There are a lot of questions floating around there on what it means to be a position coach and why a guy like Sharrief Shah could perform well there. In order to address some of those questions/concerns, here is a high level overview of what the job responsibilities of a postion coach actually are. Please note that these are listed in order of importance as well as the amount of time spent on them. Here's the breakdown.
1 - Recruiting: Job number one of every position coach in college football is recruiting. That means spending hours breaking down game film of potential recruits, hitting the road to see games and practices, developing relationships with HS and JUCO coaches in the geographical area you are assigned to cover, developing relationships with kids and parents and selling them on the university, following up with recruits on game performance and grades, and showing kids enough love once they're committed to keep them committed. Recruiting by itself is more than a full time job, and it can be all-consuming at times.
2 - Position Control: This one is largely ignored by fans, but shares near equal importance to recruiting. Position control means that you are following up with the players on the team that are in your position group to make sure they're doing what they are supposed to be doing. That means checking in to make sure they're attending class, checking up on their grades to make sure they remain eligible, making sure they're participating in and on time to workout sessions, film study, position group meetings, practices, etc. You're basically babysitting these kids to make sure nobody screws up on your watch. Coaches that are bad at position control don't last very long at Utah.
3 - Film Breakdown and Game Planning: Once you're done keeping guys in the fold, it's time to watch film. You watch film of your own players in games and practices to identify weak points that need to be worked on. You watch film of opponents to identify weaknesses that need to be exploited. For example, if you're a corner coach, you're watching a ton on the tendencies of the receivers you're about to face. Once you've broken down the film, you help the OC/DC put together a game plan, then you work with your position group to execute that game plan.
4 - Position Meetings and Film Study: This is where the players get feedback on their performance in practice and games and learn about the gameplan. These are all about preparing mentally so that the players don't have to think about things when they're in the action, they can just react and execute.
5 - Coaching Technique on the Field - Once you're done with all that, then it's time to work on it on the practice field. This is by far the least important thing a postion coach does during the week. If they're good at the top four responsibilities, this one comes pretty easy.
This is a bit oversimplified, but this breakdown is pretty much universal throughout all of college football. I hope this is helpful. Ask questions if you have them.
1 - Recruiting: Job number one of every position coach in college football is recruiting. That means spending hours breaking down game film of potential recruits, hitting the road to see games and practices, developing relationships with HS and JUCO coaches in the geographical area you are assigned to cover, developing relationships with kids and parents and selling them on the university, following up with recruits on game performance and grades, and showing kids enough love once they're committed to keep them committed. Recruiting by itself is more than a full time job, and it can be all-consuming at times.
2 - Position Control: This one is largely ignored by fans, but shares near equal importance to recruiting. Position control means that you are following up with the players on the team that are in your position group to make sure they're doing what they are supposed to be doing. That means checking in to make sure they're attending class, checking up on their grades to make sure they remain eligible, making sure they're participating in and on time to workout sessions, film study, position group meetings, practices, etc. You're basically babysitting these kids to make sure nobody screws up on your watch. Coaches that are bad at position control don't last very long at Utah.
3 - Film Breakdown and Game Planning: Once you're done keeping guys in the fold, it's time to watch film. You watch film of your own players in games and practices to identify weak points that need to be worked on. You watch film of opponents to identify weaknesses that need to be exploited. For example, if you're a corner coach, you're watching a ton on the tendencies of the receivers you're about to face. Once you've broken down the film, you help the OC/DC put together a game plan, then you work with your position group to execute that game plan.
4 - Position Meetings and Film Study: This is where the players get feedback on their performance in practice and games and learn about the gameplan. These are all about preparing mentally so that the players don't have to think about things when they're in the action, they can just react and execute.
5 - Coaching Technique on the Field - Once you're done with all that, then it's time to work on it on the practice field. This is by far the least important thing a postion coach does during the week. If they're good at the top four responsibilities, this one comes pretty easy.
This is a bit oversimplified, but this breakdown is pretty much universal throughout all of college football. I hope this is helpful. Ask questions if you have them.
