Interview Questions – Lou Cella

HEY MEN,

WAS INTERVIEWED YESTERDAY FOR A HC/PE POSITION IN NEW YORK.I HAVE BEEN
COACHING FOR 24 YEARS ...2 IN COLLEGE...4 AS AN ASSISTANT AND 18 AS A HEAD COACH
IN ONE PLACE.IT WAS THE INITIAL SCREENING FOR 20 MINUTES.THE PANEL WAS THE HS
PRINCIPAL... THE AD... A CLASSROOM TEACHER ...A PE TEACHER THAT COACHES...THE
DIRECTOR OF PE.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS

Interview - Round One

1.TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHY YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME HERE?... PRINCIPAL

2.HOW LONG WILL PRACTICE BE ?WILL STUDENTS BE ABLE TO ATTEND EXTRA HELP
AFTER SCHOOL...CLASSROOM TEACHER

3.IF I WAS TO ASK YOUR ASSISTANT COACHES WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES WHAT MAY
THEY BE? ...PE TEACHER WHO COACHES

4.TELL US ABOUT YOUR OFFSEASON PROGRAM ?HOW WILL YOU DEAL WITH MULTIPLE
SPORT ATHLETES AND OTHER EXTRACURRICULARS ? ...DIRECTOR OF PE

5.TELL US WHAT THE ROLES OF THE PARENTS MIGHT BE AND WHAT YOU MIGHT SPEAK TO
THEM ABOUT IN THE BEGINNING ?... AD

6.TELL US ABOUT YOUR TEAM RULES ? ...AD

7.HOW DO YOU COACH ?ARE YOU DEMONSTRATIVE? ARE YOU LAYED BACK ? HAVE YOU
EVER BEEN PROFANE ?.....PRINCIPAL

8.WE HAVE 10 CANIDATES.WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT ? ...PRINCIPAL

Interview Answers

COACH BETTS,

THESE ARE MY ANSWERS

1.I AM GOING TO BE 50 I NEED ANOTHER CHALLENGE. I HAVE NO TIES TO THE OTHER

SCHOOL (MY DAUGHTER GRADS IN JUNE ) I HAVE A TURNKEY OPERATION AND GREAT
ASSISTANTS BUT I NEED A CHANGE.(WE HAVE A 70 % WINNING MARK IN THE TOUGHEST
SECTION IN NYS.I HAVE 100 WINS THERE AN I WANT TO LEAVE THE PROGRAM IN PRISTINE
CONDITION.THERE IS A PE POSITION AND I EXPLIANED THAT THERE WAS BALANCE
BETWEEN COACHING AND TEACHING.LETS FACE IT THE PE POSITION PAYS THE BILLS

2.PRACTICE WILL END AT 5:30 UNLESS THERE ARE SOME STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES.I
WANT THOSE KIDS HOME EATING DINNER WITH THIER FOLKS.THE PLAYERS WILL BE ABLE
TO ATTEND EXTRA HELP AFTER SCHOOL .I WILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT THOUGH.ALSO
WHEN I GET THEM HOME THEY TEND TO DO THIER WORK. (THIS HS SCHOOL IS IN THE TOP
20 IN THE NATION FOR ACADEMICS ALSO KNOW THAT THE SCHOOL I AM AT IS RIGHT NEXT
TO THEM ACADEMICALLY.)

3.I BELIEVE THAT I NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE QBS.NEEDS(TO ME THEY GET TO
MUCH CREDIT AND TO MUCH BLAME....I AM TOUGH ON THOSE GUYS...I HAVE BEEN A
GRUNT ALL MY LIFE )MY ASSISTANTS MIGHT TELL YOU THAT I WILL PLAY A KID THAT IS
NOT THAT GOOD BUT HAS BUSTED HIS GUT FOR THE PROGRAM.(MY ASSTS. WORK HARD
AND THEY DO NOT LIKE WHEN I DO IT BUT SOMETIMES IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE
OVERALL PROGRAM.

4. THE OFFSEASON PROGRAM WOULD START THE 2ND WEEK OF DEC.ALL ARE
PROFOUNDLY ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND BUT IF YOU ARE COMPETEING IN ANOTHER
SPORT OR THE BAND OR THE PLAY YOU WILL GET AN INSEASON PROGRAM THAT FITS
YOUR TIME CONSTRAINTS.

THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO PLAY OTHER SPORTS.

5.PARENTS WILL BE INVOLVED EVERY STEP OF THE WAY IN FACT THEY WILL BE TAUGHT
HOW TO WATCH A GAME AND WILL GET A GUIDE ON WHAT JONNY IS SUPPOSED TO BE
DOING OUT THERE.I WILL ACTUALLY COACH THE PARENTS.THEY ALSO WILL BE TOLD
THAT THEY ARE TO EMOTIONALLY TIED TO THE SITUATION TO MAKE ANY KIND OF
POLICY.EVERY DECISON IS MADE FOR THE BEST OF THE WHOLE PROGRAM.

6. RULES ... DON'T EMBARRESS YOUR FAMILY....REVIEW THE SCHOOLS PROTOCOLS ON

RULES .....THE PROGRAM IS BASED ON TOTAL HONESTY !!!

7. HOW DO YOU COACH ........ALL OF THE ABOVE .IT DEPENDS ON THE PLAYER AND
SITUATION.I HAVE BEEN PROFANE .....I AM WORKING ON IT !!

8.STAND OUT.....I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY MY PLAYERS AND STUDENTS THAT I HAVE
INFLUENCED THEM IN A WAY THAT THEY COULD NOT THANK ME ENOUGH. I HAD CHANGED
THIER LIVES FOR THE BETTER

COACH HOPE THIS HELPS...I WAS CALLED BACK FOR A SECOND INTERWIEW IT WILL BE
THIS WED. I GUESS THEY BOUGHT INTO IT. REGARDS..... BILL

Interview - Round Two

HEY MEN ,

WENT TO SECOND ROUND TODAY !! ANOTHER 30 MINUTE SCREENING..SO YOU KNOW THIS
SCHOOL IS THE NUMBER 1 RATED ACADEMIC PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THE US. 7 QUESTIONS
THIS TIME.

1.WE HAVE A QB ....HE IS A STAR PLAYER THAT IS DISRESPECTFUL ...ABUSIVE ...AND

MISSES PRACTICE FROM TIME TO TIME ...HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION ?

2. TELL ME WHAT THE ROLE OF YOUR ASST.COACHES IS AND HOW MIGHT YOU SELECT
THEM ?
3. TELL US ABOUT YOUR HAZING POLICY ?

4. A GROUP OF PLAYERS HAVE BEEN MAKING HOMOPHOBIC REMARKS .....HOW ARE YOU
GOING TO DEAL WITH IT.

5.TELL US WHAT THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION ARE IN YOUR
TENURE AS A PHYSICAL EDUCATOR ?

6.TELL US WHAT OUR OFFENSE AND DEFENSE MIGHT LOOK LIKE KNOWING WHAT WE ARE
UP AGAINST ?

7.THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT YOU COULD GO 0-18 OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS
.WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO REMEDY THAT ?

The following are a list of head football interview questions that I received from a principal in
Oklahoma:

1. What should the top priorities of a HS athlete be?

2. What are some Team Building Activities that you do?
3. What is the Purpose of HS Football?
4. What is your Program Philosophy?
5. What is your Practice Philosophy?
6. What is your philosophy on the hiring of Assistant Coaches?
7. What is your Offensive Philosophy?
8. What is your Defensive Philosophy?
9. What is your Special Teams Philosophy?
10. How do you communicate with your athletes?
11. How are captains chosen?
12. How are the officials handled during a contest?
13. How do you handle parents?
14. What is the role of administrators/faculty in your program?
15. How do you handle the media?
16. How do you motivate your athletes?
17. How do you handle the local youth program?
18. How do you develop your assistant coaches?
19. How do you win football games?
20. How do you handle your equipment situation?
21. How do you handle your trainer and injuries?
22. How do you run your strength and conditioning program?
23. How do you evaluate players?
24. What type of a game schedule would you most like to see?
25. How do you plan your staff?
26. Will you have student trainers and managers?
27. What are you looking for in a statistician?
28. What are you looking for in a game film person?
29. How do you get your athletes into college?
30. How can you have a productive coaching staff environment?
31. For what are you looking in assistant coaches?
32. How will you run your training camp?
33. How would you describe a typical week of practice during the season?
34. What is your overall practice structure?
35. What is your offensive system?
36. What is your defensive system?
37. How will you make your offensive system work?
38. How will you make your defensive system work?
39. What skills do OL need to develop?
40. What skills do WR need to develop?
41. What skills do RB need to develop?
42. What skills do QB need to develop?
43. What skills do DL need to develop?
44. What skills do LB need to develop?
45. What skills do DB need to develop?
46. What are the overall defensive skills that a great defense needs to have?
47. What are the things that a great defense must do?
48. How do you handle special teams at practice?
49. What is your philosophy of each special team?

