A Pen And A Napkin

Every program should be meeting with both their players and their parents before the season begins. With those meetings should be some sort of packet of information to share with your families about pertinent information about your upcoming season, your philosophy and anything you feel is important to the success of your season. In this episode of "The Coaching Staff", Tony and I go into a bunch o...

Dylan Seikel, the new men's HC at SUNY-Canton, comes on the podcast this week. Voted a "30 under 30" by the NBCA last year, Coach Seikel is stepping into his new job as a late hire, so we chat about what he's trying to implement, hiring a staff on short notice, offensive and defensive philosophy and much more! A great conversation with one of America's best young coaches!

As we inch closer to the opening of our practices, we have a lot of important things that have to be taken care of. In this week's edition of "The Coaching Staff", Tony and I discuss a variety of different aspects of your program that you should have taken care of before the first practice of the year, or at the very least, taken care of early in the season. Over the next few weeks, Tony and I wil...

We're really excited to have Josh Luedtke, the head boys basketball coach at Creighton Prep (NE) this week! Coach Luedtke talks about his background as a Prep graduate, being a "football guy" coaching basketball, changing to an uptempo philosophy and some of the great traditions at Creighton Prep. Great conversation with one of the Metro's best!

This week, Tony and I break down what are some of the do's and don'ts of observing higher level practices; what you should be looking for, what you shouldn't be doing and how to communicate to people whom you think will help your career. In the second half of the podcast, we take a dive into the current situation with the Warriors and how we might handle it. Enjoy!

We wrap up Season 1 of "The Film Room" with one of the greatest documentaries about the game of basketball ever, the 1994 classic "Hoop Dreams". Dexter Goodner of Ord, Nebraska helps me break down this documentary that was critically acclaimed at its release and still stands the test of time today. Enjoy our conversation!

We've got. a great week of "Quick Hitters" lined up this week, starting off with Josh Pastner, the Men's Basketball Head Coach at Georgia Tech, discussing early season practices and how to construct your practice plans. Bill Flitter, out the the San Francisco area, jumps on to chat about his practice planning system, while Denis Schaefer, the Men's Basketball Head Coach at Grand View (IA) Universi...

As we get closer to our seasons and our numbers increase in our open gyms as fall sports wrap up, we need to come up with ideas that will change up the usual "play to 11 by 1's and 2's" concept. This week, Tony and I break down over a dozen different scrimmage ideas that we've used to help our teams get better and think about the game without forcing us, as coaches, to make them think.

Perhaps the greatest sports film ever made, Norman Dale's Hickory Huskers make the trip to Butler Field House to play in perhaps the biggest game in Indiana high school history. My friend Tony Chapman and I break down the 1986 classic "Hoosiers" from start to finish, and hopefully we see Coach Chapman running "The Picket Fence" sometime this season in Grand Island!

My old high school friend and Iowa Hall of Fame Coach Dick Jungers of Newell-Fonda (IA) comes back on for his 4th solo podcast. In our annual discussion, Coach Jungers and I discuss preparing for the season, how we design practices, building your program through player development and building a challenging schedule, amongst other things. Great conversation with a great lifelong friend!!

As our season gets closer, we want our programs to start preparing for our seasons, both as individual players and as a whole. In this week's "Coaching Staff", Tony and I break down different things that we've done in the past and what we're doing now to prepare our teams, including how to work with our athletes that are currently playing a fall sport.

One of the greatest, yet one of the most controversial, coaches of all time is 3x national champion Bobby Knight. Coach Knight, as it is well known, had so many good qualities, but he also had a dark side to him, which ultimately led to his dismissal at Indiana. ESPN took a look at Coach Knight's last days in "The Last Days of Knight", and Carl J. Pierson and I break down this important documentar...

Excited to get back to dropping podcasts! This week we have Kyle Cooper, the head men's basketball coach at Howard College (TX). In this pod, we discuss "the grind" that it takes to achieve success, working under Billy Gillespie, man to man defense, drill work and much more. Great discussion with our first JUCO coach!

