Jay and Ken welcome Roman Foore, assistant coach for Bethel University in Minnesota, to the From the Coach's Mouth studio to talk about his career as a men's fastpitch player, assistant coach for the USA Softball Men's National Team, and both assistant and head coach for teams in the National Pro Fastpitch League. Roman shares his thoughts on why he feels he's a better assistant than head coach, what it's like coaching with his wife Penny, the differences between coaching men's and women's teams, his approach to recruiting and developing athletes at the collegiate level and more.

Pitching coach extraordinaire Rick Pauly helps Jay and Ken kick off the new year right with a return visit to the podcast. Rick covers a wide variety of topics, from his recent presentation at the NFCA 2025 convention to the need to move to a "pitching staff" approach v. riding one arm all the way to some of his favorite tools for teaching to some of the new things he has learned and incorporated in the last year to some updates on his High Performance Pitching certification program. It's always a good time when Rick stops by for a visit.

Jay and Ken wrap up 2025 with a look back on some of their favorite episodes and guests, as well as an overview of their impressions of the first year of the From the Coach's Mouth podcast as a whole. As always, they do divert into a couple of pet topics too. The guys will be back in the new year with more great guests and insights into the game of fastpitch softball and how to coach it overall. Until then, happy whatever you celebrate and stay safe out there!

High-level cricket coach Prashant Patel stopped by the From the Coach's Mouth studio to talk with Jay and Ken about his career as a cricket (and for a brief time soccer) player in the UK and the US, how he got his start in coaching the sport, the steps required to become a youth sports coach in the UK (it's a lot more difficult than the US), and how the UK approaches player development in all sports. He then discusses ActionTypes, the original motor preferences/motor signatures system, and how it takes brain functions, personality traits, and more into account when developing a player profile so coaches can help their players improve performance while remaining healthier. (For more information see https:.//motorpreferencescoaches.com.)

Jay and Ken take a look at many of the ways the game of fastpitch softball has changed, what has been behind those changes, and whether they think it's for better or worse. Among the topics they cover are the proliferation of practice/training facilities, technology, pitching rules, turf fields, and more. It's a fun look back - and forward.

The always fun Linda Lensch of Greased Lightning Fastpitch stops by the podcast to talk about how she got involved playing fastpitch softball with (and against) many of the legends of the game, how she got started in coaching, how she got into competitive rowing at the international level, some of the amazing players she coached, and why she still loves growing the next generation of players.

Join Ken and Jay as they speak with 2015 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year and Women's College World Series champion Lauren Haeger about her career as a pitcher/first baseman at Florida and later in the National Pro Fastpitch League. She also shares some thoughts about pitching mechanics and the importance of a great changeup.

This week Jay and Ken speak with Lake Forest College Head Coach Joe Kinsella about how this former football player came to become the coach of one of the most successful Division 3 women's softball teams. He talks about how he got started in coaching, what he looks for in recruits, how he builds a winning culture, and what he feels his greatest accomplishment has been to date among other topics. He also shares a bit of his coaching tree and what makes Lake Forest College itself so attractive to student athletes looking for a high-level professional career post-softball.

This week Jay and Ken offer up their top 10 things coaches shouldn't do while coaching. Some are general, some are position-specific, but all are good advice drawn from their own mistakes or those they've seen others make. Jay also offers a bonus plea to coaches about their attire when coaching. It's a fun and informative conversation so check it out.

Jay and Ken were honored this week to be able to speak with former longtime SIU Carbondale head coach and current John A. Logan Community College volunteer assistant coach Kerri Blaylock. A member of four halls of fame, including the SIUC and NFCA Halls of Fame, Coach Blaylock shared how a chance phone call got her started on the career she loves, her approach to developing a culture, the importance of building a real rather than transactional relationship with your players, some of the things that give her the greatest satisfaction, and some of the people who had the greatest impact on her as a player and coach.