The Coaches Podcast: Sports Biographies, Leadership, & Strategy

Jimmy Johnson is up there with Bill Walsh to me in regards to his ability to find diamonds in the rough, to think independently, and to apply a high degree of emotional intelligence to his personnel. I hope you enjoy this episode. 00:00 Intro01:32 Speed Over Size04:56 Johnson's 5 Pillars for Evaluating Talent05:28 1) Intelligence10:55 2) Works Hard13:59 4) Playmakers19:20 4) Gym Rat / Loves To...

You'll love studying Jimmy Johnson, more so than you think. He's an unexpected introvert, a master psychologist, and yes, brash and abrasive. All the things. Future episodes will be about his incredible abilities as a talent evaluator (2/3) and his emotionally painful years with the Cowboys (3/3). I hope you enjoy going deeper on the man. There is a ton to gain and learn. 00:00 Intro03:48...

This week we're rolling up the first 10 coaches (17 episodes) and I have compiled a "best of" episode. I hope you enjoy. There are many more coaches and episodes in the works...including some live interviews. Thanks for listening! 00:00 The Best of Episodes 1-170 1:41 Dan Hurley - Late Bloomers Need Love Too 03:39 Nick Saban - Dominate 05:58 Joe Maddon - Independent Thinker 07:31 Joe...

In part 2/2 on Curt Cignetti we'll continue to unpack what makes this coach so darn good. We'll get into many things relating to his elite level of attention to detail and preparation. And I absolutely love how he takes smart, tough, character guys and steamrolls teams with more 5-star "talent". I hope you enjoy. 00:00 Intro02:31 #6 - The Magic of High Standards07:11 #7 - Insane...

In this 2-part series on Curt Cignetti we'll attempt to deconstruct the man in order to help explain the wild success we're seeing him have at Indiana. Spoiler alert: it's a 56 year overnight success story. We'll learn about the foundations his Dad set, the market conditions in college football that are helping him, but mostly, we'll just learn that this man has been at it for a while and is just...

In our final episode on Dick Bennett we're going to hear about his awesome journaling habit, some of the personal struggles that he has that season, and more on his beautiful views of quality basketball. Thanks for listening. 00:00 Intro 03:17 Quality Basketball | The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of It's Parts 06:49 Journaling / Introspection 12:56 Dick's Inner Conflict 16:45 Conclusi...

Part 2 on Dick Bennett is much more basketball centric. We'll talk more about that 1996-97 Wisconsin Badgers team, and the "sea of sameness" problem Bennett has with them. We'll also cover the awesome story / parable of walk-on David Burkemper, Bennett's brilliant takes on "playing not to lose", and the important concept of addition by subtraction . Thanks for liste...

Today we launch a 3 part series on Dick Bennett. Underrated. Brilliant. Flawed. Earnest. Faithful. There are many layers to the man that we will study based on a very unique source text - A Season with Coach Dick Bennett by Eric Ferris, which chronicles exclusively the 1996-1997 Wisconsin Badgers basketball season. It features highlights, and lowlights, and we'll zoom out from there. I hope yo...

The stories keep rolling in part 2 on Earl Weaver. You'll hear more about Earl as a player, his famous clashes with umpires, the hard to believe stories about his mob boss uncle, and the flagship baseball video game Earl helped create. I hope you enjoy! 00:00 EW2 - Mob Bosses, Video Games, & Umpires (Based on the book "The Last Manager") 01:05  Deep Insecurity From Not Making It As A Player 08...

You're going to love learning about Earl Weaver in this episode. His life is as entertaining as it is legendary. We use John W. Miller's The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball as our source text. It's an incredibly well done book. I add some commentary and insights as well. I hope you enjoy! 00:00 Intro 03:38 Then Vs. Now - Star Manager to Corpora...

In our final episode on Joe Maddon, we explore the age old debate of man vs. machines...baseball analytics vs. gut instinct. We also dive into the magical moments of the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Game 7, with some amazing words from Theo Epstein regarding that rain delay and the Jason Heyward led team meeting that transpired. 00:00 Intro - Man Vs. Machines 01:24 Analytics vs. Instintc - Man V...

Shohei Ohtani. Jake Arrieta. These guys were unlocked by Maddon's belief that you shouldn't mess with greatness. For Shohei, it was to stop coddling him. Give him more, not less. Quit monitoring him so closely, and let him go be an athlete. For Arrieta, it was to let him pitch cross-body. Let him pitch complete games. Let him be himself. There is so much wisdom from Joe Maddon in this epis...

Joe Maddon, the philosopher king. There are many layers to this man. In part 1 of this 3 part deep dive we look at his Pennsylvania origins, early coaching influences, and some of this famous and entertaining "Maddonisms". I hope you enjoy. Podcast also available on Apple, Spotify, etc. 00:00 PART I - ORIGINS & MADDONISMS 03:29 Early Life - Hazleton, Family, Coaches 09:06 Early Life...

There were too made good takeaways on Jay Wright's book Attitude not to do a follow up episode. In this episode we dive into more on Jay's pre-Villanova stops such as Hofstra and UNLV. We also cover the great role of the Team Chaplain at Villanova. Thanks for listening. 00:00 Intro 01:17 Early Coaching Stops 14:22 UNLV, Hofstra, & Dream Job at Nova 21:45 Team Chaplains - Fr. Lazor & Fr. Ro...

Today we dive into the great Jay Wright. I appreciated Jay from afar, but after studying him, I'm an even bigger fan now. You'll love learning about Jay's childlike appreciation for Philadelphia and Big East basketball, the awesome traditions of Villanova Basketball, Daniel Ochefu's inspiring leadership in the 2016 National Championship game, and so much more. Thanks for listening. 00:00 Intro 03:...

Things get personal for Dan, and for me, in this episode. I think you'll love what you learn about Dan Hurley. There is so much more than meets the eye, and he's doing work that transcends basketball as it relates to what he's doing for anxiety / depression / mental health awareness. But beyond that there's a ton of great basketball content and history in this podcast that I think you'll love. Tha...

Today on the The Coaches Podcast we chronicle C. Vivian Stringer, best known for her career as an elite NCAA women's basketball coach at Cheney State, Iowa, and Rutgers. But there are so many more enriching elements to her as a human. Basketball fans and fans of incredible humans alike will enjoy this podcast. Thanks as always for listening. 00:00 Intro 03:39 Parents & Early Life 04:48 Early L...

Come along today as we study "The Dean of College Basketball", Dean Smith. The man is pure goodness. One of the things Dean was most "about" was his belief in the equal treatment of all mankind. That's one of the great lessons we’ll learn from him today. Along the way we’ll hear some great UNC Basketball stories and player perspectives, as well as gain some great life advice and coaching tips from...

Nick Saban might just be the most "about it" human you'll ever learned about, and his outrageous success comes as no surprise after learning more about him. In today's episode of The Coaches Podcast, we're going to peel back the layers of this 7 time National Champ, and find out what makes him, and his success, tick. Spend 40 minutes and became more elite yourself just by proximity to a little bit...

Today on The Coaches Podcast we dive into the one and only Lou Holtz. I just learned recently that Lou has gone into hospice. First off, I want to send my thoughts and prayers to Lou and his family. It makes me even more grateful to be spending time relishing this incredible man's life, and the lessons he left us. Lou Holtz did incredible things with the hand he was dealt. In this episode he's goi...