There’s a phrase you hear all the time in schools:
“We just don’t have the team this year.”
It’s often said with a sigh, a shrug, and an unspoken sense of inevitability — as if strong teams are a matter of luck rather than leadership. But what if the issue isn’t the team at all? What if the real problem is who we’ve asked to coach them?
In professional sports, this conversation sounds very different. Some of the most successful coaches in the NFL and NHL were never star players — or players at all. They didn’t earn their credibility through personal performance. They earned it through observation, strategy, leadership, and the ability to develop others. They studied film. They studied people. They understood systems. And most importantly, they knew how to bring out the best in individuals for the sake of the team. In schools, we tend to do the opposite. We take our best teachers and make them coaches. On the surface, it makes sense. They’re skilled. They’re respected. They get results in their classrooms. But here’s the hard truth: being a great teacher does not automatically make someone a great coach.
Teaching Well and Coaching Well Are Not the Same Skill
Teaching is often about mastery of content, classroom management, and personal delivery. Coaching, on the other hand, is about developing adults, navigating resistance, building trust, and holding people accountable without authority.
Yet in schools, we rarely stop to ask:
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Does this person want to lead adults?
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Can they have difficult conversations with peers?
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Are they comfortable not being the expert in the room?
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Do they know how to influence rather than instruct?
Instead, we promote based on excellence in a different role. And in doing so, schools often cannibalize from within — removing a strong classroom teacher and placing them in a position they were never prepared for.
The result?
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Coaches who avoid conflict
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Teams that lack direction
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Leaders who feel isolated
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And a narrative that the “team just isn’t strong this year”
But teams don’t magically change year to year. Leadership does.
The Cost of Misplaced Coaching
When coaching is misaligned, everyone feels it:
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Teachers feel micromanaged or unsupported
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Coaches feel overwhelmed and undertrained
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Administrators feel frustrated by lack of growth
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Students ultimately feel the impact in instruction and culture
And yet, we keep repeating the same pattern — hoping that a great teacher will simply “figure out” how to coach. Professional sports would never operate this way. They don’t assume the best player will automatically become the best coach. They understand that coaching is its own craft.
So why don’t schools?
Maybe the Best Coaches Aren’t Teachers at All
This may feel uncomfortable to say out loud, but it’s worth considering:
What if the best instructional coaches aren’t always our best teachers?
What if the best coaches are:
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Strong listeners
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Strategic thinkers
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Culture builders
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Clear communicators
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Emotionally intelligent leaders
These qualities don’t always show up on lesson plans or test scores — but they are nonnegotiable for effective coaching. In our next blog, we’ll explore exactly what those nonnegotiable are — and what schools must look for if they want coaching to truly move the needle. Because if we want stronger teams, we have to stop blaming the roster — and start examining the leadership.