Aug 3, 2015 5 min read

The duties of a high school football coach are often simplified by those outside the profession. How much work can it take to lead an athletic program for a season that could last as little as two months?

Much more than people might think.

The job has evolved drastically over the past 30 years. In simpler times, the high school football season stretched from early-to-mid August until November. Coaching was mostly a part-time job involving a few hours after school, two weeks of camp before the academic year and leading a team on Friday nights.

As the game has evolved, so have the responsibilities of a head coach. There are offseason training programs, plus hours spent on the phone or computer working to get kids recognized by college recruiters and the various skill camps during the summer.

Strength and conditioning workouts require proper equipment, video cameras are needed to tape practices and games, and team apparel is needed for players to wear at those camps.

It all comes with a price tag and the budget allotted by a school district will not always cover it. Coaches lean heavily on booster clubs to offset those costs, but they also have adopted the mentality of a fundraiser.

“It’s part of the job. Good school districts, like ours, will provide you with your needs and it’s up to you and the booster club to provide the wants,” McGuffey head coach Ed Dalton said. “Today, some of those wants are what attract kids to playing sports.”

Those “wants” include sweatsuits for players to wear on their way to road games, team banquets, other team merchandise, a subscription to Hudl – a service that allows coaches and athletes to review game footage or create highlight videos – and charter buses to transport the team on long road trips.

Instilling discipline, crafting philosophies and leadership skills are still paramount, but coaches today must also think like economists. Does the cost outweigh the benefits?

That’s a question Canon-McMillan first-year head coach Mike Evans grappled with after he was informed Big Mac Stadium was deemed unsafe in March and engineers recommended the field be resurfaced.

The turf has been installed, but the new track aroudn the field is still a work in progress. Canon-McMillan practiced at North Strabane Township Park throughout the summer, but spending one week of preseason heat acclimation and one week of camp at the field would be difficult. As a result, the Big Macs will spend next week living in dorms on California University’s campus and will practice at Adamson Stadium for heat acclimation.

The total cost is almost $20,000.

“Once we decided that we had to do it, I went to the parents and they gravitated towards helping,” Evans said. “Some people have really taken and ran with it. We have smart parents who do a nice job. It’s amazing how much they’ve been able to help.”

Parents organized raffles, fundraisers, sold advertisements and created a sponsorship program. Local businesses such as Washington Auto Mall, Sarris Candies, Budd Baer Inc., and 84 Lumber chipped in, plus players sold candy and discount cards.

The efforts have covered nearly $17,000 of the cost.

Fundraising can require some creativity. Dalton, who has coached at Purchase Line, Altoona, Mt. Pleasant and Trinity, organizes a pig roast every summer and the McGuffey boosters held a country music concert Saturday night at the West Alexander Fair Grounds. He estimates that the school’s parents raise $50,000 a year for student-athletes and the football program’s biggest expense is the $6,000-$9,000 for preseason football camp when the players stay at the school all week.

It’s all about finding an event to peak the community’s interest.

“It’s grown and grown,” Dalton said of the fundraising measures. “Every place has their niche. What works at one place doesn’t necessarily work everywhere.”

When Jon Miller was hired as Trinity’s football coach in March, he needed to work with boosters to purchase new equipment for the school’s weight room, mouthpieces and a camera for the end zone at Hiller Field. He tried to find an event that would be popular in the district. The community’s love of hunting sparked an idea – a non-mandatory fundraiser where kids or parents were to sell 25 gun lottery calendars for $50, and parents were to provide four postdated checks worth $312.50. The announcement at a booster meeting sparked backlash on social media as parents thought not participating meant their child would not be able to play for the Hillers.

After some clarifying the situation, the idea was deemed a success. Now, Miller, like many coaches in the area, can focus on football.

“It’s a good fundraiser for us,” Miller said. “It’s done really well so far. There was a little bit of resistance at first, but the parents bought in. We wanted to create a family atmosphere where everyone did their part.

“We all want to do what’s best for the kids and reward them for their hard work. That’s a big part of running a football program.”