Coaches' Book Club

Join us for a wide-ranging, entertaining conversation with a man who has done it all - retired coach and current broadcaster, Joe Cravens. Recently inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame, Cravens was a successful division one men’s basketball coach at Weber State University and after he’d retired from coaching, answered a plea to help St. Joseph Catholic High School with their girl...

University of Utah head coach Morgan Scalley returns to discuss why he loves the book -  Ego is the Enemy  - by Ryan Holiday. He tells us how seeing flaws in other people help him appreciate the beauty in his own struggles. He shares how he’s learned that honestly and genuine care helps you navigate the toughest conversations, and how clearing the path for others, actually creates...

Get to know Utah’s new Associate head coach - and longtime assistant coach - Sharrieff Shah in this episode where he shares lessons from one of his favorite books -  The Energy Bus  by Jon Gordon. He discusses how a conversation with Kyle Whittingham led him to quit practicing law and take up coaching, how his friendship with Morgan Scalley developed and what matters most to him wh...

In this episode, we get to know University of Utah football's new offensive coordinator - Kevin McGiven. We talk about his path to coaching college football, his unique interview for the Utah job, and how his ‘why’ for coaching helps him stay true to his values in what is an increasingly transactional business. We discuss this month’s book - Ego is the Enemy - and last month&rsqu...

In this episode, we get to know Utah’s new football general manager - Joe D’Orazio. A former center, Joe talks about how he was hired to work with the offensive line under Norm Chow, only to have former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham tell him he’d be working with then defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake. But what felt like a mistake turned out to be a life-changing opportunity. We d...

University of Utah head football coach Morgan Scalley knows joins the podcast to discuss why he chose  Ego is the Enemy  by Ryan Holiday. Morgan talks about growing up playing sports in a competitive family, how he ended up playing for Utah, and why switching to defense change how he felt about being a member of the team. He also talks about the three coaches he played for or worked with...

Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni returns to discuss how the principles of  Untethered Soul  by Michael Singer helped him adjust to disappointment, manage anxiety, and live without fear. The book offers ways to let go of control and gain peace, while reminding us that we are not our thoughts or our feelings. He said being able to step back from his own emotions has helped me unde...

Real Salt Lake right back DeAndre Yedlin talks about how he went from having his soccer dreams come true to rock bottom - and how it was books that showed him how to succeed, no matter what happened around him. The 32-year-old soccer player discusses being raised by his grandparents in Seattle, Washington, the humbling realities of playing in the Premier League, and how fatherhood became the role...

A lifetime in professional sports has given Jason Kreis a lot of experience in what builds team dynamic and what undermines it. Playing and coaching for Real Salt Lake were unique experiences in his career for one reason. It was in Utah, especially playing under RSL owner Dave Checketts, where he felt a kind of familial culture and belonging that hasn’t existed in most of his professional sp...

Utah Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets grew up in Belgium with a heart condition that didn’t allow him to play soccer until he was much older. But once he reached his goal of playing professional soccer, he found something was missing. He was studying business and marketing when his younger sister persuaded him to coach a girls development team. That plea changed his life. He was hired by th...

Real Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni was at the top of his professional soccer career when he realized the anxiety he felt everywhere but on the pitch wasn’t normal. He sought therapy and learned that his anxiety was rooted in his younger brother’s tragic death. But it was reading  The Untethered Soul  by Michael Singer that helped him deal with the challenges of life -...

Weber State cross country and track coach Corbin Talley returns to discuss what we learned reading this incredible book. We share the quotes that moved us, the lessons we took from the gut-wrenching story of the University of Washington rowing team’s journey to representing the U.S. in the 1936 Olympic Games. The book weaves world history, athletic challenges and personal struggles in way th...

In this episode we talk with Olympic steeplechase athlete Courtney Wayment on her unlikely path to fulfilling a childhood dream. The former BYU All-American was the youngest child of two talented runners, but she wasn’t sure running was her sport until late in her high school career. She talks about her dad’s reverse psychology that made her want to embrace the sport her siblings rejec...

Olympic marathon runner Jared Ward joins Coaches’ Book Club to discuss our April book -  Boys in the Boat  - his career, and two books he wanted to share with us. Jared Ward has enjoyed one of those athletic careers that no one predicted. He wasn’t the most talented, or committed, runner in high school, where he was coached by Corbin Talley, who chose this month’s book....

Weber State head cross country and track coach Corbin Talley is stalwart member of Utah’s running community, and he chose the book we are reading in April -  The Boys in the Boat  by Daniel James Brown. In this episode we talk about his background and why running appealed to him, how that changed when he began coaching and what he learned about teamwork and leadership from a book a...

U.S. Bobsled coach Chris Fogt returns for our review of his book choice -  Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage  by Alfred Lansing. We talk about what happened after the ship became locked in ice, how Shackleton kept his crew physically and emotionally engaged, and how his leadership helped them maintain hope, even when it seemed there was no chance of survival. What makes us...

Why is it so hard to go from setting a goal to achieving a dream? How do challenges actually help you succeed? And how do you sabotage your own success? These are just a few of the questions we discuss with Olympic silver medalist and world champion Skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace. She joins the Coaches’ Book Club to discuss how our March selection - Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible...

Coaches Book Club hosts David James and Amy Donaldson discuss some of the real-life lessons they’re learning as they read this month’s book - "Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage”, chosen by U.S. Bobsled Coach Chris Fogt. From putting together a team to how to hold onto hope, they discuss challenges in their own lives and other books where outdoor adventures teach us...

U.S. Bobsled Coach Chris Fogt discusses his unlikely path to Olympic glory and why he chose “Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing in the first episode of Coaches Book Club. Lt. Col Fogt had enlisted in the Army and was competing as a college athlete when someone suggested he try out for the sport of bobsled. He turned out to have talent, and he made his fi...