The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

Today we pull back the curtain to get a behind the scenes look into the famed Penn Relays. After the retirement of long time Director of Relays Dave Johnson, the Penn Relays went to the leadership of head track coach Steve Dolan and today's guest the Associate Director of Penn Relays Aaron Robison. We start by learning Aaron's background as a coach's kid (grandfather was a 5k Olympian, dad is hall...

We talk about going thru seasons in life.  Sports are going thru a season of milestones, we talk about the milestone in the upcoming Super Bowl, featuring two African-American quarterbacks for the first time.  Then Coach Kersee has a training group for the decades, or so it is being talked about.  The tiles speak as to which of the training groups, by the decades, is "better" or "be...

The Multi-Faceted Journey of Chris Johnson, University of Arkansas' Head Coach in Waiting In this enlightening episode of the Connections Podcast, host Mike Cunningham sits down with Chris Johnson, the future head coach of the women's Razorbacks track and field team at the University of Arkansas. Chris shares his transformative journey from being a high school coach to clinching multiple B...

Happy LLC Day!  Zoltar our favorite fortune teller from the movie BIG, will help guide the conversations this week.  Starting with some track is back...SHEESH!  Then the first fortune to come out of the machine is: NFL predictions; who's moving on???  Next fortune to be told is coaching jobs.  With the new coaching limitation, who's going to have the bigger staff? Who's go...

Press play and get ready for some laughs and some tears. 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Dan O'Brien sits down to talk about the coaches that poured into him during his career as one of the top decathletes in the world. You'll learn of Larry Hunt the coach responsible for steering Dan into the decathlon and by that very act changed the world of track and field for the better. We'll learn of the multipl...

Straight from the mouth of the tiles, the show goes up, down, back, and forth with the phrase "I said what I said".  Starting off with the NFL play off weekend picks, the tiles are standing by what they pick for the weekend...which one is making an unruly prediction???  Next, going thru the variety of indoor facilities and now outright acknowledging  that there are facilities that a...

You're not going to want to miss this one! While we get a great look into Erik's background as a Hilltopper of Western Kentucky University and his new role as the head coach of the University of South Florida, we dig really deep into conversations around coaching salaries, personal responsibilities versus professional, and more. We bust the myth of 'cleaning house' when you take over a new program...

Sammy Dabbs is a highly successful track coach who's achieved outstanding results in the high school, college and professional ranks. Recently he held an Instagram Live event espousing his opinions and suggestions for high school coaches and club coaches to work together for the betterment of the program and athletes. While Sammy is very Texas specific in his examples, there is a lot of great info...

What are some goals that are being brought up this week?  Relay selection is up to the plate first: the tiles address what THEY THINK is the goal of the selection process?  Next, the NCAA has passed legislation doing away with the "volunteer coach" position and now allowing for an additional coach for baseball and softball.  What would be the goal for collegiate programs with anothe...

Director of Track and Filed of the Spire Academy, Kibwe Johnson joins us to talk some track. We get a fresh look at his athletic career that culminated in becoming an Olympian. This was a dream instilled into him by his grandparents who were Olympics super fans! We then explore his roles as the throws coach of IMG Academy and now as head of the Spire Academy, two unique institutions immersed in sp...

Sir FWP aka Sir Lucious has gotten a rep for dropping knowledge and they are tending to be words that start with the letter P.  Well this week, not only does Sir Lucious drop some valuable Ps...Clyde, The Governor, and Lamar throw a couple too! Want to have an exploratory conversation about YOUR track equipment needs? Connect with us: Host Mike Cunningham on Twitter: @mikecunningham Email: sa...

"I'm not going to fail, I'm not a failure." Today we explore the journey of second year head coach of the Sooners, Tim Langford. From his days growing up in Virginia under the mentorship of Coach Rufus Knight, Tim has always blazed a trail not many have tried before. You'll hear the amazing story of how a near death car crash helped show him the light of coaching track and field, what it was like...

