Why Young Football Coaches Fail: Entitlement, Titles, and Skipping the Work

During this offseason, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a large number of coaches. One topic keeps coming up—the mindset of the next group of coaches who believe they’ll be sitting in the big chair one day or believe they should be sitting in that chair already.

Every generation has its differences. That’s not new. But one shift stands out more than anything else:

A growing unwillingness to just do the job.

There’s a young coach somewhere right now frustrated with his title—or the roles he’s being offered.

He’s got ideas. He’s watched the clinics. He’s drawn it up on Hudl. He’s convinced himself he sees the game better than the guy in front of him.

And in his mind, he’s already overqualified.

The problem? Nobody else has seen it yet.

Let’s get something straight early—belief in yourself isn’t the issue. Every coach walks that line between confidence and arrogance. (Some are better at it than others)

What is the issue? Feeling entitled to something you haven’t proven. The best coaches we’ve been around all have confidence.

But the ones who last—the ones who build real careers—have one thing in common:

They didn’t skip the work. They didn’t think any task was beneath them, and even if they did, they never let it effect their ability to get the work done the way it was supposed to be done.

They weren’t sitting in the office when the head coach was sweeping the locker room. They were already sweeping it—so it never needed to be said.

Just because you know quarterback play doesn’t mean you understand the run game.

Just because you coach offensive line doesn’t mean you know what wins in the passing game.

Your position knowledge earns you a seat in the room.

What you do with that seat—that’s what matters.

You’re not owed anything. You’re owed opportunity—maybe. You’re owed a chance to work—definitely. But responsibility? That gets handed to the guys who have shown—over time, in hard situations, with other people’s kids—that they can be trusted.

They don’t have to be told to:

- Do the laundry

- Take out the trash

- Clean the field

- Print practice scripts

- Fill coolers

- Input data

They just do it.

You want to call plays? Start by proving you can run a position room.

You want a title? Call yourself the Defensive Back Coordinator if you want—but make sure your individual period is organized, detailed, and run with purpose every single day.

Make sure your kids improve. Make sure they’re disciplined. Make sure they understand how what you’re doing fits into the team plan.

Then ONLY speak on how the gameplan impacts your group—and how your group helps the team win. That’s the job.

Can you take hard coaching without getting defensive? Without turning it into a Ted Talk leadership moment about “finding your voice”?

This is real life. Voices get raised. Conversations get intense. You’ve got to be mature enough to know it’s not personal—and smart enough to learn from it.

Here’s the truth:

Most young coaches don’t stall out because they aren’t smart enough. They stall out because they think they’re too good for the lower roles. They don’t want middle school. They don’t want JV. And if they don’t land a coordinator title in 3–5 years, they’re gone—job hopping for titles that mean more to them than they do to anyone else.

The difference isn’t football knowledge. It’s maturity. Consistency. And the ability to handle responsibility without needing recognition.

You don’t get promoted because you’re impatient. You get promoted because the guy in charge starts to feel uncomfortable not giving you more. He trusts you. He sees you working. He wants to invest in you.

That only happens one way:

You stack days. You solve problems. You become reliable. Over and over again.

There’s no shortcut.

Sure—sometimes it’s right place, right time. (Been a victim and a beneficiary of that, myself).

But if you’re not willing to be where your feet are, you’ll never be satisfied in this profession.

No clinic talk replaces experience. No playbook replaces trust. No confidence replaces proof.

If you’re a young coach reading this and you feel overlooked—good.

Use it. Get to work. Your time will come.

But right now? Show you can do the job. Be a sponge, and soak up all the knowledge of the coaches around you.

Titles are given. Trust is earned.

That's all I got. /

Young and old Coaches need can always learn new things and sharpen their understanding of different position groups. Give our friends **@coaching_share** a like and follow!

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