As a former high school varsity head football coach I know that it's hard to let anyone else have too much say inside of your program. Head coaches are the leaders of their program and bringing in a strength coach, when many HS head coaches are the weightlifting teacher and serve as strength coach, could be a tough ask.

However, at the successful programs in Georgia, Texas and California as well as some in Florida, New Jersey and Charlotte (NC)- the athletic departments have strength coaches just like college programs. They work with, not separately, from the sport coaches to create the perfect athletic performance program.

Adding Value

So what value would a strength and conditioning coach bring to your program? As you can see in the Four Coactives image from Fergus Connolly above, physical preparation. Strength coaches shouldn't interfere in tactical or technical preparation; just physical prep.

The strength coach will create the perfect program to improve peak power, game speed, contact success, and the OODA Loop all while trying to promote rest, recovery and to mitigate injuries.

Think your program is getting slower in-season? There's a solution for that. Think the program is getting weaker in-season? There's a solution for that. Think the program is too beat up or injured? There's a solution for that, too.

So while the player and their family will contribute to most of the psychological preparation of the athlete, a strength coach and sport coach can contribute to that via modeling and putting athletes in tough situations.

Measuring Success

While sport coaches measure success on the field, and strength coaches celebrate team victories, a strength coach's KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) aren't wins and losses.

Strength coaches have to find what KPI's work for their sport, and even position group, and judge success accordingly. The main three components I believe in for S&C are game speed, decision making, and contact success.

For "bigs" (OL/DL) the focal point will be on contact success and decision making over game speed. For "medium" (TE/LB/QB) the focus might be on all three, while for "skills" (WR/DB/RB) the focus will shift to game speed and decision making with a dab of contact success.

The HS Strength Coach

As a head coach I tried to run it all- S&C, fundraising, the offense, tackling sessions... you name it I had my hand in it. But after four seasons I was burned out and could've used not only another voice in my program but another set of hands that have an expertise in a field.

That would've allowed me to focus on the things that matter most, winning FOOTBALL games!

What should you look for in a high school strength coach?

The high school strength coach should first and foremost be a person of high character. If they're going to be non-faculty, run a background check through the school or local police department. Anyone that rejects a background check probably has something to hide. You don't want that person around your student-athletes, trust me.

The HS S&C Coach should be certified via organizations that work with athletes, and preferably teenagers. Personal trainers and group trainers are great, but their expertise is often in adult training and not working with teenage athletes.

Exos, USAW, NSCA, and NHSSCA are a few organizations to look for certifications from. They focus on working with athletes first, and teenagers (especially the NHSSCA's HSSCC which is high school focused).

If you're looking for ways to improve your program on the field this off-season, reach out!

Email: justin (dot) dottavio (at) gmail (dot) com.

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