On Episode 14 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast, we continue our conversation about the Coaching Carousel in part 2 of our 3 part series. We talk about the process of finding jobs in all levels of the coaching world. We share stories about climbing the ladder as young coaches and lay out the requirements for someone looking to break into the profession, advance later down the road and the lifestyle demands of becoming a football coach.

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Episode References

Jerry Claiborne – head coach at Maryland from 1972 – 1981. He hired Coach Friedgen as a graduate assistant and gave him his start in the coaching profession.

Frank Beamer – former head coach at Virginia Tech (1987-2015). Frank rose in the coaching profession with Coach Friedgen at Maryland and at The Citadel.

David Cutcliffe – current head football coach at Duke University. David is, perhaps, best known for having coached both Peyton Manning and Eli Manning in college.

Ed Warriner – currently the Offensive Line coach at Minnesota, most recently coached at Ohio State before Minnesota.

Bill Belichick – current head football coach for the New England Patriots. Graduate of Wesleyan University (same school that Drew Lieberman attended), where he only played football for one only one season, but finished his career as an all-time great lacrosse player.

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Host: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Ralph Friedgen, Mike Teel

Intro Song: Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On Episode 13 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast we open up Part 1 of a 3 Part series focused on the “Coaching Carousel” and everything that goes a long with coaches changing jobs.

This is a 3 Part series because the “coaching carousel” is really the heart of the business of football and creates amongst the entire college football and NFL community every single year.

Coaching your players and making them better – that’s an art, that’s your craft and great coaches are able to perfect their craft, but for a lot of guys in this profession, their careers are defined more by the people they know and what job they can get next as opposed to the development and accomplishments of their players.

Although I personally disagree with that mindset, the bottom line is, this is a business and a fascinating one at that, where many times the most successful careers have launched off of a chance encounter at a coaching clinic or through a mutual connection and given someone an opportunity they never expected to have.

This episode is a collection of various stories about prominent head coaches and assistant coaches changing jobs, the effects it has on players and staff around them and what it’s like being on the hot seat, which will hopefully help to provide some insight into how things happen.

Tomorrow, December 19th we will release Part 2 of the series, where we will all give our best insight about surviving within the crazy coaching carousel and share stories about the ways we all managed to find jobs in our past.

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Episode References:

Mike Locksley – current Co-Offensive Coordinator at Alabama under head coach Nick Saban. Coach Friedgen retained Mike as a holdover from the old coaching staff when he was first named the head coach at Maryland in 2001.

Bill O’Brien – current head coach for the Houston Texans. Served as the head coach at Penn State before taking over in Houston He worked for the New England Patriots under coach Bill Belichick and alongside quarterback Tom Brady from 2007-2011. Bill served as Coach Friedgen’s graduate assistant at Georgia Tech from 1995-1997.

Doug Marrone – current head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Served as the head coach for the Buffalo Bills before being fired in 2014, where he was hired after serving as the head coach at Syracuse from 2009-2012 and a longer NFL stint in the late 2000s. Doug coached the Tight Ends at Georgia Tech as a graduate assistant in 1996 and then was promoted to Offensive Line coach in 1997 where he stayed until 1999.

George O’Leary – former head coach at Georgia Tech from 1995-2001 (Coach Friedgen was his Offensive Coordinator from 1997-2000). After his head coaching stint at Tech, George worked in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings for two seasons as the Associate Head Coach & Defensive Coordinator, followed by a 12 year run as the head coach at University of Central Florida (UCF).

Greg Schiano – current Defensive Coordinator at Ohio State. Schiano is best known as the “architect” of Rutgers football while serving as the head coach from 2001 to 2011. He left Rutgers to become a head coach in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers in 2012, where he stayed 2 seasons.

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Host: Drew Lieberman

The Guru: Ralph Friedgen

TSH Team: Mike Teel, Leonte Carroo, Gary Nova, Sean Stanley

Intro Song: Big L - Put It On

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On episode 12 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast, we continue the conversation we had last week about building team culture, but we focus the discussion more specifically on the art of motivation.

