Youth football coaches are terrible..
BLUF: coaching staff is lackadaisical and I can't stand it. What do I do?
I am assistant coaching my son's 10/11 year old football team and we have a new head coach this year that I am really struggling with. I assistant coaches last year as well, and our head coach last year was so well prepared that it's a stark comparison.
Last year's head coach would have a full practice plan with well though drills breaks and quick transitions. He had boards for offensive, defensive, and special teams depth charts. He would take input from coaches on player evaluation. He made sure that players would get experience at different positions so we can move players and fill spots when needed. He was very enthusiastic and would always end the practices with meaningful messages based on that days practice, and invite every assistant to add their own thoughts or message. We would also recognize a player of our choice with a small helmet sticker every week.
Our new head coach seems to struggle with preparation. The drills at practice don't seem very well thought out. Sometimes there won't be plans, he just tells us to take a position group, so us assistants just figure out our own drills (honestly that's not bad, but I'm used to the head coach having a plan). After the drill has been running for too long, I'll have to ask if we are going to merge into joint positions or team drills. He usually answers like "Oh yeah, we can do that". Then stands around and wastes 5 minutes trying to figure out what to do. He reads a depth chart from his phone, that had no input from coaches, despite him only having worked with the same one position group. Practice usually ends abruptly without a recap of the day or any recognition of players or input from coaches.
The other assistants are all good guys but pretty low initiative. I am constantly finding myself taking control of position drills or team drills to keep practice moving with purpose. I can't stand the lack of preparation or collaborative coaching. Last year's assistant coaches were all great but have either on another team, aged up, or moved elsewhere.
I was initially asked to head coach but I didn't want to due to my job requiring spontaneous travel. I can't stand how this is unraveling and I'm at the point of not even wanting to coach because of my frustration. I know my son loves me being there, and honestly I love being out there with him and teaching the other kids.
Do I just follow suit with the rest of the coaches and chill out? Low investment? I would feel like I'm doing the kids a disservice.
Or how do I try to improve the situation without stepping on the head coaches toes? How do I not frustrate myself by being what seems like the only one trying?