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Lead coach vs assistant coach

The differences between lead coaches and assistant coaches can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a lead coach and an assistant coach. Additionally, a lead coach has an average salary of $53,811, which is higher than the $43,838 average annual salary of an assistant coach.

The top three skills for a lead coach include phone calls, professional development and direct reports. The most important skills for an assistant coach are CPR, NCAA, and player development.

Lead coach vs assistant coach overview

Lead CoachAssistant Coach
Yearly salary$53,811$43,838
Hourly rate$25.87$21.08
Growth rate20%20%
Number of jobs16,04714,724
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age3636
Years of experience66

What does a lead coach do?

Lead Coaches are responsible for training athletes in the fundamentals of a sport and managing subordinates coaches. Their duties include conducting tryouts, recruiting new players, designing training programs, developing game strategies, and scheduling roster training. They facilitate logistical arrangements of equipment, uniforms, and transportation. They also act as a referee for sports matches and employ sporting techniques in their training program.

What does an assistant coach do?

An assistant coach's role is to provide administrative and organizational support to a coach and team of athletes. Most of the tasks will depend upon the coach's directions. However, their responsibilities primarily revolve around arranging schedules of team events and practices, responding to calls and inquiries, producing and organizing documentation, and taking part in the recruitment and budgeting process of the team. It is also an assistant coach's responsibility to keep records of all players and personnel involved, including data and progress reports.

Lead coach vs assistant coach salary

Lead coaches and assistant coaches have different pay scales, as shown below.

Lead CoachAssistant Coach
Average salary$53,811$43,838
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $92,000Between $30,000 And $63,000
Highest paying CityBoston, MABoston, MA
Highest paying stateMassachusettsMassachusetts
Best paying companyJPMorgan Chase & Co.The Branson School
Best paying industryTechnologyEducation

Differences between lead coach and assistant coach education

There are a few differences between a lead coach and an assistant coach in terms of educational background:

Lead CoachAssistant Coach
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorBusinessKinesiology
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Lead coach vs assistant coach demographics

Here are the differences between lead coaches' and assistant coaches' demographics:

Lead CoachAssistant Coach
Average age3636
Gender ratioMale, 43.2% Female, 56.8%Male, 62.5% Female, 37.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 5.4% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 5.4% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage8%8%

Differences between lead coach and assistant coach duties and responsibilities

Lead coach example responsibilities.

  • Perform additional responsibilities as deemed appropriate by school and district supervisors such as organizing and managing elementary school mathematics information nights.
  • Administer payroll functions and leaves of absence.
  • Correspond to SITEL and operations deliverables in a timely manner.
  • Offer expansion ideas on future warehouse layouts, and conveyor systems.
  • Promote to regular trainer who run more sessions as well as programs.
  • Process, review, and approve daily payroll and attendance of employees.
  • Show more

Assistant coach example responsibilities.

  • Plan practices, lead JV games and practices, assist with varsity practices and workouts
  • Lead the boys and girls teams to strong sectional outcomes, which lead their qualification for the state championship meet.
  • Instruct competitive youth soccer players in basic skill development
  • Train to use see CPR certify
  • Mentor to kids on the team
  • Certify in safety management and CPR.
  • Show more

Lead coach vs assistant coach skills

Common lead coach skills
  • Phone Calls, 30%
  • Professional Development, 29%
  • Direct Reports, 14%
  • Customer Issues, 4%
  • Leadership, 4%
  • Training Programs, 3%
Common assistant coach skills
  • CPR, 15%
  • NCAA, 13%
  • Player Development, 7%
  • Assist Head, 6%
  • Soccer, 6%
  • Volleyball, 5%

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