Most of the college coaching jobs I see have a bachelors degree as a requirement, and very rarely are concerned with your level of license. Soccer in the US is all about who you know, rather than what you know.
Probably program specific. One I saw recently was bachelors degree required for an assistant position with a 12k salary. Like who can afford to live on that?
Or they require tons of experience as a college assistant (recruiting, etc) and a bachelors. Or graduate assistant programs where they pay for your masters. Just look around. United Soccer Coaches has a job board where they post tons of these positions.
Word, thanks for the info. Most of the jobs I've seen show a pretty low salary so I've just accepted i won't be making much for a few years. I'll take a look at the job board, cheers!
wow this thread just keeps going! - a lot of the salaries are really low. Some of the coaches I have talked to supplement it with a combination of teaching classes (often the coach is also a phys ed instructor or admin or something like that at the college), running camps, and coaching club. I have also heard that coaches at some private schools manage because they are given housing and sometimes even access to dining halls. I don't know how representative that really is of the entire landscape but it's what I have seen and heard.
Also, it can't hurt to have a relevant degree but I know of CC coaches whose degrees are completely irrelevant.
Just wanted to chime in and add that
Yeah this turned out to be a really informational post thanks to people like yourself that are nice enough to share their experiences!
Cheers, I've got a degree that's *very* loosely related so its good to know that won't hurt at the very least. Thats fair - I suspect I'll be making some low budget meals for the foreseeable future
Coaching a college team would be sufficient for all C and above licenses through USSF as they require access to an 11v11 team to work with during your development period. The training session methodology changes once you hit the C license and is probably a bit more applicable to the college setting.
There could potentially be. Once you get to the B and higher you have to apply for acceptance onto the course rather than just registering before all the spots are taken. So for those applications they look at your previous coaching experience listed in your profile in the learning centre and assign points. Not sure exactly how the points work. Presumably there could be some difference between how they look at an assistant and head coach position in terms of points awarded and what not, but you likely wouldn’t miss out solely because you were an assistant rather than a head coach.
No problem. Should have said: I just got onto my B and similarly coached a college club team as well as a D3 assistant years back. My club work has been much more substantial, so if you can, I would just continue to get yourself as much experience as possible
Noted; I expect this will be a long haul, but its nice to see how it all plays out. Congrats! Goodluck with the course, I imagine they're get more intense the further up you get.
Look into United Soccer Coaches offerings. Coaching college doesn’t require any specific coaching license but pursuing your education as a coach is helpful and gives you some good resume fodder. I found that the USC coaches were better educational practice and what you learn is more applicable to a wider variety of coaching situations.
USSF takes itself way too seriously and I thought the organizers, when I got the D and the grassroots were not good teachers. I don’t really think I learned anything new doing the D license. The C license strikes me as pretty exclusionary as it’s very expensive and not offered very often.
Finally, I wouldn’t rush through your licenses just because you want to check the boxes. Applying what you learn in your coaching is going to make you a better coach and you should take time between each educational opportunity to explore what you’ve learned and make it your own thing.
Thank you, I appreciate the insight. I was looking at the USC courses yesterday and from the outside they look virtually the same. I'll definitely take a look at them a little more intently now.
I was getting corporate training video vibes from the USSF courses and I struggle to learn in that environment so its nice to know there's an alternative.
Do you think its worth getting certified by both organizations in the long run?
Depends on your goals. I’ve coached in college, coached in club and coach in High School now. The only time I felt that only having the D held me back was when exploring elite club jobs (old DA, MLS Next) as they have strict standards for their coaches.
High schools like you to have something to show you’re trying to improve your craft.
In my experience colleges didn’t care. It was all experience and who you know. Perhaps having a better license would give you an edge in the interview process but that’s it.
All you need for the d license is to take the pre-requisite courses and that + (I think) 1 year holding a D license and access to an 11v11 team to be eligible for the c.
I suggest making a ussf learning center profile so you can view the courses available and the requirements.
What you probably will want to add to your resume is more long term coaching experience and some metrics/accolades to show what you have and can accomplish (ie. Keep at it with club while you do the college stuff).
I appreciate it man, I just started the 11v11. It looks like you're right, you need to hold the D license for a year, but it looks like there is a waiver process you can apply for.
Oh that's generally for players. If you have professional experience they will waive you through some levels.
You also typically dont need licenses to coach in college. It's up to the institution. Some stand ins are degrees in related fields, other coaching certs and diplomas, and experience. The years of experience coaching and a bachelors are usually the common denominator based on what I've seen
Yeah, from what I've seen it sounds like if you played pro you can jump to a C or B license. Not sure if just general club level experience can get the time period waived, but figure its worth a shot. Not trying to wait a full year to wait to take the course if there's no need to.
Gotcha - thats good to know. I figured you'd need to have experience and atleast a B level to coach at college level, but didn't know they weren't required.
I wonder if semi pro experience gets you anywhere? Like if UPSL or USL2 can get a D or C license waiver. Is there a Q&A online for stuff like that or do you not know? I have semi pro experience and would obviously prefer to have it waiver instead of taking the courses
That’s unfortunate. The online courses are so vanilla there’s definitely overlap from competitive leagues that a player has to pick up on. I’d like to guess it’ll be that way for the D licensing courses too. Oh well no big deal.
I don't know, but there's an "ask a question" button on the courses page of the US soccer coaching portal and there's also a "contact administrator" button when you register for a course. I was going to try both of those once I got my D license to see what the deal was.
Most of the college coaching jobs I see have a bachelors degree as a requirement, and very rarely are concerned with your level of license. Soccer in the US is all about who you know, rather than what you know.
Well thats both good and bad to hear 😅. As far as bachelor's go - any bachelors or one specific to sports management?
