I am european and I live in Europe following both soccer and football.

One thing that is interesting to me is that in Europe there are so many former star players that became coaches. Some of them have been very successful coaches. Others less so. But the point is a lot become coaches. And Head Coaches nonetheless. I can list like 15-20 people without even thinking too hard.

In football, that seems to not be the case. People like Prime and DeMeco Ryans are the exceptions.

It is a two part issue 1) why are former top players not interested in being coaches 2) why are teams not offering top gigs to former players straight up

Let’s look at two current examples. Bills OC job and the Texas A&M job. Both of these jobs are highly desirable and pay well. A&M likely $10 mil +.

Why are people like Larry Fitzgerald, Rivers, Demarcus Ware, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Mannings, Brady, Revis not interested and not being offered these jobs straight up?

I can easily see Messi or Ronaldo coaching down the road. Many players of their status have done it.

And I am not talking about recent developments. Many of the former star players never became coaches over the past 30+ years

But it seems impossible to imagine Mahomes or Mannings becoming coaches down the road. Wondering why such a difference.

Thanks!

  • shyguyJBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Some people can do but not teach. If something just comes naturally to you, but you don’t know how to explain it to someone else, you’ll probably be a pretty bad coach.

    Others can teach but not do. It’s easy for them to understand what is happening and what should happen and convey that to someone else, but they might not have the physical ability to go execute that themselves. You’ll probably see at least a few career backup QB’s each week now as offensive coordinators or offensive assistants for this very reason.