A Pen And A Napkin

Andy King, former Creighton Prep AC and current Boys HC at Elkhorn North (NE), jumps on the podcast to talk about a variety of topics, including his playing career, building a program literally from scratch, the importance of skill development, coaching AAU while also being a high school head coach, and how he has an open door policy when it comes to his practices.

Most of us have some sort of vision for our programs, but have you taken the time to specifically think ahead one, two or even three years into the future? In this "Foundation Friday" we take a look at the "3 Year Plan", which we've used to help rebuild our program step by step, outlining our priorities and giving our program the opportunity to have some tangible methods to measure the progress we...

Winona State (MN) MBB HC Todd Eisner jumps on the podcast this week to discuss a wide variety of topics, including his own playing career and the influence of Creighton University on his life, bringing two different schools to the national title game, going from being a head coach to an assistant and then back to being a head coach, and taking a deep dive on half court defense and the Pack Line. A...

How many times do we think it or we say it; "That's a great drill, and we need to do that one more often." Too often we allow what we believe to be our best drills to NOT be part of our practice plans, so take them and bring them to the desert island with you! In this pod, we talk about making sure that you have your best and most important drills in your practices on a consistent basis!

As one of my childhood heroes, Harry Caray, would say . . . "Holy Cow!!!" It's been two years since "A Pen And A Napkin" has launched as of today, and I am so humbled by those that have supported this concept! In appreciation, I'm offering a special 50% off on all of our "University" videos; go ahead and take a listen

The 2021 Iowa Coach of the Year, Dick Jungers, is back for his annual appearance as we celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of "A Pen And A Napkin" this week! In this episode, we discuss adjustments made throughout the season for Coach Jungers' team as they made it a three-peat at Newell-Fonda, building a culture of winning, the psychology of coaching, practice set up and execution, delegating responsibi...

In today's game, it is important that you have an open and sincere dialogue with your teams, but what is the line between what is good for your program and when you are giving up too much control? In this episode, we talk about how promises are different than negotiable topics and how to handle those situations.

We're really excited to have Brett Coultier, the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Princeton (MN) HS! In this pod, we dive deep into breaking an 87 year state tournament drought, using social media to enhance your program, playing at a high pace, off-season development, switching man to man defense and many more topics, including who we think we will Season 23 of Big Brother! Great conversation!

As coaches, it is important to have clear lines of communication with your players, but where does that communication start? In this episode of "Foundation Friday", we talk about our preseason questionnaire and how that can be used to get to know your players on a level other than basketball, while also giving you the opportunity to clean up possible areas of concern before they even start!

Really excited to have Liz Kay, the GBB HC at Wahconah Regional HS (Mass.) to chat hoops! In our conversation, we theorize about the smaller number of female coaches in relation to male coaches in the profession, having her best team ever but not having the opportunity to play for a championship, working camps, building a great culture, building a youth program and more!

As much as we would like to have ALL of our players get along and love each other ALL of the time, that is simply impossible. Conflict is inevitable, even in the best of times, so what are some things that we can and/or should do to help resolves these situations and keep your team on the right track.

We're back with another great roundtable discussion with Millard West GBB AC Casey Hall, Creighton Prep HC Josh Luedtke and Omaha Marian HC Tom Tvrdy. In this episode, we discuss the 2021 state tournament, off-season preparation, using the fall to get ready for the upcoming season and ways to minimize stress as you coach. Terrific discussion!

Elkhorn Mount Michael (NE) HC Derrik Spooner is our guest this week! Coach Spooner talks about a variety of topics, including the uniqueness of Mt. Michael, wearing dual hats as an administrator and as a coach, preparing for the season, developing a strong class, passing, practice planning and more. Alot of great information to mine from this one!

Although there are many coaches who run some sort of pressure defense, there are alot of different things and philosophies when it comes to pressure. In this pod, we discuss different thoughts and ideas on pressure defense; when to apply, why you would apply it, how to apply it, the positives that can come out of it, and when to pull back from applying full court pressure.

Tony Chapman of Striv Sports and Nebraska Preps comes on the podcast as a pinch hitter this week to discuss a bunch of great topics, including being a coaches kid, covering the historically great 2021 Nebraska Boys Basketball tournament, things that can be done to make youth sports better and great things that he sees in coaching while covering a wide variety of sports and activities. Great conver...

Our time as coaches is limited; probably for most of us, AT THE MOST we'll have 35-40 years to do this job, which is not that long in the big picture. Are you enjoying what you're doing? Are you taking an inventory every day of what is bringing you joy? Realize that our coaching careers are short, so enjoy every practice, every game and every season, and enjoy the ride from beginning to end.

As part of the "University" program, I've put together a series of videos on each one of these topics. Now, I've made them available for ANYONE to purchase; listen to this pod to get all of the details!

Excited to have Dell Leonard, the GBB HC of Mountain Home (AR), whom I met while at Snow Valley! Dell and I have a great conversation, including the importance of mentors, getting your team to peak at the right time, transition offense and defense, attacking pressure and we even throw in some "Top Gun" talk. Enjoy the conversation!

We all want our teams and our programs to have a great, tight-knit bond. Although we'd like to have that environment come about in an organic way, it is part of your staff's job to create opportunities and to have exercises to build that bond within your team. In this week's "Foundation Friday", we go through a bunch of team bonding and building concepts and ideas that have been good to us over th...

Excited for "Quick Hitters" Volume #6!! In this episode, we have USA Basketball's Don Showalter talking about a "Coaches DNA" and what makes a great coach, along with Dick Lien, legendary coach who just published a book called "A Coaches Journey: It's in the File Cabinet". In the second half of the pod, Burwell (NE) Boys HC Adam Stolzer talks about the use of Hudl and how his program uses film to...

All of us have an idea as to what we want our teams and our programs to look like, but sometimes we need a little help in laying out the road map to get there. Directly borrowing and inspired by Pete Carroll's "Win Forever", this is something that I put together to help me figure out my philosophy, my priorities and what I wanted to emphasize when I would get back into coaching. Enjoy!!

Myself, Tom Krehbiel, Doug Woodard and Marc Kruger sit down at Wine 121 in Omaha to chat about a bunch of different basketball subjects, including playing an underclassman above an upperclassman, fundraising, what you're doing to get ready for the season, organizing your staff on game night and much more! Great conversation with a great group of coaches and guys!!

After a couple of days at the Nebraska Coaches Association Clinic, there were quite a few things that I took from the discussions. Here's some things that I learned from Tim Cannon, Kelly Flynn, John Larsen, Jeff Ritz and Craig Doty. Enjoy the odds and ends from the last couple of days!

Last week, I FINALLY took the time to head out to Snow Valley Basketball School in Waverly, Iowa, and it did not disappoint!!! Dropping a "Foundation Friday" on a Monday, here are some things that I took away from Snow Valley, including skill development, camp design and other things. Thanks to everyone who I got to work the camp with!

In our latest episode, Dave Bollish, the girls basketball coach at Scottsbluff (NE), dives into his coaching career and philosophy. We discuss jumping from being an assistant to being a head coach in the same program, the slow build of a program, representing the western part of the state, pressure defense, attacking offense and much more!