The Rising Coaches Podcast

Gabe Lazo is the Assistant Women’s Coach at the University of Tennessee. Coach Lazo has made various stops after his playing career ended at Barry University in a variety of roles including Florida International University, Stony Brook, George Washington, Mississippi State and currently Tennessee. Coach Lazo has an extensive background at a variety of levels while working his way up in the industry. This episode we talk about building your coaching philosophy, a division 1 coaches tips on recruiting and best practices to move up in the industry.

Dave Saur is the current Head Women’s Coach at Chatham University. Coach Saur has a strong coaching background starting in the Division 3 ranks and working his way up the chain, holding roles at schools including Thiel College, California University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Stetson University, UMass Lowell, University Louisiana at Monroe and Chatham University, where he recently led his team to a PAC championship and Head Coach of the year award. In this episode we learn about some advice on moving up in the industry, utilizing your network to its fullest and creating a culture as a head coach.

Chad Boudreau is the current Head Coach at Western Illinois University. As a head coach, Boudreau holds an overall record of 97-33 holding 3 consecutive conference regular season titles in four years as well as recently earning a spot as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall award as being one of the top first year head coaches in Division 1. Prior to his head coaching career Boudreau started out at Hannibal-LaGrange as a women’s Graduate Assistant Coach. He would soon work his way to Indian Hills, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Western Illinois as an assistant. Soon to be the head coach of Highland Community College and where he stands now, Western Illinois University.

Jon Vanderwal is the current head coach at Marietta College. Coach Vanderwal has grown a strong history at Marietta college raising the program from the bottom of the conference to now being a Nationally ranked D3 powerhouse under his tenure. Vanderwal has a head coaching record of 313-126 with a 72% winning percentage over his 17 year reign at Marietta as well as being presented the Glenn Robinson Award as the top division III coach in the nation.Vanderwal has also been awarded 4 coach of the year awards in the OAC as well as 4 Region Coach of the year awards while averaging 23.3 wins and 5.5 losses from the 2011-2022 seasons.We are honored to chat with such a strong division 3 coach.

Ronnie Burrell is the current assistant coach with the Portland Trailblazers. Following an extensive 15 year professional playing career including France and Germany, Coach Burrell would step into a Graduate Assistant Role with Florida Atlantic University as his first role as a coach. Following FAU he would take on various positions at IMG Academy, Brooklyn Nets, Long Island Nets, Chicago Bulls, College Park Skyhawks, and currently the Portland Trail Blazers. Coach Burrell has a tremendous coaching background while continuously moving up the chain on top of winning the NBA G League coach of the year award in 2023 with the Long Island Nets.

Jesse Reed is the current head coach at Franklin Regional High School. Coach Reed had a stand out career at American University and was one of the top players in the state of Pennsylvania coming out of High School. Following Coach Reed’s collegiate career he played a brief stint in Europe then found himself starting his coaching career for Saint Vincent College and then to Carnegie Mellon University which would lead him to where he stands now. While at Franklin Regional, Reed has grown the program to new heights, while recently going 27-4, setting school records and winning Coach of the Year accolades, only in his 3rd season as a head coach.

God Shammgod Jr. is the current Player Development coach with the Boston Celtics, Coach God Shammgod Jr.. Coach Shammgod started his coaching career after his playing career ended at Fairmont State where he played under head coach Jerrod Calhoun. As a coach he would hold a brief stint at Youngstown State and then back to Fairmont State. Coach Shammgod would soon transition back to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, soon to make it into the G league with the 76ers at the Delaware Blue Coats and where he stands now, a player development coach with the Boston Celtics. We are excited to learn from a young coach with a tremendous basketball background.

We have a unique turn as we are celebrating our 100th episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast! It's hard to believe we've reached this incredible milestone, and we couldn’t have done it without you, our amazing listeners. Over the course of these 100 episodes, we’ve explored, learned, and connected with so many incredible coaches at all levels in the profession. Today’s episode is a special celebration where we talk about some of the best takeaways we have learned from previous guests including the best advice for coaches to move up in the industry, most unique journeys we have covered and much more! Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning or joined us recently, we’re so grateful you’re here to mark this milestone. So let's dive into this celebratory 100th episode!

Joe Gallo is the head coach at Merrimack College. Coach Gallo capped Merrimack’s final years in division II with 3 NCAA tournament appearances and snapped a 19 year championship drought, along with his 143-98 head coaching record at a nearly 60% win-loss ratio. Following Gallo’s playing career at Merrimack, he moved a few inches over to another seat allowing him to start his assistant coaching career. Following 4 years he moved on to Dartmouth and Robert Morris both in the assistant roles until he got the head job back at Merrimack. Coach Gallo has propelled his teams to 3 regular season championships and 2 tournament titles including a variety of Coach of the year awards. We are excited to speak with a young but great coach in the industry.

Chad Murray is the current head coach at Pacific Lutheran University. Coach Murray stepped into coaching after his playing career finished at Chapman University. His first coaching gig came about at North Central College then into Vassar College and Nebraska Wesleyan University in the assistant roles. Coach Murray then stepped into his first head coaching gig at Cornell College which would eventually lead him into his head role at Pacific Lutheran University. Coach Murray would help the Lutes reach their first league championship since 1986 and claiming the NWC Coach of the Year award.