Coaching Resume Samples [Also for High School Coach Jobs]

You lead your team like Belichick. But the hiring manager won’t guess that. You’ve got to prove it. Do it with this first-round draft pick sample coaching resume and guide.

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You know how to lead your team to success.

But do you know how to lead your career to the goal line?

You don’t want to drop the ball on the way to your future coaching job. It doesn’t matter what sport you specialize in—there’s one thing that all types of coaches need to land a job:

A coaching resume that blows the competition away.

The ball is in your court now. Sit down and start writing.

Don’t know how?

Don’t worry—get a head start with our coaching resume writing guide and become the front-runner in the race for the best coaching jobs.

This guide will show you:

A coaching resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
How to write a coaching resume that will land you more interviews.
Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a coaching resume.
How to describe your experience on a resume for a coach to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

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Use this resume template

Sample Coach Resume—See more resume templates here.

Trying to show coaching on a resume? See our guide: Achievements in a Resume, Awards & Key Accomplishments

Not sure a resume for coaching jobs is your best path? See our other guides:

Coaching Resume Sample

Scott King, High School Basketball Coach

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/scottqking

225-333-3892

Professional Summary

Effective high school basketball coach with 5+ years of experience, skilled in communication and goal-setting. Seeking to raise Prairieville High School’s state standings by 25%. At Brusly High, raised winning percentage 19% through active listening, better practice drill plans, and improved use of man-to-man and zone plays. Ensured individual team members set and hit personal goals for athletics and academics with 88% success rate.

Work Experience

Basketball Coach

Brusly High School

March 2015–May 2019

Raised percentage of annual wins-to-losses by 19% by drilling better zone plays and man-to-man plays.
Took the team to state championships twice.
Used active listening to understand individual player challenges and assist in creating personal goals for each player. Players met these goals with 88% success.
Worked directly with teachers, players, and parents to set attainable academic targets. Ensured all 20+ players maintained averages of B or higher.
Organized 15 away games and 16 home games.

Assistant Soccer Coach

Oak Hills Place High School

Jan 2014–Jan 2015

Ordered all supplies using smart sourcing techniques to save $2,000 per year over previous years.
Gave special attention to lagging players. Under close guidance, brought the team’s last-place player up to starting level in 8 weeks.
Assisted in organizing transportation, snacks, drinks, and supplies for 17 away games.

Education

2009–2013 Louisiana State University

Biological Sciences Major

Point guard, NCAA men’s basketball championship game.
Mentored 3 other players in play execution and zone defense.

Skills

Hard skills: Goal setting, basketball coaching, creating practice drills, safety
Soft skills: Interpersonal skills, active listening, communication, organization

Activities

Volunteer little league coach, ages 8–10

Referee in a men’s basketball league 1x per month.

Here’s how to write a coaching resume that gets jobs:

1. Start With the Best Coaching Resume Format

Coaches guide and manage team strategy and execution in sports like football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. A coach is a mentor, planner, and trainer. A coaching resume should show off your ability to develop game plans and work one-on-one with players to achieve success.

The hiring team doesn’t want a coach who doesn’t care.

Show you care with a crisply-formatted resume for coaching jobs.

They should see you “mean it” at a glance.

Use the following advice:

Use the best professional resume format for coaching jobs. That’s the reverse-chronological resume template. It lists your most current coaching job up top.
Use a clean resume header with your name in biggest font, then title (coaching), your address, email, and phone number.
Use the best resume fonts like Calibri or Cambria. Make them 10–12 point for easy reading, with reasonable white-space in between.
Save your high school or college coaching resume in PDF form so it doesn’t fall apart after you send it. (Check the posting first in case they don’t like PDFs.)

Pro Tip: Avoid creative resume layouts. Don’t send soccer coach resumes with images of soccer fields in the background. The goal is to make it easy for the manager to see your skills.

2. Write a Coaching Resume Objective or Resume Summary

That administrator has no time.

He wants to get the top-line info from your coach resume fast.

Make it easy and stand out with a profile for your resume.

