The Playbook with Colin Jonov

Send us Fan Mail Kyle Baum and I unpack why recovery metrics can look perfect while your body still feels off, using HRV and the LF/HF ratio as tools rather than truth. We also dig into adrenal fatigue, low cortisol, caffeine dependence, gut health, and the hard skill every competitor needs: pulling back without losing progress.  • LF/HF ratio explained as a subset of HRV and nervous system balanc...

Send us Fan Mail Kaitlyn Kenna and I start with caffeine withdrawal and end up somewhere much deeper: how discipline, identity, and self respect actually get built when things feel hard. We share what helps us train, recover, and eat with intention without getting trapped by perfectionism or social media noise.  • caffeine dependence and what withdrawal feels like day by day  • discipline as a ski...

Send us Fan Mail Performance and Leadership advisor, Zach Brandon, and I dig into why the traits that drive excellence can also sabotage it when we overuse them. We trade stories and mental models that help leaders, coaches, and athletes stay adaptable, serve others well, and keep their values intact when ambition and adversity collide. • the double-edged nature of performance virtues like intensi...

Send us Fan Mail I reflect on turning 30 and break down the lessons that keep showing up across sports, coaching, and life: every decision has downstream effects, and you always have more choice than you think. We challenge popular one-liners about performance and replace them with a practical framework for identity-based decision making, role adaptability, and long-term success.  • using a simple...

Send us Fan Mail Josh Chambers and I talk about why “unorthodox” often becomes the new standard and how the best performers find an edge by refusing to protect their ego. We connect sports stories to leadership, identity, and habits so you can adapt faster and build something that lasts.  • a self-trained javelin story as proof that “impossible” is often just unexplored  • why unconventional techn...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with retired coach and school leader Greg Berge to unpack what actually lasts after the wins and losses fade. We dig into trust, culture, and parenting pressures, then land on a simple north star: people over plays, every day.  • people over plays as the core coaching principle  • building trust through genuine daily interactions year round  • accountability with empat...

Send us Fan Mail We sit down with former NFL tackle Mike Adams to trace how a random act of violence pushed him into PTSD, identity collapse, and a fight to stay alive. We also unpack how yoga, breathwork, better habits, and honest connection helped him rebuild his body, calm his nervous system, and turn pain into purpose.  • surviving a random stabbing and the recovery that followed  • living wit...

Send us Fan Mail From one of our top performing episodes of 2025, Justin S'ua and I  break down why top performers can dominate on paper but feel empty, anxious, and never satisfied, then map out how to rebuild a healthier relationship with success. We trade outcome obsession for intentional systems, productive self-talk, and an identity that holds up when the game ends.  • the curse of compe...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Rotheram and I break down how NIL negotiations really work when the public numbers are noisy and the real terms stay private. We also talk about why fit, development, and a long-term plan can matter more than a slightly bigger college payout, especially if the goal is an NFL career.  • Media-driven NIL expectations and why players overvalue themselves without market visibilit...

Send us Fan Mail Coach Pat Narduzzi and I break down why Pitt keeps players and coaches in the building while still producing high character pros and NFL Draft picks. We also get real about the transfer portal and NIL world, from tampering to agents to the hidden costs that don’t show up in the headlines.  • low transfer rates driven by relationships, access, and day-to-day development  • a specia...

Send us Fan Mail World Series champion, Rance Mulliniks breaks down how winning changes the way we judge a career while reminding us how much of a title is outside any one athlete’s control. We talk about roles, ego, and the daily preparation that turns talent into trust and teams into champions. • how a championship shapes legacy and personal identity • separating outcomes from controllables like...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mitch Abrams and I challenge the one size fits all story about divorce and child development, then get specific about what actually hurts kids and what helps them adapt. We also connect divorce dynamics to sports culture, showing how money, time demands, and maturity shape marriages and parenting in high pressure lives.  • children’s resilience and why age still matters  • why...

Send us Fan Mail Jay Bilas and I challenge the claim that NIL and the transfer portal make college athletics “unsustainable,” and we point out how the industry keeps finding money for everything except athlete compensation. We argue for player choice, smarter support systems, and a path that looks more like contracts and collective bargaining than one sided restrictions.  • why “unsustainable” get...

