Cannon Sports Podcast

UCLA football strength and conditioning coach Keith Belton talks about the beginning of his career from the NFL to teaching at different schools. After being in the NFL for 3 years, Keith turns to coaching and helps high school and college athletes train in the weight room. Keith also talks about his family, his values, how he coaches, and his journey to UCLA.

Defensive Line Coach and NFL trainer, Eddy McGilvra talks about how he started his career and coaching at COC ( College of the Canyons) working with NFL players during the off-season for the pre-NFL draft and combine workouts. Eddy also gives advice and tips on workouts, work-life routines, and how to be prepared for the next step in players' careers. 

A former Division-1 defensive back at Washington State, Aire Justin has dedicated his post-playing career to ensuring young athletes have the technical skills, character and mentality to succeed in football and far beyond. An influential voice throughout the football community at all levels, Justin serves both as Director of Football at DNA Prep Academy and defensive coordinator at Calabasas High School, all while specializing in player development for NFL athletes.

Already among the nation's most-accomplished high school basketball coaches, Josh Giles led the 2022 Corona Centennial Huskies to a California Open Division state championship and was named MaxPreps' national coach of the year. On the Cannon Sports Podcast, Coach Giles breaks down the year-to-year adaptations necessary for sustained success and the mentality it takes to play for a nationally-ranked program with a constant target on its back.

Matt Sargeant's Sherman Oaks Notre Dame basketball teams have consistently ranked among the top programs in the state and nation since assuming control in 2017. On the heels of the Knights' first ever CIF Open Division playoff experience, Notre Dame is poised for even greater heights, having landed high-impact transfers Caleb Foster and Mercy Miller to team with Dusty Stromer on what Sargeant calls the most talented roster he's ever coached.

On the Cannon Sports Podcast, Sargeant breaks down a program-defining era for the Knights and previews a gauntlet of a schedule through the stacked Mission League and elite non-league opponents.

Born and raised in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, Paul Tait has both witnessed and contributed to the region's rich basketball history – coaching future NBA stars Jrue Holiday and Spencer Dinwiddie at previous stops, and now leading the wildly-successful Heritage Christian program. 

A former assistant at Springfield College, the "birthplace of basketball," Tait has a deep appreciation for the game's history, as well as the role of divison-3 athletic programs in producing successful individuals on and off the court.

Los Angeles Daily News sportswriter Tarek Fattal joins the Cannon Sports Podcast to break down the CIF football postseason field – from the best matchups, most intriguing storylines, underrated teams and which players we're watching throughout November. Plus, Tarek's potential fix to a complicated playoff seeding system.

Scott Altenberg has collected three state titles and more than 200 wins in 23 years at the head of the Gardena Serra football program, while helping more than a dozen players to the NFL. On the Cannon Sports Podcast, Altenberg talks about the similarities between current Cavaliers defensive back Rodrick Pleasant and Serra alum, ex-USC star and former NFL first-rounder Adoree Jackson, and breaks down the culture and brotherhood constructed over more than two decades at Serra.

Evan Yabu took over a Thousand Oaks football program that had gone winless over the 2018 and 2019 seasons, quickly transforming them into a Conejo Valley power. The Lancers are undefeated and leading the Canyon League in Yabu's third season as head coach, largely thanks to a 21st century "holistic" approach to coaching – one that relies on science, analytics, and spiritual and emotional health. 

More from this episode:

• A look at Chase Martin and other prominent Lancers
• Yabu's experience playing football overseas in Germany
• Thousand Oaks as a "hotbed" of football 

Newbury Park High School Football is off to an undefeated start in its first season under Panthers alum Joe Smigiel. On the Cannon Sports Podcast, the first-year head coach discusses coaching his son and freshman QB phenom Brady Smigiel, the changes to the program he sought to make on day one, and the dividends they've been paying ahead of league play.

More from this episode:
• The importance of football in the North LA/Ventura community
• Previewing Newbury Park's league schedule