Graduate Course How does a high school coach fulfill a dream of advancing to the college ranks?

In every profession, it’s natural to want to advance to the next level. Greater prestige, higher compensation and job security are all potential rewards of a promotion within an organization or a change of employers.

In football, you would naturally assume that many successful high school coaches would aspire to become college coaches, and that may indeed be the case. But even the best high school head coaches have struggled to succeed as head coaches in college football, at least at the top levels of the game.

Just ask Todd Dodge. As head coach at Southlake Carroll (TX), Dodge compiled an incredible 79-1 record between 2002 and 2006 and took home four Texas 5A championships. When the call came offering him the head coaching position at nearby North Texas, he couldn’t pass up the chance to lead an FBS program. Unfortunately for Dodge, the Mean Green were only able to win six games during his four years with the team and he was dismissed in the middle of his fourth season. 

“Was I ready? Shoot, I don’t know,” Dodge told espn.com. “I don’t know if you’re ever ready.” He has since landed on his feet with an assistant’s position at Pitt, under Head Coach Todd Graham, himself a former Texas high school coach. “It would be easy to say I was on a roll at Southlake Carroll, going 79-1, fixing to go for a fourth straight high school championship. Then you take a job and a lot of people say you fell on your face, but I don’t look at it like that. You make decisions in your life and you go on. Right now, I’m absolutely so happy to be here at Pitt, to be on this staff and to be in this city.”

Is it possible for a great high school coach to “graduate” to a top collegiate program and succeed? And, if you’re a successful high school coach that has aspirations of coaching in college, what is the best route to take? To examine a case study, AFM recently spent time with Tulsa’s Head Coach Bill Blankenship who, in just five years, has transitioned from one of Oklahoma’s most successful high school coaches to the top position at an FBS university.

It may have taken longer than he had hoped, but Bill Blankenship’s leap of faith in 2005 has finally paid off.

After 14 highly successful seasons at Union High School in south Tulsa where he guided the program to a 154-26 record and state championships in 2002, ’04 and ‘05, Blankenship resigned. At the time, he said he wanted to pursue his dream to coach at the college level. 

While most thought his decision was abrupt, it was actually a long-prepared move on the part of the veteran high school head coach. With full support of his wife, Angie, and an empty nest at home following the graduation of his three sons, Blankenship felt the timing was right. He said his own relationships with his coaches as a player at Tulsa in the late 1970s led him to want to coach at that level. “For me it went back to when I was in college. I was blessed to have great college coaches.”

Blankenship had opportunities to leave throughout his tenure at Union, but never felt the timing was right, until the winter of 2005, when he and Angie started to evaluate his position at Union. It wasn’t that he was unhappy. In fact, it was the opposite. But the pull to college seemed to be stronger than before. “We decided to pray about the decision,” he said. “By the summer of 2005, it was 50-50 that I would leave. By August, it was 80-20 that that would be my final season at Union.” And, by September as Union began the football season, Blankenship was certain it would be his last. “It ended in a great way (a state championship) but it wouldn’t have mattered, I was going out,” Blankenship said.
 
Develop a game plan

Leaving a job when you don’t have a new one lined up is extremely risky and Blankenship understands his “leap of faith” isn’t for everyone. His advice for coaches who are considering jumping from high school to college is to do their due diligence.

After he decided to leave Union, Blankenship sought advice from five college coaches who he respected. None were necessarily close friends, but Blankenship  knew them well enough to ask for advice. His question was, “Do you think it would be wise for me to consider this? Within two weeks, four of the five had responded – all with positive feedback. “I wasn’t looking for a job with these men. I wanted their advice,” Blankenship said. “It’s important to know what you want and then set up your game plan.” That validation fueled his desire even more.

A week after leading the Union Redskins to their third state championship in four years, Blankenship resigned as head coach.

Have a little faith

The annual AFCA convention in January typically begins the “hiring season” for college coaches. Blankenship went hoping to network with head coaches. How hard could it be for a successful and confident coach to find work? He left the convention having established several contacts with what seemed to be plenty of potential. He did get an offer, but since it paid considerably less than what he was making at Union, Blankenship dismissed it as quickly as it came. “I couldn’t expect to leave my wife behind,” he said. “It just didn’t pay enough. I turned it down hoping something better would come along.”

But nothing did. As time passed, Blankenship’s faith was tested. Had he made the right choice? “Oh gosh, it was tough, really tough,” he said of the waiting. “Faith makes more sense when you are looking backwards. The reason you have the confidence to do something in faith is because you’ve seen God show up so many times in your life. I also knew – and for me this was the hard part – my heart’s desire was to be a college football coach. So, either God was going to help me or change my heart.”

Other offers eventually trickled in. One was for an arena football job, another for a college that was beginning a football program. Even a rival high school tried to lure Blankenship. None seemed right. “I began to wonder is this what I was supposed to do,” Blankenship said.

Staying the course

Months passed, and the right offer didn’t materialize. As Bill continued to struggle, it was his wife Angie who stayed the course. “She asked me is this why we left Union?” Blankenship remembered. “Did you leave to coach arena football? She was really the rock in all of this. There were times when I was good, but honestly, going through the football season without a job really sucked. I was okay in the spring, summer and winter but when it got to August, I was not a happy camper. Actually, I was pretty

He decided to give his dream another hiring cycle. If he hadn’t found a job by December, 2007, he would fall back on high school coaching. “It was like I had to put a safety net out there for myself,” he said. “Angie would scold me. The whole deal of faith is you aren’t supposed to have to have a safety net.”

Opportunity arises

When Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe resigned in January 2007 to become head coach at Louisville, Blankenship didn’t waste any time angling for an assistant’s position at his alma mater, where he played quarterback in the 70’s. He networked with everyone he thought had a chance to get the head Tulsa job.

