grad school / coaching a sport you played

[Anonymous]

DS plays a sport at a D3 college. He’s going into his senior year, and has a daytime internship in policy work and he hates it, and he coaches for a club in the evening a couple of nights and loves it.

He now says that post-college he’d like to coach at the collegiate level and simultaneously get a master’s (in what? he says maybe IR, maybe business- he has no clue) at whatever college that is- I think one of the guys he is coaching with in evenings is doing this and bc DS is enjoying coaching so much, the idea appeals.

DS says it can help him get into a higher level grad school than he might otherwise, and he’ll get grad school at least partly paid for.

This sounds like a pipe dream to me - plus he is now entering senior year of college, isn’t it too late to put this all together to be lined up by graduation?

Is this a “thing”? DS is obviously good at his sport but he isn’t a star on the college team (I do suspect he’d make a better coach than player). If your child did this, can you explain how it works to me? I’m concerned that DS is going to focus on this, taking time away from a real job search, and it isn’t realistic or useful.

[Anonymous]

If he thinks he wants to coach after college, then he should begin talking to his coach/his other connections about the process. They will tell him if it's realistic or not -- that's not your job.

Regardless, he shouldn't go to grad school immediately after graduation if he doesn't know what he wants to do. Grad school will be waiting for him when he's ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he thinks he wants to coach after college, then he should begin talking to his coach/his other connections about the process. They will tell him if it's realistic or not -- that's not your job.

Regardless, he shouldn't go to grad school immediately after graduation if he doesn't know what he wants to do. Grad school will be waiting for him when he's ready.

Me again. It's never too late to change your mind about what you want to do. It's good that he explored several options in college and learned that he likes B more than A. Whatever he does, doubling down in a field that he now knows he "hates" is a terrible idea, no matter how much he might be prepared for it.

[Anonymous]

Its a fine line between keeping your hobby as a hobby and a career.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t suggest grad school for someone so unclear on what they want to study or what they want to do with the degree. If he’s enjoying coaching, maybe he can look into getting a job coaching at the HS level somewhere while he considers what he wants to do long-term and how grad school might or might not fit into that.

There may be a way to pivot his career ideas with his current degree and it’s worth exploring that before jumping into grad school with no plan or purpose, unless money is no concern at all. If he decides to go for a career plan that needs a grad degree, THEN he figures out what grad degree is best and applies appropriately and thoughtfully as a needed step toward the career goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS plays a sport at a D3 college. He’s going into his senior year, and has a daytime internship in policy work and he hates it, and he coaches for a club in the evening a couple of nights and loves it.

He now says that post-college he’d like to coach at the collegiate level and simultaneously get a master’s (in what? he says maybe IR, maybe business- he has no clue) at whatever college that is- I think one of the guys he is coaching with in evenings is doing this and bc DS is enjoying coaching so much, the idea appeals.

DS says it can help him get into a higher level grad school than he might otherwise, and he’ll get grad school at least partly paid for.

This sounds like a pipe dream to me - plus he is now entering senior year of college, isn’t it too late to put this all together to be lined up by graduation?

Is this a “thing”? DS is obviously good at his sport but he isn’t a star on the college team (I do suspect he’d make a better coach than player). If your child did this, can you explain how it works to me? I’m concerned that DS is going to focus on this, taking time away from a real job search, and it isn’t realistic or useful.

Former college athletics administrator here. This is not at all a pipe dream. Depending on his sport, schools all over the country hire young, just-out-of-school former players as GA assistants. Many take grad classes that are at least partially paid for by the university.

He should talk to his current coach now. If the coach appreciates him and sees coaching potential, he or she can definitely talk to the network and see what options might be available. It will also take effort and initiative on the student’s part.

The coaching ranks are filled with people who were not the best at their sport as players. In some ways that might make them better coaches, because it didn’t always come easy for them.

Know that there’s a good chance he will make little to no money other than a small stipend and, if he’s lucky, maybe some deal on graduate housing.

But there is always a camaraderie among young GAs in an athletic department. And a campus is a fun place to be.