I hope these are beneficial to you in practicing for your head varsity football position interview.

-------------------------
Lou Cella

These questions were asked to me in a recent interview (12/3). I'd like to hear how you would answer
these questions. Also, save these for future reference. Questions that I have been asked in past
interviews as well as this interview are asterisked .

1. What are two mistakes that you made in your coaching career?

*2. If a parent calls you and yells at you about why his/her son is not starting, how do you handle the
situation?

*3. Who do you plan to have on your coaching staff?

4. What is the role that the athletic director and principal have in your program?

5. Describe a day at practice.

*6. Tell us about your coaching experience.

*7. How do you increase participation in our program?

8. If a player misses practice, what is the punishment?

9. How much do you plan to delegate within your program?

10. What positions will your staff be coaching?

11. If a player is openly badmouthing the coaching decisions that you have made, how do you handle
the situation?

I hope this helps. Comment at your convience.

-------------------------
Lou Cella

1. What are two mistakes that you made in your coaching career?

No preparing myself enough my first season for various reasons and a playcalling errors my 2nd year
of being a FR-HC.

2. If a parent calls you and yells at you about why his/her son is not starting, how do you handle the
situation?

There would be a preseason parent meeting where I would address this. (got this idea from Frank
Lenti at Mt. Carmel in Chicago) Simply tell the parent that they are not qualified to make playing time
decisions, they are too emotionally involved, and iterate the fact that we want to win too, and we arent
going to do something that hampers the team.

3. Who do you plan to have on your coaching staff?

Depending on location, if it is near my hometown I know a few people coaching in the area that may
be willing to come along. After that I would hit the teachers in the school who still want to stay. After
that put an ad on the coaches association website or ask coaches in the area that I know, if they can
recommened anyone, or go to the local colleges and see if there are former players looking to get into
coaching.

4. What is the role that the athletic director and principal have in your program?

AD - Support the program

P - Ditto

5. Describe a day at practice.

6. Tell us about your coaching experience.

7. How do you increase participation in our program?

Summer camps for younger kids. Creating an environment where the team is seen as an elite
organization. Being available to anyone who might be interested. Make practice enjoyable (as much
as possible) and get the word of mouth thing going.

8. If a player misses practice, what is the punishment?

It depends on why they missed. If it is for their mothers funeral its fine. If its to go on vacation to
Vegas then there is going to be alot of running involved and some missed playing time.

9. How much do you plan to delegate within your program?

For me the defensive playcalling for sure. I would handle the offense. I would gameplan with those
coaches but on gameday its their baby.

10. What positions will your staff be coaching?

Depending on school size and available staff they will be doing everything except O-Line and
Linebackers.

11. If a player is openly badmouthing the coaching decisions that you have made, how do you handle
the situation?

A little like Coach Kramer said, and I would simply say to the kid, either you are with us or you arent.
We need people to believe in what we are doing and if you dont, then you might want to find
something else to do.

Philosophy

a. What do you do with seniors once the season comes to an end?

b. Staff development / all sports.
c. Educational philosophy.
d. Offensive philosophy.
e. Defensive philosophy.
f. Off-season philosophy.

Tell us about your strengths.

a. Organizational skills must be evident.

· Tell us about your weaknesses.

· How would you get the faculty involved in the athletic program?

· What is your primary concern when developing your basic offense and defense?

· Explain your methodology of handling disciplinary cases?

· What are some of your strengths? What are some of your weaknesses?

· Why do you want his job? What do you know about the school district?

