8 of the Best Jobs in College Football

The college sports industry is valued at nearly $15 billion by the U.S. Department of Education. The crown jewel in this industry is college football. It brings the most money to schools because it has the most viewership on television and in stadiums across the country. If you’re passionate about college football, you could also become part of the industry – even if you don’t know much about football. We’ve put together the following list of the best jobs in college football to help you explore your opportunities.

Top College Football Jobs

The best jobs in college football don’t all require the same skills, and some positions in this industry can be a good option for people with many different backgrounds. Whether you’re a coach or a marketing expert, there’s likely a job on our list for you.

Assistant Coach

Salary: $32,000 – $75,000

Assistant college football coaches assist head coaches in various ways depending on their job title. For example, as an assistant coach, you might be responsible for:

• Leading practice sessions with position players
• Helping to create gameplans
• Playcalling
• Helping the coach with recruiting
• Managing academic eligibility requirements for players
• And more

Your main job in this role is to do what the head football coach asks of you. If you perform well, you can expect to move into assistant coaching roles with more responsibility and potentially become a head coach yourself one day.

Athletic Trainer

Salary: $43,000 – $62,000

A college football athletic trainer is responsible for looking after the players’ health and ensuring they can play on game day. They may perform a variety of treatments and recovery techniques as part of this process.

Director of Football Recruitment

Salary: ~$58,000

College football programs must recruit new players yearly to field the most competitive teams possible. As a director of football recruitment, you’ll lead that charge and be responsible for managing scouts and setting up a recruiting plan that meets your school’s goals.

Graduate Assistant

Salary: $25,000 – $54,500

Becoming a graduate assistant is a good entry point for a career in college football. The responsibilities of this role are sort of like a lower-level assistant coach. You’ll typically be responsible for helping position coaches with their duties and supporting players during practices and drills.

Announcer/Broadcaster

Salary: ~$75,000

Announcers and broadcasters use their voices to enrich the game-viewing experience for the public. But they also do a lot of research before games to uncover meaningful information and stories to talk about in-between plays.

Journalist

Salary: ~$44,000

As you look closer at college football jobs, becoming a sports journalist is another viable career path to consider. These professionals interview players and coaches, search for stories, and help us all enjoy the game of college football by creating and reporting meaningful narratives around it.

Statistician

Salary: $61,000 – $100,000

Sports statisticians use their mathematical skills and programming capabilities to uncover trends in how players and teams perform on the field. These employees help college football teams prepare for upcoming opponents and get the most out of their players.

Sports Marketer

Salary: $38,000 – $110,000

A sports marketer is responsible for leveraging social media platforms, email, television, radio, and other marketing channels to get audiences interested in the college football team they work for. 

They help college football programs earn more money by helping them improve their viewership numbers and purchasing game tickets and team merchandise.

How to Start Your College Football Career

Now that we’ve covered the top college football jobs, we can start looking at what it takes to launch your college football career. We’ll examine some key tips in this section.

Pick a Niche and Stick to It

More people would like to work in college football than there are open positions in the industry, which often means that only the most qualified and experienced applicants get hired.

If you want to stand out from the competition, then it’s important to begin specializing in a specific area of opportunity now. That could be marketing, coaching, writing, or something else. 

Whatever you choose to do, the more time you spend getting experience and building out your resume, the easier it will be for you to find a position doing that job in college football eventually.

Know Your Worth

You might’ve noticed that some of the salary ranges on our list are fairly large. That’s because pay in college football can vary significantly based on factors like:

• Your experience
• The size of your school’s college football team
• How much value will your role bring to the team

As you start applying for jobs, try to evaluate these factors to understand what a fair salary offer looks like. But don’t expect too much. If you’re just starting out as a sports marketer, you’re not likely to make six figures just yet.

Focus on Networking

Networking is another important part of getting your first job in college sports. Employers want to hire people they are confident will do a good job and stick around for the long haul, and it’s easier for them to believe those things about people they already know.

That’s why it’s never too early to begin forming relationships in the college football community. Doing some volunteering or asking for an internship can be great places to start.

Use JobsInSports.com to Find the Latest College Football Jobs Fast

Being fast can pay off when you’re trying to find a job in a competitive industry like college football. When you apply for sports jobs quickly after they’re posted, your resume goes to the top of the stack, and that can be the difference between whether you get the interview or not.

At JobsInSports, we curate a running list of the latest job opportunities in sports like college football. You can create an account with us today to set up notifications for the jobs you want. It could be just what you need to be one of the first applicants for your dream job.