On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Matt Johnson, Director of Men’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning at Butler University.

Matt and I discuss:

• The role of the strength and conditioning coach during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Using Instagram to connect with athletes during this time
• The focus on coaching player’s lifestyle - sleep and nutrition
• Coach LaVall Jordan’s leadership during crisis
• Breakdowns create breakthroughs
• Tough times reveal the mindset of elite athletes - resilience in body and mind
• His career journey - be ready when you get the call
• “The big time is not a place. It’s the state of your heart.”
• The importance of the interviews AFTER you get the job
• How his position, being dedicated to one sport, allows him to play a role to skill development, game planning, practice planning and recruiting
• Causing adaptation and absorbing adaptation
• Why coaches need their strength and conditioning coach on speed dial
• The leadership of Ralph Reiff at Butler
• Progression - The key to a successful return to normal

Connect With Matt Johnson

• Website: Butler University Men’s Basketball
• Website: StrengthCoachConcepts.com
• Twitter: @StrengthCoachMJ
• Instagram: @StrengthCoachMJ

Connect with Odell McCants

• Website - McCantsSports.com
• Twitter - @odellmccants
• LinkedIn - Odell McCants

We're going Beyond The Whistle with the first Coaches Roundtable. Our roundtablers are Kevin Sutton, Assistant Coach at Rhode Island and Randolph Childress, Associate Head Coach at Wake Forest.

This was the most fun I have had as a podcaster. It's a conversation amongst friends about our high school coach, mentorship, fatherhood, leadership, COVID-19 (of course) and more.

Kevin, Randolph and I discuss:

• How Randolph ended the season in a sling and how he's doing now
• Lessons from our high school coach, Stu Vetter
• Kevin coaching Randolph in high school
• How Randolph was Steph Curry before Steph Curry
• The lost art of players understanding how to play without the ball
• Coach Vetter's coaching tree
• Randolph's experience recruiting and coaching his son, Brandon Childress
• The importance of keeping relationships simple and consistent
• How Kevin and Randolph's teams responded to the cancellation of basketball due to COVID-19
• How they are spending this time with family, their teams and time working on themselves

If you would like to be on a future Coaches Roundtable episode, drop me an email at [email protected]. I welcome coaches from men's and women's basketball and from programs at all levels to share experiences and dicsuss topics impacting the coaching profession.

Connect with Randolph Childress

• Twitter: @r22childress
• Website: Wake Forest Basketball

Connect with Kevin Sutton

• Twitter: @coachsutton
• Website: Kevin Sutton Basketball
• Website: Sutton's Living Trophies
• Website: Rhode Island Basketball

Connect with Odell McCants

• Website: McCantsSports.com
• Twitter: @odellmccants
• LinkedIn: Odell McCants
• Email: [email protected] 

On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with George Lynch. I go back with George all the way to high school, where we both played for legendary coach Stu Vetter and nationally ranked teams at Flint Hill School in Virginia. George was a member of the 1993 University of North Carolina NCAA national championship team. George played 12 years in the NBA, and his coaching career includes serving as an assistant at UC Irvine, Southern Methodist University and the G-League's Grand Rapids Drive. Most recently, George served as head coach at Clark Atlanta University.

Along George's basketball journey, he has played for and coached with some of the greatest minds in the game. From his high school coaches - coach Vetter at Flint Hill and Woody Deans at Patrick Henry in Roanoke, Virginia, to Dean Smith at UNC and Larry Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers and at SMU. He's also committed to improving the educational experiences of student-athletes at HBCU schools through his newest venture, HBCU Heroes.