· How will you handle your football coaching staff assignments and organize your staff among the
teams we promote – varsity, Jr. varsity, and freshman?

· What steps will you take to insure the academic eligibility of the athletes? What plans do you have
for study halls?

· How do you see yourself with the administration at being important to the success of the overall
program?

· How should the booster club be set up and should there be one club or a separate club for each
sport?
· If we where to watch a practice what we would expect to see?

· If we where to observe your off-season program what should we expect?

How would you answer these? These were exact questions asked to me during a very recent
interview. Enjoy.

1. Tell us about your high school experience and your coaching experience?

2. What is your policy on foul language with your coaches and players?

3. How do you monitor your athletes' academics?

4. Philosophy of Discipline

5. Philosophy of Coaching

6. Do you want your athletes to play other sports?

7. What is your philosophy on life?

8. Is winning the most important thing?

9. How would your off-season program be run?

10. What time would you start practice/dismiss practice?

11. How do you handle athletes that are disrespectful to other people?

12. Do you believe in having the smarter athletes tutor the academically-challenged athletes?

13. How will you increase participation in playing football at our school?

14. How do you handle learning support football players? How do you teach them when others
understand and they don't?

15. Are you a visual teacher or audio teacher?

16. Do you teach in contrast or an abstract fashion?

-------------------------
Lou Cella

Good questions there...

2) Foul language shows a lack of dicipline and character. It is easy to swear and vent your
frustrations, however a stronger individual has the capacity to show self-control and respect for others
around him. My team will present self-control and respect. The first offense (coach/athlete) is an
apology to the team after practice and explain why it was detrimental to team policy and how they
should have handled it. We are all human and there will be times in life when you take a step back.
But I want my kids and coaches to understand that a man of character accepts responsibility and
must be accountable for their actions, but they are to learn from experience. Second offense is a
team pentally of conditioning and probation for the coach is a meeting with the AD and HC. Third
offense will be 1 quarter pentally, and coach will be GONE!

3) This answer would depend on the size of the staff. One of my assistants main off the field duty is to
keep up with players school performance. My duty will be to be in contact with the school counselors
and chart all of the classes that my kids are in and order them appropriately so that I can have a
check up sheet made for each teacher so that they can make remarks and comments about each kid
on ONE piece of paper. Teachers have enough on their plate as it is and it would not be beneficial for
a teacher to fill out a separate report for each player in their class. Every two Mondays each assistant
coach will slip the form into the respective teachers mail box or can hand it personally, but it should
be completed by Wednesday by the final bell (thats all I would ask of them to give). That coach is
responsible for getting in touch with the student-athlete who is dropping below an 80 average,
misbehaving, sleeping, ect. Along with the obvious benefit from this practice, the assistant coach also
has an opportunity to build a relationship with a player(s) who they may not coach on the field. If the
student is in need of support, he will meet with his designated academic supervisor (assistant coach),
myself, teacher and parents to build a plan to get him back on track.

#4 and #5 would be ones that I would have to sit down and thoroughly organize. (NOTE TO SELF)

6) I dont want football players. I want competitive, dedicated, athletes. I EXPECT my kids to be
involved in other sports and if they are not, they WILL be involved in our strength program. I wish to
seek a great relationship with the school b-ball, track, baseball coach. I hope that we could devise a
plan to have them learn, develop and maintain skills, and perform with their seasonal program, but
also allow sufficient time for a condensed football strength program. You can only compete so much
with football oriented off season activity, however, I want my players to participate in serious
competition and develop other skills that may other wise not be developed with football training.

7) Well, my philosophy on life is no different than my philosophy as a Head Football coach. I am here
to build men through the sport of football, including my self and my fellow coaches. Life is what you
make it.

8) I believe this is what separates the successful coaches from the mediocre coaches. The mediocre
coaches focus on the hours (winning) and fail to focus on the minutes (H.E.A.R.T--see my signature).
Successful coaches focus on the minutes knowing that the hour will come. Again, I am here to use
football in order to build young men, and not here to use kids to build my ego, your ego, or that of this
community. Winning will come when you focus on the more important factors of building young men.
True winning will come when you see past graduates in town or when they come to visit, and they tell
you how they are in college, or working a good stable job, being a good husband or boyfriend, and
most importantly, being a good parent.

