Mark Solis says he’s learned a lot as a coach over the years including the value of work ethic, hard work and loyalty.

As the head football coach at Olentangy (Lewis Center, Ohio), Solis tries to teach those lessons to his fellow coaches.

The Ohio high school football coaching veteran believes that the young coaches especially need to remember the value of loyalty—particularly as it pertains to sacredness of the coach’s office.

“I always tell our coaches, ‘What’s said in the coach’s office, stays in the coach’s office.’” Solis said.

Solis recently appeared on the USA Football Coach and Coordinator podcast with Keith Grabowski, where he hit on a number of issues relevant to today’s high school football coach.

To Solis, it’s natural that parents and players might gravitate toward younger assistant coaches and find them easy to connect with.

But those coaches need to remember that, while fostering good relationships with players and parents is healthy and important, it should never come at the expense of breaking the trust that opinions and observations from inside the coach’s office are not intended to be shared.

“A lot of guys I see, especially in high school…they come in and parents have a natural tendency to gravitate to those guys,” Solis said. “And they have to understand the importance of being loyal to the program and to the coach.”

Listen to the full episode and subscribe to the Coach and Coordinator podcast on iTunes.

Photo via Sprayberry Football