Gunnar Tarkington Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator Lubbock, 79410, United States [email protected] · (806) 555-1894
11 September 2026
Mr. Desmond Osterholm Athletic Director Sandhollow High School, Ochoa Valley Independent School District Lubbock, United States
Application for Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator, Sandhollow High School
Dear Mr. Osterholm,
I am applying for the Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator post at Sandhollow High School. I have led a 5A program of 118 athletes across three teams for seven seasons, I supervise 9 paid assistants and 4 volunteer coaches, and I hold a Texas Physical Education EC-12 and History 7-12 certificate, so I can carry a full teaching load alongside the program.
The part of my work I would most want to bring to Sandhollow is the administrative side. I rebuilt our weekly eligibility check into a Tuesday intervention period with teacher sign-off, and the program eligibility rate moved from 81 percent to 96 percent across four seasons. I own the concussion protocol with our campus athletic trainer, including removal from participation, same day exclusion and the staged return-to-play progression, which we do not begin until written clearance arrives from the athlete's own provider. I also rebuilt the summer acclimatization plan to our state association's schedule and publish it to families before the first day, and we have had no heat-related removal from practice in four seasons.
I read that Sandhollow is moving up a classification next year and adding a freshman team, which means a third staff, a third set of equipment and a third eligibility list. That is the work I have just done. I would also be glad to take a spring sport, and I have run the summer strength program at my current campus for six seasons.
My NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid, Health and Safety are current, my Concussion in Sports, Heat Illness Prevention and Sudden Cardiac Arrest courses were renewed for this season, and my CPR and AED certification runs through 2027. I can start with the spring semester. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Gunnar Tarkington, M.Ed.
Summary
A football coach cover letter tells an athletic director what you can take off their desk: safety protocol, eligibility monitoring, equipment and staff, plus whatever else you can be scheduled to teach. This guide gives you a full adaptable letter, what changes between an assistant and a head coach application, and the openings that get a file read twice.
Football Coach cover letter examples by experience level
In short, a football coach cover letter tells an athletic director which parts of the program you will take off their desk: the safety protocol, the eligibility monitoring, the equipment paperwork, the staff, and whatever else they can schedule you to teach.
In practice, coaching hires happen fast, in a narrow window between a resignation and the start of spring workouts, and two people with different worries decide them. As a result, a letter that answers both is unusual enough that readers remember it.
Guide to a football coach cover letter
That is why this guide and the corresponding football coach cover letter example will cover:
- First, how to structure the letter, paragraph by paragraph
- Then, why the program you administer belongs above your record
- Also, what to say about safety protocol without overclaiming a rule
- In addition, how the letter changes between an assistant and a head coach
- Finally, the openings that make a reader read a file twice
How to write a football coach cover letter
| Paragraph | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | The post, the level you have run, what else you can teach | 2 to 3 sentences |
| Evidence | One program, one mechanism, one number, one period | 4 to 5 sentences |
| Fit | Something specific about their campus, and what you would take on | 3 to 4 sentences |
| Close | Certifications with years, availability, thank you | 2 sentences |
Write the administrative program into your first two paragraphs
An athletic director filling a football post already knows your record; they looked it up before opening your letter. What they cannot look up is whether the eligibility report arrives on time, whether the volunteer coaches are certified, whether the helmet paperwork is filed before first practice, and whether a suspected head injury is handled the same way on a Friday night as on a Tuesday.
Write those. "I run a weekly grade check for 118 athletes that moved our eligibility rate from 81 percent to 96 percent over four seasons" is a sentence almost nobody sends, and it gets a file read twice.
Then name the coach education courses. The NFHS Learning Center catalog includes "Fundamentals of Coaching" and "First Aid, Health and Safety" as core courses, plus free electives including "Concussion in Sports", "Heat Illness Prevention" and "Sudden Cardiac Arrest" (NFHS, nfhslearn.com, retrieved 17 September 2026). Give the years you completed them.
A football coach cover letter example you can adapt
Dear Mr. Osterholm,
I am applying for the Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator post at Sandhollow High School. I have led a 5A program of 118 athletes across three teams for seven seasons, I supervise 9 paid assistants and 4 volunteer coaches, and I hold a Texas Physical Education EC-12 and History 7-12 certificate, so I can carry a full teaching load alongside the program.
The part of my work I would most want to bring to Sandhollow is the administrative side. I rebuilt our weekly eligibility check into a Tuesday intervention period with teacher sign-off, and the program eligibility rate moved from 81 percent to 96 percent across four seasons. I own the concussion protocol with our campus athletic trainer, including removal from participation, same day exclusion and the staged return-to-play progression, which we do not begin until written clearance arrives from the athlete's own provider. I also rebuilt the summer acclimatization plan to our state association's schedule and publish it to families before the first day, and we have had no heat-related removal from practice in four seasons.
