A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in association football and professional baseball. In other sports, such as Australian rules football, the head coach is generally referred to as the senior coach.
A head coach typically reports to a sporting director or a general manager of the team. In professional sports organizations where senior players are full-time employees playing under contract, the head coach is in effect the reporting manager of the senior players. Other coaches are usually subordinate to the head coach, often in offensive or defensive positions, and occasionally proceed down into individualized position coaches.
American football
Head coaching responsibilities in American football vary depending on the level of the sport.
High school football
As with most other head coaches, high school coaches are primarily tasked with organizing and training football players. This includes creating game plans, evaluating players, and leading the team during competition.
High school head coaches also have a variety of responsibilities beyond the football field. These include recruiting students within the school, scheduling opponents, and training/hiring/leading lower-level coaches. Most coaches hold another position within their program's school, typically as an academic teacher. High school football coaches are typically required to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Many coaches choose to earn a degree in physical education or sports management.
The mean salary for high school football coaches was $47,100 as of 2020. In the same BLS report the range of salary varied with the top 90th percentile earning ≤ $81,940 and the bottom 10th percentile earning ≥ $19,340. With a projected job growth rate of 12% coaching is projected to outpace many other professions growth through 2029.
College football
One of the major features of head coaching in college football is the high turnover rate for jobs. With few exceptions (notable ones including Jimmye Laycock, Joe Paterno, John McKay, Tom Osborne, Ara Parseghian, Bill Snyder, Frank Beamer, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Bobby Bowden, Bob Stoops, Darrell Royal, and LaVell Edwards) college coaches often routinely change jobs, rarely staying at a school for more than a decade. Some coaches have been known to leave a school and then return to the program after a period of time, with notable examples being Hall of Famers Robert Neyland and Chris Ault, who each had three stints at a single school (respectively Tennessee and Nevada).
Many head coaches at the college level have a paid staff and as such are more free to concentrate on the overall aspect of the team rather than dealing with the nuances of training regimens and similar activities.
Unlike head coaches at other levels, college coaching staffs are solely responsible for the composition and development of players on the team. The ability to recruit and develop top players plays a major role in success at this level.
College head coaches report to the athletic director at their respective university.
A college coach acts as the face of a team, in a sport where the players regularly depart after a few years, compared to some coaches who have been in the same position for over a generation. They are often called upon to discuss off-the-field incidents such as rule infractions or player antics. Sometimes, the coach becomes a celebrity in his own right, such as Lou Holtz.
In a majority of states, the head coach of a public university's football or men's basketball program is by far the highest-paid state public official, well above the salary for the state's governor.
At the end of the year, there are numerous college football coach of the year awards given out. Major annual coaching honors include the Home Depot Coach of the Year, The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, the Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award, and The Paul 'Bear' Bryant Award.
National Football League
At the professional level, coaches may work for millions of dollars a year. Since they do not have to travel the country recruiting high school players, head coaches at the professional level have much more time to devote to tactics and playbooks, which are coordinated with staff paid even more than at the college level. They typically report to the general manager.