Coaching Life Skills through Football: A Study of Award Winning High School Coaches

TLDR

The coaches averaged 31 years of experience and a 76.6 % winning percentage. The study examined how outstanding high‑school football coaches develop life skills in their players. In-depth phone interviews were conducted with 10 highly successful coaches aged 47–68 (M = 54). Analysis revealed two strategy dimensions—general coaching and player development—where coaches integrated life‑skill instruction into performance coaching and prioritized personal development.

Abstract

This study examined how outstanding high school football coaches developed life skills in their players. In-depth phone interviews were conducted with 10 outstanding coaches ranging in age from 47 to 68 years (M = 54). Coaches averaged 31 years of coaching experience, and were highly successful (76.6% winning percentage). Hierarchical content analysis of the data revealed that two general dimensions or categories of strategies emerged: (a) general coaching; and (b) player development strategies. Within the general coaching strategies dimension, higher-order themes focused on working with players and strategies for dealing with other parties. In the player development strategies general dimension was the higher-order theme set of teaching life skills. Results highlighted that it was clear these coaches did not view the coaching of life skills as separate from their general coaching strategies for performance enhancement and while highly motivated to win, personal development of their players was a top priority.