The uncomfortable truth about experience vs. systems in football coaching development.
The Experience Illusion
Stephen Kavanagh has 10 seasons of coaching experience. By conventional wisdom, that should make him a seasoned professional with deep expertise.
But Stephen sent me a message that challenges everything we think we know about coaching development:
“I wish I’d had the game model when I started. Knowing what I know now and what I’m going to learn in future, I’d be a much better coach after 10 seasons.”
Here’s a coach with a decade of experience admitting he could have been significantly better, sooner.
Stephen isn’t admitting failure. He’s identifying the fundamental flaw in how we think about coaching expertise.
The Repetition Trap
Chris Unruh articulated this perfectly:
“I wish I had this kind of resource and structures earlier - it’s the difference in having ten years of the same experience each year or ten years that build on each other and progress.”
Ten years of the same experience vs. ten years that build on each other.
Most coaches fall into the repetition trap. They accumulate years, but not expertise. They solve the same problems repeatedly instead of building systematic solutions.
Experience without structure is just repeated trial-and-error.
The System Advantage
When Jason Howe faced a new challenge - coaching an age group he’d never worked with before - he had two choices:
- Start from scratch and hope his general experience would transfer
- Use a systematic approach designed to work across different contexts
His testimonial reveals which path he chose:
“I am coaching a new age range that I haven’t coached before. The resources from Kevin have been fantastic in supporting our players’ development but also mine as a coach.”
Instead of beginning another cycle of trial-and-error, Jason had a proven framework that adapted to his new situation.
The Practical Impact
Theory means nothing without practical results. Ben Vaughan demonstrates the real-world efficiency of systematic approaches:
“I purchased the 150 pack of sessions and honestly don’t use anything else for my sessions as they’re great plans and all I need to do is tweak them to fit my u14s and they’ve worked wonders!”
The mathematics are brutal:
- Traditional approach: 3 hours planning each session from scratch
- Systematic approach: 10 minutes tweaking proven frameworks
That’s not just time saved - it’s mental energy preserved for actual coaching improvements.
The Longevity Test
Anyone can create something that works once. Sustained quality is different.
Andrew Creegan’s testimonial demonstrates the longevity test:
“I have used several of the 360TFT sessions over the years, and have always found they go down well with players across the football pathway.”
“Over the years” = proven durability
“Across the football pathway” = universal applicability
When coaches return to the same resources year after year and apply them successfully across different levels, that’s proof of systematic quality.
Why Experience Alone Fails
Traditional coaching development relies on accumulating experiences and hoping patterns emerge. This approach has three critical flaws:
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Random Learning: You learn whatever situations happen to present themselves, not what you actually need to know.
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Inefficient Problem-Solving: You solve the same problems repeatedly instead of building reusable solutions.
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Context Dependency: Your expertise becomes tied to specific situations rather than transferable principles.
The Systematic Alternative
Systematic coaches approach development differently:
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Intentional Learning: They study proven methodologies before encountering problems, not after.
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Progressive Building: Each experience builds on previous learning rather than starting fresh.
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Principle-Based Solutions: They develop transferable frameworks that work across different contexts.
The Choice Every Coach Faces
Every coach reaches a crossroads:
Path 1: Continue accumulating random experiences and hoping expertise emerges naturally over time.
Path 2: Adopt systematic frameworks that accelerate development and create transferable expertise.
The testimonials speak for themselves. Coaches who choose systematic development don’t just save time - they build genuine expertise faster and more reliably.
The question isn’t whether you have enough experience.
The question is whether your experience is building progressive expertise or just repeating the same lessons.
Choose wisely. Your players’ development depends on it.
Ready to build progressive expertise? Join 1,200+ coaches in the Football Coaching Academy where systematic development accelerates your coaching journey.