What is a football coach and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a football coach. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.63 an hour? That's $45,000 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 20% and produce 48,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreFootball CoachUS Average
Salary
3.5

Avg. Salary $45,000

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
8.0

Growth Rate 20%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.8
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.22%

Asian 5.40%

Black or African American 8.74%

Hispanic or Latino 13.03%

Unknown 5.72%

White 66.89%

Gender

female 2.64%

male 97.36%

Age - 34
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34
Stress Level
8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
8.4

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
7.3

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Football Coach career paths

Key steps to become a football coach

  1. Explore football coach education requirements

    Most common football coach degrees

    Bachelor's

    70.2 %

    Associate

    9.6 %

    High School Diploma

    9.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific football coach skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Student Athletes48.91%
    Role Model7.93%
    Football Program7.34%
    Skill Development3.95%
    Championship2.82%
  3. Complete relevant football coach training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New football coaches learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a football coach based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real football coach resumes.
  4. Research football coach duties and responsibilities

    • Serve on the football coaching staff, training a team that achieve a city championship title.
    • Direct all areas of NAIA football program.
    • Improve overall team GPA through a solid academic plan.
    • Maintain NCAA compliance including player academic compliance and off field conduct.
  5. Prepare your football coach resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your football coach resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a football coach resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Football Coach Resume templates

    Build a professional Football Coach resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Football Coach resume.
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  6. Apply for football coach jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a football coach job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Football Coach Job

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Are you a Football Coach?

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Average football coach salary

The average Football Coach salary in the United States is $45,000 per year or $22 per hour. Football coach salaries range between $29,000 and $69,000 per year.

Average Football Coach Salary
$45,000 Yearly
$21.63 hourly

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How do football coaches rate their job?

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Football Coach reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019
Pros

I like to motivate kids into becoming acting and follow their dreams on sports they love to do. I'm always encourage kids they can do anything they want if they try hard enough and would most likely succeed in athletic activity if I'm there coaching for them. Want them to have fun and experience how fun it is being the best team in school.

Cons

Not much I don't like but if I have to decide then I would say my dislike would be kids who don't think qualified or not good enough for sports since parents don't encourage them enough, which I would help them see how much fun and talented they can be not matter what anyone says


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A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019
Pros

Working with individual players in one on one lessons. That's when I get a real chance to find out what knowledge the athlete is bringing to practice, who taught him that, and how and why it may work or not be the best technique available. I am about as nuanced a coach as you could get. The game of football is one of mental fortitude, discipline, and preparation. Raw athleticism, circus catches and big hits or helmet to helmet collisions.

Cons

I don't like parents getting involved or attempting to persuade coaching decisions such as play playing time and depth chart seeding. What I would allow for is any of my concerned parents (at any potential public school) who wouldn't ordinarily come watch practice and see the way the coaching staff interacts with your student athlete as we will go through a proper tackling methods clinic for LB/defensive backs, different types of blocking for the offensive and even the multiple defensive pash rush techniques that are now able to be implemented by a modern football coach.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019
Pros

Results from skills that have been developed, team work and friendship within the team and other coaches.

Cons

Venue availability clashes and my self running late.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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