Pro Mindset® Podcast

Zach Miller, a TE, was the 38th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft out of Arizona State by the Oakland Raiders. Zach played for the Raiders for four seasons and then for the Seattle Seahawks for four seasons during which he won the XLVIII Super Bowl with the Seahawks.

Zach shares with NFL Agent and Pro Mindset host Craig Domann his dedication to be a professional and focus his energy on being the best tight end that he could be. Whether that was in the weight room or in the film room, making plays, or doing whatever was asked of him as a team player, Zach shares he would do everything over again, even playing through injury. He tore both his plantar fascia in an NFC divisional game in 2012 and got injected so he could play and went on to have approximately 140 receiving yards in the game.

In reflecting on his Super Bowl season with the Seahawks, Zach shares that his head coach Pete Carroll, one of the best coaches he ever played for, talked about winning the Super Bowl constantly. Coach Carroll emphasized “never giving up on a play and never giving up on a moment because any one play can completely change the game.” That's how you build a championship and compete for multiple championships.

Zach gives his perspective on the difference between the NFL and college: “While the speed is different, the hits are different, the athletic ability is different, it's every week you're going against someone that's probably a Pro Bowler or a really good player. There is no offweek like there is in college. Some guys can just dominate with athletic ability in college but that is not the case in the NFL. You win some but you also lose a lot of battles in the NFL. You have to be good mentally (short-term memory has to be incredibly short) as you have to remember almost nothing of the play before but just refocus on whatever job you have to get done on the next play.”

Zach is a financial advisor for AWM Capital, Inc. To learn more or contact him, visit: www.awmcap.com.

Rebecca Smith is the founder and CEO of Complete Performance Coaching and Perform Happy. She has been helping high achievers thrive under pressure for more than 20 years. A recovering perfectionist, former gymnast, and coach, Rebecca struggled with mental blocks for years before they destroyed her gymnastics career.
Rebecca joins veteran NFL agent and Pro Mindset Podcast host, Craig Domann, to discuss the “flow” and the conditions present when an athlete hits the flow. The focus and fun of flow happens in a random fashion when the athlete is out of their own head and just playing in the zone.

Rebecca shares her life mission of minimizing and eliminating “fear” in her athletes so they can play with higher confidence. She suggests athletes should legalize failure in their performance so they can recapture the joy of playing the sport and naturally increase their performance and success.

Rebecca and Craig also talk about the following topics:
•How to build confidence?
•How to overcome fear and the fear of failure?
•How to keep your sport from becoming a job?
•What does it mean to design your own perfect coach?
•How to approach championship or Olympic-like competitions?
•What are the circumstances present when an athlete plays in the “flow”?
Rebecca’s deep passion lies in using an evidence-based approach that allows fearful young athletes to learn to trust themselves again. Her athletes learn to have a voice and stand up against the toxic culture of youth sports that has existed for decades.
When she’s not coaching in Perform Happy, she’s at the beach with her husband and her mini-gymnasts Ruby & Violet. Check out Perform Happy at www.completeperformancecoaching.com.

Coach Mike Riley has 27 years of head coaching experience in professional football and college football (San Diego Chargers, Oregon State Beavers, Nebraska Cornhuskers, CFL, AAF and XFL) joins Pro Mindset host Craig Domann and shares his experiences about greatness, obsession mindset, “it” factor, player recruiting & development, and the challenges and rewards of coaching football. Coach Riley played college football at the University of Alabama under the Legendary Bear Bryant and shares his take-aways from Coach Bryant that he applied to his own coaching career.

Coach talks about the excitement and challenges of coaching young men and helping them develop, as well as, encourage the players to feel an important part of the team regardless of their standing on the depth chart. Coach has many stories about his experience as a head coach and one was his appreciation for his "Saturday Soldiers" at Oregon State. These players started player-run workouts on Saturdays during the off-season in their pursuit of greatness.

