This has been bothering me since the Deion Sanders press conference moment when he stormed off the stage after being called "Deion" instead of his much preferred "coach Prime," or at the very least "coach."
My frustration really came to a head yesterday with Jason Garrett's presser that had some striking similarities to Deion's that went viral.
As a coach, and someone who has aspired to hold that title literally my entire life, I cannot wrap my head around where Jason Garrett and Deion Sanders are coming from with this.
(Yes, I purposely used their full names, and not "coach," but I'll get to that in a bit.)
I completely understand that "coach" is a term of respect, and oftentimes the highest level of endearment. No one is debating that. What is in question is why everyone, and media in particular comprised of grown men and women, should be calling another grown man or woman by anything other than their first name.
As I pointed out on twitter yesterday, coaches are not like doctors who went to school for eight years to be called a that tile, or like a police officer, or military officers with various titles absolutely deserve to be called the rank they've earned.
I dont get why having to be called "Coach” is such a sticking point for guys. We dont pay to go to school for 8 years to have a title like a Dr.
— Doug Samuels 🏈 (@CoachSamz) August 5, 2021
Seems like an ego move to me. Coaching should be a profession void of egos…right? Surely I have to be missing something here... https://t.co/ge6RuvCDla
Sure, as coaches we often started off in thankless roles as interns, graduate assistants, or even volunteers, but we're not talking the same type of sacrifices that demand a title be used by everyone we come into contact with.
To answer this modern-day puzzle, I created a simple to follow flowchart you can find below that is virtually impossible to misunderstand.
As with all things in life, there are exceptions to this. For example, if I ran into a coach I had never met before but hold in high regard, out of respect, I would feel more comfortable calling them "coach" than by their first name.
I'm not rolling up to meet guys like Nick Saban or Mack Brown for the first time and referring to them by their first names. As the flow chart points out, that isn't because they coach me, but rather because of the respect I have for them and the weirdness that would come with calling someone you've never met before by their first name. Regardless of how famous someone gets, something tells me there's no point where that doesn't feel strange.
That is a much different interaction than coaches demanding that they be called "coach" to media members who they (often, but not always) interact with daily, where they are answering questions as peers, and not offering coaching to them in any way.
Anyways, let's get to the flow chart. This should put the issue to rest, and can be easily referred to the next time the issue pops up or when you find yourself in a situation you're not sure how to navigate the "coach" vs. first name conundrum.