🎙️Andre’ Kidd | Ferrum College Head Coach

In this inspiring episode of the Gill Connections Podcast, we sit down with Andre’ Kidd, head coach of Ferrum College Track & Field, to explore a powerful coaching journey that stretches from field day footraces to military service and now to the collegiate sidelines.

🔥 “The ceiling keeps getting higher.” — Coach Kidd

Coach Kidd shares a moving story of perseverance, mentorship, and transformation:

🔹 From wrestling mats and 300m hurdles to active military duty and jumping out of planes

🔹 Building a track program from scratch at the community college level 🏃‍♂️

🔹 Learning to recruit, coach, and mentor — all while working full-time and raising a family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

🔹 Leading Ferrum College's transition from NCAA Division III to Division II 🎯

🔹 The mindset shift: turning walk-ons into competitors and teams into families 💪

🔹 Embracing mentorship and passing it forward: “You’ve got to want to be in this house.”

💡 Coach Kidd’s journey is a reminder that greatness in coaching isn’t defined by division or budget, but by heart, hustle, and belief in others.

🎧 Whether you're a coach, athlete, or just love a great story about leadership and growth, this one will leave you fired up.

🌟 Explore Our Library: Dive into 300+ episodes featuring insights from coaching legends such as Boo Schexnayder and Dan Pfaff, Diljeet Taylor (BYU) and Beth Alford-Sullivan, as well as superstar coaches Petros Kyprianou (Illinois), Althea Thomas (Vanderbilt) and many more! Find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more for your listening pleasure.

🎙️ Create Your Own Podcast Episode: Reach out to Mike Cunningham for instruction on how to create your very own Gill1918 Project episode, which airs every Tuesday through Sunday. Find YOUR voice on the Gill Connections Podcast Network.

📲 Stay Connected: Want to get in touch with our host, Mike Cunningham? Follow on Twitter (@MikeCunningham), email at [email protected], or text to 217-898-3038. We love hearing from you! 🎧👍

Recently National Business Development Manager Mike Cunningham attended the Business of Small College Athletics (BoSCA) Convention in Oak Brook, IL. While there, he captured amazing presentations from Athletic Directors around the country that we thought would bring value to our audience here at the Gill Connections Podcast.

We'll have five BONUS episodes in a row every Thursday starting last Thursday. We'd love to hear feedback from you to confirm this was a VALUE GIVER to you.

In the meantime, if you are a small college administrator, to check out BoSCA as we were thoroughly impressed with the Convention and the Organization as a whole.

Welcome to Gill1918, the track & field coaching podcast powered by Gill Athletics. Since 1918, Gill has been dedicated to empowering coaches with innovative equipment—now, we're bringing elite coaching education straight to your ears.

This week's speaker, Rob Wilson, is the author of the book "Check Engine Light: Tuning Your Body and Mind to Achieve Performance Longevity." Order it from Amazon HERE.

This book is different from any other health book you’ve read. It does not provide static protocols or step-by-step instructions that are meant to lead to a specific end point, because only you know what works best for you. Instead, it describes a new way of interacting with the dynamic and ever-changing landscape of your personal health. While all humans have some commonalities, each of us expresses our health in ways that are unique to our genetics, upbringing, personal history, physical environment, and culture. This complex cocktail of ingredients makes us who and what we are as individuals, and that customized blend shapes our health and performance.
In this book you will:

• Examine how and why people tend to ignore important health indicators until it’s too late
• Learn to think critically about your own health perception and how to calibrate that perception using objective tools
• Build a dashboard of reliable indicators so you have access to information about your personal health and performance and what might be in need of your attention
• Learn how to select the right tools and protocols for your performance longevity toolkit

Our goal is to create the Ted Talks of track/field podcasts bringing the annual track clinic to your ears DAILY! Topics will include but are not limited to covering key strategies, techniques, and training principles to help you improve athlete performance, structure better workouts, enhance team culture, and more!

Whether you're a high school, collegiate, or club coach, Gill1918 is your go-to resource for quick, high-impact coaching education from the best minds in the sport.

📩 Want to contribute an episode? Submit your 10-30 minute coaching talk to [email protected] or read ⁠⁠THIS LINKEDIN ARTICLE⁠⁠ for information on how to get started. All coaches are invited to participate!