Coach has coached several QBs in college who have gone on to play in the NFL and a few are still playing in the NFL. He gives his perspective on the importance of the QB to a team’s success and the attributes and traits that he believes are the most important ones needed for a QB to be successful.

Coach Riley’s philosophy is “Love what you do, love where you do it and love who you do it with!”

Drew Pittman, NFL sports agent, shares with Pro Mindset host Craig Domann his perspective on the agent business, best fit clients and the evolution of the agent business over the years. Drew and Craig were business partners for 22 years and have shared many experiences in the agent business.

Drew is the author of First Team Dad, Your Playbook For A Winning Family intended to assist men in becoming better leaders of their homes. NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dungy writes the forward to his book.

Drew and Craig discuss both the “it” factor and mindset that many successful NFL players possess. Drew shares a story of one of his clients who played in the NFL for eight years but started in the Arena League and his audition in the NFL was one preseason game with the Cowboys. His client turned a one preseason game audition into a career!

Drew also talks about the importance of relationships with NFL front office guys that allows him to get better feedback for his clients, get more money in contract negotiations and get critical intel from all NFL teams when he has a player hit free agency.

Drew loves to golf, fish, hangout on the lake with his family and he is an avid cyclist. He resides in the Texas hill country North of Austin with his wife, Layne, and has two sons attending Baylor University, Jake and Eli.

Aaron Wilson, Houston Texans beat writer, shares with Pro Mindset host Craig Domann his thoughts on everything Ravens and Texans. He shares background stories and opinions about Ray Lewis, JJ Watt, Priest Holmes, Hines Ward, Aaron Donald, Jadaveon Clowney and many more NFL players.

Aaron talks about the old days when the Ravens and Steelers had back alley fights with the feature card of the Steelers’ Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu vs the Ravens’ Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

Craig asks Aaron to play NFL GM role and describe his philosophy for building a Super Bowl Champion. Aaron shares his perspective of playing GM for the Houston Texans and plausible personnel moves and changes, and draft and free agency strategies.

Craig shares the Pro Mindset with Aaron and he responds with examples of players in critical games that performed on demand.

Aaron Wilson, Houston Texans beat writer, shares with Pro Mindset host Craig Domann his thoughts on his NFL media journey that started in 1999 with the Baltimore Sun covering the Baltimore Ravens and five years ago he made the move to the Houston Chronicle to cover the Texans.

As a seasoned NFL reporter, Aaron discusses his relationships, challenges and objectives covering NFL teams, NFL coaches and players. He answers the following questions: What is the toughest part of his job? Does he tell everything he knows? How does he develop relationships with NFL players, coaches and agents? How do NFL reporters keep score on their reporting?

Aaron talks about sports reporting in 2020 with the utilization of social media and links to his Houston Chronicle sports stories. He talks about competition from NFL Network and ESPN national reporters.

Aaron shares his press box perspective on the Texans epic loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 AFC Divisional Game after leading 24-0 and giving up over 50 points to the highoctane Chiefs offense lead by superstar Patrick Mahomes.

Former NFL center, Brian Folkerts shares with Pro Mindset host Craig Domann his nickname “Cave Man” and how he developed an identity in the Carolina Panthers’ locker room with his nickname and his play. He became one of the most popular players on the team embracing his identity and nickname given to him by teammate Jordan Gross.

Brian discusses his playing mindset to stay calm and focused when you are hyped up and amped up for a game, as well as, overcoming mistakes and bad plays. Brian’s mindset was “One Snap Erase” meaning move on to the next play regardless of whether it was a good play or not.

Brian talks about his favorite memories of playing in the NFL were interactions with his teammates in the locker room. One of his favorite teammates was WR Steve Smith who had the biggest mouth and ego but backed it up with his play on the field. Smith was known for his receiving skills but also for his toughness and run blocking skills. Smith fans wore t-shirts with slogan “Ice Up Son!” because he de-cleated opponents on crack blocks. “Ice Up Son” means find a bag of ice to put on your boo-boo from Smith’s blocks.

