Every year, being a football coach is becoming more demanding on your time, energy and well-being.

If you are spending more hours at the office than you can count on one and-a-half hands, then something is being sacrificed. Most coaches who are spending 12 or more hours in the office are sacrificing their own health and time with their family. Today’s football coach often lacks time management skills, and their inefficiency is hurting their program and their own personal lives.

But that’s OK, your family will understand. Heck, you’re a football coach. Your body will bounce back when you want it to, right?

No, your body will not bounce back without dedicated focus and care. Far too many coaches forgo their health for the sake of wealth and championships, only to have to use their wealth, and give up future championships, to regain their health. Stress is a huge contributor to the poor health of coaches. Your body is the only vessel you have, so take care of it.

As far as family goes, if they were aware that you are choosing to spend inefficient time at the office, away from them, I bet they would be less understanding.

If this sounds harsh, that’s good. Change is not easy, but necessary.

SEE ALSO: The USA Football Coach Performance Center

Although you are entirely responsible for your actions, you do have a major force working against you. If you are like most coaches, you have fallen into a trap that just about everyone in our society has taken the bait on: the myth of working long hours.

Unfortunately, our society today still defines hard work by the number of hours allocated to work. This belief that working longer and harder equates to success is outdated.

The coaching profession, however, has taken it to a whole new level. Working eight hours just isn’t enough for coaches. I still recall strolling into an early-morning workout session in college, to find my college coaches watching game tape, coffee in hand, and their sleeping bags on the couch in their office.

Sacrificing time for your personal health and your family is not cool. And it's not necessary.

No matter how many hours you put in, do you feel like there is still more to do? Of course there is! There will always be more to do. Coaches must learn how to become more efficient with their time. This old-school thinking of measuring hard work by the hours put in must change.

Time is being wasted everywhere: on the practice field, in team and coaches meetings, on administrative duties, and in preparation.

Here are just a few of the challenges I see in most football programs I visit:

1. The head coach attempts to be the CEO, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator, a position coach, a scout, the equipment manager, and more. There is very little delegation to assistant coaches. This is a control and trust issue with head coaches. If you are the head coach, you have to be the captain of the ship. Your assistants are there to follow the map you have purposely designed for them to follow. Your job is to manage them. You are going to need to trust them, and when they do make mistakes, help them adjust accordingly. 

2. Coaches like to hear themselves talk. I see coaches all the time stopping the flow and rhythm of a practice to talk about something that could wait. It’s generally because coaches want to hear themselves talk or demonstrate their knowledge. It does not matter if you are a youth team or the Seattle Seahawks, there are going to be days where the team’s energy is low and their focus is off. They'll make mistakes. Since you already know this, there are no surprises. Be purposeful and have a plan in place for getting players back on track, without wasting time, when these moments occur.

3. Get help with video breakdowns. I cringe when I see coaches watching endless hours of game tape trying to spot and track tendencies. Yes, game tape is critically important. However, would it help if you had someone else, other than you or your staff, doing the film breakdowns? Sure it would. Forget doing it yourself. Use an intern or hire a freelancer. You could even involve a student. There will be a little work upfront educating and preparing this person to ensure there's no drop-off in accuracy. However, this allows you to enjoy your Sundays with your family and show up at the office Monday morning with an entire breakdown of your next opponent. It's a simple step that can save a lot of time.

Coaches are no different than people who are working in the corporate world. You have to prioritize and time-manage. Spending 12 or more hours working on football is simply a choice, not a requirement.

Take the time to learn how to manage your time in every aspect of your program so you free up time to care for yourself and your family. When you do, you will bring more energy and excitement to your program, which could translate to improving your team's performance on the field.         

As founder of The Recovering Athlete™, Cletus Coffey teaches and trains coaches, teams, athletes and professionals how to take skills and success learned on the field and apply it to life off the field. As a former defensive back/receiver in the CFL and Arena Football League, and as a first team all- conference football player and a college decathlete at Lewis & Clark College, he faced even bigger challenges once his athletic career was over. By combining his success as a professional athlete and a business/industry expert, he now helps others win at the game of life, not just sports. To connect with Cletus Coffey, email him  info@cletuscoffey.com, follow him @cletuscoffey, or go to https://www.facebook.com/cletuscoffey/ to learn more.