I am might come off like the old grumpy guy with this blog post. But there are some things that need to be said. The field of S&C with young coaches has become too entitled where they overstate their value as coaches before they have ever worked with athletes, run a training session, and helped teams prepare. Understand that this all comes with love in my heart for S&C coaches and for the field of S&C.

Graduate School

Let me start off with my story. I did not know about Graduate Assistantships (GA's). This is my own fault for not looking into it, but I paid for college on my own. I went into student debt to be able to pay for school. Thank God I have paid these off and am debt free - but I did what I had to do in order to get into the field that I love.

In my final semester of graduate school this is what my life looked like:

Intern at Harvard from 5am-11am
Work at Next Level Fitness 12pm-3pm
Grad classes at Bridgewater State College 4pm-8pm

Days that I did not go to grad school I would work longer at the gym. This was my former offensive line coach's gym where we ran athlete training groups much like the Mike Boyle's, Mike Guadango's, and Eric Cressey's of the world.

Those are long days. And I NEEDED them. They got be ready for longer days. After this final semester of graduate school I because a true full-time S&C (just didn't get paid). I worked at Harvard University from 5am-6pm Monday - Friday in the winter semester of 2012. Why did I do this? James Frazier (head S&C at Harvard) set me up with an internship at Iowa football for the 2012 summer. I wanted to be able to get hired after that summer. So Fraz (what we called Coach Frazier) and Coach Tim Mullen talked about what would be best for me and my development. They decided that I work long days (just like them) get teams to program for (just like them). And it was awesome.

Oh did I mention Harvard is 1 hour and 15 minutes from where I was living. Yes I drove 1 hour and 15 minutes each way Monday - Friday (with an occasional Saturday Speed School) to get my career started. I was young, had no family, nothing. I could do this because I was living back at home with my father and step mother. All I was really doing was sleeping there (and eating too). On weekends I would bounce at a local bar to help pay bills. Now I understand that maybe not everyone can stay at home with their parents - but I could. I swallowed by pride (again) and did it so I can get into the field that I love.

Internship

Now that I left Harvard and was interning at Iowa football I was living in an apartment complex less than 10 min walk to the football facility. This worked out well because we would get to the building at 4am because of all the equipment we had to set up. That summer the new Iowa football complex was being built. Therefore the old practice bubble was broken down and we needed to use Kinnick for speed and conditioning work. This was a 10 min walk from the weight room so we needed to make sure everything was set up properly.

This was 2012 - so 12 years ago, and fuel stations back there were NOTHING like they are now. We had shakes, bars, some fruit, and gatorade. That was it. But it was something. And I could have them during the day while working. And if anything had an old expiration date on the box when we were stocking - I could take it home. More food! I say this because I was living off $500 per month for food and housing. I explain all of that here in this blog. 

 Now not only was I living off $500 a month, I was living with 2 people I had never met. We all lived there for the summer in a sublet. I had no clue if I would get hired or not. No one can predict the future. I was able to get hired by Coach Drew Wilson at University of Maryland after this internship. But only after the guy who was the lead intern turned it down. He had interned for a semester or 2 before and helped show us the ropes. He was recommend for the Maryland job to Coach Wilson from Coach Doyle. He was offered the job and turned it down. Too much work, not enough money. He didn't even tell Coach Doyle that he turned Coach Wilson down. Coach Doyle only found out when Coach Wilson asked Coach Doyle if he had anyone else. And that is when my name got brought up. If it wasn't for that guy saying no, I wouldn't be where I am at now. 

Since then

I worked at Maryland for 2 years and got to work with some amazing athletes. Stefon Diggs is the biggest name of them all - but also go to work with other NFL stars Yannick Ngakoue and Jermaine Carter Jr to name a few. I made tons of mistakes and grew during the time. I lived in 2 different homes with complete strangers again because it is what i could afford. I lived below the poverty line, making $24k a year before taxes, but didn't know it because I could eat breakfast and dinner at the facility during meal checks. I was able to have some shakes during the day for lunch. I had a career. I didn't have a 401k or health insurance. But I had a foot in the door working in FBS football.

Then came the opportunity to work at Iowa again. This only happened because someone else (well multiple) had said no to the opportunity. But I said yes. Now I had health care and a 401k. I could finally pay off all my debt from all the free working I was doing. I consolidated all my debt to a 0% interest credit card at Wells Fargo and went to work paying that off. I got my own apartment (not living with anyone else in the same house). It was awesome. I then met a girl who became my wife and we moved in together.

We then moved our family back to Maryland, but this time for me to be the head football S&C at Towson. I would work with multiple sports in addition to being the head football S&C in my time at Towson. We bought a town house and I again lived close to school where I worked. This was great (like all jobs had ups and downs) but came to an end when the head coach I was working for was let go and the new head coach replaced every coach on staff. My wife and I moved back to Iowa and were able to buy a single family home.

Putting it all together

I had to be willing to move and have faith. I had to take the step and trust. Was is scary - yes. Was it worth it - also yes. Had I stayed in my comfort zone I would have stayed in Massachusetts and not been able to travel the world because of football (I was able to play in an All-Star football game in London after my senior year of college). I also got to see some of the most amazing college football stadiums by traveling with Maryland, Iowa, and Towson. I also would never have met the love of my life. She was in Iowa. I needed to go to her.

Why am I telling you this? Because there are 13 S&C job postings on the first page of the SCN forum alone. THIRTEEN. And there are also 3 ATC job postings. People and schools are trying to hire. Young coaches can get jobs. They can get jobs and not have to pay for grad school. You just have to be willing to follow God's plan for you and your life as a S&C coach. Is this field for everyone? No. Can you make more money doing some other job - yup. Will you get the same feeling of helping other people achieve something - I bet not. There are also some coaches who make a really comfortable living in S&C. Is this everyone? Nope - but it can be you. You are young and can make mistakes to learn from. This will make you a better person. You will be robust. You also will have the ability to possibly meet the man or woman of your dreams and be able to start a family in a new part of the world. You could even live over seas as Kosta talked about in this blog. 

So to truly wrap this up - understand if you are a young coach YOU CAN FIND WORK. I told you about the forum and the 13 jobs posted since the middle of June. You just have to be willing to get uncomfortable and go work. It also means you have to give up control. Let your faith be stronger than your fear.