Brian is an entrepreneur in real estate and recommends people avoid paralysis by analysis and just review market & property details and make the jump. Small ball is a good way to get started. Learn on the go and learn by experience instead of learning from a real estate book.

Brian is hoping for another NFL opportunity but if that doesn’t manifest, then he wants to become a college football coach.

Former NFL athlete, 3x American Ninja Warrior finalist, and now professional speaker, Anthony Trucks, shares his point of view on the keys to being successful when life is challenging. Relating to both the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19 and the sports industry, Trucks explains self-growth and learning to adapt to your surroundings.

Craig Domann, the host of Pro Mindset, asks Trucks to explain the process of how successful people find their “roots,” or what keeps them grounded when life is trying. Trucks uses metaphors to explain self- reflection and the process people must go through in order to succeed, being mindful of their egos and pride along the way.

Craig and Anthony discuss the best approach to taking off after the pandemic is over. Anthony shares his 3-step process for change: (1) see the need, (2) shift your mind and behavior, and (3) sustain the change.

Mario Soto is a Sport Psychology Consultant (https://mariosoto.com) with an extensive background in performance sports, as well as, being a professional working actor for ten years earning his union status in all three guilds (SAG, AEA, and AFTRA). He holds a master’s degree in Sport & Performance Psychology Consulting from California State University Fullerton under the tutelage of the some of the most well-respected Sport Psychology consultants in the world – Dr. Ken Ravizza, Dr. Traci Statler, Dr. Andrea Becker, and Dr. Len Wiersma.

“Anyone can benefit from getting out of their own way. We’re just a bit overwhelmed by life’s distractions, the misperceptions of pressure and sometimes the inability of letting go of our past mistakes. It’s my hope to provide people with the tools and confidence to believe in themselves, create realistic expectations, and develop the discipline to stay on their journey towards excellence.” – Coach Mario

Mario Soto has worked with a multitude of teams, athletes, coaches, and artists at the amateur, Olympic and professional levels assisting them in dealing with stage fright, stress reduction, self-doubt and low esteem, improving performance routines, goal setting, mental toughness, focus, imagery and visualization, motivation, confidence, dealing with pressure, over/under arousal, team dynamics, cohesion and helping foster culture change.

He has lectured and consulted around the country on topics like
•Being a great sports parent,
•How to coach and relate to today’s athlete, and
•Turning yourself into an elite performer”

Enjoy the podcast and continue to develop your Pro Mindset!

This episode of Pro Mindset Podcast, hosted by Craig Domann, a NFLPA licensed football agent, is focused on the Black Lives Matter movement, which challenges systemic racism and white supremacy. This podcast features guests Michael Lehan (former 5th rounder who played for the Browns, Dolphins & Saints) and current assistant superintendent of 5th largest school district in the state of Minnesota and Greg Scruggs (former 7th rounder who played for the Seahawks, Bears & Patriots) and current defensive line coach for the University of Cincinnati.

This episode of Pro Mindset addresses some very challenging, but important topics regarding the generational and systemic discrimination that naturally results in trauma for the black community.

Domann starts off the podcast by asking Michael and Greg about their experiences as a young black man where they were mistreated by the police force or people of authority. Michael shares several experiences where he was discriminated against and made to feel like “the other” and felt like people treated him to be “less than.” Greg expresses how racism is undeniably real, proven by many experiences that he has had over his lifetime.

Domann switches the conversation over to the NFL realm, asking both players if they had ever experienced discrimination or racism on their teams. Lehan expresses how the business structure of the NFL creates rankings of players, making it a dehumanizing culture.

Both Michael and Greg talk about the hardships of intergenerational racial trauma, which is integrated into the NFL player experience. Bringing up current events and the death of Rayshard Brooks, the players share how racial trauma is deeply rooted in black communities.

This podcast, addressing topics such as the mental, psychological influences of racial violence in life and in the NFL, the athletes express their frustration that these problems are passed down through generations, continuing a toxic pattern of making black communities feel “less than.”