Leading Through Combat, Cancer, and Coaching: Brooke Brittain Season 6 Episode 7
Guest Host: Coach Bob Wager, High School Relations Director & Special Teams Coach, Texas Christian University Host: Chris Doelle Guest: Coach Brooke Brittain, Athletic Coordinator & Head Girls Basketball Coach, Mansfield Tigers
Coach Bob Wager — 30-year Texas high school football coach and one of Brittain's closest friends — takes the mic to interview Coach Brooke Brittain, a Bronze Star recipient, two-tour Iraq veteran, stage-three cancer survivor, doctoral candidate at Creighton University, and now published author. The conversation traces the life experiences that shaped her leadership philosophy and ultimately produced a book Wager calls "a leadership manual every coach should read."
Key Takeaways: • Military as an Asset, Not a Burden: When Wager hired Brittain in 2010 at James Martin High School in Arlington, she had just returned from her second deployment to Iraq. He saw her military service as a strength — an attitude she credits with putting her coaching career on the right path. • Jessica Lynch & the "Barney Fife Bullet": While serving as a military police officer in southern Iraq in 2003, Brittain's unit operated in the same area where Private Jessica Lynch was captured. The experience prompted Brittain and her four closest friends — the "Tough Guys" — to make a pact about fighting on their own terms, a mindset that carried into everything after. • Leading Through Community Tragedy: In January 2015, senior football player Carl Wilson was murdered. Brittain describes watching Wager lead the Martin High School community through grief — calming players ready to retaliate, building trust with local police, raising funds for a headstone, and ultimately walking the graduation stage to accept Carl's diploma. It became one of the defining moments that inspired her to study how leaders navigate trauma. • Relentless Optimism, Not Just Resilience: Brittain rejects the word "endure." Drawing on her mentor Dr. Brennan — former sports psychologist at Villanova during their national championship run — she frames the core idea: if you're just trying to get through hardship, you're doomed to mediocrity. The goal is to express your best self through the storm, not wait for it to pass. • Cancer, Coaching, and Delegation: Battling stage-three cancer while serving as a 6A athletic coordinator, coaching a nationally competitive girls basketball program, and completing her doctorate, Brittain learned the difference between winning and doing everything. Winning her treatment, winning her delegation, winning what was in front of her — that was the framework. • The Book's Origin — Red Sea to Leadership Summit: The idea crystallized during a deployment swim in the Red Sea. Years of scattered chapters on grief, grit, resilience, and struggle eventually came together when Jon Gordon's wife opened a publishing company. Gordon — whose book The Energy Bus pulled Brittain out of a dark time in 2015 — is now an endorser on her book.
Mentioned in this episode: • Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) • The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon • James Martin High School, Arlington, TX • Mansfield Tigers Athletics • Creighton University (Brittain's doctoral program) • Dr. Brennan (relentless optimism / elite human performance) • Texas Coaches Leadership Tour • Texas Coach Monthly (Brittain's first published article) • THSCA Leadership Summit • AnSRS (presenting sponsor)
Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA): www.thsca.com
Texas High School Coaches Association
Twitter:
- @THSCAcoaches
- @ChrisDoelle
Limited sponsorship opportunities are available on the show. Contact Chris Doelle at (713) 269-4620 or email at [email protected].
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