The Coaching Life Podcast

Nothing can stop The Coaching Life Podcast from being recorded! Pat is in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico on a Carnival cruise. Still, there are lessons learned from the experience to bring home and apply to our athletic programs.

Today the podcasters become the interviewees! Cami Seymore, a freshman Journalism student at Ohio University, interviews us for her column in The Post newspaper's Culture and Human Interest section. One of the biggest takeaways from the episode is our WHY – why do we continue recording The Coaching Life Podcast.

This week is one of our favorite times of the year. For high school baseball coaches in Ohio, it's the annual Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association clinic.  We take some time to reflect on the value of coaches learning from one another and developing relationships with one another, and talk about some of the upcoming OHSBCA clinic session topics. 

The Coaching Life Podcast has gone through several changes and updates over our 9 seasons of recording, but the core of what we are about remains. We desire to be a useful resource for coaches, parents, and athletes. To have conversations about the values, challenges, and lessons we are provided by the world of youth, high school, college, and professional sports. Season 9 begins in the newly reno...

It was surprising to see the behavior and response of the NFL's most elite and successful quarterbacks this past weekend. But, that event provides a big lesson for all of us.

This conversation topic was suggested to us by one of our young listeners of The Coaching Life Podcast. Thanks, Gavin for helping us with the conversation about sports and life.

Great coaches have some common qualities and attributes. Today we break out a Top 10 list of those things.

As we approach the season of gratitude and Thanksgiving, we take a moment to honor a man who selflessly gave more than 20 years of his life to make sure families, children, and even adults had a place to fulfill their dreams of playing baseball. Upon hearing of a local Recreational League Director's passing, Dave Boyd of Middleport, Ohio, The Coaching Life Podcast has decided to honor Dave in...

As a coach, which focus do you have? A development-first focus, or a winning-first focus? How can the two approaches work together? Or is it always "development VS. winning?" This conversation is a bit lengthy, but it is a pretty hot topic that you will undoubtedly agree with some and disagree with some. We'd love to hear your thoughts!

We chat with Morgan Rodgers, freshman on the Ohio University Bobcats Women's Golf Team. This fall, Morgan has made an immediate impact preparing for her first regular season of golf this spring. Her success begins with understanding the mental game, and incorporating strategies to stay focused on what is most important – what is within her control. This is a useful conversation and Morgan give...

Some experts say that pressure doesn't really exist. Rather, it is something that our minds create. If so, then why does it feel so real? And what does it mean when someone says they "perform best under pressure?"

We have another listener topic request. This conversation came from a coach who asked us about the extra time we spend maintaining our facility and playing field. Enjoy!

150 EPISODES!!!! Thanks for being part of our ongoing conversation! Whether you have listened since 2019 and all 150 episodes or you just found us, we APPRECIATE YOU. Thank you to everyone who sends comments, encouragement, and ideas for our show. In honor of our listening audience for 150 episodes, this one is a recent conversation brought to us directly by a listener. It's an issue that is a...

Today we have a conversation with OHIO University grad student quarterback Parker Navarro. Parker talks about the lessons he has learned through facing the adversity of a series of injuries, transferring, and finding himself in a backup role on a championship team. He provides invaluable advice and insight into how he has found strength and joy despite these setbacks and frustrations.

It's happening in every state; schools are having difficulty scheduling games for Varsity sports because it seems there are not enough officials to go around. What happened to them? How can we get them back?

Bad performances are a regular part of sports. If you play, coach, or have children who play, there will be bad days on the field and court. How we respond to these bad moments, bad games, and even sometimes bad seasons, can make or break future success. It's crucial that we understand the mindset strategies that we can adopt to be the best we can at responding to bad days.

We would like to present a challenge to all young people – AVOID ADOLESCENSE. Of course, we'll explain what we mean.

The relationship of mutual respect and trust between coach and player is directly related to performance and success. Our relationship with our players is driven by our communication. The culture of our program is built on our communication and the behaviors that follow. As coaches, we need to be mindful of this, take ownership of this reality, and strategize how we will improve.

Here's a topic we have never before discussed on The Coaching Life Podcast, but it's an extremely relevant conversation for just about every youth sports team. On most teams, there will be at least one family, and perhaps many, who struggle whenever there conflict between the ball schedule and their church attendance. As always, Chris and Pat take on the conversation head-on, discussing ma...

We continue our conversation for sports parents on some "do's and don'ts" that we recommend to help you and your kids have the best experience possible.

Chris and Pat discuss the recent news of the closing of Alderson Broaddus University. What can we learn from this event?

We're beginning a new series of podcast episodes in which we talk about some things we SHOULD do with ourselves, with our children, with coaches, and with the other parents... as well as some things we should NOT do with each of those persons. If you are the parent of an athlete, you know how tempting it can be to lose our perspective when it comes to our child's participation in sports. Chris and...

Chris and Pat are back together for a new episode, playing catch-up from taking some time off to coach their baseball teams this spring. They have lots of stories from the diamond to share.

Let's take a moment and really think about some of the things we say at games. 

Chris and Pat are back in the studio together and have a lot of catching up to do. Lots of good conversations to come!