While a program’s culture provides the blueprint for the standards and expectations that players and coaches must buy into – motivating them to put in the work day in and day out to meet those expectations is what I believe is the true “art” of coaching and is what separates good coaches from great ones and can allow players to take their game to a completely different level.

Joining us today is former Maryland head coach, Ralph Friedgen, Don Bosco Prep head coach Mike Teel, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Leonte Carroo and fomer Rutgers QB Gary Nova.

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I believe that football is the single greatest mechanism in our society to prepare young men for life. Its lessons of leadership, love, sacrifice and hard work while striving towards a common goal are ones that cannot be replaced.

As long as this game is played by human beings, toughness and emotion will determine the outcome of every contest. And an individual's capacity for suffering will determine how hard he is willing to compete in order to win.

If he has exhausted himself in his preparation, then he will be equipped with poise when the crucial moment that he has been training for occurs.

In these moments that others perceive to be "high stress," poise and cool-headedness are the most sought-after characteristics, as they allow him to execute his job with a clear mind, which precedes any physical abilities he may have.

None of this matters, however, without one thing: LOVE.

Love is what defines our purpose. Love is what determines our motivation.

Our love for our family in the locker room, our love for our family watching us play, and our love for the game itself is what creates the foundation for everything that we do.

The game of football and the game of life are built around FIGHTING FOR WHAT YOU LOVE. The love and the bond that we share is what forces us to show up to practice every damn day without excuse.

Just as the love for your family will one day force you to show up to work every damn day without excuse.

Love is what holds us accountable to each other, love is what keeps us disciplined, love is what allows us to endure the pain and the suffering that is necessary to become a champion that refuses to give in.

That is the single greatest lesson that the game of football can teach a man:

Fight for what you love and never give in.

Because ultimately, how hard you are willing to fight determines the winners and losers in this life. I'll be damned if you don’t leave this family fully prepared for that fight.

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Host: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Ralph Friedgen, Mike Teel, Leonte Carroo, Gary Nova

Intro Song: Cam’ron – Hey Ma

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On Episode 11 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast, we talk about the process of building Team Culture in what is probably the most important episode that we’ve produced thus far.

Establishing a winning culture and constantly enforcing it every day is the most crucial job of every football coach and the foundation for every team’s success or failure. We share our philosophies on building culture and discuss the differences between establishing culture in a position group vs. an entire team and in high school vs. college.

Joining us on Episode 11 is former Maryland head coach, Ralph Friedgen, Don Bosco Prep head coach Mike Teel, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Leonte Carroo and former Rutgers QB Gary Nova as we break down the methods and philosophies behind building a winning Culture.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Ralph Friedgen, Mike Teel, Leonte Carroo, Gary Nova

Intro Song: Mark Morrison - Return of the Mack

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On Episode 10 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast, Ralph Friedgen takes us through his 43-year coaching career with some hilarious stories and incredible insight about the business of coaching and the inner workings of the game of football.

Coach Friedgen retired in 2015 after a legendary 43-year career as a college and professional football coach. He was the head coach at University of Maryland for 10 seasons (2001 – 2010) where he finished with a 75-50 overall record, a 5-2 record in bowl games, 1 ACC Championship, a National Coach of the Year award in his first season and an ACC Coach of the Year award in his last season.

He also produced 3 Top-Ten draft picks during that time: Shawne Merriman, Vernon Davis and Darius Heyward-Bey.

Prior to that, he won the Broyles award in 1999 as the OC at Georgia Tech, which is awarded to the top Assistant coach in all of college football.

He coached in Super Bowl 29 as the OC for the San Diego chargers in 1995 and won a National Championship as the OC at Georgia Tech in 1990.

Within the coaching world, stories about "The Fridge" are as legendary as his passion for winning. Known for demanding perfection of his players and stopping at nothing to achieve it, his teams took pride in being prepared and playing tough, while loving each other during the process.

