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Taylor Tankersley
Mrs. Lester
Adv. Comp.
28 September 2011
Will Coaching High School Football Provide in the Current Economy?
The lowest–paid coach in the United States annually earns less than $15,000 for his hard
work, according to the United States Department of Labor. Coaching a high school team has
many consequences in the current economy. One has to have the passion to coach and must not
expect to get wealthy, because salaries for coaches are so low. Men are struggling in the
coaching business, but women are feeling the effects of discrimination because of gender. As
low as male coaches get paid, female coaches earn even lower salaries. However, demands for
high school coaching positions are climbing and salaries are increasing. Does this mean higher
pay scales for coaches? Coaches are now working all year because of the competition. The job
also demands more than just coaching a team, but actually calls for the coaches to teach the
players out of practice. Coaches also have to deal with personal issues from players for numerous
reasons. Do coaches get paid enough for all of their work and duties they put in? If coaches are
to earn a fair wage, the school should borrow from all the money teams bring in. For example,
the high school football team at Ennis High School has brought in over $200,000 each year for
the past five years. With that much money rolling in, the school should borrow from that money
to pay the coaches.
For example, coaches are working longer and getting paid less. High school football
coaches say their job has become a year round job (al.com). Coaching is getting tougher.
Coaches have more responsibilities and everyday jobs. While salaries are decreasing the work

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coaches are putting in is increasing. Some assistant coaches are working for less than minimum
wage per hour (republicanherald.com). The question is posed: why do coaches continue to coach
high school teams if they are being paid less than minimum wage? Coaches have to enjoy their
job or else it would be meaningless to work year-round and only get paid the same wage as a bus
boy. The good news is that from 2006-2016 employment of athletic related positions are to
enhance by 15 percent (ehow.com). As demands for high school coaches increase, the job
description frequently involves responsibilities the average person never sees (al.com). Coaching
has changed over the years. It is taken more seriously now and comes with more responsibilities.
Most high school football coaches also teach class, serve as athletic director and prepare for
those ten Friday nights that define a program (al.com). Coaches now have to prepare for the
upcoming season all year, instead of during the season itself. The pressure is riding on the
coaches. The competition has heightened at the high school level and coaches are getting paid for
their success, especially in football (star-telegram.com). The deeper a team advances in the
playoffs, the more money the district receives, the more exposure the school receives and the
more support the team draws from its community (statesman.com). After winning a state
championship at Ennis High School, head coach Sam Harrell’s salary increased by 65 percent
from what he was making in 1995. The school also saw a dramatic growth in the number of
students. The success of a football team draws people to the school and it benefits the school by
raising money to pay for other funds. Because of the coaches’ salaries riding on the success of
the team, coaches’ jobs are at risk (statesman.com). With more accountabilities and extra duties,
where are the raises? Coaches’ jobs are at risk, they are under pressure to yield success, and they
have more to do. The discrepancy between the issue of salary and job responsibilities remains
large.

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Furthermore, the risk of a coach losing his job is great. Coaches have lost their jobs in the
past years due to budget cuts and low financial aid. High school coaches are questioning if their
jobs are at risk. For instance after just two years of Allatoona High School being established, the
school board voted to cut 579 full-time teachers and all part-time teachers to make up for a
$126.7 million shortage (mdjonline.com). This could mean the loss of all head coaches at the
newest high school in Cobb County (mdjonline.com). These coaches were young men looking to
get a start on life and were let go because of the uncertain career they chose to follow. The
coaches were hand-picked to help the school gain some acknowledgement as a school that
provides extracurricular activities (mdjonline.com). At other schools both teachers and coaches
are receiving budget cuts, but teachers are complaining that coaches are being paid more for
doing less. What the teachers fail to see is that coaches work longer and, arguably, harder than
teachers. Coaches’ contracts are usually based on a 226-day work year while teachers’ contracts
are based on a 187-day year (statesman.com). Teachers also receive a longer summer break than
most coaches (statesman.com). Over the past ten years the gap between teachers’ and coaches’
salaries had widened by 7.3 percent, regulating for inflation (statesman.com). Because of
inflation the gap between coaches’ and teachers’ salaries have become increasingly wider, but
with good reason. Coaches do not have a summer break off of work and they are paid by success,
not by a permanent, yearly wage. The gap will slowly close because of the growing necessity for
teachers at high schools.
Thirdly, the coaching business is also, not just affecting men, but just as much affecting
the women, if not more. At Marquette University coaches of male teams make almost four times
what coaches of female teams make (georgetownvoice.com). It is more difficult for a woman to
make the same salary as a man because of their gender. The battle of equality in male and female

