Do college football coaches get drug tested?

There are many people who dream of becoming a professional football players, and becoming a college football coach is a great step towards that, especially if you’ve played college football previously. So whether you’re interested in becoming a college football coach, it’s your dream to become a college football coach, or you’re just curious as to what goes into becoming one, then you’ve come to the right place!

Just like any university job position, passing a drug test is an essential part of the application process for becoming a college football coach. Drug testing and background check requirements are set by most universities themselves and are not official requirements set by the NCAA.

Here, we will learn more about what requirements are expected of college football coaches, set by both the college they work for and by the NCAA, especially those regarding current drug use.

Drug tests issued for college staff and football coaches

It’s very unlikely that if you were to apply to be a professor at your local university, given you have experience teaching college-level courses, the school wouldn’t issue a drug test as part of the application process.

The school wouldn’t want someone who is on pills or some other substance that could impair their teaching ability or their judgment while assessing and grading students’ performance. The same could be said for college football coaches.

It wouldn’t make sense that the same school that only considers hiring potential professors who pass drug tests to hire a football coach who fails their drug test. Nor would it make sense to simply hire a coach without giving them a drug test like they would any other potential staff member.

That said, given that the majority of colleges and universities will drug-test their potential staff members and employees before hiring them, almost all potential college football coaches are drug tested before they can move on in the application process, given they pass the test. Any applicant who fails the test will no longer be considered for the position. (reference)

Keep in mind that not all universities issue drug tests as a required step in the application process, but it’s likely that nearly 99 percent of all colleges and universities do.

This is especially so considering the fact that working for a university, especially as a coach or a professor, requires a long time commitment, and they expect you to be able to work for at least a semester or more, and that you don’t let almost anything get in the way.

Drug reliance can not only impair your work ethic and quality of work, but it can impede your progress or cause you to quit working for your employer, whether that be a university or not.

What about routine drug testing?

Just like a university or college will issue drug tests to applicants, for the employees that have been hired, they will often issue randomized drug testing throughout the year to ensure that the employers don’t continue to use. This can also help ensure that if the employee did something to impede the results of the drug test that the employee is actually drug-free.

Often this routine drug testing will be given out during work hours, and the employee is required to take it immediately to ensure that the employee does not have time to prepare for the drug test and attempt to impede the testing process with the intent to cause a false negative result.

The purpose of routine drug testing is to ensure that employees remain clean after their initial drug screening. Frequent drug users should be aware of this because the first drug test given during the application process is not a one-and-done deal.

Keep in mind that routine drug screening is not required by all schools, but a school that does not issue a drug screening during the application process may still issue one routinely. They may also issue a drug test to all employees if they suspect one or more of their employees is under the influence or using some illegal substance (or even a legal substance for recreational use that could impair judgment or work ethic). (reference)

Does the NCAA require football coaches to complete a drug test?

While we have been talking about drug testing on the college level and lumping college football coaches with other college staff, there are no official rules set by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) that say all college football coaches must be drug tested either before becoming a coach or while coaching for college teams.

This means that it isn’t necessarily football organizations that require coaches to be drug tested, but rather the college itself. The college runs on its own regulations separate from that of the NCAA, and the NCAA has no control over hiring processes.

On the other hand, however, the NCAA does have control over who can play on a team. Those that are allowed to play on college-level football teams are regulated in many ways, including drug tests and routine drug tests. The tests issued to players on college football teams are provided and mandated by the NCAA. (reference)

This is because football players (as well as other sports and Olympic players) have been known to abuse drugs and use them to enhance their performance capabilities, which, after becoming such a widespread problem, is completely banned in many levels of football, especially the NFL.

Do college football coaches receive a background check?

Just as most colleges require that all staff take a drug test prior to employment, they will also issue a background check. This is to ensure that the students and other staff members are protected from any potential criminals who may commit a crime again.

The background check also helps to ensure that the presence of criminals in their staff lineup does not ruin the school’s reputation, nor does it cause legal issues later on, whether those issues be caused by the employee committing a crime in or outside of school, or those previous crimes follow them into their employment with the school.

The same goes for college football coaches, as they are considered part of the college staff. More often than not, a background check will be conducted in conjunction with a drug screening as part of the application process, except the background check is typically only conducted once. Previously failed drug tests, however, will not appear on background checks.