The Climb for College Coaches

By Melodee Gunter

Becoming one of the best among the college coaching ranks is a dream for many. Most young coaches start their climb from the bottom and while all beginnings are unique, few are easy.

After one semester as a Texas high school football coach, Ethan Morriss was offered a graduate assistant position at Harding University in Searcy, AR. However, the college coaching world slows down for no one, and Morriss knew his opportunity would not be an exception.

“I mean I took the job on a whim. I didn’t even go out there to check it out. I just did my research online, and I trusted my old coaches when they were telling me how great of a staff they were,” Morriss said. “It kind of just happened like that in a matter of three or four days.”

With the life changing move being stressful in itself, Morriss said being the youngest on the coaching staff by five years didn’t help either.

“When I first got there, it was hard because I was the youngest on the staff by a long shot. The closest to me was 28. He’s married,” Morriss said. “When I was playing at WT (West Texas A&M), that wasn’t that long ago at the time, and I was around guys my age always hanging out. I was coming from a staff with a few guys my age on it. So it was just really different. I was always with the staff, and I just kind of had to find my place eventually.”

Forming relationships with new staff can be difficult, but maintaining relationships with family and friends can be hard as well. Men’s Basketball Assistant at Central Baptist College Clint Galyean explained the difficulties of life on the road.

“You know, you just have to be really intentional about your time,” Galyean said. “Recruiting takes a lot out of you. I think that’s the craziest part of the whole gig. You’re on the road all the time and while it’s easy to invest in these guys that you want to be a part of your program, it’s taking a ton of time away from important people in your life.”

According to USA Today, the average assistant college coach’s salary for basketball or football is $45,000 per year, and the average graduate assistant makes $25,000. While Galyean realizes how much more income he could have if he had pursued another profession, but he said he would not change a thing.

“Clearly I wouldn’t have chosen coaching if I wanted to make a lot of money, especially early in my career,” Galyean said. “But my dad is a high school basketball coach. I have three siblings, and I never felt as if I lacked anything when I was little. My dad loves what he does and yeah, I did look around at other routes I could have taken, but I mean I wanted to coach. I wanted to make a difference. It wasn’t ever a question.”