American Football Guide

Personnel
NFL​ ​team​ ​personnel​ ​consists​ ​of:
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Owner
General​ ​Manager​ ​(GM)
Head​ ​Coach
Coaching​ ​staff
Players
Trainers
Cheerleading​ ​squad​ ​(for​ ​some,​ ​not​ ​all​ ​teams)
The owner owns the team and cuts the checks. The GM is selected by the owner to make
administrative and personnel decisions, including selection of the head coach and overseeing
contract negotiations with players and coaches. Basically, the GM is responsible for doling out
the money that the owner is willing to pay and also for protecting the owner’s interests via
contractual agreements. In some cases a head coach will also be designated as the team’s GM by
the​ ​owner.
Not​ ​mentioned​ ​above​ ​are​ ​sports​ ​agents.​ ​Agents​ ​represent​ ​the​ ​players​ ​and​ ​coaches​ ​and​ ​are​ ​the
individuals who spell out the terms of a contract by directly negotiating salary requirements with
team​ ​management.
The Head Coach is the sovereign leader of the football team. In military terms he would be the
general who leads the troops into battle. The Head Coach is given control of the team by the
general manager and will decide the direction a team will go on many different levels. He is the
main strategist, decision-maker and play-caller. The head coach does have help however. His
coaching staff consists of several specialized coaches for each position on the field- quarterbacks
coach,​ ​running​ ​backs​ ​coach,​ ​receivers​ ​coach,​ ​etc.
Offensive and defensive coordinators are also members of the coaching staff and are very
important strategists the head coach relies on both during a game and in the preparation of the
game plan. It is common for a really good offensive or defensive coordinator to eventually
become​ ​a​ ​head​ ​coach​ ​himself.
Trainers are responsible for conditioning and care of the athletes on and off the field. They are
nutritionists, fitness/weight-lifting/conditioning experts, team physicians, physical therapists and
athletic apparel coordinators. Players can lose a lot of money for being injured or out of shape,
and a team can lose its ability to win if the players are unable to perform at 100% capacity. For
this​ ​reason,​ ​a​ ​small​ ​army​ ​of​ ​professionals​ ​are​ ​devoted​ ​to​ ​taking​ ​care​ ​of​ ​every​ ​single​ ​player.
Yanks​ ​Guide​ ​-​ ​The​ ​#1​ ​Guide​ ​to​ ​American​ ​Football
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