The Biggest Difference Between a Coach and a Manager
The biggest difference between a coach and a manager comes down to their mindset on development. Coaches develop talent. Managers develop teams.
The title someone has doesn’t matter if their mindset doesn’t fit the title. If a manager takes the time to develop individual talent, they are coaching. If a coach only focuses on recruiting and moving pieces around on their team, then they are managing.
I point this out because too often people look at head coaches of a sports team as true coaches, but most are not. Most head coaches at one time or another had a coaching mindset, but most lose that mindset once they get the head coach title. Most head coaches just don’t have the capacity to develop talent. Instead, they use their assistant coaches to do this.
Yes, some head coaches do develop their talent and end up with a coaching tree of former athletes and coaches. This would be the rare great coach who goes over and beyond most others. However, for the most part, head coaches put together a staff and team then just manage. True coaching happens at a level below.