To say the coaching profession has changed recently would be the understatement of the year.
Consider what’s happened just in the past few years alone.
A worldwide pandemic, conference realignment, massive new media deals, NIL opportunities and unlimited player transfer options. It’s enough to make your head spin.
Add in the basics of the job, the need to win games, make sure players are graduating and staying out of trouble, working with the media, dealing with alumni and of course, helping to raise money.
It’s not quite a 24/7, 365-day a year job, but it’s close.
This is year two for Bengal head coach Cody Hawkins, and after a recent practice, he talked about the profession and the job and what it has been like for him.
He’s been around the sport his whole life, given his father Dan Hawkins has been a coach for years and is now on his staff. But did the younger Hawkins always want to be a head coach? It’s a lot different being an assistant coach than the person in charge of an entire program.
“I never wanted to be a head coach. I had zero desire to be a head coach at all,” he said. “I always wanted to be around football, but the perfect job for me would be as an offensive coordinator for a defensive-minded head coach, so he could handle things like midnight calls and administrative meetings and I could have some autonomy running the offense the way I want to. When you are a head coach, your time gets divided in so many different ways in a professional that already takes such a monopoly of your time.”
“For me when the opportunity came along to be a head coach it was more like, ‘This is the right place.’ There’s certain places where you’d like to be a head coach, working with good people in a place where you can identify with. Being from Idaho gave me a lot of pride and coming to Idaho State I thought would be a great place to be a part of. Being a head coach at a school in the middle of the country wasn’t very appealing to me.”
“You want to put yourself in a position where you can control the culture. That’s where being a head coach for me is a benefit, I know I’m going to feel really good about how we operate.”
Last year, the Bengals won three league games and were competitive in several others. Hawkins’ enthusiasm lifted the fan base and raised expectations going forward, but what did he learn in his first year in charge? Did anything surprise him?
“There’s nothing really surprising about it. I thought I had a good lens on the demands, but the learning that takes place from my perspective was getting to know the place. A lot of life is about fit and every school has different problems. I was pleasantly surprised with the integration in the athletic department, my relationships with the other coaches and how the Bengals are an important part of this community, that was a pleasant surprise.”
The assumption is that the second year is always easier than the first. A coach isn’t walking into a situation where everything starts from scratch. So Hawkins was asked if he’s found that to be the case for him.
“Your workload is easier because you’ve already done a better job delegating duties, creating a common understanding, but my stress level is higher because you understand you’ve laid the standard and now that you know the standard, you want to make sure that everybody upholds it. Year one you are just trying to figure everything out, but year two you’re worrying about a lot of things on the practice field, for example, that I wouldn’t have even thought of last year.”
One of the keys to coaching at all levels is that one person can’t do it all. Some coaches frankly have issues delegating responsibilities, letting go of the rope so to speak. Does Hawkins have that issue?
“Part of it for me is just understanding the profession. I could be a head coach and basically just do a lot of administrative work, but at this level it’s hard to keep really good assistant coaches, it just is. I love being in the fire and not just an administrator,” Hawkins said. “I want to have control and for the players to have a common voice, preaching continuity on that side of the ball helps that. Just like having a common voice after practice or in meeting rooms helps, but I also want to give opportunities to our assistant coaches to talk and to have influence. Once you set the standard, then you pass certain things off, but in others when you realize the gravity of certain things, you want to put your thumbprint on it.”
Finally, Hawkins commented on the massive changes in the sport the past few years and has it been hard for him to adjust to them?
“I understand how drastic it is, I’ve been around the sport forever. We’re doing things now in recruiting that three years ago would have gotten me fired. Compliance has changed, rules have changed, there were things that were illegal two years ago that now we have to do just to keep up with everybody else to stay competitive,” Hawkins said. “Part of that is the summer, just a few years ago, workouts were voluntary and coaches couldn’t even step foot on the field. Now if you aren’t holding meetings and having practices, you are losing a step, so it changes things. Coaches used to get four or five weeks off in the summer, now you get one. ... That’s the reality of it. So you try other ways to get a life/work balance for coaches. Maybe let them go home earlier or have more meetings remotely.”
One thing is true today about coaching that’s for sure, it’s not for the faint of heart.
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