TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Grad Assistants: A Springboard To College Coaching

ADVERTISEMENT

By MICK ELLIOTT, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2007

Updated: 10/23/2007 12:06 am

The Florida State Seminoles were in Jacksonville earlier this season playing the Alabama Crimson Tide in front of a national television audience when early in the fourth quarter tailback Antone Smith scored on a 5-yard run, a touchdown that would stand as the deciding margin in a 21-14 victory.

In a hard-fought, raw-nerved game that for the first time sent FSU icon Bobby Bowden against his home state team, the scoring run set off a frenzied sideline celebration so hot-wired, it quickly drew attention from a CBS camera that focused on a whirling dervish of excitement dressed in a garnet and gold coaching shirt and headphones. Even game announcers Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson made note of the passion, drawing a parallel to the Seminoles' emotional play and that of Coach ... uh, Coach ... uh, Coach ...

They promised to get back with that tidbit of information.

Never happened.

Nobody had a clue.

'That's the perfect summary,' Jason Woodman said, looking back at his 15 seconds of fame. 'I don't know anything that could better sum up being a graduate assistant.'

With a little more thought, Woodman might have added 'Bobby Knight's PR man,' or maybe even 'road-kill picker-upper' to his short list of thankless jobs, but that would have taken time. And the one thing a grad assistant coach has less of than notoriety is time.

A Long Day's Night

From the end of July until early January, Woodman's alarm sounds at 5:20 a.m. By 6 he's at the FSU football offices. If all goes well, Woodman expects to end his day and head for home at midnight. That leaves about five hours for sleep.

Perfect. That eliminates any time to spend money. The two coaching grad assistants that the NCAA allows each football program receive no salary, only a full scholarship that includes room, board, books, tuition and fees as they work on a post-graduate degree.

As GA schedules go, Woodman's is not unlike most others at the nation's 117 Division I football programs. They all are worked hard and rarely given a public pat on the back. Many times - proven by Woodman's mystery status to the two CBS announcers - GAs are not even mentioned in their school's media guides. They are not interviewed. They are faceless soldiers unrecognized outside the tightest of team circles.

So, all those interested in signing up, fall in line and try not to wrap around the building more than twice.

Strange but true, the hardest job in college football may be its most coveted. The superhighway to eventual college football coaching glory starts here. Those who have taken the route include Florida's Urban Meyer, Alabama's Nick Saban, LSU's Les Miles, South Florida's Jim Leavitt and USC's Pete Carroll. There's no quicker path to full-time assistant status than the route of a grad assistant.

'A rite of passage,' Ryan Hearn called it.

Hearn, in his third season at The Citadel, where he now serves as recruiting coordinator, knows the drill firsthand.

After starting three seasons for the Bulls as a wide receiver, Hearn rejoined the team after graduation to spend two years as a GA. He recalls the welcome back to his old program as lacking frills.

'I walked in,' Hearn remembered, 'and one of the coaches on the staff basically said, 'Understand something. You are here first thing in the morning to get everything ready. And you're the last person to leave at the end of the day.''

A Little Bit Of Everything

So, between sunrise and somewhere after midnight, what exactly does a grad assistant do?

Anything he is told.

'You are asked to do every job possible,' said Hearn, who spring-boarded to The Citadel from his GA position with the Bulls. 'It might be academics - being sure someone is going to class. It could be setting up a room for recruits. It could be going to pick someone up at the airport. Breaking down game film. Or, if all the coaches are in a meeting, somebody will say, 'Hey, go pick up some food.' Then, the little time you have you try to learn as much football as possible.'

It is all aimed at breaking into college football's coaching ranks.

GAs typically spend two or three years (the NCAA limit is three), soaking up coaching experience, making contacts in the business and working on post-graduate studies.

Spring and summer are the times to load up on classes. During fall and winter, the bare minimum of six credit hours per semester is the norm, and no easy feat when squeezed into 100-hour work weeks. But for those still standing at the finish, the big reward is a page for their coaching resume.

'If a guy wants to get into college coaching, the hardest thing to do is get started,' Bowden said. 'By becoming a graduate assistant, rather than go take a high school job somewhere, they have their foot in the door. I think it's a shortcut if you want to become a college coach.'

There is no shortage of role models. Eleven head coaches from this week's BCS top 15 teams began as grad assistants. With 10 full-time coaches on staff, Florida has eight former graduate assistants; FSU has five and USF four.