Send us Fan Mail Tim Cortazzo and I pull back the curtain on how supplements are made, why labels can be misleading, and what it takes to build a product we would confidently give to our own families. We also zoom out into the bigger theme of decision-making, where chasing “optimal” can quietly steal joy from training, parenting, and real life.  • supplement brands sharing manufacturers and why th...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Ismael Gallo and I unpack why young athletes are losing movement fluency and how that loss shows up as injuries, stiffness, and underperformance. We argue for a return to exploration and constraint-led play, then break down how flow-based training rebuilds coordination without chasing perfect mechanics.  • why free play and movement exploration build athletic problem solving ...

Send us Fan Mail I talk with veteran strength coach Jim Malone about why authenticity is the fastest path to trust, buy-in, and better training outcomes in pro sports. We dig into how baseball strength and conditioning changed over the last 30 years, why one-size-fits-all programs fail, and what youth overuse is doing to pitchers.  • choosing authenticity even when it costs you  • building relatio...

Send us Fan Mail Jordan Colbert and I break down what it really takes to go from small-school football to an NFL locker room where every rep feels like a tryout. Jordan shares how he learned complex defenses fast, handled cut-day stress, and rebuilt his mindset after a season-ending injury.  • adjusting from Columbia to Rhode Island defensive complexity  • the NFL expectation to learn the playbook...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff Schaefer and I dig into how a five-year big leaguer turns failure into fuel, why short memory beats loud emotions, and how role clarity plus relentless preparation create staying power. Youth sports culture, parenting, specialization, and social media all come under the microscope with practical fixes. • short memory as the real measure of competitiveness • failure-heavy natu...

Send us Fan Mail I share the 20 strongest lessons distilled from 100 conversations with world-class performers, from identity and courage to preparation, chaos training, and leadership. The goal is simple: build proof, narrow your worst days, and fall in love with the process so trophies become byproducts. • identity over motivation as the base • confidence as evidence and prediction • courage as...

Send us Fan Mail Michael Mckenry and I break down how identity in sport is built by daily actions, not labels, and why chasing “optimal” conditions keeps athletes fragile. Practical tactics show how to perform under chaos, pick fit over hype, and use systems to turn evidence into confidence. • choosing identity over clinical labels and diagnosis culture • creating useful personas and avoiding data...

Send us Fan Mail National High School Baseball Coach of the Year Trent Mongero and I trace the shared DNA of elite performance across music and sport, then drill into how discipline, intent, and humility turn average days into winning outcomes. Along the way we tackle parents, politics, and building robust athletes who thrive in chaos. • parallels between stage performance and sport • professional...

Send us Fan Mail Brian Kight and I challenge the myth that more information leads to better lives and show how courage, discipline, and clarity turn principles into practice. We map emotions to desires, reframe integrity as wholeness, and break down four identities that define every team’s culture. • lessons from 2,088 daily posts on what actually lands • principle collectors vs users and the fiel...

Send us Fan Mail Steve Springer and I dig into how to play “opening day every day” and why “I don’t give a crap mode” frees players from the weight of stats. The focus shifts to quality at-bats, team-first play, hunting speeds, and building confidence that survives 0-for-20 stretches and youth pressure. • defining “I don’t give a crap mode” as team-first freedom • opening day mindset that erases y...

Send us Fan Mail We trace Matt Farago's broadcasting path from calling simulated NBA games to walking away from a dream tour to care for family, and how that choice reshaped his idea of success. Along the way we dig into empathy in media, preparation as an edge, resilience under scrutiny, and launching a foundation to amplify young voices. • COVID-era simulated NBA calls and lessons on painti...

Send us Fan Mail Coach AJ Shavell and I argue that identity beats motivation under pressure and that real confidence is earned through evidence, not affirmations. We share how to raise your floor with small wins, balance gratitude with ambition, and build systems that match your values. • identity as evidence built on actions • training on bad days to earn confidence • reframing stories, values, a...