High School Football Coaches and their Players: A Qualitative Study

This basic qualitative study of high school football coach-player relationships explores the players' perceptions of these relationships, specifically the perceptions the players have of how these relationships influenced their lives. This study allowed the researcher to examine the characteristics of high school football coaches as they relate to the coaches' leadership during this important developmental period for adolescent males. Through the use of interviews, themes are analyzed, leading to the perceptions about these coaches and their leadership of young men.The intention of this study is to describe the players' experiences with their high school football coaches with specific regard to their perceptions of how these relationships influenced their academic, social, and civic performances. The sample consists of twelve high school seniors from two public school systems in Massachusetts. The researcher conducted interviews with each participant using a researcher-developed protocol. The purpose of this study is to translate these themes into suggestions to improve the practices of high school football coaches with specific focus on the character development of adolescents.