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athletics has been a problem for years; male sports have been accused of receiving better salaries
(thesop.com). It seems to be the status quo for many universities and high schools for men to do
everything in the athletic department. While the men are the ones that coach high school teams, it
is the idea that women should stay on the bleachers that is ruining opportunities for women
coaches. Fortunately the wall separating male and female equality is slowly being torn down.
Natalie Randolph, 29, a science teacher at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, was introduced
as the school's head football coach in 2010 (cnn.com). This is a huge step forward for women
coaches. Since Randolph’s pioneering steps, there have been other cases of female head football
coaches. Who knows what the future holds now? If gender does not matter, than both male and
female coaches should receive the same salaries in the near future.
Interestingly enough, though coaches are earning low incomes today, coaching positions
are in such demand that salaries are climbing quickly. Coaching includes more than just
coaching a bunch of kids, but teaching at the school usually is required as well. There are also
individual duties that the coaches ensure; Coach Kerry Stevenson makes sure his players are
registered for the ACT and provides transportation to the test (al.com). He and others routinely
take players to summer camps and combines, paying for it out of their pockets (al.com). Coach
Jamie Riggs, head football coach at T.R. Miller high school, says he tells his players to call him
if they have any problems in their life. He often gets calls from distressed kids and helps his
players at school (al.com). With kids, a coach can never be impatient or have a bad attitude.
Coaches are always under the radar, whether the players are watching or the community around
them. Coaches must take care of their family and provide for them on a low salary, but they also
have to be constantly aware that the players may have personal needs that need to be tended to.
Coaches have to be like a second father, or in many cases a first father. Some coaches get paid

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minimum wage and can hardly support their family but it is the love of the game and the players
that pushes them. Coaches do not coach for the money, because they do not make a good living,
but they do it for other reasons. They work all day and all year and still do not receive a good
income. But that will soon change. The coaching business is recovering and coaches will be paid
better in the future. But for right now, it is fair to say that without doubt, coaches do not get paid
enough for their work.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that teaching and assistant teaching jobs will
grow about as fast as the economy as a whole between 2008 and 2018 (ehow.com). The BLS
credits this growth rate to a need for education that is rising in proportion to a steadily growing
population. With teaching jobs increasing, coaching jobs will open up as well. Coaches will have
a better opportunity in receiving a job if they have a minor in a core subject. Schools are now
looking for more coaches that can teach in a classroom setting. As teaching jobs increase so will
coaching jobs. People are finally starting to see all the hard work coaches put in, to earn a
diminutive salary. Schools around the country are catching on and paying their coaches more.
With high school football bringing a large part of the schools’ revenue, coaches have started to
be more respected and esteemed. The future looks brighter for coaches, but it will be a slow
process. In a few years coaches should be earning the money they deserve.
If a student desires to become a coach in the future, then he must know what he is getting
into. To be a coach one has to have the passion for teaching students. The job has more
requirements now. Coaches must teach students outside of sports and sometimes act as a parent.
The risks are high and high schools are cutting budgets and salaries. For a young man trying to
start a new family it most likely will be difficult to provide for his family. Head coaches usually
start off as assistant coaches or middle school coaches. The income is extremely low for high

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school assistant coaches and middle school coaches. The student must also know that coaching
salaries are low even though the coach is expected to do more. However, salaries are increasing
as coaching positions are needed. This will be a slow process, but in the end it is up to the
student if he is willing to take job risks and low income, in order to pursue coaching.

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Works Cited
"Austin and Central Texas High School Sports | Statesman.com." Austin News, Sports, Weather,
Longhorns, Business | Statesman.com. 29 Nov. 2006. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/highschool/08/27salary.html>.
Bean, Josh. "Public High School Coaching Salaries Survey: Some near Six Figures, but Job Has
Many Duties." Alabama Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - Al.com. 2
Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Oct. 2011. <http://al.com>.
Dobies, Kathryn. "The Marietta Daily Journal - Contracts out for Schools Allatoona Could Lose
Head Coaches." The Marietta Daily Journal - News, Sports, Classifieds, Businesses in
Marietta, GA. 11 May 2010. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/7385480/article-Contracts-out-for-schools
Allatoona-could-lose-head-coaches>.
Dodrill, Tara. "What Do High School Coaching Jobs Pay? | EHow.com." EHow | How to
Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | EHow.com. Web. 05
Oct. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/facts_5212567_do-school-coaching-jobs-pay_.html>.
Van Osdol, Paul. "Team 4: High School Coaching Salaries - Team 4 News Story – WTAE
Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh News, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania News, Weather & Sports - WTAE
Pittsburgh's Channel 4. 10 Nov. 2005. Web. 05 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.wtae.com/team4/5297595/detail.html>.

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