One of my GA's is leaving and I have to hire a new one.  In the past I just reached out to people I know to ask.  This time I posted the opening on the internet.

In 10 days I've gotten about 30 resumes.  Some good, some bad.  This is the first time I've gone about hiring this way.

Here are some of the things I've come across:

  1. Some kids just don't know how to make a first impression with an introductory email.  I got a few that simply said something like, "I want information about the GA spot."  No hello, no sign off.  Just the body of an email.
  2. Some kids (very few) get it and go through the hoops of being professional.
  3. There are A LOT of kids that want to be college strength coaches who have NEVER played college sports.  I'm guessing 2/3 of the applicants never set foot on a college athletic field.  This boggles my mind.  It doesn't mean they can't be good coaches.  But, thev have no idea what it takes to be an athlete.  How can they relate with what college athletes go through?  Not to mention, if you played in college then you have an idea of what a college S&C program looks like.  This at least gives you an idea of how a typical week is set up.
  4. A lot of kids don't understand that you're not going to make any money in your first few years.  You're certainly not starting your retirement fund or living the lavish life.  I've had a few kids say they can't swing it financially.  Well, no shit!  You're fresh out of college applying for a Graduate Assistant position.  What do you expect?  You get free school.  If you want to pursue this path this is step one.
  5. Very few truly understand the path and how hard it is.  They also understand that you don't get rich doing this job.
  6. Many of them think they want to be strength coaches, but they're not really sure.  They don't say this, but you can tell when you talk to them.  It must be a sexy field to get into.

My advice?  This is not a job that you feel like doing.  It's a job that's part of your personality.  Just because you read a book and passed some classes doesn't mean you can do the job.

I'm all for people chasing dreams and all that crap, but be realistic.  For me, when I see a kid that hasn't played college sports it's a red flag.  When I see a kid that has 3, 4, 5 different unpaid internships it's a red flag.  First thought that comes to mind is, "Why haven't they gotten a job/GA yet?"

The other way I can tell if a kid has a chance is by how their coach they worked for talks about them.  I really want to hire one kid.  Her coach said that she's going to be great and followed that with her weaknesses.  He really only had good things to say, but was honest about where she is lacking.  Those areas are to be expected out of young coaches.

I could ramble on incoherently, but I'll shut it down.

Young coaches - it's a tough road.  You have to be willing to live in poverty.  You have to be willing to scrape by for a while.  You have to take the leap and figure it out as you go.  This is called life.