A Pen And A Napkin

I team up with good friend Casey Hall to discuss "The Last Dance". We discuss points and ideas that coaches can take away from "The Last Dance" to help themselves this next season, including team chemistry, multi-sport athletes, building a culture, work ethic and more. Then, we tackle the two debates; the best dynasties of the Jordan era, and whether or not MJ is the goat over LeBron. Great stuff!

Former Creighton Bluejay and the new Norris (NE) HBB coach, Jimmy Motz, comes on the pod to discuss a variety of topics, from winning a state title at a very young age to influences in his coaching path, along with the evolution of a coach, starting at a new program and what to emphasize and how recruiting rankings and modern technology has made things more difficult on high school coaching.

In part II, we discuss how to use practice to make your teams more aggressive, communication with your players and your parents, infusing your team with passion and excitement, and the things that you should focus on, including making everything competitive. Practice is truly an artform, and the more you practice at practice, the better you'll be!

The Head Girls Basketball Coach from Oakland-Craig (NE), Joe Anderson, comes on the pod to discuss building a consistent winner in a small community, balancing being a head coach in two different sports, how coaching football has helped his basketball coaching and vice versa, breaking down film and maintaining excellence dealing with catastrophic injuries to great players. Great information on thi...

Practices need to be efficient and they need to be highly organized, but you also need to make sure that your players are having fun and having a great experience; we want to leave them excited to come back the next day. Here are some ideas to help build your practice culture to fit all of these concepts.

We all visualize ourselves being in the room, sitting across from folks discussing what your program will be like, but what needs to be done before you get there? In this episode, we discuss tips to prepare for interviews, what you should have ready and what you should expect during the process.

Bonus Pod! NBA Champion and accomplished author Kevin Eastman comes on the pod to discuss his unique communication style, the qualities of a great assistant coach, what makes Doc Rivers a great coach, discussion of his book "Why The Best Are The Best", how build team chemistry and much more! Enjoy one of the best in the business!

In honor of "The Last Dance", we dive into Phil Jackson's first coaching book, "Sacred Hoops", where he mixes stories from his playing days, his growth as a coach and how he worked to develop a championship dynasty. Mindfulness, vision and relating to players are all part of Jackson's plan of attack, and we sprinkle in a couple of examples from "The Last Dance" into a 20+ year old book. Enjoy!

Our latest episode features Jon McKowen, the highly successful boys basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. We discuss helping his dad win a state title, coaching a future NBA player, switching man to man defense, adjusting off-season expectations because of Covid-19, practice organization and building a youth program. Really good information from one of the best in Iowa!

We all practice special situations, but have you thought about how you can shape your verbage to help your special situations (and your program at large) more efficient? Here are some ideas to create a verbage and also to pre-educate your team on how you want to execute special situations even before they happen.

In the last of our trilogy on "The Cubs Way", we dive into the leadership style of Joe Maddon; how to build trust, on playing hard, getting your players to play with energy, meetings policy, how to build camraderie amongst your players and coaching staff and much more! A lot of good information that is transferable to all sports and leadership positions!

Long time Millard West (NE) GBB HC Marc Kruger jumps on the pod to discuss his coaching journey, how he prepared himself to be a head coach, game organization with both players and assistant coaches, developing motion offense, and a great group of drills. We also discuss our ultimate Cubs starting lineup in the cable TV era (it's what Cubs fans do together). Terrific information!

How do you get your kids motivated to come in and work on their game in the off-season? How do you track what they are doing? What incentives can you give players that are going to be productive for your program? How do you build trust and a sense of ownership with your players going into your offseason? Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your "improvement season" program!

University of Arkansas WBB HC Mike Neighbors jumps on the pod to talk about his lessons learned in his journey to becoming a Division I Head Coach, multiple job transitions, getting your players to play at their peak level, the growth of his newsletter, book recommendations and why Leo McGary was the best assistant coach in the history of television. Great NEW stuff from one of the great ambassado...

In our latest episode, Omaha Roncalli boys coach JJ Stoffel comes on A Pen And A Napkin to talk about moving over from an assistant to the head job, two state title game runs and the experiences it taught him, playing for a state title in front of an empty arena, practice set up, defensive principles, building a culture at a smaller school and the influence of Rick Majerus on his career.

As a head coach, it is a fine balance between being a micro-manager and not being involved enough. It is easy to get caught up in the minutia of the job, but how do you separate what is important and what isn't? Here's a podcast detailing how to delegate the responsibilities of your job to your staff and stay focused on winning.

Taking the plan and then putting into action is the focus of this podcast. Communication, evaluating strengths and weaknesses, player development, execution of fundamentals and developing as a coach are the focus of this podcast. Enjoy Part II of this three-part series!

4x National Championship coach Jamie Sale of Morningside (IA) College comes on the pod to discuss rebuilding the Morningside program, jumping from one rival to another, keeping the edge, personal off-season improvement, pressure defense, developing great shooters, offensive sets and how Covid-19 ended the national tournament before it even got started this season.

Building your program takes patience, but it also takes organization. Where do you want your players to be at when they reach a certain level? Here is an explination of the individual player matrix that we put together to help rate your players and organized your program from top to bottom and, in the long run, make your job easier when it comes to coaching changes and evaluating your players!

The turnaround of the Chicago Cubs from "lovable losers' to breaking the greatest championship drought in North American professional sports was not an accident; it was the result of a precise plan laid out by the management of the Cubs. To celebrate what would have been Opening Day (and opening month), we take a three part dive into the building of an organization and a champion.

Six-time state champion HC Doug Woodard comes on the pod to discuss a variety of topics, including coaching his grandson, the epic 4th quarter comeback to win the 2020 state title, pressure defense, transition offense, setting up an effective practice and organizing camps. Great information from one the all-time greats!

International basketball afficianado and ESPN college hoops analyst Fran Fraschilla comes on the pod to discuss his growth in the game, the growing international game, practice organization and importance, how to build character and chemistry on your team, player development tips and what coaches you should be stealing from. Great conversation!

Tim Crothers' great work "The Man Watching" is an excellent guide for male coaches who are coaching female athletes while examining the successful model of North Carolina's legendary women's soccer HC Anson Dorrance. Included in the pod is our "Anson Dorrane Program", which is a 12-14 day program you can use with your team to increase communication, understanding and creating the "Competitive Caul...

One of Nebraska's legends, Gretna GBB HC Jerome Skrdla comes on the podcast to discuss his long career, how the game has changed, moving his program up to Class A (NE's highest class), how to coach with a good friend, creating a great work ethic in your program, shooting drills and developing toughness. So much good information from one of Nebraska's best!

Analytics are all the rage in basketball, but we as high school coaches don't have the resources to calculate our analytics as much as we would like. Inspired by Boston Celtics HC Brad Stevens, this sheet helps you analyze every possession on both sides of the ball, including shot selection, where you get your shots from and how efficient your offenses or defense are.