by Michael Burke

Created on: September 14, 2008

Becoming a college football coach is not as difficult a task as it may seem. However, it is an involved process that requires a lot of patience.
Many of today's coaches were players at various collegiate levels and started their coaching careers early. Plus, almost all of them started out coaching at the high school level before moving up to college.
One of the best moves you can make is to contact your local college's athletic department and set up a meeting with the football coach to talk over what is required and expected of you to become a collegiate football coach.

Just loving the game and having a strong desire to work with young players is not enough. Most colleges require a minimum of a bachelor's degree to be qualified to coach. Although they definitely require a Master's degree to even be considered. The smaller schools in college do not have the luxury of a large budget to hire someone to coach only and require their coaches to teach as well, which calls for a minimum of a Master's degree.
Every school, however, requires its coaches to have a strong working knowledge of the NCAA rules and regulations reqarding player eligibility, equality, and deportment. With recent headlines regarding player's and coaches misbehavior, the NCAA and its member schools have taken a strong stance on how players and coaches conduct themselves off the field.
Most of today's college coaches started out as a graduate assistant coach with a team. As a graduate assistant, you will be able to learn how much work goes into being a coach, while gaining valuable position coaching experience.
There is more that goes into being a college football coach. Many duties not only include coaching a position, but fundraising, recruiting, alumni relations, and many various administrative duties. Coaches must also adhere to a budget as dictated by the college's board of trustees. Coaches also must act as travel agents for games away from home. That includes arranging lodging, travel to and from the game, organizing meals for the team and staff and meetings before the game.
Being a college football coach can be rewarding and exciting. However, plan on putting a lot of non-football work in as well. You can find more useful information about becoming a college football coach by visiting www.ncaa.org. This is the official website of the NCAA, the sports governing body for colleges in the United States.

Learn more about this author, Michael Burke.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.