🎙️ Don’t forget to subscribe and follow Gill Athletics for more expert coaching insights!

#TrackAndField #CoachingEducation #Gill1918 #ByCoachesForCoaches #TrackCoach #TedTalksOfTrackFieldPodcast

Jamar is the head coach of Elite Speed Track Club and IG Creator in Columbia, SC. He successfully coaches youth athletes through collegians. We're excited to bring his people skills to the Youth Series Powered by Coach O. If you’d like to contribute an episode, we’d love to hear from you! Email David Mitchell at [email protected] to learn more about how you can get involved and/or to give feedback about this exciting new series within the Gill1918 Project.

From Africa to Mankato: The Authentic Journey of Coach Brian Sebera

🌍 From escaping genocide as a child to shaping champions at Minnesota State, Brian Sebera’s story is one of resilience, curiosity, and intentional leadership. In this heartfelt conversation, Brian opens up about the life journey that led him from Uganda and South Africa to Canada and eventually to coaching in the U.S.

💬 “Authenticity is everything. You don't change who you are to fit into a program—you bring who you are to elevate it.” – Brian Sebera

In this episode, you’ll hear:

✈️ Brian’s childhood journey from East Africa to North America—and how track gave him a sense of belonging

🧠 Why observing basketball coaches helped him grow as a track coach

🎓 How he balanced earning his doctorate while coaching (and sleeping on a friend’s floor)

🏆 The culture of excellence at Minnesota State and why “winning doesn’t mean compromising values”

🔄 A rare inside look at transitioning from athlete to coach on the same team

❤️ His philosophy of leading with care, communication, and clarity

🌟 Whether you're a coach, athlete, or lifelong learner, Brian’s journey is proof that purpose and passion can be your greatest training tools.

🌟 Explore Our Library: Dive into 300+ episodes featuring insights from coaching legends such as Boo Schexnayder and Dan Pfaff, Diljeet Taylor (BYU) and Beth Alford-Sullivan, as well as superstar coaches Petros Kyprianou (Illinois), Althea Thomas (Vanderbilt) and many more! Find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more for your listening pleasure.

🎙️ Create Your Own Podcast Episode: Reach out to Mike Cunningham for instruction on how to create your very own Gill1918 Project episode, which airs every Tuesday through Sunday. Find YOUR voice on the Gill Connections Podcast Network.

📲 Stay Connected: Want to get in touch with our host, Mike Cunningham? Follow on Twitter (@MikeCunningham), email at [email protected], or text to 217-898-3038. We love hearing from you! 🎧👍

Recently National Business Development Manager Mike Cunningham attended the Business of Small College Athletics (BoSCA) Convention in Oak Brook, IL. While there, he captured amazing presentations from Athletic Directors around the country that we thought would bring value to our audience here at the Gill Connections Podcast.

We'll have five BONUS episodes in a row every Thursday starting today. We'd love to hear feedback from you to confirm this was a VALUE GIVER to you.

In the meantime, if you are a small college administrator, to check out BoSCA as we were thoroughly impressed with the Convention and the Organization as a whole.

Katie Follett is a National Champion in the USATF Road Mile and a World Championships finalist at 1500m. She competed as a pro for 13 years. Now she's giving back to the sport in many ways including serving a Mental Skills Coach to teams and individuals, speaking at clinics, and hosting camps as part of the Elevated Performance team. Katie also kindly is giving you this free resource: Elevate Your Mindset to go along with her talk! This is part one of a series on mental resilience that Katie will present here over the coming months.

If you’d like to contribute an episode, we’d love to hear from you! Please contact David Mitchell at [email protected] to learn more about how you can get involved and/or to give feedback about this exciting new series within the Gill1918 Project.

🎙️ “Less Is More”: Jeff Bovee’s 20-Year Journey at Illinois State

What does it take to lead a Division I track & field program for nearly two decades? Illinois State's Jeff Bovee joins us to unpack a coaching journey that’s anything but linear—spanning high school, JUCO, D3, and D1—and rooted in the philosophy that sometimes, less is more.