Everyone except the one coach who eventually did – Todd Graham. The former Tulsa assistant had received a contract extension as head coach at Rice and Blankenship reasoned there was no way he would leave to return to Tulsa. “I was devastated when they hired Todd,” Blankenship said. “He was the one coach to whom I hadn’t reached out.”

Within 24 hours of Graham being introduced as Tulsa’s coach, it was he who reached out to Blankenship. “He asked if I would consider coming on his staff, Blankenship said. “It took me about two seconds to answer.”

Now the head coach at Pittsburgh, Graham led the Golden Hurricane to three bowl games in his four years as head coach. He didn’t hesitate in hiring Blankenship when he became Tulsa’s head coach in 2007. “Bill has a great reputation as both a person and a coach,” said Graham. “He played at Tulsa and I hired him because I felt it was a great fit for the program. I have had many assistants on my staff like Bill that have been successful high school coaches.

“In hiring assistants, my criteria has always been to hire the best people and coaches and Bill fit both roles,” Graham added. “Having been a high school coach for over 20 years, Bill is also a great teacher and that’s an important role for all of us. He is also very knowledgeable about the game and has a strong relationship with his players.”

Have an open mind

Going from head coach to assistant was not an easy task. Used to making all the major decisions, Blankenship was faced with a smaller role, one he had held only once in his 28-year coaching career. “It was an opportunity to learn,” Blankenship said.

He learned, and he thrived. Starting out as wide receivers coach in 2007 and then advancing to special teams coordinator in 2008 and adding running backs coaching responsibility in 2009, Blankenship has been one of the architects of one of the nation’s most prolific and successful offenses. Last season, he added the title senior associate head coach.

Graham’s name surfaced as a potential candidate for other head coaching jobs late last year, and he was announced as Pitt’s new head coach in January. Blankenship immediately became a candidate to replace him at Tulsa.

“We looked at both internal and external candidates for the position,” said Bubba Cunningham, Tulsa’s athletics director. “Our objective was to hire a coach that would continue the recent success that we’ve had. We wanted someone who could continue the consistency we’ve established. The question became, who was the best person for that position?”

After interviewing Blankenship, Cunningham was convinced he had found Tulsa’s next head coach. “We felt Bill was the perfect person,” he said. “He had done it before and has had enormous success with 20 years of head coaching experience. Bill is clearly a natural leader, works well with people, has great integrity and character, and creates a vision for our entire program. He’s also the son of a coach and has lived that life his entire life.”

Just five years after being an unemployed ex-high school coach with a great record and reputation but without any decent job offers in hand, Bill Blankenship became one of only 120 head coaches in the highest division of college football.

Reflecting back on the experience, Blankenship offered three tips that can help high school coaches advance toward getting a job at the next level: 

1. Network – “A lot of it is who you know,” offered Blankenship.“What helped me over the years as a high school coach was that I developed relationships with college recruiters. I then kept in touch with them, maintained files and continued to network as much as I could. You have to follow-up on those relationships.”
   
   
2. Do your homework – Blankenship believes you have to be completely prepared for the opportunity. Keep information together that will help you down the road. “As an example,” said Blankenship, “I was primarily a head coach and quarterbacks coach in high school. I then got the opportunity to be a receivers coach at the next level. So, over the years, I kept files – articles, clinics, presentations – for different positions. This included drills and techniques. I then reviewed all of what I had for the receivers position and felt more prepared for coaching that position. You can always keep the information for your assistants, as well.”
   
   
3. Don’t get discouraged – Blankenship believes there is a plan for everyone’s life. “Opportunities may come available when you least expect it and you may not even see it at first” said Blankenship. “You have to hang in there, keep chuggin’, and not get discouraged.” 
   

Brutal beginning

Blankenship’s first season as head coach includes three potential top-10 teams in the first three weeks – Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State. “This is not representative of our scheduling philosophy,” Blankenship said with a hint of understatement. “All the contracts fell the same year. It’s a challenge. But this is a veteran team. I might really fear this schedule if we had a young team, but we have 10 starters back on offense and eight on defense from a team that went into South Bend and came out with a win over Notre Dame then went into Hawaii and came out with a win in the Hawaii bowl.

Blankenship said the challenge won’t be getting the team ready for those three opponents but rather its first Conference USA game with Tulane. “That’s the game we have to win for us to have a chance to go to the Liberty Bowl. The other three are just great opportunities.”

Five years ago, all Bill Blankenship wanted was an opportunity. Now, as an FBS head coach, they’re plentiful. 

Sidebar:

Expert Advice

Any high school coach who is interested in advancing to the next level needs to take advantage of every opportunity to promote himself and highlight his accomplishments.

AFM asked George Bowser of The Sports Resume, a sports employment advisory company, to provide a few specific recommendations to high school coaches that are looking to move up to the college ranks.

Coaches Career Tips

•  Increase your exposure: Volunteer to speak and present at coaches clinics. This helps a candidate market his specific area of expertise among his peers and counterparts.

•  Volunteer: Contact staff members at local colleges or universities and volunteer in any capacity. Examples include assisting in recruiting, game film breakdown, etc.

•  Continue your education: Pursue a graduate degree. 90% of college and university athletic departments require their head coaches to have an advanced degree.

•  Fine-tune your résumé: Should detail team achievements, progress per season, relevant references. And be sure it’s well-written. Tom Osborne, Athletic Director of Nebraska says, “I certainly would look negatively upon a résumé that was not grammatically correct or did not have the references that would be of significance.”

•  Network: Join relevant professional organizations and coaches associations.

For more information: www.thesportsresume.com