#037.  Ladies and Gentlemen...Corinne and I have been looking forward to this episode since the moment we started this podcast. This is where it all began in my journey to become a Head Football Coach. I would like to introduce to you my Mom and Dad, Laing and Holly Stevens.

They have a powerful story of love and forgiveness, restoration and perseverance. Laing has been a coach for 45+ years. He owns two CIF Southern section titles, multiple Coach of the Year awards, and has left an indelible legacy across Southern California with all of lives he has touched.

Holly raised four children during all of this and showed us all how to love and sacrifice for her husband as she freed him up to work his calling in life. There are women all over the USA who have done this, and done it very well, but not as good as my Mom! (Yeah, I'm a little biased). Listen to hear how she gets through the tough times, but also how she supports Dad's mission and purpose.

Their "together story" is one that can be made for TV! For those of you that know my parents would think automatically that it was my Dad who pursued and wooed my Mom. Not the case! We found out that it was actually Holly who made the decisive move to let  Dad know that he was the one. You got to hear to believe it.

Laing's Head Coaching resume':

• Garden Grove (early to mid 70's)
• Ontario Christian (late 70's to early 80's) including a CIF Championship in 1978
• Nogales (mid to late 80's)
• Ayala (he opened the school as it's Athletic Director in the early 90's, and then did a one year transition year as Head ball Coach in '97)
• Ontario Christian (early 2000's) including a CIF Championship in 2002
• Calvary Chapel Murrieta (2007)

He has also been an assistant at these and other schools where his impact was felt. There was a couple of years he took to be involved on staff at his church

#036.  Arguably one of the greatest Father - Son coaching teams in California, and maybe the nation. Joe and Herb Meyer have spent their entire football coaching careers in San Diego, California. Herb is on the "Mount Rushmore" of California high school football with 338 total wins (only three coaches have accomplished this to date) and 10 CIF titles in his career that spans from 1959 - 2003. The Southern California Football Coaches Association has an award named after him called the "Herb Meyer Distinguished Service Award"

Coach Herb Meyer Coaches Choice library of football videos/clinics.

Joe Meyer:

• Was a Gilman Gear West Coast Rep
• Served at the Terry Donahue California Showcase as a QB Coach from 2016-2020
• Coached with his Dad, Herb, at El Camino HS from 1984-2003 and won 6 CIF titles
• After El Camino, Joe went on to coach at Rancho Buena Vista High School from 2004-2006 as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach.  Then went back to coach at RBV from 2014-2019 and serve as the Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator where they made the playoffs 3 out of the 4 years.
• From 2007-2009 Joe coached at Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad as the Middle School Math Teacher and Athletic Director.  He also was the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach.  In his time there he helped coach the team into winning their first  League Championship in 22 years!
• Joe also coached at Scripps Ranch High School from 2010-2014 as the Athletic Director and the Heach Coach/Offensive Coordinator.

Twitter: @FBCoachMeyer

Herb Meyer:

• Herb served as the Head Football Coach at Oceanside and El Camino High Schools from 1959 to 2003. Over his illustrious career, Herb garnered three hundred and thirty- eight victories, winning ten CIF Championships. His career has been decorated with countless awards. 
• He was named the National Coach of the Year by the High School Coaches of America in 1975. In 1978, Herb was named the National District eight Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association. 
• In 2003, he received the All-American High School Coach Award from the All American Football Foundation. Herb was named the California State Coach of the Year three times: in 1978 by the National High School Coaches Association and the California Coaches Association; and in 1991 by CalHi Prep Sports. 
• In 1995, Coach Meyer received the National Federation of High Schools Association’s Citation Award and the State CIF Distinguished Service Award. This is just a short list of awards and recognition that Coach Meyer has earned over his career. 
• When he retired in 2003, Herb had won the most games in California and was the first to reach three hundred victories. He remains the only coach to gain one hundred wins at two different schools and is the only coach in the San Diego Section to win ten CIF Championships.

#035. PJ and Kristin Gibbs have a fascinating and intriguing story.  

Palmetto Ridge High School in Naples Florida. Coach Gibbs' Defensive Unit was the #1 Ranked Defense in SWFL this year allowing 6.9 Points per game while creating 33 Turnovers and having a Havoc Rate of 42% for the season.

Coach has completed his 3rd year at Palmetto Ridge and has helped the team to a historical 2020 Season, winning their 1st CCAC Championship in school, setting a record for wins in a season (9) and winning the program's 1st playoff games in school history.

Coach Gibbs coached 14 years in New Jersey, mostly at his alma mater Manasquan High School, coaching all three defensive positions and becoming the Defensive Coordinator in 2011

Coach Gibbs is a Master Trainer and US National Team Coach for USA Football, having been a Head Coach for both U17 USA Teams (2018 and 2019) and asked to be Head Coach for the U17 Japanese Team (2020). Winning all three International Bowl Championships as the Head Coach in AT&T Stadium.

Coach wrote two books, "The Right Defense for Your Program" Volumes 1 and 2, both being on the Amazon best seller list for multiple weeks.