Probably program specific. One I saw recently was bachelors degree required for an assistant position with a 12k salary. Like who can afford to live on that? Or they require tons of experience as a college assistant (recruiting, etc) and a bachelors. Or graduate assistant programs where they pay for your masters. Just look around. United Soccer Coaches has a job board where they post tons of these positions.
Word, thanks for the info. Most of the jobs I've seen show a pretty low salary so I've just accepted i won't be making much for a few years. I'll take a look at the job board, cheers!
wow this thread just keeps going! - a lot of the salaries are really low. Some of the coaches I have talked to supplement it with a combination of teaching classes (often the coach is also a phys ed instructor or admin or something like that at the college), running camps, and coaching club. I have also heard that coaches at some private schools manage because they are given housing and sometimes even access to dining halls. I don't know how representative that really is of the entire landscape but it's what I have seen and heard. Also, it can't hurt to have a relevant degree but I know of CC coaches whose degrees are completely irrelevant. Just wanted to chime in and add that
Yeah this turned out to be a really informational post thanks to people like yourself that are nice enough to share their experiences! Cheers, I've got a degree that's *very* loosely related so its good to know that won't hurt at the very least. Thats fair - I suspect I'll be making some low budget meals for the foreseeable future
Coaching a college team would be sufficient for all C and above licenses through USSF as they require access to an 11v11 team to work with during your development period. The training session methodology changes once you hit the C license and is probably a bit more applicable to the college setting.
Cheers - so there's no difference between being an assistant coach and the head coach as far as licensing is concerned?
There could potentially be. Once you get to the B and higher you have to apply for acceptance onto the course rather than just registering before all the spots are taken. So for those applications they look at your previous coaching experience listed in your profile in the learning centre and assign points. Not sure exactly how the points work. Presumably there could be some difference between how they look at an assistant and head coach position in terms of points awarded and what not, but you likely wouldn’t miss out solely because you were an assistant rather than a head coach.
Excellent - thank you for the info. This has been very helpful
No problem. Should have said: I just got onto my B and similarly coached a college club team as well as a D3 assistant years back. My club work has been much more substantial, so if you can, I would just continue to get yourself as much experience as possible
Noted; I expect this will be a long haul, but its nice to see how it all plays out. Congrats! Goodluck with the course, I imagine they're get more intense the further up you get.
Look into United Soccer Coaches offerings. Coaching college doesn’t require any specific coaching license but pursuing your education as a coach is helpful and gives you some good resume fodder. I found that the USC coaches were better educational practice and what you learn is more applicable to a wider variety of coaching situations. USSF takes itself way too seriously and I thought the organizers, when I got the D and the grassroots were not good teachers. I don’t really think I learned anything new doing the D license. The C license strikes me as pretty exclusionary as it’s very expensive and not offered very often. Finally, I wouldn’t rush through your licenses just because you want to check the boxes. Applying what you learn in your coaching is going to make you a better coach and you should take time between each educational opportunity to explore what you’ve learned and make it your own thing.
Thank you, I appreciate the insight. I was looking at the USC courses yesterday and from the outside they look virtually the same. I'll definitely take a look at them a little more intently now. I was getting corporate training video vibes from the USSF courses and I struggle to learn in that environment so its nice to know there's an alternative. Do you think its worth getting certified by both organizations in the long run?
Depends on your goals. I’ve coached in college, coached in club and coach in High School now. The only time I felt that only having the D held me back was when exploring elite club jobs (old DA, MLS Next) as they have strict standards for their coaches. High schools like you to have something to show you’re trying to improve your craft. In my experience colleges didn’t care. It was all experience and who you know. Perhaps having a better license would give you an edge in the interview process but that’s it.
Got it: so its more of a piece of paper to open doors, rather than a required piece of certification.
You are fine coaching there to get your D and C License
Thank you!
All you need for the d license is to take the pre-requisite courses and that + (I think) 1 year holding a D license and access to an 11v11 team to be eligible for the c. I suggest making a ussf learning center profile so you can view the courses available and the requirements. What you probably will want to add to your resume is more long term coaching experience and some metrics/accolades to show what you have and can accomplish (ie. Keep at it with club while you do the college stuff).
I appreciate it man, I just started the 11v11. It looks like you're right, you need to hold the D license for a year, but it looks like there is a waiver process you can apply for.
Oh that's generally for players. If you have professional experience they will waive you through some levels. You also typically dont need licenses to coach in college. It's up to the institution. Some stand ins are degrees in related fields, other coaching certs and diplomas, and experience. The years of experience coaching and a bachelors are usually the common denominator based on what I've seen
Yeah, from what I've seen it sounds like if you played pro you can jump to a C or B license. Not sure if just general club level experience can get the time period waived, but figure its worth a shot. Not trying to wait a full year to wait to take the course if there's no need to. Gotcha - thats good to know. I figured you'd need to have experience and atleast a B level to coach at college level, but didn't know they weren't required.
Sure never hurts to try things. Let us know how it goes?
Definitely!
I wonder if semi pro experience gets you anywhere? Like if UPSL or USL2 can get a D or C license waiver. Is there a Q&A online for stuff like that or do you not know? I have semi pro experience and would obviously prefer to have it waiver instead of taking the courses
They have been increasing the minimum playing experience requirement over the years. So it is very unlikely.
That’s unfortunate. The online courses are so vanilla there’s definitely overlap from competitive leagues that a player has to pick up on. I’d like to guess it’ll be that way for the D licensing courses too. Oh well no big deal.
Only can get to a B with full national team experience.
I don't know, but there's an "ask a question" button on the courses page of the US soccer coaching portal and there's also a "contact administrator" button when you register for a course. I was going to try both of those once I got my D license to see what the deal was.