Nicholas Conte, specialists coach at VMI and decorated former UVA punter, teaches a masterful lesson on mindset and achieving high performance. This transcends football.

Our conversation spans the mental side of playing and training, the role of specialists in games and practice, proper nutrition, and Conte’s journey from UVA to VMI and one day soon the NFL.

If you haven't already, writing a short review on Apple podcasts would go a long way in attracting a larger audience and more fantastic guests. 

Timestamps:

(2:47) Why special teams is unique, typical practice for specialists

(7:38) Pre-game warmup and common pitfalls

(16:52) Punter’s role during the game

(24:50) Process oriented thinking

(34:50) Mindset

(39:08) Training methods

(46:26) Role of student managers

(52:43) Nutrition

(56:04) Our mutual admiration for Trent Corney

(1:02:17) Conte’s ideal use of a 25th hour

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Alex is currently working towards his Master's in Data Science at the University of Virginia. Not only has he been working for the UVA football team in an analytical capacity, but he also presented his own research at the NFL's Big Data Bowl in 2020.

I came across his paper and was eager to reach out to him. Our discussion covers the deficiencies of traditional box scores, judging information in context, predicting individual vs team performance, and how all this work will go from behind the scenes to on the field.

Links mentioned:
ESPN analytics survey
Virgil Carter - Operations Research on Football
Pulling the Goalie: Hockey and Investment Implications
Data, Decisions, and Basketball with Sam Hinkie
Inside Football Podcast with Bill Polian

Transcript
Newsletter

Timestamps:

1:51 Alex’s time at Big Data bowl and his direction for research

4:56 First exposure to data analytics

6:52 Traditional box scores

9:44 Analytics and fantasy sports

12:19 Judging information in context

15:52 Player vs team modeling

19:38 EPA vs WPA

24:38 Increasing variance as the underdog

30:02 How does this work go from behind the scenes to on the field?

35:44 Unpopular roster management decisions

38:42 Individual performance, success rates, and tracking data

40:48 Adopting analytics, communication

44:05 Spin on 25th hour question

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Chris Saave is an entrepreneur I’ve been fortunate to see in action the past few years. We cover his thoughts on starting a business, the importance of learning, finding hidden knowledge, and how to take risks.

Many of these lessons have helped me along my entrepreneurial journey. Chris has certainly stepped his game up with his latest venture, Meet Me Card.

If you enjoy the episode, you'd love my weekly newsletter with updates on new episodes and blog posts, as well as a summary of the coolest things I learn each week.

Referenced works:
"Why books don't work" by Andy Matuschak 

Timestamps:

(1:03) How we crossed paths

(3:12) How do you get the right idea to start a business?

(9:05) Dealing with the sunk cost fallacy

(12:16) Importance of reading

(18:12) Focus

(22:49) Sight beyond sight

(24:32) Finding hidden knowledge

(28:27) Process of learning new skills

(32:09) Judging by quantity vs quality and the quest for perfection

(35:18) Just do it, avoid regrets of omission, take calculated risks

(41:31) The history behind Meet Me Card and how Chris applied all these lessons

(50:43) Chris’ ideal 25th hour

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Who better to ask about leadership than the person who started the most games at quarterback while I was at UVA? Matt Johns, currently the quarterbacks coach at William & Mary, loves football. His actions and words have always been in alignment, and that's just one of the many lessons I've learned from him over the years.

If you enjoy the episode, you'd love my weekly newsletter with updates on new episodes and blog posts, as well as the coolest things I learn each week.

Timestamps:

(3:10) The transition between coaching staffs and Matt’s role with UVA

(7:25) Buy-in to team culture and seeing the big picture

(9:11) Chop wood and carry water

(10:10) What football teaches you about life

(17:15) Matt’s experience as a coach

(19:17) Matt’s year as a GA at Virginia

(27:20) Why do you like football?

(33:39) Who taught Matt the most about leadership?

(36:40) Lessons learned from Coach London

(43:40) Prepping for the football season

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This conversation with Jackson Matteo is special.  We cover his time at Virginia chronologically, from walk-on to graduate assistant coach, and examine how our relationship evolved along the way.  I have learned so much from Jackson about commitment, discipline, and total effort.

Jackson is currently working on his dissertation, and he explains why his topic of choice is important and prevalent.

If you enjoy the episode, you'd love my weekly newsletter with updates on new episodes and blog posts, as well as the coolest things I learn each week.

Timestamps:

0:50 - How we know each other

6:45 - Jackson's high school sports career

10:28 - The difference between football and basketball

16:57 - Betting on yourself

24:04 - Eating healthy and having it pay dividends

26:59 - The 2016 transition in culture at Virginia

32:42 -  Lessons learned from a historic level of losses

35:59 -  Emotional Intelligence

40:30 - Jackson's perspective as a coach as opposed to player, and the 10/80/10 principle

47:50 - The two factors Jackson measures himself against, as learned from Coach Howell

52:28 - Jackson's dissertation 

59:42 - How would Jackson spend a 25th hour?

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When you're part of a team, consistency is an invaluable trait. Sean Cascarano has that trait in spades. Sean is currently an Assistant Coach at Cornell where he coaches the offensive line. He's consistently been dedicated to his team and to teaching the fundamentals.

In this episode we discuss lessons Sean learned from coaching at multiple colleges, the importance of consistency within college programs, and how to build an organization from the ground up.

If you enjoy the podcast, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave a short review on Apple Podcasts. It really makes a difference in helping to grow our audience and attract guests.

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Thank you.

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Harkening back to Dwight D. Eisenhower, "plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." Few people I know are as detail oriented as Jacob Hodges. He not only provided me with an invaluable opportunity at UVA (in response to a 2014 email that gets read on the podcast), but he's taught me a lot over the years. Since our shared time at Virginia, Hodges has become a math teacher and the offensive coordinator of Atlee High School. In this episode we discuss paying attention to detail, where to find learning material, and the benefits of having perspective.

If you enjoy the podcast, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave a short review on Apple Podcasts. It really makes a difference in helping to grow our audience and attract guests. 

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This week I'm thrilled to be learning more from Zach Tenuta. Since our shared time at Virginia, Zach has become the Co-Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach at Norfolk State University. Zach and I discuss the process of learning and developing as a coach, the importance of having mentors, and recount the time we had to drop $100 at a Kinko's.

If you enjoy the podcast, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave a short review on Apple Podcasts. It really makes a difference in helping to grow our audience and attract guests. 

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For the first official episode my guest is none other than Kaveh Akbari (@kaveh_akbari), a certified NFL player agent and expert marketer. Kaveh and I discuss the role of agents, what goes into creating your own agency, using leverage in a negotiation, my plans for a signed picture of me and Adam Cole, and many more issues involving economic concepts and the NFL.


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If you enjoy the podcast, I would greatly appreciate it if you took the time to leave a short review on Apple Podcasts. It really makes a difference in helping to grow our audience and attract guests. 

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For the first official episode my guest is none other than Kaveh Akbari (@kaveh_akbari), a certified NFL player agent and expert marketer. Kaveh and I discuss the role of agents, what goes into creating your own agency, using leverage in a negotiation,...