I read that Sandhollow is moving up a classification next year and adding a freshman team, which means a third staff, a third set of equipment and a third eligibility list. That is the work I have just done. I would also be glad to take a spring sport, and I have run the summer strength program at my current campus for six seasons.
My NFHS Fundamentals of Coaching and First Aid, Health and Safety are current, my Concussion in Sports, Heat Illness Prevention and Sudden Cardiac Arrest courses were renewed for this season, and my CPR and AED certification runs through 2027. I can start with the spring semester. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Gunnar Tarkington, M.Ed.
Openings that work
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| I am passionate about developing young men on and off the field | I have led a 5A program of 118 athletes across three teams for seven seasons |
| I am writing to express my interest in your head coaching vacancy | I am applying for the Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator post |
| I have a proven track record of building winning programs | Our eligibility rate moved from 81 percent to 96 percent over four seasons |
| I would be a great fit for your athletic department | I read that Sandhollow is adding a freshman team next year |
What counts as evidence in a coaching letter
However, a record is not evidence: everyone has one and nobody chose their schedule.
| Kind of evidence | What it looks like in a sentence |
|---|---|
| Eligibility | Weekly grade check for 118 athletes; eligibility rate 81 percent to 96 percent over four seasons |
| Safety | Rebuilt the acclimatization plan to our association's schedule; no heat-related removal in four seasons |
| Protocol | Own concussion removal, documentation and staged return-to-play with the athletic trainer |
| Staff | Supervise 9 paid assistants and 4 volunteer coaches, including annual certification renewals |
| Equipment | Run reconditioning, fitting day and inventory audit for 112 helmet and shoulder pad sets |
| Second job | Teach two sections of US History and run the summer strength program |
Assistant and head coach letters
Say the level, the classification and the roster size in the first two lines. Name what you administer, not only what you coach. Give the coach education courses with their years and awarding body. Say what else you can be scheduled to teach or coach. Name one real thing about their campus. If you are an assistant, write the piece of the program you already own.
Do not open with a win-loss record or a coaching philosophy. Do not name or describe an individual athlete, their injury, their grades or their recruiting. Do not assert a contact limit, an acclimatization rule or a concussion law you have not read in your own association's handbook. Do not claim a lapsed certification. Do not send a letter with no campus name in it.
Two thirds of this occupation sits inside a school district
BLS reports that 64 percent of coaches and scouts work in educational services, state, local and private, at a median of $46,890, against 22 percent in arts, entertainment and recreation at $48,440 and 8 percent self-employed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). The occupation held 298,800 jobs in 2025 and is projected to grow 6 percent to 2035, with about 36,400 openings a year (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025-35 projections, published 27 August 2026). The OOH also notes that part-time work is common and hours are irregular, including evenings, weekends and holidays.
Those facts describe your reader: a school employee with a calendar problem, a compliance problem and a staffing problem. The letter that solves one of them in a sentence beats the letter that admires the tradition of the program.
Length, format and sending
One page, four paragraphs, 275 to 400 words. PDF unless the portal says otherwise, named for yourself and the post: gunnar-tarkington-head-football-coach-cover-letter.pdf.
Address a person. Also, nearly every school site lists athletic directors and principals, and "Dear Hiring Committee" on an otherwise specific file reads as a letter sent to eleven districts.
Use the same numbers as your resume. Our football coach resume example is written with the figures used here.
Key takeaways
- First, name the level, classification and roster size in the first two lines.
- Then write the administrative program: eligibility, safety, equipment, staff.
- In addition, give one mechanism with one number and a period of time.
- Also, name the coach education courses with the awarding body and the year.
- Say what your state association required rather than asserting a rule.
- Say what else you can be scheduled to teach or coach.
- Finally, name one real thing about their campus and address a named person.
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Football coach cover letter questions, answered
How long should a football coach cover letter be?
One page, four paragraphs, 275 to 400 words. Athletic directors read these in a rush between seasons, and length is not effort.
Should I include my record in a football coach cover letter?
One clause at most, inside a sentence doing other work. It is public, the reader has already found it, and a letter built around a record contains nothing they did not already have.
What do I write as an assistant applying for my first head job?
Write the part of the program you already run: position group and roster size, the eligibility check, the equipment inventory, the film exchange, the summer workouts, the travel. Then the courses you hold with their years. Showing you have already been doing the administrative half is the strongest case an assistant can make.
How do I handle safety and concussion protocol without overclaiming?
Describe your own practice and cite a named authority for the standard. The CDC's HEADS UP guidance says an athlete with signs or symptoms after a head injury should be removed from participation "right away" and kept out "the same day of the injury and until cleared by a healthcare provider" (CDC, cdc.gov, retrieved 17 September 2026). Then say who makes the call on your sideline and who documents it, and do not quote a state rule you have not read.
Should I mention that I also teach?
Yes, in the first paragraph, with the subjects and grade bands. In most districts the football post is a stipend attached to a teaching or campus assignment, so the principal has to say yes too. A coach who fills a hard-to-staff section is a far easier hire.