Coach Gibbs' Book on Amazon:  THE RIGHT DEFENSE FOR YOUR PROGRAM VOLUME 2: NICKEL PRESSURES, DEFENDING EMPTY, 4-3 PRESSURES, GAME PLANNING AS A DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR AND BUILDING A WINNING CULTURE ON AND OFF THE FIELD

Twitter:  @CoachPJGibbs
Facebook for PJ: PJ Gibbs
IG for Kristin: @kristengibbs30
Facebook for Kristin: Kristen Gibbs

#034. Meet Dallas and Becca Hartwell. Dallas is originally from Nebraska and served in our United Sates Army from 2005-2012. He participated in escort and security missions in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. He also worked for the railroad and was a plumber before pursuing a career in teaching and coaching.

Becca is originally from Costa Rica, and saw her very first American Football game when she met Dallas. She has her Doctorate Degree in Food and Nutritional Science from the university of Alberta, and is currently serving as a infant gut microbial ecologist and science communicator.

They have a wonderful story of how they met, fell in love at the Univ. of Nebraska, and then got married and moved up to Canada for Becca's schooling, and Dallas got introduced to Canadian Football. They moved back to Northern California in 2017, and Dallas currently serves as the Head Football Coach at Terra Linda High School where in his first season as Head Coach led the team to the highest recorded team GPA (3.15) in school history.

They have a beautiful daughter named Alice, and a sweet dog named Cookie.

Twitter: @dallas_hartwell
                    @BeccaDuar
Instagram: @dallashartwell

#033. Tammy C. Barnett holds a Ph. D in Christian Counseling.  She has served for over 25+ years educating, empowering and equipping people to self-reflect, accept that their imperfections are perfectly them, and overcome any challenges or adversities they might encounter.  Her professional experience includes counseling, mentoring and facilitating.  As a counselor, she offers hope to audiences who are struggling.  As a mentor, she has volunteered with young individuals at the Boys & Girls Club and local churches.  As a bible study facilitator, she provides encouragement to women who are married to football coaches, like herself.  In addition to being a wife to her husband of 25+ years, she is a proud mother of two adult children and just recently was blessed to be named grandmother as well. 
Dr. Tammy has just recently launched a social media platform on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter entitled, Unwrapping Imperfection which is dedicated to helping audiences who may be seeking a deeper understanding of themselves as they go through, and overcome, their own unique struggles.

Website: Unwrapping Imperfection
Instagram: @unwrappingimperfection
Facebook: Unwrapping Imperfection
Twitter: @TammyBarnettPhD

Coach Harlon Barnett began playing football in 3rd grade.  Grew up to play at the collegiate level at Michigan State.  He was a Four - year letter winner as a defensive back at Michigan State (1986-1989) and named captain as a senior.  Harlon went on to play in the NFL for seven seasons.  Some of the teams he played for are the Cleveland Browns (1990-92), New England Patriots (1993-1994) and Minnesota Vikings (1995-96).  Some of the legends he was able to be coached by were Bill Parcells, Tony Dungy, Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. 

Coaching Experience:
Graduate Assistant Coach at LSU (2003)
Secondary coach at Cincinnati (2004-06)
Secondary coach at Michigan State (2007-14)
Assistant he coach/co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Michigan State (2015-16)
Associate head coach/co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Michigan State (2017)
Defensive coordinator at Florida State (2018-19)
Cornerbacks coach at Michigan State (2020)
Secondary coach at Michigan State (2021-)

Postseason Experience:
Player-1988 Rose Bowl, 1989 Gator Bowl, 1989 Aloha Bowl, 1994 NFL Playoff, 1996 NFL Playoffs.
Coach- 2004 Sugar Bowl, 2004 Fort Worth Bowl, 2007 Champs Sports Bowl, 2009 Capital One Bowl, 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, 2011 Capital One Bowl, 2012 Outback Bowl, 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, 2014 Rose Bowl, 2015 Cotton Bowl, 2015 College Football Playoff (Cotton Bowl), 2017 Holiday Bowl, 2019 Sun Bowl.

Twitter: @HarlonBarnett

#032. We have Cecelia and John Simon on the show with us and we talk Faith, Family and as always Football. Cecelia is a Faith Based author, speaker and teacher who has written 2 books. One is a devotional called “The one day hope: A Christian guide to learning life” and her second book is entitled Married to Coach submitted to Both.  Cecelia’s heart and ministry is to uplift and encourage other women through her online community Coaches Wives Unite.  John played football for Louisiana Tech and then went on to play in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins.  

 The One Day Hope: A Christian Guide to Learning Life

Married to Coach, Submitted to Both: Sharing our lives with Coach and Christ A 31 Day Prayer Devotional for Coaches' Wives

Cecelia's Instagram
Coaches Wives Unite Instagram
Cecelia's Twitter
John Simon's Twitter

#031. Football reaches and impacts so many lives in so many different ways. And for RJ Feild, it reached him in high school, and he wasn't even playing the game. So how does a young man become a football coach without even playing the game? What kept RJ from playing the game? Who reached out to him and introduced him to the game of football? And ho did it change his life forever? Your going to have to listen to find the answers to all these questions and more.