Florida grad assistant Nick Schiralli, from Hobe Sound, was a member of Florida's first national championship team, playing for Steve Spurrier from 1996 to 1999. Later he worked as a high school assistant for two years, moved to the University of North Carolina as a football administrative assistant for two seasons and one more as a graduate assistant coach while earning a master's in sports management.

An opportunity to join Meyer last year brought Schiralli back to Florida for two more seasons, a second post-graduate degree and the experience of the 2006 national championship.

Schiralli, 31, married and a new father to a 9-week-old son, will begin job hunting in February.

'You hope you did a great job and when the time comes, somebody will pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, this is a guy we'd like to see you give an opportunity to,'' he said.

Gaining Entry To The Club

Every GA's story is different, yet most are similar in that their two- or three-year enlistment is viewed as an investment into the future, the membership dues into one of the world's most-exclusive men's clubs.

'You hope it's going to pay off,' Woodman said. 'But you never know. If you get a job, then it pays off. If not, well, it was a good experience.'

For Woodman, the challenge may be even greater than for most. Although a small-college baseball player, he never competed in football beyond high school. 'Way too small.' Nevertheless, the game runs deep in his blood.

After college Woodman returned to his small West Virginia hometown of Farmington to teach and coach football at his high school alma mater, but found himself longing for a larger stage. Last year he got on as a GA at LSU, working under assistant Jimbo Fisher. When Fisher was hired as offensive coordinator by FSU, Woodman followed.

Now he's 28, married, with his wife expecting the couple's first child in April - and still hoping to earn his stripes.

'The hardest thing to deal with is I'm literally in this office more than I am in my house,' he said. 'It's not that you only miss your wife, you miss your regular life, being at home, watching TV. But the things you get to do and are able to learn are once-in-a-lifetime things. You just hope all the work pays off.'

BCS FRATERNITY

Not all the head coaches of the current top-15 BCS teams started as graduate assistants - but 11 of them did:

Just another - more or less - day in the life of Florida State Seminoles graduate assistant Jason Woodman

5:20 a.m. - Alarm sounds.

6 a.m. - Arrive at office

6-8:30 a.m. - Join offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher in staff room watching film of upcoming opponent. 'Basically trying to find tendencies and ways we can attack the other team. We're looking for spots where we may have an advantage.'

8:30- 9 a.m. - Complete staff meeting with head coach Bobby Bowden. Always starts with devotion before discussing game plans involving entire team.

9-9:30 a.m.- Offensive staff remains to continue discussions with Bowden.

9:30-11 a.m. - More film work on opponents, this centered on developing that day's practice plans. 'Developing a specific way to attack. Who does something best on our team and who is the weakest at stopping that on their team?'

11-noon - Assist Fisher as offensive coordinator begins scripting day's practice schedule.

Noon-12:05 p.m. - Food run to cafeteria for two take-out lunches. Rejoin Fisher in office.

12:05-1 p.m. - Pick at food while continuing to script practice.

1-2 p.m. - 'Probably my most important job of the day. Although it's a pain in the butt.' FSU will run between 95 and 120 plays per practice. Each day, draws diagrams on separate cards that will inform scout team defense how it is to line up for each offensive set.

2-2:30 p.m. - Position meetings. Woodman joins Fisher in meeting with quarterbacks.

2:45-5:45 p.m. - Practice.

5:45-6:15 p.m. - On good day has time for a trip to the weight room for a 15-minute workout followed by a shower. 'It keeps me from getting old and fat.'

6:15-8 p.m. - Back upstairs to coaching offices by way of cafeteria for two take-out dinners. Rejoins Fisher to review practice.

8-10 p.m. - Full staff brainstorms ideas and suggestions for upcoming opponent.

10-11 p.m. - After full-time staff leaves for home, begins 'self-scout report,' which breaks down plays and frequency of FSU offense in specific situations. 'Anything we can see a tendency that we do that the other team might be looking at.'

11-midnight - Scouting work on opponent two weeks away.

Midnight-12:15 a.m. - Drive home.

12:15:12:30 a.m. - Walk dogs, two Jack Russell Terriers named Hutt and Lady.

12:30-12:45 a.m. - Ready for bed.

12:45-5:20 a.m. - Zzzzzzzzzzz.

Reporter Mick Elliott can be reached at (813) 281-2534 or melliott@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT