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Football season is here! Summer has been filled with football camps and training to prepare for the upcoming season, now it’s game time.
There is so much that goes on to get ready for a great football game. Obviously, you have the players and coaches themselves training hard to get every play down and to prepare for the unexpected. The band who prepares halftime shows and hype songs to pep up the audience. Cheerleaders are memorizing every routine.
Then, there are the coach’s wives.
While we sit in the stands and watch a football game, we know that the coach has fully given their commitment to the team, but do we think about how much the coach’s wife has committed? She is the backbone of that coach. While he is on the sidelines supporting your kids, she is on the sidelines supporting her husband.
I recently had the chance to ask a football coach’s wife, and mom of three, about how football has shaped their family. Football has always been a part of their life, ever since they started dating. She has always enjoyed football and when her husband and her started dating, it was something they connected over.
“He’s given me a new appreciation and understanding for the sport and what goes into playing it.”
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AN INTERVIEW WITH THE COACH’S WIFE
How would you say football brings you closer as a family?
Football has always been a huge part of our family. My husband and I got married and had our oldest daughter during his second year of college football. As it is for most college athletes, most of our time during the first few years of marriage was arranged around practices and game schedules. Now that he is no longer playing football, it’s less so. We will always love the game. The late fall nights cheering in the stands while rocking a baby or giving the toddlers endless fruit snacks to make it through the fourth quarter is something I hope we will always reminisce about.
How is coaching football a full family affair? Are everyday schedules changed to work around football practices/games?
My husband and I both work full time so when we add coaching on top of that, it definitely makes for a full schedule. When my husband played college football, we lived within walking distance of the practice field so we would go to practice almost every day. Now that we have a further drive, a few extra kids and a busier schedule, we don’t go to practice as often. The kids love interacting with the student athletes and running around the field or track. As a wife, it’s been one of my biggest blessings to watch my husband do what he loves. While it is definitely a sacrifice to get the kids out of the house for practice/games, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What is the biggest piece of advice you have for a football coach’s wife?
He’s more invested than you know, he wants to see his kids succeed and the best way to support him is to just be there. I know from the outside, it’s just a job, but to any coach that cares, it’s more than that.
How do you show your support for your coach husband?
Every day can look different — some days it’s just listening, other days it’s taking water and popsicles to practice. Show up where you can and have patience when he needs you, he’ll ask because he knows you’re always there.
When coaching stresses him out do you feel the stress as well?
My husband is a very emotionally invested person, he cares really deeply about those around him, specifically the guys on his teams. When we get home after a tough loss (or even a tough win), I give him the space to talk through the game and in the end, he has already started planning for how to move forward into planning for the next week.
When you’re watching a game and the game isn’t going well for your husband’s team, what goes through your head?
I’m always watching my husband on the sidelines, if the game isn’t going well, I’m usually whispering under my breath “calm down, it’s just a game, just make the call…etc.” We’ve been married for six years, and I’ve gotten really good at reading his body language from the stands.
How do you juggle being a supportive coach’s wife and a present/involved mom of three?
Balancing everything we have going on in life has never been easy. Our kids are used to being at the practice field/stadiums and look forward to going to cheer dad on, it’s easy when we just make it a part of the routine. Like I said, it is a sacrifice, but I never regret supporting my husband and letting the kids see their dad do what he loves. Most kids don’t have that opportunity, especially when he was playing in college.
What would you say has been the key to having a happy marriage in the coaching world?
Patience and communication. I steer clear of the small-town drama and just play my part as a supportive wife. We keep football fun, even when the record isn’t great. At the end of the day, he supports me in my job and passions, and I support him in his. The schedule may not be the typical 9 to 5, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The next time you are sitting on the sidelines cheering for your team, see if you can find the coach’s wife. Go give her a high five, tell her her husband is doing a great job, thank her for supporting the coach and the players and the community that enjoys the game, maybe even offer to buy her a coffee.
Interested in youth football? Check out Future for Football’s League Locator Tool to find a league near you.</span
