Why HS Coaches should not be teaching?(Coach Jimmy Lamour with Lamour Training Systems)

Why HS Coaches should not be teaching?
Courtesy of Coach Jimmy Lamour with Lamour Training Systems

This is a question I have pondered for many years and am thankful for the opportunity to share my thoughts on the topic. It is hard for those who have never coached to understand the commitment and dedication it takes to coach. It is a full time endeavor, but many are teaching due to the lack of financial support from the schools. I believe Coaching should be seen as serious as a math teacher. It is just a different type of education as many coaches attend clinics and are mentored by some of the best football minds in the country. Why do College Coaches only Coach? It is hard to be as successful at something when your time is divided by teaching another subject.

Of course, some states such as Texas have coaches that only coach. It gives them the opportunity to focus on staff development. The free time would give coaches time to teach their staff leadership, pay them a quality salary, teach plays, and maintain staff longevity.

Also, the time commitment for being a coach is hard to fathom. I can remember going home at 11 p.m. some nights. Coaches could take care of coaching business during the day instead of doing classroom work. This would allow them to leave after practice and still know they completed all of their coaching duties.

Lastly, I can recall being called out of teaching on numerous occasions to discipline a player in another class. A coach would have more time to dedicate to building young men. A coach could monitor class behavior. Coaches can also focus more on helping athletes be more recruiting worthy. I believe the HS coaching world would be a much better place if it was viewed as a profession. I also did not want to leave the audience without some training information, so I wanted to share a video we developed a while back.

Video is here and CLICK HERE for this week’s video, Blessings of the Underexposed:The Road to Pro-Day
*****Excellent video and be sure to check it out.*****

Jimmy Lamour is a former Guilford College in Greensboro, NC All South Defensive Back. He set the record for interception return yards at the school. Upon Graduation, he tested numerous philosophies on strength and speed through seminars, self-study, conversation with renowned strength coaches, and training of hundreds of athletes. This led him to develop the 4.30 40 Speed System a system that helped him improve his 40 yard dash from a 4.66 to a 4.30, which gave way to many professional football workouts. He later developed Lamour Training Systems with the help of his lovely wife Charlene to help athletes improve their performance and receive knowledge he missed out on as a child. He continues to consult with several division 1, prep schools, and high school coaches. LTS has helped many football athletes play at the D1, D2, and D3 levels. He believes that his passion to see young men become all God intended them to be and provide knowledge of the defensive back position which will allow young athletes under the tutelage of Pick 6 Academy to flourish. He is currently certified as a Youth Fitness specialist, 7on7 Performance Director, and High School Strength & Conditioning Specialist. Also, Coach Lamour is a devout Christian. He has two children Camdon (19) and Micah (12).Sign up for his newsletter to receive his free speed report at http://fastyouthathlete.blogspot.com/ on For more information, call 336-257-9151

8 thoughts on “Why HS Coaches should not be teaching?(Coach Jimmy Lamour with Lamour Training Systems)

  1. The question is still in the air…how many coaches do you know would rather teach than Coach? The only thing holding them back is that teaching pays a salary. I am talking from experience not theory.

  2. I wouldn’t call the full time coaching notion ignorant, but I would call it severely unrealistic. If the post creator could sit in on one of the Guilford or Forsyth county’s budget meetings, it would be very apparent why we don’t have full time coaches. Even with the addition of the Lottery, the NC school systems are grossly underfunded. We can barely keep qualified teachers in our systems now and in most cases, the great teachers do it for the kids not the money. In our local high school, we have more than one teacher that serves as a head coach for multiple sports. Just not enough money in the kitty!

  3. Me personally as a head track coach I love teaching and coaching. I could see where it maybe be harder for football and basketball coaches though as I know they have to game plan.

  4. As with the Coach’s advise regarding kids focusing on one sport vs multiple sports, I just think his point of view is one that places a bit too high of a priority on HS sports. I say that as a former HS athlete and the parent of one. For the overwhelming majority of high school athletes, their HS participation is their last, other than intramurals/recreation. That won’t change if coaches become full time coaches instead of part-time, or whether kids focus on one sport vs more than one. So, for other than having a higher quality of competition, what is the benefit to be derived for this additional investment in HS sports (which comes from the taxpayers)?

  5. I think if a head coach or assistant is really doing his job and keeping track of every single player he doesn’t have time to teach or teach properly. Coaches if not should be keeping up with grades, behavior, College recruiting, relationships with Admin and teachers, Boosters, Highlight films, Practice, Games, Kids home lifes, Parents or guardians, driving kids home, picking kids up, making sure they are getting fed, etc etc. Unlike some sports that may have 20-40 kids some Football Coaches are responsible for 100-150 kids depending on which program you are at. Maybe some schools have more privilege kids where parents take care of most of the coaches duties. Some schools the coaches are like parents to these kids that have nobody in their lives. Some schools coaches are not only coaches they do some many things outside of school that the school system doesn’t see.

    I see no problem with having a coach or two that are full time coaches. Let teachers focus on the book part of the education and let coaches focus on teaching kids life skills that is just as an important piece of the kids education as books are.

    -Coach Madden

  6. Coach Madden is certainly correct that certain kids have a better home situation that others. But that applies to non-athletes as well. Will these full time coaches also have an obligation to teach these life skills to such non-athletes?

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