Football Coach Resume Example & Writing Guide

Why use this football coach resume example?

You need to come off the line strong and start out with a great skills summary, like the one this example has. You want to highlight your best traits in a few sentences and point out your top accomplishments and skills. It leads off with a sentence that covers relevant strategic coaching skills. The next sentence describes some good soft skills such as dedication, respect, and competitiveness. The summary closes with a mention of being a veteran, which is always a valuable status to have.

The career experience sections (especially the coaching experiences) do a great job of emphasizing achievements and milestones rather than job tasks. They also include details and numbers relevant to the achievements. Coaching is all about winning games, so including statistics about your competitive record is very important in telling the story of your success. Education and athletic affiliations are also key areas for a coaching resume. The education section is brief and to the point. Nothing extra is needed. Similarly, professional affiliations are a mere list of names. Anyone in the industry should know what they are and not need any additional details. If you have any recognized coaching qualifications, certifications, or training, you should include all of those in the appropriate sections. Don’t make the list too long because this will overload the reader and they will not remember them.

How to write a great football coach resume

You always want to put your best cleat forward with your coaching resume. Getting the format of your resume right will make it more worthy of the gridiron. For a first-time coach, we recommend you go with a functional format that will highlight your skills and training. For coaches with a few years of coaching experience, use a combination resume format that focuses on both your professional experience and related skills. More experienced coaches (5+ years) and those going for higher-level coaching positions should use a reverse chronological format that will show your work history and career progression. Check out our website for more on formatting your resume.

Having the right keywords on your resume is another important part of having a resume that can power through the HR front line (applicant tracking systems). This is where planning pays off. Study the job description and look for keywords related to the job role and requirements. Add those to your playbook for creating your resume. Showcase the skills and work experiences in your resume to align with the job’s requirements. Don’t just copy and paste the keywords or terms into the skills list on your resume.  What’s going to make your resume stand out and cross the goal line? Solid cases of how you have motivated and guided teams to win are the ticket. Here are a few ideas to give you inspiration:

• How you overcame challenges with a team and create a cohesive winning unit

• Did you develop specific strategies for offenses and defenses? Or for a stronger passing game? Better special teams performance?

• How you effectively trained, managed, and led teams to sustained success

• Did you maintain a consistent record of winning or developing teams at different levels?

Which key skills are relevant to a football coach resume?

If you’re wondering what types of skills teams or schools look for when they are hiring a football coach, then you could simply look at some job listings. However, if you are looking for some more universal or best practice skills for coaching, we have some good examples for you below.

Here are some of the best skills to have on your resume as a football coach:

• Football schemes and formations

• Leadership skills

• Practice management

• Training and development

• Offensive and defensive strategy

• Time management

• Gameplay insight

• Problem-solving skills

• Injury assessments

• Communication skills

• Perseverance and empathy

Football coach resume example