The competency profiles of elite coaches

In essence, as former England striker Gary Lineker observed, football is still a simple game in which 22 players chase a ball for 90 minutes. However, the way that simple game is played has evolved massively over recent decades, driven in large part by innovations in coaching. In this presentation, Dr Anselm Küchle identifies the skills and competencies coaches need to reach the top of the modern game, and thinks about how best to support them in their professional development.

• Like society at large, football is changing fast, and most elite coaches will need to adapt to these rapid developments in some way.

• The study identified a total of 20 key competencies for elite coaches and suggests that many coaches can improve their performance in these areas.

• With that in mind, continuous professional development is crucial for coaches in the modern game. It would be advisable to broaden access to mentoring programmes and other resources to help coaches acquire useful new skills.

Part 1: Background
Society has changed markedly in recent years, and football has not been immune to this change. Major trends like digitisation, the increased influence of mass-media and the widespread adoption of analytical tools have all affected coaching methodology. At the same time, the game itself has evolved both on and off the pitch, and coaches have had to adapt to those changes. It was this change that prompted Dr Küchle to interview coaches and sporting directors in Germany’s professional leagues to identify the key skills for coaches in the modern game.

Part 2: Results
The interviews highlighted that the role of the head coach has developed significantly in recent times, with the ability to lead and manage staff now comprising the core of the job. The study took this insight one stage further by asking the interviewees to identify the 20 most important competencies for coaches. Tellingly, when asked to rate the abilities of coaches, sporting directors frequently cited at least one of these 20 competencies as an area for improvement. This underlines the need for coaches to seek honest feedback from colleagues they can trust.

Part 3: Conclusion
To conclude the presentation, Dr Küchle explains how the 20 competencies are reflected in his specially-developed competency model for elite coaches, produced with the German Football Association (DFB). This model recognises that it is extremely rare to excel in all 20 areas, and that it is usually more realistic to focus on your strengths and delegate other responsibilities. Continuous professional development is also key, and good coaches acquire new and useful skills throughout their careers. Increasing the availability of mentoring programmes for coaches might help to accelerate their learning.

Paper citation
Küchle, A. (2022) "Kompetenzprofile von Spitzentrainern im Fußball: Eine empirische Untersuchung zu den Anforderungen von Cheftrainern im deutschen Profifussball" [An Emprical Study of the Demands on Head Coaches in German Professional Football], utz Verlag.

Read the full monograph here (available in German only).

Follow-up podcast series
Since releasing the study, Küchle and the DFB have produced a podcast series with elite German coaches (including Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick), unpacking each of the 20 competencies. Readers can listen here (available in German only).