Most of the material for this episode was from our first ever conversation for The Sideline Hustle last May, which I recorded from my phone while sitting next to him on his couch in Charleston, SC with his wonderful wife Gloria.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Ralph Friedgen

Intro Song: Nappy Roots - "Good Day"

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

The Sideline Hustle Podcast is back! We took about a month hiatus while Coach Liebs finished the season coaching his Wide Receivers at Wesleyan University, but Episode 9 is finally here!

We cover a lot of different topics and are joined by almost every member of The Sideline Hustle team. Coach Friedgen, Mike Teel, Leonte Carroo, Sean Stanley and Gary Nova will all join Drew Lieberman on today’s show and talk about our interactions with the fans as players and coaches, dealing with crowd noise on the road and getting booed off the field at home.

Managing a positive relationship with the fans is an extremely important part of being a player and coach in a major Division 1 football program and this episode will highlight all of the ways that we try to stay mentally tough and block out all the NOISE!

Hosts: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Ralph Friedgen, Mike Teel, Leonte Carroo, Sean Stanley, Gary Nova

Intro Song: Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper)

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On Episode 8 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast we sit down with Leo Ferrine who tells us the journey of a highly touted recruit chasing his football dream to becoming the gate keeper of those dreams as the Recruiting Coordinator at Boston College.

Leo was a standout high school football player at St. Peter's Prep in New Jersey. He went on to play Defensive Back at Notre Dame from 2004-2007 before transferring to the University of Delaware as a Redshirt Senior.

After his playing came to an end soon after an NFL tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles, Leo became a Scouting Assistant for the San Diego Chargers, a Recruiting Assistant at Rutgers and eventually the Director of Recruiting at Boston College from 2014-2017.

Leo tells his story of climbing the recruiting ladder as both a highly touted prospect and as a talent evaluator.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Leo Ferrine

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On Episode 7 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast we sit down with Don Bosco Prep Head Football Coach, Mike Teel. He served as the Offensive Coordinator at Bosco for the past two seasons (2015-2016) before taking over the helm at his alma mater. Before coaching, Mike was an outstanding Quarterback at Don Bosco and later Rutgers before being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2009.

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At Bosco, Mike finished with an undefeated, 23-0, career record as the starting quarterback, winning two state championships before attending Rutgers University, where he was a 3-year starter.

Mike finished his career as Rutgers' All-Time leader in Career Passing Yards and second in Career Passing Touchdowns.

He also holds the All-Time Single Season and Single Game records in both categories.

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In the 2009 NFL Draft, he was selected in the 6th Round by the Seattle Seahawks.

He has since built a coaching resume with stops at every level from Division 3 to Division 1-AA and one year as a Graduate Assistant at Rutgers.

In 2015, Mike returned to his alma mater, Don Bosco Prep as the Offensive Coordinator and helped lead the program to its 15th state championship that season. Early in 2017 Mike took over as the head football coach and his preparing for his first year at the helm.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman

TSH Team: Mike Teel

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On this episode, we call Miami Dolphins Wide Receiver Leonte Carroo. Leonte and Sideline Hustle co-host Gary Nova played together for 3 years in High School at Don Bosco Prep and for 3 years in college at Rutgers University where Gary left as Rutgers' All-Time leader in Career Passing Touchdowns and Leonte left as their All-Time leader in Career Receiving Touchdowns.

Leonte was drafted in the 3rd Round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins and he and Gary remain best friends to this day.

We sit down together as they talk about their journey to becoming College Football legends.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman, Gary Nova

TSH Team: Leonte Carroo

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman

On episode 5 of The Sideline Hustle Podcast we talk about Practice. We explore some of the different ways to structure practice, players and coaches share stories about surviving practice and we talk about the importance of conditioning.

We also welcome Wesleyan University Defensive Line coach, Sean Stanley to The Sideline Hustle team. Sean started at Defensive End for Penn State for 3 years under both Joe Paterno and Bill O'Brien.

Hosts: Drew Lieberman, Gary Nova

Guru: Ralph Friedgen

TSH Team: Mike Teel, Sean Stanley

Theme Song: Cornelius Plus (@corneliusplus)

Outro Music: P. Muna (@p-muna)

Background Beats: The Custodian of Records

Recorded, Produced and Mastered by: Drew Lieberman