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Jacob Menard
Professor Hall
Rec 140 TR 9:35-10:50
10/27/15
Athletic Coaching Job Analysis: An Interview with Coach John Wilson
My Name is Jacob Menard, I am currently a freshman who is in the
Recreation and Sports Studies Major at Shepherd University in
Shepherdstown, West Virginia. I am currently a student representative for the
Recreation department, and I truly believe that the field of Recreation,
Leisure, and Sports Studies is an overlooked but extremely vital to society.
My concentration is in the field of Athletic Coaching, as of this year, I have
been coaching football for five years. I started coaching because my father
was a coach of my former junior league football team and my freshman year
of high school I decided that I would help coach. I realized after that season
that I loved coaching football more than I enjoyed playing it. Helping mentor
kids is something that I have always enjoyed doing, as a team captain all my
years of coaching, teaching and working with others always came naturally
to me. I learned over the years that there are great coaches that you can
learn valuable lessons from both in the world of football and in life as a
whole. One of my role models is the man I am interviewing. Coach John
Wilson is a leader on and off the football field. As a high school student he
was a three year varsity starter at Laurel High School. As a Laurel High
School Spartan, he played both Offensive and Defensive Line and earned

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himself a position on the Frostburg State Football team. Unfortunately due to

a shoulder injury he would have to forgo a football career and made a
transition to the coaching field after being inspired by the Head Track and
Field coach at Frostburg. After earning his HPE education degree with a
concentration in Athletic Coaching, he would go on to coach sports and
educate his athletes in both proper technique and life lessons that would be
valued for the rest of their lives. In total Coach Wilson has coached for 20
years including a year as an NCAA assistant girls basketball at Potomac
State. He was the head Girls Track and Field coach at Northern High school in
Garrett County where he led one athlete to a state title in the sport of discus.
While at Northern, he had his first football coaching position as a junior
varsity and assistant varsity coach for the Northern High School Huskies.
After his stint with Northern he would later coach at a small private school in
Maryland named Bishop Walsh where he was the Head Football coach and
the head freshman Basketball coach. At Bishop Walsh he would snap a 16
game losing for his first win as a head football coach. One of his greatest
achievements as a coach was starting the Clear Spring High School program
and the head Junior Varsity girls basketball coach. He was the head coach
for two seasons at Clear Spring and now is currently the head Junior Varsity
coach for the Clear Spring Blazers. Outside of sports, Coach Wilson is a
leader for the FCA, he loves his wife and kids and tries to be the best father
and husband he can possibly be, and he is a man that never let adversity
bring him down. My interview with Coach Wilson took place at Clear Spring

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high school, my alma mater and the school where he started the football
program. In this Interview we covered both the past and current coaching
methods, and techniques while also getting insight from a man who has
witnessed a lot from his twenty year career.
Menard (Q): What are the Differences in coaching a private high school and a
public high school?
Wilson (A): Not a lot is different. People believe when you coach in a private
school that you can do whatever you want, but what they fail to realize is
that there are more restrictions as a private school coach. We could not
recruit players, and the kids that wanted to get in had to have good grades
to get in to Bishop Walsh. The biggest difference was that the alumni
presence was greater at Bishop Walsh. If I needed anything I would get it
immediately, this was obviously because the parents and alumni where
wealthier and could afford to donate to the program.
Menard (Q): How has the sport of football changed since you started
coaching?
Wilson (A): Some schemes and formations have changed but overall not very
much has changed. When I coached at Northern I was the only coach in the
area that ran the Spread Offense. Even back then we had big schools and
small school problems, we had parents who would do anything to support the
team and we would have parents that wouldnt even go to their kids game.
The technology advances are the greatest difference in football today. As a
coach we can now watch game film on our phones and tablets using the Hudl
app, and now there are even footballs that track how far they go each play
and it connects to a computer to help the statistician put the right offensive
stats, it may seem a bit over the top but technology has really helped
coaches out a lot.
Menard (Q): What is the average salary of a high school football coach?
Wilson (A): It can range from state to state. In this area coaches make three
to four thousand dollars. In Texas, California, and Georgia the 5A or really big
school can pay coaches enough money to live on including the coach of Katy
high school in Texas who makes 117 thousand dollars a year. But the
majority of high school coaches dont make enough to just coach, must
coaches like me teach a subject at the school they coach at.
Menard (Q): What is the impact of written and oral communication on your
work and your progress in your profession?