George and I discuss:

• How he developed into a great defensive stopper (second all-time in steals at UNC)
• The experience of leaving home to finish high school
• How putting team first actually made him a better player
• How his approach to the game as a player has become the foundation of his coaching philosophy
• What he has taken from each coach he has played for and coached with, and how he has woven those experiences into his coaching style
• What he has learned about himself since becoming a head coach
• How the COVID-19 pandemic and required distance learning has magnified the educational technology needs of many HBCU student-athletes
• Founding HBCU Heroes and the goal of procuring 6,000 computers for HBCU student-athletes

Connect with George Lynch

• Website: HBCU Heroes
• Instagram: @georgelynchcoach
• Twitter: @Glynchcoach
• Twitter: @HBCUHeroes

Connect with Odell McCants

• Website: McCantsSports.com
• Twitter: @odellmccants
• LinkedIn: Odell McCants
• Email: [email protected]

On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Dan Tudor of Tudor Collegiate Strategies. Dan and his firm develop research-based recruiting strategies for programs in all sports, at all levels of collegiate athletics.

Dan joins me for a third appearance on the podcast to discuss:

• Challenges coaches first faced recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Fundraising and budget concerns athletic directors have during this time.
• The mindset of recruits now without campus visits and evaluation events.
• How recruiting has been like "buying toilet paper".
• Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on an already growing transfer portal.
• How to stand out in recruiting by crafting your recruiting story.
• Taking advantage of this time to get better in your recruiting.

You can also hear more from Dan on Episode 009: Take Control of Your Recruiting Process and Episode 013: The Campus Visit.

Connect with Dan Tudor

• Website: Tudor Collegiate Strategies
• Podcast: The College Recruiting Weekly Podcast
• Twitter: @dantudor

Connect with Odell

• Website: McCantsSports.com
• Twitter: @odellmccants
• LinkedIn: Odell McCants
• Email: [email protected]

On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Kyle Adams, Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. Kyle also has his own consulting firm, It's Bigger Than The Ball, where Kyle works with coaches, educators and organizations to provide transformative learning experiences for the next generation of leaders.

During our conversation, Kyle and I discuss:

• My high school days playing in Pine Bluff's King Cotton Holiday Classic high school basketball tournament, which has come back after being dormant for many years.
• Kyle and his team's experience learning about the cancellation of remaining conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament due to COVID-19.
• How their program is working as a staff, communicating with their players and recruiting during the pandemic.
• How his transition from coaching men to coaching women helped him grow as a man.
• The difference between a "transactional" coach and a "transformational" coach.
• Building a team culture that creates champion individuals and leads to championship teams.
• The job of a leader is not to create followers, but to create more leaders.

Connect with Kyle Adams

• Website: It's Bigger Than The Ball
• Podcast: It's Bigger Than The Ball Podcast
• Twitter: @coachka20
• LinkedIn: Kyle Adams

Connect with Odell

• Website: McCantsSports.com
• Twitter: @odellmccants
• LinkedIn: Odell McCants
• Email: [email protected]

I'm back!

It's been over a year since I last recorded an episode. I was already planning to record today (January 26th, 2020) when the world was struck by the news of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. My plan was to explain how life had gotten in the way the past year and reasons why I had not published an episode. But in thinking about Kobe, I couldn't do that. There was no better example than Kobe of work ethic, winning habits, passion and preparation. So I'm not going to share excuses.

So this episode is not about the past. Not about reasons why I haven't done something. On this day, this episode is about my commitment to you, my listener, and what to expect going forward.  

Have you thought about having your own podcast?

This episode of Beyond The Whistle is all about the power a podcast of your own can have as the foundation of your personal brand.

With a podcast, you have your own coach’s show. Think about that. Regardless of where you are in your coaching career or the level of your program, you can create a platform to share your personal story, who you are and what you are about, with an audience of fans, recruits, parents, other coaches and even administrators.

You no longer have to be a head coach of a Power Five program, with a media contract, to have your own coach’s show. And if you are, you can go deeper with your audience to share who you are beyond the Xs and Os. My tagline for this show!