💥 In this episode:

🏃‍♂️ From Arizona’s heat to Midwest winters: Jeff’s start in running and the "desert van run" that changed everything

🧠 Early coaching influences and how curiosity shaped his athlete and coaching mindset

🛠️ Building Parkland’s jumps program—with no formal jumps background

🗣️ The impact of mentors like Tom Akers and Dave Murray on his leadership path

🧗 The climb at Illinois State: from assistant to head coach, and how he keeps leveling up

🧩 Why retaining athletes in the NIL/portal era is just as important as recruiting them

🧠 How vulnerability, humility, and creativity continue to fuel his success

🎧 "You’ve got to challenge your coach to be a better coach—for you."

– Jeff Bovee

🌟 Explore Our Library: Dive into 300+ episodes featuring insights from coaching legends such as Boo Schexnayder and Dan Pfaff, Diljeet Taylor (BYU) and Beth Alford-Sullivan, as well as superstar coaches Petros Kyprianou (Illinois), Althea Thomas (Vanderbilt) and many more! Find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more for your listening pleasure.

🎙️ Create Your Own Podcast Episode: Reach out to Mike Cunningham for instruction on how to create your very own Gill1918 Project episode, which airs every Tuesday through Sunday. Find YOUR voice on the Gill Connections Podcast Network.

📲 Stay Connected: Want to get in touch with our host, Mike Cunningham? Follow on Twitter (@MikeCunningham), email at [email protected], or text to 217-898-3038. We love hearing from you! 🎧👍

David is a Coach O Ambassador, longtime HS coach, and T&F announcer. He serves as the Director of Client Relations for CoachO.com and is the coordinator of this Youth and Beginner Series Powered by Coach O. If you’d like to contribute an episode, he’d LOVE to hear from you! Please email David at [email protected] to learn more about how you can get involved and/or to give feedback about this exciting new series within the Gill1918 Project.

🎙️ From Wrestling Mats to Track Dominance: The Journey of Coach Antonio Wells

This week on the Gill Connections podcast, we're heading to North Carolina to meet a man who brings grit, grace, and grounded leadership to the world of track and field: Antonio Wells, head coach at Winston-Salem State University. From his early days wrestling in rural Georgia to leading a rising DII program, Antonio's journey is filled with determination, humility, and passion for the student-athlete experience.

In this powerful episode, you'll hear:

🤼 How wrestling shaped his toughness and mental approach

🧬 Why a biology degree and dreams of pediatrics led him to coaching

💼 Lessons learned from Bass Pro Shops to NCAA Division I sidelines

🎓 The impact of HBCUs on his personal and professional growth

🤝 The power of mentors like Tyree Price and Coach O'Kelly

💪 What it takes to lead a program through adversity and rebuild with vision

🧠 Why being a student of the sport matters more than ever

🗣️ How he's building a culture of belief and stability at WSSU

📢 🎧 Commercial Break – The Gill1918 Project

Don't miss our educational podcast series: The Gill1918 Project. It’s the TED Talks of track & field coaching — short, insightful episodes by coaches, for coaches. Perfect for your ride home or pre-meet inspiration!

💬 "Being a head coach isn’t just about the workouts — it’s about creating stability and showing athletes they matter." – Antonio Wells

Whether you're an aspiring coach, a fan of track and field, or simply someone who loves a great comeback story, this episode is for you.

👟 Tune in now to be inspired by Coach Wells’ resilience, honesty, and vision for the future of WSSU Track & Field.

🌟 Explore Our Library: Dive into 300+ episodes featuring insights from coaching legends such as Boo Schexnayder and Dan Pfaff, Diljeet Taylor (BYU) and Beth Alford-Sullivan, as well as superstar coaches Petros Kyprianou (Illinois), Althea Thomas (Vanderbilt) and many more! Find us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more for your listening pleasure.

🎙️ Create Your Own Podcast Episode: Reach out to Mike Cunningham for instruction on how to create your very own Gill1918 Project episode, which airs every Tuesday through Sunday. Find YOUR voice on the Gill Connections Podcast Network.

📲 Stay Connected: Want to get in touch with our host, Mike Cunningham? Follow on Twitter (@MikeCunningham), email at [email protected], or text to 217-898-3038. We love hearing from you! 🎧👍