How to Become a Football Coach

Do you love football? Have you enjoyed playing the sport and are looking for a way to continue to work with the game? Then coaching might be a career option to consider. Coaching is exciting and fulfilling and gives you an opportunity to pass your skills on to a new generation of players. If you have years of experience playing football, you may have what it takes to be a great coach. Read on to learn how to become a football coach.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Live the game. If you love to play football, read about coaching and watch the game as often as you can, you will learn to coach from your exposure to the game. To become a successful football coach, you must be willing to spend most of your time thinking about your players, your plays and your opponents.

2. Continue your education. A Bachelor's degree in physical education or coaching, exercise and sports science, physiology, nutrition and fitness, physical education or sports medicine will help you develop a career in coaching at any level.

3. Volunteer. Start out by volunteering with your local youth football league. Watch the head coach and learn from him. Since volunteers are difficult to find, you will discover that there are few requirements for coaching youth leagues other than being willing to spend time working with your players.

4. Approach your local schools, junior high and high schools often hire part-time coaches for their football teams. Once you have some experience coaching in youth leagues, apply for one of these jobs. A college degree in physical education or coaching will help you win one of these positions.

5. Use experience to build your career. It usually takes years of coaching experience and a winning record in the lower ranks to reach the ranks of professional coaching. These are your most important qualifications.