For this episode, I’m proud and honored to have as my guest, Jerod Morris. When I had the idea of starting this podcast, I listened to all of the “podcasts about podcasting” out there. There are plenty and I still listen to some. One show that was impactful for me in the beginning, and still is to this day, is The Showrunner. The Showrunner is hosted by Jerod and his co-host Jonny Nastor. What’s different about The Showrunner is the guys don’t focus on the technical aspects of podcasting like so many shows. In fact, many of those shows actually scared me from starting a podcast. Jerod and Jonny provide actionable advice that drive meaningful results with a podcast centered content strategy.

Another reason I’m excited to have Jerod on the show is, that’s not the only podcast Jerod has. Jerod is also co-host The Assembly Call, a fan-based podcast on Indiana University basketball. So he has a unique understanding of podcasting as a platform for a brand and also how to leverage a basketball fan base to create a audience of loyal followers.

What I also learn this during our conversation, is Jerod is a coach’s kid. He grew up with his father coaching Division 1 football and has a first hand understanding of the life and profession of college coaching.

I have been podcasting for close to two years now. I know the challenges with getting started. What equipment do you need, what’s the technology behind it all.

Do you know it took me almost TWO YEARS to go from idea to starting this show. TWO YEARS!

I don’t want to see you take that long. If you are thinking about starting your own podcast, and I hope after listening to this episode you are, I want you to have the list of all of the gear and tools I use to produce this very show.   

My Podcasting Toolbox is a free guide to everything you need to get started, with much less of a financial investment than you probably think.

You can get your free copy at this link: My Podcasting Toolbox.

If you want to go deeper with the idea of your own podcast, to launch your show, I’d love to work with you. Email me at [email protected] and we can discuss your idea, I’ll share my podcasting journey and help you with getting started.

Free Guide

• My Podcasting Toolbox: The Tools and Gear to Get You Podcasting

Mentions in this episode

• Podcast: Beyond The Whistle 018: Why You Need a Personal Brand as a Coach, with Ron McKeefery
• Video: Solving Basketball with Jordan Sperber - Episode 2, Kory Alford, UCLA

Personal brand. What does that mean to you? What's the value of having a personal brand? Have you struggled to create your personal brand? 

Ron McKeefery is an internationally recognized leader in strength and conditioning coaching. Currently the Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE, a leader in sports and performance flooring, Ron served as strength coach at the collegiate and professional level. Ron has worked with the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL and Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals on the professional level. Collegiately, Ron has served as strength coach at Eastern Michigan University, University of Tennessee and University of South Florida.

Ron has been successful in creating a personal brand for himself that has served as the foundation for a book, podcast, speaking engagements and coaching and consulting to Olympic and national teams across the globe.

In this episode Ron McKeefery shares:

• The moment in his career when he realized, as a coach, how vulnerable he was to losing his job for things that had nothing to do with him
• Facing a coaching staff change, struggling with figuring out how would he continue his career, and more importantly, provide for his family
• How developing his personal brand, as a coach, helped him establish himself as an authority and create additional sources of income
• How additional sources of income liberated him from the pressures of coaching
• How creating your personal brand helps you to control your story and narrative
• Creating a "tribe" of followers who know, like and trust you
• The built in entrepreneurial and branding advantage you have as a coach
• How you can leverage your personal brand to get you through the transitions of a coaching career

To learn more about building your own personal brand, sign up for my upcoming webinar, "Building Your Coaching Brand" by clicking this link: Build Your Coaching Brand Webinar with Odell McCants

Mentions in this episode

• Build Your Coaching Brand Webinar
• The Rise to the Top Podcast with David Siteman Garland
• The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

Connect With Ron McKeefery

• RonMcKeefery.com - Website
• Chalk Talk with Ron McKeefery - Podcast
• CEO Strength Coach - Book
• @RMcKeefery - Twitter
• rmckeefery - Instagram

Connect with Odell McCants

• McCantsSports.com - Website
• @odellmccants - Twitter
• Odell McCants - LinkedIn

I'm honored to have as a return guest to Beyond The Whistle, my friend Kevin Sutton, Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at the University of Rhode Island. Kevin was my very first interview guest, appearing in episode two, "Persistence on the Coaching Career Path". In that episode, Kevin shared his career journey and how he has woven a path from coaching at two nationally ranked high school programs, to a college coaching career in the Atlantic 10, Big East and ACC.

