How to Coach an NFL Team

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Coaches in the National Football League (NFL) have to deal with a number of tasks in their daily lives. In addition to play calling and strategy, an NFL coach needs to deal with strength training, personnel assessment and dozens of other tasks. It is important to maintain top notch organizational tools while you coach an NFL team. Read on to learn how to coach an NFL team.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Clipboard
Footballs
Tackling Dummies
List of Plays
Whistle

Step1

Develop a professional coaching philosophy based on a combination of good tactics and motivation. Both skills can be learned from books like the American Football Coaches Association's "The Football Coaching Bible," which provides a comprehensive approach to coaching. See the Resources section below for a link.

Step2

Delegate game planning and practice responsibilities to your coordinators. Depending on your coaching background, you may want to maintain control over play calling on the offense or defense. In the NFL, it is standard for coordinators to organize lower level assistants and run practices.

Step3

Speak with advance scouts at least two weeks in advance of game day. Advance scouts review game tape of each team on your schedule and compile notes for the coaching staff. These preliminary reviews help you coach better when that opponent is next on the schedule.

Step4

Select team captains with strong leadership skills. NFL teams typically select a team captain from the offense, defense and special teams units. Captains speak with referees on behalf of the rest of the team and provide motivation to younger players.

Step5

Maintain head set contact with your quarterback throughout each game. NFL rules allow a coach to relay plays to their quarterback until there is 15 seconds left on the play clock. Only one coach can communicate via the head set so keep the designated play caller close during the game.

Step6

Use your replay challenges deliberately each game. As a coach, you only receive two challenges each game and a failed challenge leads to a lost time out. Look at the stadium replay screen to gauge the need for a replay challenge.

Tips & Warnings

Establish a good relationship with your college scouts and player personnel staff early. Personnel scouts head out to college all-star games, combines and workouts to assess the potential of individual players. The increasing role of coaches in the front office means your input is invaluable to the success of your personnel department.