook-out after the completion of our meeting. It’s a “pot luck” dinner at one of the coach’s house. Great time to build rapport.
