There are a LOT of factors that go into what makes a football HC job the best, in my opinion. I had my own sentiments, but decided to do some research of my own for a day or two and here’s what I came up with.
• Support from the administration/leadership- in some schools, as someone mentioned, the principal, superintendent, AD, and others are not always on the same page.
• Quality/Benefits of Facilities- the quality and benefits derived from facilities are certainly a selling point when a coach is looking for a new job.
• Small School vs. Big School- this is quite subjective. One might view a school at a MAC school just as appealing as a public school in Columbus with solid recent success (I think of Geron Stokes moving to Coffman as an example). Now that’s not to say I think Coffman is more attractive than Minster or visa versa, it all depends on who you ask.
• Single vs. Multi-Community Schools- I like how my school (Kirtland) pulls from one community/area, but I don’t necessarily mind those that pull from a couple of communities. There are advantages to both.
• Reputation/Tradition- Winning isn’t the only thing, but it is certainly valuable in determining the quality of a certain job. Some schools have won a lot of titles in the short-term whereas others have made the playoffs 25-35+ times over the years. It depends on how you view tradition.
• Quality of Coaches/Assistants- some coaches try to limit the amount of turnover in a program, others bring on their own staff. If a school has a solid system, it usually means they have high-quality assistants.
• Fan Base Loyalty- Obviously when you’re winning, it’s easy to have a loyal fan base. It’s those fan bases who are able to trust the process and ride the potential bumps in the early going that an incoming coach might look for.
• Feeder Systems- For some schools, this is viewed as advantageous. Other schools, they are successful without feeder systems. Again, this depends on who you’re talking to...
• One School District vs. Many- In larger cities, it’s more difficult to find cities with only ONE school district. When you have one school district, you know what kids you’re getting to play for you. When you’re competing with other school districts, it’s interesting to see who chooses to go where.
• Kids- Simply put, do the kids have the desire to buy into something greater than themselves? Of course, some kids have better genes than others, but the size of the fight in the dog sometimes matters more than the size of the dog in the fight.
I have a few more things, but I figure I have typed enough. If you made it to the end, great. If not, that’s alright. I figured I’d give my two cents on what myself and some others view as valuable to a high school football HC job.
I can’t say what specific school or schools I find to be the best, but there are a handful that excel at a lot of the things I mentioned.