Wrapping up the 2022 year with some insight on some recent happenings/topics...  With the new Olympic qualifying standards and the WA qualifying procedures, what are the tiles thinking about them? With the latest HBCU football hiring, are some of these hires "jumping the line"? At what cost, if so.  Lastly, NIL or transfer portal...which of the two has the MOST impact on the student-athl...

We hope you have as much fun listening to this episode of the podcast as our host and guest had recording it. Long time verteran jumps coach Jeremy Fischer joins us to discuss his growth as a track and field coach on many levels including coaching 18 World Championship and Olympic medalists. You'll be challenged by his journey on the college ranks that kept being pulled back to California for fami...

As the tiles are back into our expected environments, they look forward to the coming year and chat about some of the changes that have occurred.  Which of the athletes who have relocated to Bobby Kersee's camp might benefit the most from the move?  Specifically: Jenna, Keni, Athing, or Brandon?  Posed from a post on social media, do the women of the Jamaican team reign superior ove...

Building a Coaching Village: A Conversation with Dan Pfaff, Coaching Guru and Consultant Join host Mike Cunningham on the Gill Athletics Connections Podcast for a riveting episode featuring Dan Pfaff, a renowned coaching consultant and a true guru in the world of athletics. This episode is a must-listen for track and field coaches at both the high school and college levels, as it delves into the p...

If you didn't catch us live in person or on IG here ya go! Want to have an exploratory conversation about YOUR track equipment needs? Connect with us: Host Mike Cunningham on Twitter: @mikecunningham Email: sales@gillathletics.com Phone: 800-637-3090 Twitter: @GillAthletics Instagram: @GillAthletics1918 Facebook: facebook.com/gillathletics LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/gillathletics/

Today we're joined by our teammate Robb Mathias who oversees our track sales in the west region of the US. Robb's background as a track coach and athlete as well as decades spent in the running shoe industry helps him serve coaches and dealers with great knowledge of track equipment. We can't wait for you to hear Robb's story as well as what he's looking forward to as the representative at the NCA...

A question we waited to answer...what is the difference of being a successful professional coach and a successful collegiate coach?  Obviously, we are able to have someone who has experienced those successes and you might be interested in what the responses are. Want to have an exploratory conversation about YOUR track equipment needs? Connect with us: Host Mike Cunningham on Twitter: @mikecu...

There is a vast stratum of individuals responsible for making the track and field world spin. The most obvious are the coaches we feature on a weekly basis, less obvious are track surfacers, track reporters, and today's guest owners of equipment companies. Join us as we welcome the owner of VS Athletics Rich Benoy to the podcast. VS Athletics is an excellent dealer of Gill Athletics equipment repr...

Hey there!  It's about that time!    Let's cut to the chase, every coach at one point or another has pondered if they have peaked their athletes too soon, too early, or at the wrong time.  Listen in to what the tiles have to say about that.    We bring up the most recent announcement regarding NIL and a major shoe brand and wrap up the show with a Clyde high...

Can a volleyball game help find someone's passion to coach college track and field? Learn the journey of Nate Rucker, head coach of the Peacocks from Upper Iowa in today's podcast episode. Hear him share his life changing volleyball match as an undergrad at University of Dubucque and the career he built from that epiphany. He travels to Missouri, Iowa, St. Louis, and even Alabama and he creates a...

Going thru the intricacies of the transfer portal with the tiles as we get ready for the new legislation to have an effect on moves in the coming year.  But what then?  What do we think the SAs need to be considering as they prepare to make the leap of "faith" to find their better pasture.  Lastly, let's talk about where the biggest gap of them all is...click on the link to find out...

Can a distance coach become a successful sprints/jumps coach? Can an athlete who only runs one year of college cross country (because of poor grades) become a successful high school and collegiate coach? We explore these questions and more as we sit down with Connor Green to learn his journey in this great profession. Find out how he turned the trials and tribulations of working to become a Histor...

It's that time of the week!  As promised, Sir Lucious gets his 5 minutes of college FB recap...don't fret, I was on alert for muting Clyde.  Though, he was well-mannered and didn't need to be muted!  As the nominations have been released, the tiles reflect on the most improved athlete for 2022.  We wrap up the convo with a little reflection of professional development.  &n...