It’s clear he has a passion for the sport. The best time to pursue this is now, when he is young and can afford to be poor, if you know what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its a fine line between keeping your hobby as a hobby and a career.

But the year after college, there's nothing wrong with trying it. Maybe it doesn't go anywhere and you pivot to a "real" job. But maybe it does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS plays a sport at a D3 college. He’s going into his senior year, and has a daytime internship in policy work and he hates it, and he coaches for a club in the evening a couple of nights and loves it.

He now says that post-college he’d like to coach at the collegiate level and simultaneously get a master’s (in what? he says maybe IR, maybe business- he has no clue) at whatever college that is- I think one of the guys he is coaching with in evenings is doing this and bc DS is enjoying coaching so much, the idea appeals.

DS says it can help him get into a higher level grad school than he might otherwise, and he’ll get grad school at least partly paid for.

This sounds like a pipe dream to me - plus he is now entering senior year of college, isn’t it too late to put this all together to be lined up by graduation?

Is this a “thing”? DS is obviously good at his sport but he isn’t a star on the college team (I do suspect he’d make a better coach than player). If your child did this, can you explain how it works to me? I’m concerned that DS is going to focus on this, taking time away from a real job search, and it isn’t realistic or useful.

Former college athletics administrator here. This is not at all a pipe dream. Depending on his sport, schools all over the country hire young, just-out-of-school former players as GA assistants. Many take grad classes that are at least partially paid for by the university.

He should talk to his current coach now. If the coach appreciates him and sees coaching potential, he or she can definitely talk to the network and see what options might be available. It will also take effort and initiative on the student’s part.

The coaching ranks are filled with people who were not the best at their sport as players. In some ways that might make them better coaches, because it didn’t always come easy for them.

Know that there’s a good chance he will make little to no money other than a small stipend and, if he’s lucky, maybe some deal on graduate housing.

But there is always a camaraderie among young GAs in an athletic department. And a campus is a fun place to be.

It’s clear he has a passion for the sport. The best time to pursue this is now, when he is young and can afford to be poor, if you know what I mean.

PP here. One big caveat: The college athletics landscape is changing by the day and no one really has a good grasp of it. The House settlement means athletics departments that have opted in will be paying their athletes, and resources in other areas could be affected. Oklahoma has cut some athletics staff and others will probably do the same. Meaning there probably won’t be as many GA opportunities as there have been nationwide.

The Trump administration attack on higher ed also is affecting schools’ hiring, in and out of athletics.

Having said that, if it were my son I would encourage him to go for it at age 22. If he wants to try to break into this field, this is the best age to do it

[Anonymous]

To OP: Which sport ?

[Anonymous]

If he is studying public policy, he might be able to get an entry-level program analyst job and a coach job at a very big flagship university that has lots of employees.

My university is a football powerhouse and there are a lot of entry-level athletic football coach type workers in the giant pyramid underneath the famous main coach and coordinators.

I agree it could be possible but the job search would be long and specialized.

I agree that going direct to grad school in those fields might not help in the current job market. But I think it is okay to accept a little underemployment for 1 of 2 roles held to live your dream in your 20s.

When somebody doesn't know how possible a job might be, I always recommend scouring LinkedIn for examples of people who have done it and to review how they did it. People's resumes give a lot of insight.

[Anonymous]

Back off, helicopter mom. Just let your post-college son live his life and make his own mistakes.

[Anonymous]

Have him pick, say, 8-10 random schools in his sport. Division I, II and III. Now go to the team web sites and look at the coaching staffs. Do they seem to have young GAs? Read the bios of assistants. Where did they get their start? How many years bouncing around to get where they are now?

That might give him (and you) an idea of what’s involved. Coaches and ADs love young, hard-working, enthusiastic and cheap help especially if coaches feel those kids can connect with recruits. The young GA coaches get a foot in the door.

[Anonymous]

Check out the Exercise and Sports Studies masters program at Smith College, which admits men for grad school. Two years, tuition waived, grad assistant with a team, and very good placement track record.