In some ways, this episode became an unplanned follow up to episode two. Last season at Pitt, Kevin experienced a season no one wishes to have. An 8-24 overall record and winless season in the ACC led to the dismissal of coach Kevin Stallings and the entire Pitt staff, including Kevin.

In this episode, Kevin openly shares:

• His excitement for the opportunity to join the staff of Rhode Island first year head coach David Cox
• The professional and personal lessons he took away from an 8-24 season
• What a "WIN" means to him in his coaching career
• How he spent his time between jobs
• Taking time to reconnect with family
• Having the hard conversations with your spouse in order to have a plan for your career
• The importance of staying relevant in your career
• Having a plan for your job search so you are networking and pursuing the right opportunities

I'm thankful for Kevin and his candid conversation. 

Mentions in this episode

• BTW 002: Persistence on the Coaching Career Path with Kevin Sutton
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith (affiliate link)

Connect With Kevin Sutton

• kevinsuttonbasketball.com - Website
• Kevin Sutton Basketball Blog - Website
• @CoachSutton - Twitter

Connect with Odell McCants

• McCantsSports.com - Website
• @odellmccants - Twitter
• Odell McCants - LinkedIn

It was a personal honor to have as my guest on this episode, Tom McMillen, President and CEO of Lead1 Association. As a kid growing up in Washington, DC, I had two dreams: 1) to play in the NBA and 2) to be President of the United States. I like to think I came a little close, having played basketball in college, worked for a U.S. Congressman and spent time as an NBA agent. At least that's what I tell myself.

Having those dreams, and living in DC, Tom was someone I followed closely. Tom was an All-American at the University of Maryland, where he also became the school's first Rhodes Scholar. I got to watch his 11 year NBA career, especially his three seasons with the then Washington Bullets. I also followed closely Tom's three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented the 4th District of Maryland. Tom's career journey was what I aspired for myself as a young man.

Today, Tom McMillen is President and CEO of Lead1 Association. Lead1 is a membership organization of collegiate athletic directors from primarily Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs. As the business of college sports has grown, so have the challenges facing institutions, programs and athletic directors - diversity, new media, sexual assault and domestic violence, and gambling are just a few. With his background in legislation, being a student-athlete, playing professionally and experience leading public companies, college athletics is fortunate to have Tom as a leader.

In this episode, Tom and I discuss:

• How he, as a young man, followed the career of Bill Bradley, a former U.S. Senator, basketball All-American at Princeton and 10 years in the NBA.
• The impact attending college and playing professional basketball in the Washington, DC area had on his political aspirations.
• What leadership means to him.
• As a member of Congress, Tom's role in the original sports gambling legislation - Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.
• Concerns of new legalized sports betting.
• What it was like when the news of the FBI college basketball investigation and arrests broke in the middle of their annual conference of more than 100 athletic directors in attendance and NCAA president Mark Emmert speaking at the same time.
• Concerns of legalized sports betting.
• College basketball "guarantee games" - the affect they have on career advancement of low and mid-major coaches.
• The importance of college coaches having an understanding of the issues and challenges AD's face - changing media landscape, declining game attendance, financial and budget pressures, hiring and retaining the right coaches, federal investigations.
• Gender and ethnic diversity in coaching and sports administration.
• The annual Lead1 Institute.

Mentions in this episode

• 19th Annual Lead1 Institute - July 16-18, 2018 at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas

Connect With Tom McMillen and Lead1

• Lead1 Association - Website
• Lead1 Association- Twitter
• Tom McMillen - Twitter

Connect with Odell McCants

• McCantsSports.com - Website
• @odellmccants - Twitter
• Odell McCants - LinkedI