Chances are pretty good that if you're a current, or former, high school football coach you've also got to wear not only the hat of a teacher, but also as an assistant coach (or perhaps head coach) of another sport.
Art Briles, Chad Morris, and Hugh Freeze are just a small sampling of the big names of the FBS level that started off at the high school level, and The New York Times recently did a piece on Hugh Freeze and how his coaching style was influenced by being a high school girls basketball coach that's a quality read.
The Times points out that while at Briarcrest HS (TN) as the head football coach for a decade, Freeze compiled a record of 99-23 (81%) with two state titles, and was even portrayed in the 2009 movie "The Blind Side".
Sounds impressive right? Well his 12 year run as the head women's basketball coach at Briarcrest was even more astonishing. Freeze led the program to a 305-63 record with four state titles, and seven straight trips to the state title game. That's a win percentage of nearly 83%.
His record as a college head coach at Lambuth, Arkansas State and Ole Miss? 52-18 (72%). Even that mark can't hold a candle to his career as a high school women's basketball coach.
Freeze's background coaching something other than football is very similar to Brian Kelly, who cut his proverbial coaching teeth as the softball coach at Assumption College, eventually staking his claim as the winningest head coach in program history.
It's not uncommon to see coaches following a similar blueprint at high schools across the country, but the success that Freeze has seen regardless of sport shows that the man has a vision and plan, and executes it as good as any coach, at any level.