A fascinating part of his journey is that Coach Feild has a special condition that he was born with. He writes an essay for a competition and won! It is in regards to welfare and what happened to him. He introduced a bill that was on the floor of the State Capital to become a law. Check out a couple of clips that explain "RJs Law", and how Coach Feild was making an impact in his community and state even back in high school.

RJ's Law on ABC 7

Assemblyman Benoit and RJ Feild on ABC

And here is a short video clip that includes RJ's mentor, Coach McGowan:

CBS Covers Assemblyman Benoit and RJ Feild

Since his high school days, he has been coaching in the greater Inland Empire at Jurupa Valley HS, Rubidoux HS, Riverside Notre Dame HS, and currently at Roosevelt HS (Eastvale, CA). HE has been apart of a CIF Championship team, and talks at length about what coaching has meant to him, and how he is planning to continue to give back to his community.

Coach Feild's Social media platforms: 

Facebook: @RobertFeild 

IG: @coach_feild 

Twitter: @Coach_Feild

The Friday Night Life

#030. Decisions determines destiny. A life mantra for The Muagututi'as. 

Halakilangi was a  5'7 160 pound safety coming out of high school who had a dream and a Coach who inspired him to follow that dream to be a Division I football player. And Lenora, as a young girl who moved 23 times in her childhood before settling in California. Their paths would cross in their late 20's, fall in love, and then the journey begins! 

In this episode, they share their amazing life journey as Lenora and her family had to walk through the tragedy of losing her brother, adopting one of Kilangi's players, his professional football career, and due to a coaching opportunity that had them living in two different states for approximately three years!

Kilangi played football at Mt. San Antonio College (1993-1995), and then from there went on to University of Texas at El Paso (1995-1998) where he earned 1st Team All-WAC honors and Team MVP recognition for his play on the field and earned his B.A. in Liberal Arts and his Masters Degree in Leadership Studies. The summer before training camp started he lost his father due to complications after a stroke, and dedicated his season to play for his hero...

After college, he went on to play professional football for multiple teams that include the following:

• Mobile Admirals (1999)
• LA Dragons Spring League (2000)
• Chicago Enforcers (2001) He was the 44st pick in the new XFL League.
• Mobile Wizards (2001)
• Chicago Rush (2002 -2003)
• Las Vegas Gladiators (2003)
• Central Valley Coyotes (2004)
• Hawaiian Islanders (2004)
• Central Valley Coyotes (2005)

Their story is genuine and unique. They have a powerful testimony of how love can mend and heal, keep them together through various difficulties, and drive their passion for student-athletes. They have developed an organization called "The Poly Triangle" to help student - athletes reach their dreams both academically and athletically. Lenora is the Founder, President, and Head Coach of the organization. Click on their link below to go to their website for more information:

http://www.polytriangle.com/

#029. Today we have Ordell and Beth Walker talking with us about Faith Family and Football.  I have followed Beth on social media for quite some time.  She has always posted such wonderful posts encouraging women to “Thrive in their Sweet Spot”.  What I love about her is that she has such a heart for her husband, her family, football and coaches’ wives.  Her posts continually uplift and encourage women all over the nation.  She has made contributions to online communities such as Friday Night Wives, the Glorious Table and just recently began her own community called The Mighty Network.  She is also an author of her book called “Lessons from the Sidelines” where she encourages women to Bloom where they are planted.  

Ordell Walker is a High School football coach at Urbana High School in Illinois who has made his way through the college circuit as well.  He just recently began a YouTube channel where he shares coaching advice, encouragement and insight on all things from coaching at the collegiate level to high school.  Ordell and Beth have been a coaching couple for 20 years and we get to share the bliss and blisters of this coaching life by sharing how they met, how they make this football life work and how they work together as a team. 

They have two boys: Elijah and Levi.

Fun Fact: Beth had the opportunity to give the Chicago Bull's kids swim lessons.

Coach Walk’s Corner Youtube and blog

Beth’s website and blog: Lessons from the Sidelines

Beth’s Online Community: The Mighty Network

Where to find her book: Amazon  + Goodreads

Instagram: Beth’s instagram   Ordell’s instagram

Twitter: Beth’s twitter  Ordell’s twitter

#028.  I have a special connection with Mark and Julie. Mark was my first boss coming out of college. He hired me in 1994 at Ayala HS, and I served under him for 3 three years before I had to go get a teaching contract in another District. In those years, we went to the CIF Division 2 Finals twice! I was spoiled to be a part of a staff that had multiple former head coaches on it, including my Dad and mentor, Laing Stevens. We were very successful because the men understood Mark's vision for greatness, and combined that with some outstanding talent, and we were good to go. And here we are, 26 years later, back at it again together on the same staff. 

Mark and Julie have a wonderful adoption story that they share with us, and a full family life that has kept them very busy for their entire careers. They also share the good and not-so-good times during the seasons, and Mark's career change to become an administrator for a few years, before he transitioned back to the classroom and the football field where he finish his career.

If you would like to contact Coach Pasquarella, his email is:

[email protected]