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Wilson (A): Both are very important. In this digital age that we live in, written
communication seems to be in the form of texts, tweets and other social
media outlets. Oral communication is important because the best coaches
know how to convey messages effectively to their players. The best coaches
are great teachers and are able to communicate schemes and techniques.
Newspapers, TV, and radio still do reports and interviews so it is important
for a coach to be well spoken. Being well spoken will show outsiders that you
are a professional.
Menard (Q): What do you focus on when preparing for a game?
Wilson (A): My focus is working on problem solving aspects of the sport. We
can teach our athletes the Xs and Os of football but it is up to them to be
able to learn and adapt to what the opponent does. I also make sure my
players are hydrated and well rested going into a game. It is up to me as a
coach to bring up my players emotional side. It is a job of a coach to support
and love his/ her players and help them achieve in both the sport and in life.
Menard (Q): How has coaching affected your life?
Wilson (A): Coaching is very time consuming. It obviously made me more
conscious of my family. I cannot spend as much time as I want with them. I
also have made a lot of friends being in the coaching field and have met
great coaches like Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden. Like with everything else
in life there are good aspects and bad aspects of the job.
Menard (Q): Who were coaches you looked up to?
Wilson (A): Chuck Hickes was my coach at Laurel High School, he was a
teacher at the school and he was an old school coach. He would yell at his
boys but he obviously loved his players, he would check on us and would
drop whatever he was doing to talk to us. Another coach I admired was
Coach Tom Vent, he gave me my first high school football coaching job at
Northern. Like Coach Hickes, he was an old school coach who would yell but
he truly cared about all his players. He would drive kids home from practice,
and would have players over for dinner at his house with his family. I have
always admired Coach Tony Dungy and Joe Gibbs because they are positive
and smart coaches who teach in a Christian manor. At first I tried to yell like
Coach Hickes and Coach Vent but I found the Coach Dungy and Coach Gibbs
method is better for a Christian coach.
Menard (Q): Did your degree help you prepare for your career as a coach?
Wilson (A): Yes, But nothing takes the place of learning on the field. We can
learn all we want in the classroom but the field is where the best learning
takes place. Going to coaching conventions and applying what your learned
on your team helps a lot. It is also important to learn the history of the sport
to learn how to be a good coach. There is no set method on how to be a good
coach, it is whatever method you use that gets the most out of your players.

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Menard (Q): How has being an Asian American coach affected your
experience in coaching?
Wilson (A): It hasnt changed anything. I experienced racism from one school
but I dont let that take away from what I do. If that program wants to show
hatred towards me then they can it wont change the fact that Im coaching
to help kids grow as people and players. If the coaches of that program dont
correct racist behavior than they are not doing their jobs as role models.
Menard (Q): What drove you to be a coach?
Wilson (A): I started out as a biology major at Frostburg State, but it all
changed when I took a track and field class. I had so much fun in that class
that I switched my major to Physical Education. The professor of that class
was the track and field coach at Frostburg State and he was the one who
recommended that I make the switch.
Menard (Q): What is your favorite sport to coach?
Wilson (A): Football, I love coaching football because I enjoy watching it at
every single level from peewee to the professional level.
Menard (Q): Do you prefer coaching the offensive or defensive side of
football?
Wilson (A): I love coaching the offensive side of the ball. I started my
coaching career as a defensive coach, but Ive always loved the offensive
side of the ball.
Menard (Q): What does it take for a smaller program to be successful?
Wilson (A): For a smaller to be successful, it requires all the players to buy in
to the program. As a coach you need to put the players in the right position
to win.
Menard (Q): What frustrates you the most as a coach?
Wilson (A): I hate when parents try to be coaches from the stands. It does
nothing but cause tension on a team. I also dislike when players feel like they
are entitled to have a position. The final thing I dislike is when the
administration becomes overly involved in controlling the football program.
Menard (Q): What were your favorite moments as a coach?
Wilson (A): At Potomac State when I was an NCAA basketball coach, we lost
in the regional finals by two points. Although we lost, it was an exciting game
and our girls never gave up. My Number 1 moment was as a head coach at
Bishop Walsh we snapped a 16 game losing streak. It was my first win as a
Head Coach and I remember it like it was yesterday. We were playing a
school called Turkey Foot, we were losing by seven points and we scored to
tie the game. We did an onside kick and got the ball back. We ran a play with

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our running back 7 times in a row and scored a touchdown and won the
game. When my players pored the Gatorade on me to celebrate the game,
one of the players dropped the bucket and it hit me in the head. Although I
had a headache, I was proud of my boys because we played our hearts out
ad snapped the losing streak.
Menard (Q): What was it like to start the program at Clear Spring?
Wilson (A): It was very stressful, we had to take boys who werent football
players and try to win games. A struggle was to have a football team in a
soccer school. What I tried to do in my time as the Head coach of Clear
Spring was to get the town to support the program, looking back it was hard
but I believe that attitude is starting to change with the program.
Menard (Q): Ok coach this is the final question. What lessons can you pass on
to a future head football coach?
Wilson (A): A lesson that you and anyone who is getting into coaching should
take with you is that never let your win loss record indicate how successful
you are as a coach. Parents will complain is you lose, and complain if you
win. You will always receive outside criticism but it is how your players turn
out that truly show how good of a coach you are. If you teach the kids how to
be good players and good people than youre a great coach.

Coach Wilson was one of my assistant coaches while I was a player at

Clear Spring High School. He was always a man I respected and he would
help me go over different techniques and other strategies in the sport of
football. What I learned in this interview was that although the game of
football is a great game with many life lessons, coaching it takes up a lot of
free time. I know Coach Wilson loves his family more than anything so that
fact football takes up a lot of time is an indication of how driven he is to
coaching his players. Learning to ignore outside criticism is important
because in the coaching world, all you will get is negative comments when

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the team is doing bad. The most valuable lesson I took away from this
analysis interview is that a good coach is a great teacher, being a good role
model who will support his/ her kids is more important than any coach who
wins championships every years. Coach John Wilson is a great role model to
his players and as a person who wants to get into the coaching world, I
would model a lot of my strategies and methods from Coach Wilson. This
interview has taught me that there is so much responsibility required than
become can even imagine; however, this inspires me more than it deters me.
I enjoy a challenge, and the challenge for me is to be a successful coach
while at the same time helping my players achieve off the field more than
they do on it.