Getting Started, Moving Forward, and the State of Our Profession

By David Adamson

For www.EliteFTS.com

Getting started

Getting a position as a strength coach at the collegiate level takes a lot of hard work. Jobs aren’t just given out…well, they are sometimes. However, this depends entirely on simply knowing the right people, not on your coaching abilities.

Develop your resume: In my first “Getting Started” article, I stated that you should develop your resume. However, I only talked about how to make it look attractive from an aesthetic point of view, such as layout and proofreading. However, what your resume actually says is more important. Last year, I sent out about 50 resumes and didn’t get one call. This year, I sent out about 30 resumes and got three calls. So how did I go from getting no calls from any of the schools that I had applied to now getting calls from 10 percent of the schools? Well, the only thing that had changed was that I now had been coaching at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for two years instead of only one year. Staying with the same program for a while will actually make your resume more attractive to employers.

Get to know other coaches: I stated this in my first article, and I’m going to say it again because I can’t overemphasize this point enough. The people you know are the ones who are going to get you hired at whatever job you may have applied for. And it’s not necessarily going to be the references listed on your resume that will be your most important contacts. For example, I recently accepted a position at the University of Texas–El Paso. The head coach there, Coach Davis, didn’t contact any of the references listed on my resume to find out what he needed to know about me. This isn’t to say that he didn’t do his homework. Instead, he looked at my resume, saw where I had been previously, and called the people he knew that could tell him what he needed to know.

So just because you listed your three best references on the back page of your resume doesn’t mean you’re good to go. If the employer calls a coach that you worked for five years ago and who you may not have done a good job for, you may have just screwed yourself out of getting hired. Just because you’re not interviewing for a job doesn’t mean that you’re not interviewing for a job. Everyone you interact with potentially has an influence on the future of your career.

Another important point about getting to know other coaches is that sometimes simply meeting someone at the right time may land you a job. For example, Tim Kontos and I were at a seminar a few months back and a guy walked up to Tim, handed him a resume, and told him he would like to be a graduate assistant at VCU. It should also be noted that the cover letter had already been addressed to Tim. Not only did this make a good impression, but it also instantly moved his resume to the top of the stack. And, more importantly, he got the graduate assistant position which will begin in August.

Moving forward

Sometimes you have to make a move to a new school or position, and sometimes it will be a financial decision. But if at all possible, don’t make a move based on money. If you’re in a good situation, stay there.

I have been at VCU for two years. It’s a great place to coach and learn. Tim Kontos gives me all of the freedom I want to coach the way that I see fit. Also, he has been very helpful in helping me develop my own coaching abilities. I have access to some of the best equipment on the market (courtesy of EliteFTS), and I also have a large variety of equipment and various bars. The sport coaches that I work with give me their complete trust with their athletes and for the most part don’t even question what I do.

So why am I leaving? Yes, it was a financial decision. I didn’t get paid much at VCU. In fact, I was paid very little. If I had the option, I would’ve stay at VCU with the same salary I received this past year. However, my wife is pregnant (due in July), and we wouldn’t be able to afford to pay for a new child on our current income. If I wasn’t expecting a child, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have stayed at VCU, and the pay wouldn’t have been an issue.

So why don’t I care about making money? I don’t care because money doesn’t mean much to me. However, helping athletes means a lot. Being a strength coach is about helping athletes get better and helping them attain their athletic goals. And that is exactly what I plan on doing at the University of Texas El Paso assist Coach Davis in helping the athletes there get better. That is why I am a strength coach.

If you’re in this profession to make money and bounce from job to job for a bigger paycheck, then GET OUT OF THE PROFESSION!!! Let’s face it, as long as you’re earning enough to pay the bills and put food on the table, you don’t need any more money. Everything beyond the essentials is a luxury. And, if you’re constantly bouncing from job to job, you’re not helping the athletes or the athletic program that you work for. Developing athletes takes time, and if there is a new strength coach every year, the athletes are forced to take a step back each year to adjust to the new program.

There are many top quality coaches out there who can’t get a job because jobs are being handed out to people who only want a pay check. These people don’t deserve the job, they don’t care about the athletes, and they’re not passionate about strength and conditioning. If any of those descriptions fit you, then GET OUT!

State of our profession

The current state of the collegiate strength and conditioning profession is not too good. As a whole, we aren’t respected by the sport coaches, and more importantly, the athletic administrations. What are we doing to gain the respect we need? Or better yet, what are we doing that is keeping us from gaining the respect we need to advance our profession?

Education: Our job is to help athletes improve their performance and stay injury free. To do this, we must be educated. All coaches should keep abreast of new information by continually reading, attending conferences, and training themselves. Then take that knowledge and educate those around you, especially the athletes and sport coaches. These groups will be the future administrators who will decide on the importance of strength and conditioning (including salaries and strength coaching jobs).

Here’s an example of how poor our current education is at the collegiate strength and conditioning level. When applying for jobs, I always try and check out the strength website for a particular school before I send my resume. Below is what I found on a Division I university’s strength and conditioning website (unbelievable!):

“Bench press description:

·        lower the bar until the angle at the elbows is 90 degrees”                            

There was no reference given to what the athlete should be doing with their back. There was no reference as to where the bar should touch the chest.

“Squat description:

·        never go heavier than what you can do for three reps

·        move slowly when lowering and raising the bar”

Get respect: If we want to advance the strength and conditioning profession at the collegiate level, we have to gain the respect of both the administrators and the sport coaches. How do we do this? First and foremost, we have to get results. We have to be educated, know how to apply our knowledge, and be able to lead and coach athletes. If we do these three things, we will get results and over time people will take notice. It’s not about having a certification and being “qualified.” It’s about getting the job done right. And, like Todd Hamer (head strength coach at Robert Morris University) said, “You can’t demand respect. You have to earn it.”

Show respect: One of the worst things about this profession is how diversified we are. Depending on how you look at it though, it could also be a good thing. But for now, let’s focus on the negative. Strength coaches are worse than any other profession I know of for bashing other members of their own profession, which is why internet forums should be banned.

For example, a strength coach in California uses program A with periodization B and exercise C. A coach in New York uses program X with periodization Y and exercise Z. Because the two coaches use different methods, it’s an unwritten rule in this profession that they must hate each other and tell every coach they know why the other program is so bad.

It’s about time the bashing ended. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot by doing this. Why should anyone else respect us when we don’t even respect ourselves? We have to respect our profession and other coaches or no one else is going to give us the credit that we deserve. After all, if both California and New York get results, coach proper technique, and care about the athletes, then does it really matter what program they use?

David Adamson recently accepted a position as assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Texas–El Paso. Previously, he spent two years at Virginia Commonwealth University and has also spent time at Winona State University, Arizona State University, and the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. David is also a competitive powerlifter and has competed in both the IPA and USAPL.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.