#9 and #10 could get lengthy

11) seems like a repetitive question with an obvious answer.

12) I personally do not believe that selective students should be categorized by myself or my
coaches. If you properly plan a studyhall before practice, you would not need to do such a thing. First
of all, there will be scheduled assistants on duty to facilitate, along with myself, and an ideal sitaution
would be for a couple of teachers who would like to give their time in helping out the fellow student-
athletes. Tables will be set up according to subject and there will be students placed at these tables
(by results of teacher reports). The professional adults will tutor those in dire need, and there is no
excuse to give a smart student "a pass" from doing more work, or studying harder at what they are
doing in their own class. If a question is raised at a given table, someone may be able to help out,
even that kid who may be labeled "challenged"

13) The obvious answer is winning. Kids attract to things that are attractive to other people. However,
building a winning program takes time, patience and a great deal of effort. Football is a team sport
and it was meant to be enjoyed as a team. My kids will be involved in a great deal of off the field
activites during the offseason. We will go bowling, have softball tourney's, field day events, passing
league tourney's, powerlifting tourney's, and large group trips to football camps. Football can be fun
when the team as a whole can bond with one another, and feel a sense of belonging and self-worth.
Word travels fast. All of these activities will video recorded and a tape will be made for recruiting. I will
go to the middle schools and elementary schools and present an assembly to students during lunch
their lunch periods in the auditorium. It will be a comprehensive effort. The younger you can attract,
the better you will be in the long-run.

14 and 15 can be together in one. You must, as a coach, know how each individual player learns.
You must then, be proficient not only as a visual and audio teacher, but a mechanical teacher as well.
If a player is a visual learner, type up a "winning edge" that shows all of the needed info on paper, or
take time after practice to show live examples. If the player is an audio learner, talk to him after
practice, explain what is suppose to happen and why it is that way. And if he is mechanical, go
through the actions or techniques one on one after practice.

This leads into an idea I heard from Bill Williams. He mentioned that individual periods should at
times be scheduled after TEAM periods. This is when the assistant coach can analyze what went
wrong, what needed more work and then go right into the teaching period. A good coach can be an
audio, visual, and mechanical coach all at once, reaching out to all of his players. I would love to hear
your opinions on this, it sounded interesting and rationale to me.

Lou- you sent the questions (THANK YOU) but, how did it go? What is your gut feeling? Get back to
me!

-------------------------
"H.E.A.R.T.- The Blueprint for Success!"
H-onesty
E-ffort
A-ttitude
R-espect
T-rust

2. I agree with many of the principles of KMills but I wouldnt go to firing a coach after 3 offenses.

3. Among other things I would have what are called Tuesday reports. They are progress reports that
will be given out on Tuesday's. The kids are required to have them completed and turned in on
Wednesday before practice. Therefore any progress or problems can be taken care of every week.

4-5 I have these included in my packet. At least I believe I do, if I dont, maybe I will go back and add
them. These are quite lengthy to write about here.

6. ABSOLUTELY!!!! They will become better football players if they do, and it encourages people who
prefer other sports to play football too.

7. You choose your destination, you just have to have the courage to follow the path.
8. NO it isnt, giving young men the skills for life is the most important. Teaching them to be good,
fathers, brothers, husbands, sons etc is the most important skill (Many good insights in the book -
Season of Life). Winning will happen with a structured, dedicated program, but it isnt the most
important thing.

9-10 Lengthy and in the packet.

11. It wont be tolerated. There would be consequences depending on the action ranging from missed
playing time to spoken and written apologies.

12. If both parties are willing. I dont believe I would FORCE it to happen, although I would encourage
it.

13. I have spoken at length about this. I dont think there are any surefire ways to get it done but you
have to increase the image of the team. You have to make it something people want to be a part of
through various things like - summer camps, gear (shirts, hats, jackets, sweats), motivational ploys.

14. Are they referring to slower learning kids? I would try to teach it to them in a different manner, if
they dont get it written down, there will be a demonstration so they can watch how it is done, or try the
whole-part method or part-whole method, whichever works best for them.

15. Both, and I think you need to be, especially visual with todays kids.

16. To be honest I dont know what this means either.