Where to begin with VERY young coaches?

Hello Rush, I probably wouldn't consider myself an oldtimer nearing 40 considering the mean age of some of the posters(lots of love going out to Tiger One right now-haha), but I have started two different football programs from scratch and insodoing have had to coach my coaches through the process as well as the players. Startup programs don't typically attract established coaches for the staff - so you have to mentor them through, and in some cases start from scratch. Whether or not to take them on is a big decision by itself, but if you did, I would recommend that you start them somewhere under someone who knows what is going on, ie. you. They are definitely higher maintenance in terms of having to go behind them and clarify input and philosophy that they might install that you don't buy into, so I would have them take you through an impromptu clinic that they give you on whatever they will be coaching, or where they feel proficient. Have them tell you what they believe about Offense and Defense(whichever they will coach) plans and what they think is the best approach to scheme. Have them give it as if you knew nothing about the position, or side of the ball, and they were going to teach it. Now, I am assuming from your words that they are on the same page with you philisophically as a person and they have a good character and work ethic. I had a new coach on my staff this year, great guy and mildly knowledgeable, but he was functionally useless for the first few weeks because he was so quiet. We talked directly about these things and strategized how we were going to get him to have to speak up more, so I put him charge of pre practice meetings with the players, and anything else where he would have to speak and build some relationships. I was very honest about the good and the weak things I saw and balanced my input with lots of encouragement. I would ask about how he feels he is relating to specific players and how that was going. I gave him a position to work with(LBs - what he played) and had him under my D coordinator in drills. We had to spell out what we wanted to emphasize and why for each drill we did, and I kind of had to point him into the mix during 11 on 11 to make sure he was watching and giving input on every play. The point is if he is loud, keep him close and rein him in until what he is talking about is what you want. You don't intimidate an outgoing guy, and he just needs to be channeled. If he is quiet or intimidated by you, throw him under the bus, so to speak, and get him talking to the players about things that are benign to scheme around the other coaches, so you can really hear what he thinks back from them. Get him resources to read and report back to you on, and plan on spending time before and/or after each practice lining up his priorities, or feeding back on his progress. Get him reading things on a board like this and give you input back on what he likes/dislikes. I have spent lots of hours on the phone with coaches, bringing them along in their understanding of parents, specific relationships with difficult players, ways to effectively assert yourself and your authority without shutting the kids down, avoiding insecure outbursts of frustration, and many more things. I purpose in my heart to have at least one project coach and the rest I just want to invest in as best I can in terms of working through all these issues as a staff. In my opinion, scheme plays a small role in cultivating the new coach, we can usually ocver for him in that area, and growth is relatively quick, it is teaching him how to relate what he knows, to get to know who he is relating to, and working him through his own issues and growth. You are mentoring and that will change him forever. A noble cause, good luck with that.