Are the days of veteran coaches gone?

Over the past few weeks I’ve talked to several former high school coaches and several others who have recently decided to step down. Too many are leaving the coaching ranks. I’ve asked each why they decided to get out of coaching. Some tried to be delicate in explaining their reasons. Others didn’t dance around their true feelings. With each having different situations, the answer did vary some. However, almost everyone relayed one concerning reason to me.
“I just don’t like what’s happening to high school sports. Coaching today is just not like it used to be,” one former basketball coach told me, who also said he has no plans to ever return to coaching.
In a nutshell, coaching high school athletics today is too consuming and a thankless job. Too many parents think a coach’s job is to get their child stardom and a ticket to the next level. Also, it’s just not worth the pay. If a coach isn’t in it for the love of the game and the love of the kids, there’s just no reason to do it. Some can get past all of the negatives because they love the game so much, but many can’t. The days of the long-tenured coach, such as American Fork football coach Davis Knight or Provo basketball coach Craig Drury, are coming to an end. Most coaches now days don’t even last in their position for 10 years. Many get out after only a few years.
Myself, I think coaches themselves are to blame for much of the overload of responsibility. Coaches are the ones who turned prep sports into year-long commitments. There’s no offseasons any more. Also, teams don’t have to take expensive trips, unless they want to keep up with the Joneses. Fundraising is too much a part of being a coach.
However, I still think the demand from parents is to blame for most of the negative part of coaching. To many, it’s all about winning and getting Little Johnny a college scholarship. It’s not about character and the social benefits. Too few care about the values taught by quality coaches and forget that every team can’t win it all. Parents are constantly unhappy with the ones coaching their kids, thinking there’s someone better out there and often thinking their teams underachieved.
There is no doubt that high school athletes are overall more skilled today than ever before. But, is the price paid to achieve that skill worth it?
Is the pressure really too much on high school coaches? Are high school sports getting out of control as far as commitment? Is too much emphasis put on winning? Is it realistic to think that we can ever tone down the level of commitment required now to coach or participate in high school sports? Are we heading in a dangerous direction with high school sports that will only cause more coach and player burnout? Is the state of prep sports good or bad? If bad, who is to blame?