What is the path for HS coach to D1?

[BigUteGuy]

Several short list names have been mentioned with D1 ties, but I’m curious about the possibility of CC’s Coach Kjar as a candidate for Utah’s OC. What’s the path to D1 for someone with his experience(87-7 record, 4 state titles, prolific offense, great with QB’s)? Does a smaller school hire him, he then does great for 1-2 years, and gets picked up by D1? If he is destined for D1, do you skip the next rung on the ladder and go for it if you’re Utah? Interested in thoughts and insight because to me he appears to be on a great trajectory.

[PlainsUte]

If you look at the successful coaches in the FBS they all seemed to have moved up through the ranks staying at the college level having served at low-paying roles as “graduate assistants” and “analysts” to get started rather than getting established in the HS coaching ranks. That said, having a guy who knows Utah HS football from the inside might be great for recruiting, assuming he’s respected by the other HS coaches and not despised for his success (I don’t know in this case). As you said he seems to know QB development well, hopefully his methods will translate to FBS College level — there are things you can get away with in HS that won’t fly in FBS due to speed, complexity, and talent in the FBS college defenses.

[Utah]

This is what Google said:

Yes, it’s common for high school football coaches to move on to college football, and many successful college coaches have started their careers in high school:
Gus Malzahn: Coached at various high schools in Arkansas for 14 years before moving on to college
David Cutcliffe: Coached at Banks High School in Alabama for a few years
Urban Meyer: Interned at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati
Barry Alvarez: Coached at Lexington High School for two years and Mason City High School for three years
Rip Engle: Coached at Waynesboro High School for 11 years
Bill Snyder: Coached at Santa Ana Foothill and Indio before moving to Austin College
Lovie Smith: Coached at Big Sandy High School in Texas
Dirk Koetter: Coached at Highlands High School in Idaho
Some tips for transitioning from high school to college coaching include: Networking, Building relationships within the college community, Demonstrating a commitment to excellence, and Pursuing ongoing professional development.
To become a college football coach, you typically need a bachelor’s degree in a related field like sports management or physical education. Many coaches also have experience playing or coaching football at the college level.

[Utah]

Here is an article about it.

[2008 National Champ]

A HS coach’s best chance is to catch on as a coordinator. The example I know about is Art Briles who was running a new offense and trucking people in Texas. He got hired on as Houston’s OC, then moved to HC before taking the Baylor job.

I’m sure there are more but the only high school HC going straight to top level college HC I remember was Gerry Faust at Notre Dame and that didn’t work out well.

[BigUteGuy]

These are all helpful. My question then is Coach Kjar a candidate for the Utah OC job next season?

[jshame17]

This would be a massive fail.

We can’t have a first time college coach, at any level, take over the offense.

Position coach, sure. Come coach WRs or RBs while you learn the college game.

Straight jump to OC? Can’t happen

[2008 National Champ]

The biggest problems with bringing in a HS coach in any capacity are their lack of recruiting acumen and they can’t bring their own coaches with them. And isn’t there still a rule that you can’t recruit from their school for 2 years?

[BigUteGuy]

I agree the path would be to progress through position coaches and direct to OC could very well be a massive fail. From a HS head coach perspective, I’m assuming they see it that way too? Or do they get a ‘pass’ at the position coach to coordinator path if they’ve been rather successful and competing well Nationally

[2008 National Champ]

we’ve all forgotten a Utah example.

Troy Taylor coached Jake Browning at Folsom HS, went to Eastern Washington as OC, Freddie Whitt played the part of Marvis Barry in Back to the Future, Taylor OC’d at Utah then took over his own FCS program before Stanford.

[UteThunder]

Is Corner Canyon great because Kjar is a great coach? Or is Corner Canyon great because they have a ton of great players transfer into his program?

I’m sure he is a fine coach, but my guess is the latter. Any coach is going to look like a genius with the athletes he’s had at Corner Canyon.

[Rick Walker]

Yes the transfers play a part but he’s still had a ton of homegrown talent. Zach Wilson, Keaton Bills, Cody and Cole Hagan, Isaac Wilson, Owen Borg, Kash Dillion, Harrison Taggert, Paxton Naegle, And even his own sons Noah and Tate. All those guys committed somewhere at least half decent at football out of high school and why would being a good recruiter be a problem for a college football team?

[UteThunder]

High school coaches play little to no part in whether kids turn into D1 football players. They are largely born with the measurables. As long as they work to maximize their genetics, college coaches will find them.

Recruiting to a high school is not the same as recruiting to a university. For the most part, the pitch is, “Hey kid, we’re getting all of the best players to go to our school so we can win the state title. Wanna join us?” And a lot of times it isn’t even the head coach doing the recruiting. There is an intermediary, usually the parent of another player.

[Rick Walker]

I’m not trying necessarily disagree but I’ve seen firsthand some of these kids gain skillsets to go D1. Yes you can’t teach measurable traits like height and speed but I’ve seen numerous kids grow their skillsets under Kjar. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but unless it happens there is no way to know if you’re right.

[Author]

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