College Student looking for advice

Two things...

First: Good for you. Go after it. I was much like you, I went into college knowing that I wanted to coach. I would encourage you to get into coaching Little League or something of the like. It is imperative that you have some experience coaching, in my mind, before you begin at the high school level. Any experience will help.

Second: Most of the time you are going to have to teach for a time before you can get into administration. The rule from what I know is usually 5 years experience teaching before you can even apply for many admin jobs--of course each state has their laws, and that number will vary, I'm sure. You will most likely need to teach at some point. Also, I would suggest you find a major that you can virtually guarantee yourself a job--math, physical sciences, special ed, or ESL.

As greenough said, it will be very tough, if not virtually impossible, to break into an AD position fresh out of college. You'll find in the coming years that athletic departments are all about experience. You can fish through this forum and find dozens of examples of coaches that are more than able to take on a team, but school systems often are a "Good Ol Boys Club" who like to see people who have more years.

Work your tail off, get to know people, find good people who can give you references, and know that you may have to be patient--however, keep your eyes open, sometimes the perfect situation just comes up!

Thank you everyone for the advice, the only problem is i'm really not interested in teaching at all, don't some schools have assistant ADs for a starting point? I would really like to avoid teaching. Also the high school program i came from was very small and poorly funded, and I don't even think my old coach will still be there when i graduate from here...

Seahawk22,

How about becoming a Guidance Counselor? I think that is a job that is conducive to coaching and I am pretty sure they are on the same pay scale etc. as teachers here in NY.

I am pretty sure that none of the four coaches on our varsity staff (including me) are teaching school right now.

There has to be some job that you can make a living at, not hate, and allow you the flexibility to coach. You will spend TOO MUCH time at work the rest of you life to hate you job every day.