The Coaching Life Podcast

In this episode of The Coaching Life , Chris and Pat talk about the Ohio State Buckeyes’ National Championship and uncover a critical aspect of sports that often goes unnoticed: the disconnect between fans’ perceptions of the player-coach relationship and the reality behind the scenes. From social media memes, viral locker room moments, to sideline interactions, they discuss why fans may romantici...

Welcome to Season 11 of The Coaching Life Podcast! Chris and Pat kick off the new year with energy, excitement, and a renewed commitment to exploring the fun and sometimes crazy world of youth and high school sports. Join us as we set the tone for an all new season filled with impactful conversations, fresh perspectives, and actionable advice to help you navigate the challenges and joys of coachin...

We walk through the historic season for Ohio University football, and Parker Navarro's role in helping the Bobcats win the first Mid American Conference Championship since 1968.

We had the honor to chat with Coach Billy Roper from Adairsville, Georgia about the benefits of training the overall athlete for all the various sports they may play. Billy has much experience and wisdom, having worked for 29 years as a baseball coach and 28 years as a football coach.

A handful of years ago Chris wrote a book titled "Building Champions," and the last chapter discussed a common issue in our culture, which is pervasive in youth sports culture. Groupthink is a very real problem, and we need to do our best to recognize when we are participating in it.

We've had a lot of fun chatting with Brooks McKeller and so we invited him to join our conversation again today on a variety of topics, from golf to baseball to football chapel services. You'll have to listen all the way to the end to understand the title of this episode!

Today we take some time to devote an entire episode to Pat's beloved Cleveland Browns. But, the conversation isn't a glorious one. We talk about some of the drama surrounding the fan base and players in context of Deshaun Watson's season-ending injury.

"My all-time favorite baseball player was Pete Rose. It's not because he was the greatest player in the game, although he holds some of the game's greatest records that will likely never be broken. It's not because he was the most upstanding citizen; he had a hard, stubborn, ego and everyone knew it. What I loved about Pete Rose was the way he played the game of baseball when he was between the ba...

We might have found a third host for The Coaching Life Podcast. Brooks McKeller is a senior on the Ohio University Golf team, and he is our guest in this episode. This conversation is SO good. We encourage you to take the time to listen to it in it's entirety.

When you are on a team, or coaching a team, that is used to losing, how do you change that? We all know of those teams that just seem to have a culture of winning, and we also know the ones that just seem to have a culture of losing. What makes them so different? Of course, there are many factors, and we didn't have time to go over them all. Do a search and you will find hundreds of books writ...

We are seeing a generation of young people who are leading in many different ways. That's today's conversation.

We began today's conversation and were reminded that it was September 11. So we decided to just talk about it for an episode. This is different from a lot of our conversations on the Coaching Life Podcast, but we believe it is important. Never forget.

The single greatest factor in any problem, conflict, misunderstanding, or mistake is communication – lack of, not enough, poor – communication is always at the center. Today we bring into our conversation the issue of communication as it relates to coaches and coaching. What you say... How you say it... Why you say it... When you say it... COMMUNICATION is the number one skill we need to constantl...

This conversation kind of went in several directions, but all with similar themes. How does your body language affect your teammates?

What is the perfect sport? What criteria would you consider to determine what makes the perfect sport? Pat and Chris share their (admittedly not unbiased) opinions on what makes the perfect sport, giving credence to several different sports in this episode.

Our conversation topic today was provided by a listener: What do we think about the Savannah Bananas?

We open Season 10 with a conversation about being cocky... or is it confidence? Is swagger the same thing? As always, we hope to spark some interesting and useful thought to help us all get better in how we relate to our players and coach our teams. We hope you will subscribe, follow, share, and participate with us for a new season of The Coaching Life!

We go back and revisit our original mission for starting the podcast and compare it to where we are today and some of the new things we are currently involved with. We are excited to help create (or revive) a new opportunity for young people in our community to play summer ball. In this episode, we talk about how it is coming to fruition.

We are discussing a topic that was requested by a listener of the podcast, which is one of our favorite ways to get content. Let us know what you want us to have a conversation about in a future episode!

It's time to get caught up and back into the flow of podcasting. Consider this episode a warmup for Season 10.

We just want to let you know that we are still here and still podcasting! We have a lot to talk about from this past spring and a lot to look forward to in the next season of The Coaching Life Podcast.

We are over a week into the High School baseball season and we reflect on our experiences and lessons learned so far this season.

Our old friend Lukas Moore joins us from his new homefront in Wrigleyville, Chicago. This is a very rich conversation about coaching, motivating people, and the value of being part of a team working together to accomplish a goal.

Today we revisit a question that comes up a lot. It's a topic that is always relevant because of the tension that is always felt by players, parents, and coaches. Should you play multiple sports or should you specialize? Should we always answer it the same way for every athlete? Is age a factor in the answer? Pat and Chris definitely have strong opinions on the matter, but they also will provi...

Today's episode discusses the difference between PRINCIPLES and METHODS, and challenges coaches to consider ways in which they might need to change when it comes to their coaching. Do you have "20 years experience," or do you have "1 year's experience of the same thing 20 times in a row?"