Captains & Coaches Podcast

By Tex McQuilkinSports Health & Fitness Mental Health Education Self-Improvement

Captains & Coaches Podcast episodes

September 04 142 - Living Legends Lead By Example w/ Shawn Lyght | Notre Dame Lacrosse
Shawn Lyght [@slyght_90] made history as the first defenseman ever to win the Tewaaraton Award (the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse). A national champion at Notre Dame, he's back for his senior season carrying the weight of a program built to win it all again.
In this episode, Shawn breaks down what separates a high school captain from a college captain, how to call out a friend without losing him, why his defense huddles as one voice, and how a quiet leader earns the right to speak.
This is a masterclass in leading by example, from the sport's biggest stage.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
1 hr 2 min
September 02 141 - Top 10 Blindspots at Practice | Soldiers to Sidelines Presentation
Tex McQuilkin takes the stage at the 2026 Soldiers to Sidelines Summit with a talk built for coaches at every level: 10 blind spots you are overlooking at practice, and the one practice plan that fixes them.
He breaks down the athlete development Venn diagram, Bloom's Taxonomy applied to the practice field, the four-stage competency model, transformational leadership behaviors, and why fair and equal are not the same thing.
This is a coaching clinic disguised as a keynote. Bring a notebook.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
52 min
August 28 140 - Strength Meets Standards w/ Cory Castro | Texas Football S&C
Cory Castro [@strength_coach_castro] is the Football Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Texas, working directly with the quarterback room and specialists. His path started as a walk-on running back at John Carroll University. It ran through internships at Kent State and Texas, a graduate assistantship at Louisiana Monroe, and a head strength coach role at 24 years old. From there, Cal, then Texas.
In this episode, Cory breaks down how he builds trust with elite athletes, why velocity-based training gets misunderstood, his approach to rotational training for quarterbacks and specialists, and how he reads leadership before he ever reads a lift.
The standard is the standard. This is what competency looks like at the highest level.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
1 hr 1 min
August 27 139 - 5 Tools for Freshman Athletes: Surviving & Thriving Your First College Season
Every incoming freshman was the best player on their high school team. Then they show up on campus and find out everyone else was too.
This episode breaks down 5 real tools for freshman athletes entering their first college season. Redefining your role before day one. Building a support system before you need it. Mastering the schedule nobody warns you about. Managing your body like it's your job. And getting comfortable being coached hard.
These are the habits that separate freshmen who survive year one from freshmen who use it to start becoming leaders.
Send this to an incoming freshman athlete before fall camp.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
28 min
August 18 138 - Staying Within Striking Distance w/ Bo Sandoval
Bo Sandoval has spent three decades coaching everyone from Olympic wrestlers to UFC champions, and he says the secret was never chasing peak performance. It was staying within striking distance.
In this episode of Captains & Coaches, Bo traces his path from a moldy weight room at a small Mississippi college to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to nearly a decade inside the UFC Performance Institute, now teaching the next generation at Texas A&M. Along the way, he unpacks what self-leadership actually looks like: positioning yourself as a helper before an expert, drawing the line between shame and guilt when athletes mess up, and putting a governor on your own emotions before you try to lead anyone else's.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
54 min
August 12 137 - Ask the Coach: S&C Q&A Live at the Soldiers to Sidelines Summit
Live from the 2nd Annual Soldiers to Sidelines Coaching Summit: the Ask the Coach panel, unscripted and unfiltered.
Moderator Johanna Zabal hands the mic to the room, and Tex, Nate Palin, and Kat Oswald field whatever comes, from youth lifting age and PVC-pipe progressions to burnout, creative play, and how the military trains athletes with no off-season. Real questions from real coaches, answered live.
Topics covered: youth strength training age, rep max vs. percentage-based programming, in-season maintenance for football and soccer, athlete burnout and cognitive recovery, creative play in long-term development, force plates and asymmetry testing in military athletes, and mental imagery for performance.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
1 hr 1 min
August 07 136 - When Perfect Breaks, What Emerges w/ Erica Lowery
Erica Lowery is a strength and conditioning coach at South Alabama working with volleyball and soccer. She's also a former Division I libero, a two-time Apex Games competitor, and a USA Bobsled camp invitee. This episode covers all of it.
Erica walks through her transfer from Texas A&M to Liberty University and the confidence she rebuilt there. She talks about her first year as a college strength coach, the exhaustion of trying to be perfect, and the moment she stopped performing for her athletes and started showing up as herself. That decision changed everything about how she coaches.
This conversation is about the gap between who you think you should be and who you actually are, and what happens when you finally close it.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
54 min
July 31 135 - Coaching Crisis: Lacrosse Roundtable Live at Soldiers to Sidelines Summit
Live from the 2nd Annual Soldiers to Sidelines Coaching Summit in Nashville, this lacrosse roundtable tackles the coaching crisis head-on: the pathway from playing to coaching, why coaches are leaving the profession, and what it takes to stay in it for the long haul.
Joining Tex: Harrison Bernstein, Founder and CEO of Soldiers to Sidelines; Jon Basti, Head Coach at Sacred Heart University; Ryan Wellner, Defensive Coordinator at Notre Dame; and Chayse Ierlan, Director of Operations at Johns Hopkins.
The group unpacks why playing experience doesn't guarantee coaching skill, the pressures pulling young coaches out of the game, and the psychology behind why athletes, and coaches, stay committed. Harrison breaks down the research on self-efficacy, hope, and realistic optimism, and the group shares the mentors and moments that shaped how they lead today.
A conversation about why the best coaches never stop training, even at the top of their game.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
1 hr 10 min
July 24 134 - The Language Arts of Coaching w/ Nick Winkelman
Nick Winkelman wrote the book on coaching language. Literally. The Language of Coaching has become required reading for anyone who talks to athletes for a living.
The Language of Coaching: https://amzn.to/4gUKhjU
In this episode, recorded live at the NSCA National Conference, Nick breaks down the difference between informing and cueing. Most coaches give too much information and not enough focus. Nick explains why that gap kills performance in the moment that matters most. We dig into internal versus external cues.
Nick makes the case for external focus using a symphony conductor as the model. One clear idea organizes the whole system. Too many internal cues just create noise. Nick also unpacks his 3D cueing model. Distance. Direction. Description. Three ingredients that turn a vague cue into something an athlete can actually use in real time.
We close on analogy. Not as a coaching trick, but as the actual mechanism the brain uses to learn anything new.
This episode applies whether you coach lacrosse, baseball, or the weight room. The language you use is the lens your athlete sees through. Choose it on purpose.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
35 min
July 22 133 - Fall to the Level of Your Leader
Advocacy + Inquiry = How Real Captains Lead
Where did you learn to lead? Most first-time captains never got taught. They just copied whatever they saw growing up, a parent, an older sibling, a coach from another sport. But copying what you saw isn't the same as leading well.
In this episode, Tex breaks down two models of leadership behavior from the research of Argyris and Schön: the self-protective Model 1, and the open, trust-building Model 2. You'll learn the difference between advocacy and inquiry, why single-loop learning keeps teams stuck, and three questions every captain needs to ask themselves this week.
If you're a first-time captain, or you coach one, this episode is for you.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - 15 Min Dynamic Warm Up Flow - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/warmupflow Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
20 min