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For the coaching strategy game, see NFL Head Coach.

A head coach is a professional who is responsible for the overall actions of the players of the team he is associated with. He is typically paid more than other coaches. Other coaches are often subordinate to the head coach, often in offensive positions or defensive positions, and occasionally proceeding down into individualized position coaches. In baseball, the head coach is often called a manager.

In high school, head coaches are often teachers who coach. Often they are compensated by a small increase in pay, but the time and effort given up for the job requires that the coach be eager to invest a lot of their time into the project and be passionate about the sport.

Because high school coaching positions are often hard to fill, the head coach has a much more complete hold on the intricacies of the team. He may have to perform the duties of a defensive or offensive coordinator.

One of the major features of college head coaching is the high turnover rate for jobs. With few exceptions (notable exception: Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden) college coaches often routinely change jobs, rarely staying at a school for more than a decade. They have a very well-paid staff and as such are more free to concentrate on the overall aspect of the team rather than dealing with the nuances of training regimens and such.

A college coach acts as the face of a team, at an age when many young players do not wish to be hounded by media. They are often called upon to discuss off-the-field incidents such as rule infractions or player antics. Sometimes, the coach becomes a celebrity in his own right especially if he has brought the team up from a losing streak to national prominence very swiftly.

At the professional level, coaches may work for millions of dollars a year. They are less in the media than their college counterparts as their players are often more than willing to talk to the media, and more than outrageous enough to attract the attention. The head coach at the pro level thus has much more time to devote to tactics and playbooks, which are combed over by staff paid even higher than at the college level. Head coaching, due to the extensive time on the road and long hours, is a very stressful job. Since the money is good at high levels, many coaches retire in their early fifties.

The head coach is an important member for any team in a similar manner that a chief executive is important member of a government. Though he may not come up with policy himself, and he may not be personally involved in all of the decisions, he supports these decisions and makes sure that all of the individual cogs that keep the team going are interlocking and work together properly. Without a head coach, there is no one coordinating body to keep the peace and make executive decisions if needed. Thus, no team can run effectively without a head coach.