I am european and I live in Europe following both soccer and football.
One thing that is interesting to me is that in Europe there are so many former star players that became coaches. Some of them have been very successful coaches. Others less so. But the point is a lot become coaches. And Head Coaches nonetheless. I can list like 15-20 people without even thinking too hard.
In football, that seems to not be the case. People like Prime and DeMeco Ryans are the exceptions.
It is a two part issue 1) why are former top players not interested in being coaches 2) why are teams not offering top gigs to former players straight up
Let’s look at two current examples. Bills OC job and the Texas A&M job. Both of these jobs are highly desirable and pay well. A&M likely $10 mil +.
Why are people like Larry Fitzgerald, Rivers, Demarcus Ware, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Mannings, Brady, Revis not interested and not being offered these jobs straight up?
I can easily see Messi or Ronaldo coaching down the road. Many players of their status have done it.
And I am not talking about recent developments. Many of the former star players never became coaches over the past 30+ years
But it seems impossible to imagine Mahomes or Mannings becoming coaches down the road. Wondering why such a difference.
Thanks!
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Star football players make $10-$30 million per year and play many years to become stars. If you have $100 million in the bank, why you want to get out of bed at 4:30am every day and get ready for a long day of teaching 20 year olds when you could be living your best life out spending $100 million?
Peter Principle. Coaching and playing are two different things. Sure, they overlap, but just because you played doesn’t mean you can coach.
Lol “coach” prime 😂🤣🤣
I dont think a lot of people who reached those heights wanna start from ground zero. Like Jeff Saturday, he wanted to be a coach but didn’t wanna start as an intern and work his way up. I think if more players were offered head coaching gigs without having to grind you’d see it more. And like Saturday a lot of them would flame out.
Different skill set. Many great football players have physical attributes you can’t teach. Many also aren’t good at articulating the nuances of how to play well, they just did it. Things like anticipation and vision. There’s also the difference between understanding how plays work and designing an offensive system yourself. A little bit like the difference between a musician and a record producer.
Probably the fact that coaching hours and stress is insane and generational wealth makes them realize it’s not worth it at the nfl level.
Because they don’t want to.
Coaching in football is very stressful and tiring with the amount of hours they have to put in. It isn’t like coaching basketball where you just come in and collect a check and go home.
Why can’t you just be as gifted as me.
They are loaded and want to enjoy retirement.
Because playing something doesn’t mean you’re good at coaching it. The vast majority of anyone in the coaching side of things never makes the NFL level, they get to CFB, don’t get drafted and start over.
They want to enjoy their lives and families and millions of dollars and not get back to the insane grind of being a coach
Being an NFL coach is a ton of work and most of them get fired within 4 years of taking the job. A TV career is a lot more relaxing and arguably more lucrative. Fox offered Brady a 375 million dollar contract to call games and work significantly less than a coach would.
My 2 personal theories:
- Money. Star players usually make a ton of money, and if they’re wise with it, they’ll never have to work again and pass their wealth to their children, and so on. Guys who know the game but where never athletically gifted enough to make it to the pros or make a name for themselves in the pros seem more likely to turn to coaching as a profession, since it offers them a chance to be involved with the sport they love while still making a good income.
- It’s an entirely different skillset. Leading people is not the same as performing on the field. There are plenty of talented players that aren’t team captains for a reason. Sure, they can catch a ball and run routes, but can they lead a group of people? If not, they’re not cut out for coaching.
a lot of times great players don’t make great coaches because they were athletic freaks or born with intuition on this stuff and don’t “get” how other players don’t instinctively understand how to do something like they did when they explain it. they also probably want to enjoy their last couple years with their money before the consequences of a lifetime of concussions catches up to them.