If you’ve been around the track for 2 years or more, make that a professional summary for your resume. Those give a couple skills, but add hirable stats like “raised winning percentage 19%.”

Don’t have 2 years experience? Use an objective in your resume. Those stay a bit more skills-focused, but here’s a tip:

In a soccer or basketball coaching resume when looking for a first job, add accomplishments from non-coaching jobs. Those could be leadership or communication achievements.

Pro Tip: Don’t tackle that coach’s resume summary first. It’ll be a breeze if you wait until the rest of your resume is finished, then hand-pick the best parts for the summary.

3. Prep Your Resume to Fit the Coaching Job Description

Here’s the secret to getting hired:

Make your coaching resume fit the job.

Know what they want in a coach, then show you’ve done it.

Kick off with your latest coaching job.
Add a job title, school, and dates.
Say what you did, and—
How well you did it. That means you need to show accomplishments.
For example? They want offensive coaching skills, and you coached the team with the #1 offense in your division.
Include numbers like $2,000 to make it real.
Use resume action words to keep employers reading.

Pro Tip: Are you changing careers to get into coaching from another line of work? Write a career change resume to show you belong out on the field or court.

4. Drill Your Coaching Resume Education Section

This part is tricky.

You have to show education in a coaching resume. But—

The best way is with more proof of coaching skills.

Here’s how to write education on a resume:

You need to add your school name, your degree, and dates you started & graduated.

But also put some things your proud of in a bullet list. Think sports achievements, leadership achievements, or groups or classes you did well in.

Add your GPA if it’s impressive or you just graduated.

Pro Tip: In a resume for coaching jobs, list school achievements that matter to the job. If the hiring manager wants football experience, showing you played college ball is a good play.

5. Show Coaching Skills in Your Resume

Use this coaching resume skills list.

It’s packed with soft skills and hard skills:

Coaching Resume Skills

Hard Skills:

Giving feedback
Goal setting
Inspiring confidence
First aid
Zone defense
Offense
Knowledge of specific sports
Safety
Creating practice drills
Creating game plans and plays
Managing attendance
Working with teachers

Soft Skills:

Heads up—

Don’t try to fit in all those coaching skills.

Do some recon to learn the ones this employer holds in high regard. (The job posting is the first place to look.)

Then focus on those, proving your professional skills and talents with coaching achievements.

Pro Tip: You’ll need to list and demonstrate both hard skills and soft skills in your resume for coaching jobs. Schools want well-rounded applicants who can adapt.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Coaching Resume

Is money your only goal?

Employers worry about that.

Show your passion for sports reaches beyond punching a clock. Do it with bonus resume sections in your football or soccer coach resume.

Select from:

Activities
Associations
Resume certifications
Fitness activities
Projects
Awards and Honors
Conventions
Volunteer activities
Compliments from employers
Lists of interests
Language proficiency levels

Pro Tip: Your bonus sections aren’t just fluff. They must show coaching skills or soft skills. Did you organize a playground-building project? That shows leadership ability.

7. Send a Cover Letter With Your Coaching Resume

How important are cover letters with coaching resumes?

They’re crucial.

Almost half of hiring managers will toss your resume for coaching jobs without one.

So—

Make your coaching covering letter unique enough to catch the eye.

Use the right format for a cover letter—half a page or three paragraphs.
When starting a cover letter, you need a hook. Choose a big coaching accomplishment or a fact about the school that inspires you.
In the middle of your coaching cover letter, show more ways you fit this particular job.
Finish your cover letter with an offer to talk more about how your coaching skills can help the school.

How long can a cover letter be? About 300 words is perfect.

Pro Tip: Send a job application follow-up email in 3 days. Then resend it in one week. Don’t nag or get long-winded. Just remind them you’re interested in the coaching job.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s it!

That’s how to write a resume for coaching positions.

Did you hit a roadblock with your coaching resume? Does your resume for coaching jobs get no respect? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!

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Coaching Resume Samples [Also for High School Coach Jobs]