For my family as with many others, this great game of football is ingrained in our daily lives.

I have three boys still playing, ranging from a soon-to-be senior in college to a current fifth grader. Football has brought many amazing experiences to every member of our family, including trips all over the country to watch college games and great Saturdays spent at the youth fields.

All of our treasured experiences helped lead me on my journey with USA Football. I help keep the game, which we all hold in such high regard, thriving. My perspective as a high school coach and running our youth program has given me the vision of how Heads Up Football can keep more kids playing our great game and at the same time aspire to make the game safer.

Heads Up Football is designed for youth and high school football organizations to help coaches address key safety issues.

But it is so much more than just blocking and tackling. It aims to help coaches understand concussion recognition, heat preparedness and hydration, equipment fitting, and sudden cardiac arrest. There is also a certification that all coaches are required to obtain that provides ongoing coaching development for coaches at all levels.

Heads Up Football aspires to create a “better, safer game.” But it’s up to the Player Safety Coach to help make sure the program is installed.

The Player Safety Coach is one of the most important figures in football heading into the future.

I had the pleasure of presenting with Jenn Moses at the 2017 USA Football National Conference and we spoke about developing the Player Safety Coach into a respected leader.

We, along with USA Football believe, this is a vital role to fill as football moves forward. Since we have both served in the Player Safety Coach role in our respective organizations, we offered a blueprint on how to choose, develop, and empower the right person to be your Player Safety Coach.

Here is our blueprint:

• Over communication with all of the coaching staff. Whether you are a coach or the commissioner of a league, you need to stress the importance that is placed on safety. The game is changing, and you may find some old school guys who have a faded memory of how football should be coached. We need to educate everyone on all aspects of safety, and how  very different it is today than it was twenty years ago. The head coach is generally respected in the football community and needs to use his influence to make certain that all of the coaches at all levels know how important safety is and make sure that they welcome the Player Safety Coach into the fold as one of their own. 

 

• Coaches must Partner with the Player Safety Coach. The Player Safety Coach is the safety director of your football program, but that doesn’t mean he or she is the lone sheriff in the venture. The coaching staff needs to partner with the Player Safety Coach. The head coach should treat the Player Safety Coach as any other member of the staff, as the role is now as important as any other role on the team. The entire coaching staff should adopt and execute the USA Football shoulder tackle and blocking, and use the same voice when teaching it. The Player Safety Coach can be a game changer in your community but cannot do it alone. Lend a hand and help each other.

 

• Recruit a Player Safety Coach. Actively recruit a person that you know will do a great job. Don’t let it come to a point where someone just needs to volunteer because no one else will. Sell the importance of the title and the change this person will initiate. Get someone that will show compassion for the kids and will communicate well with the parents and coaches. Make sure that they can be present at all practices and games and recruit additional assistants to ensure all games and practices are covered. Consider a strategy change in your recruitment and look toward the moms. What better way to engage the person who ultimately chooses whether or not little Johnny plays football? The moms will be compassionate towards players and work tirelessly on this job. 

 

• Empower your Player Safety Coach. Give them the tools they need to succeed. Start with the online training and then have him or her attend the in-person Player Safety Coach clinic where training from USA Football Master Trainers is provided. Once they are ready, hand the Player Safety Coach the reins to the safety program. They will be proud of the role and take ownership of it knowing they are vital in the development of athletes and have an impact on football’s future.

 

• Build relationships as a Player Safety Coach. Be present and active at practice and on the sidelines. Parents will have comfort knowing that there is a person dedicated to the safety of their child. Listen to concerns from the parents, coaches and players, and develop the players’ trust by recognizing each individual’s needs, as they will all be different.

 

• Be the safety expert as the Player Safety Coach.  As I stated earlier, even though it is called a Player Safety Coach, it is much more of a safety director position for your football program. Be both accessible and approachable to parents, and understand fully what Heads Up Football is, all it encompasses and its basic pillars; concussion recognition and response, equipment fitting, heat preparedness and hydration, sudden cardiac arrest, and shoulder tackling and blocking. The Player Safety Coach also must coordinate emergency action plans and manage rosters, including medical concerns. Also monitor that the proper level of contact is enforced and communicate with coaches on weather concerns and the needs for extra water breaks.

 

The role of the Player Safety Coach is a task that is of greater importance every day. It is one that strives to continue to transform the culture of football in our country.

With the help of USA Football, Players Safety Coaches will be able to look back 10 and 20 years from now and realize the difference they made in their communities. Get the right Player Safety Coach in your program and let that person know they are every bit as important to your program as the quarterback.

Good luck and thank you to all of our Player Safety Coaches that have dedicated themselves to this position already.