Unfortunately for some of us this upcoming season, we're going to get off to a less than desirable start. One of the toughest circumstances to handle as a coach is when you feel like you're not playing up to your potential, especially early in the season. What are some ways to handle this, depending on your circumstances? Tony Vis and I break down some different ways to handle (and perhaps not han...

Jen Wragge of Elkhorn (NE) GBB jumps on this edition of "The Film Room" to break down an early 2000's classic film, "Love And Basketball", starring Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan. We chat about the importance this movie gave to women's basketball, a few plot holes and alot more!

We're back at Wine 121 in Omaha with another "Roundtable" format with Andy King, boys basketball coach at Elkhorn North, Tom Krehbiel, boys basketball coach at Boys Town, and the legend simply known as "G", Andy Gerlecz, the girls basketball coach at Papillion LaVista-South. We chat about the MBCA, getting ready for the season, youth programs and much more!

Part of our purpose as coaches is to develop the whole person, not just the basketball player, and we also want our players to have a sense that they are one with the community and the community is one with them. This week on "The Coaching Staff", Tony and I discuss different service projects our programs have done and how to implement them, along with their importance to both your players and you...

The Loyola Marymount Lions, under Coach Paul Westhead and with All-Americans Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers, were must-see TV for basketball fans in the late 1980's. Playing the "Philly Style", Marymount set scoring records that will never be broken. This great run was marred by great tragedy when Gathers tragically died on the floor on March 4th, 1990. Millard West GBB HC Marc Kruger and I breakdown...

This week, we are really excited to host Aaron Thomas, the head boys basketball coach at Aplington-Parkersburg (IA)! We have a great discussion on a variety of topics, including the influence of his father, the legendary Ed Thomas, on both his coaching career and the community of A-P. Along with that, we discuss teaching leadership, transition offense and scoring alot of points, developing your yo...

A big part of our job as high school coaches is supporting other programs while also thinking of new and different ways to garner support for our programs. In this episode of the "Coaching Staff", Tony and I discuss what you can do to make other programs feel appreciated while also discovering different ways to get your community involved with your program!

Tyler Shaw and I break down the "He Got Game", the 1998 basketball classic directed by Spike Lee and starring Ray Allen and Denzel Washington. We discuss redemption, the pressure on athletes from the "hangers on", where would Jesus Shuttlesworth have been drafted if he had gone pro and perhaps the greatest sports agent ever captured on film, Mr. Dom Pagnotti!

Back from the ashes is the "Quick Hitter" format! This week we talk with three coaches that I worked the Snow Valley Basketball School with earlier this summer; Ryan McAdams, the WBB HC at Arkansas-Fort Smith discusses rebounding, while Dave Schlabaugh discusses building motion offense. Liz Kay brings us home with a discussion on special situations and end of game situations. Great discussion with...

In Episode #2 of "The Coaching Staff", Coach Vis and I chat about different aspects of a necessary evil to any good high school program, the process of fundraising. Coach Vis and I discuss alot of the do's and don'ts of fundraising, and what are efficient ways that we've come up with to help increase the budget of your program!!

Bob Hurley Sr. of St. Anthony's (NJ) might be the greatest high school coach in the history of the game. With over 900 wins, 23 state championships and 3 "national championships", Hurley's legacy only grows with time. In 2010, the documentary "The Street Stops Here" details the journey of his 2008 team, along with the ups and downs of trying to keep St. Anthony's open. My friend Nate Wall of David...

Episode #140 features Jeremy Rickertsen, the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie (IA)! Coach Rickertsen talks about his evolution as a coach, including coaching on the same sideline with his best friend, being the high school HC of an NBA lottery pick (Keegan Murray), communicating effectively with parents, practice set up and execution and much more! Great conversation with one of...