The Underground Huddle

Once per quarter, Ben and Sam Rogers with BUILD Coaching Company host The Underground Huddle - an interview with a prominent leader in sports or business with BUILD clients and other select guests present. All attendees live our mission to build an army of Disciplined Leaders and share our vision to be a resource for and a connector of current and aspiring leaders in small business, sports, and other areas of life. 

For the 2nd Underground Huddle, we welcomed Jesse Grapes, President of Benedictine Schools of Richmond. Mr. Grapes committed to serve in the United States Marine Corps the day after 9/11. He served as an infantry platoon commander and deployed for three combat tours of duty in Iraq, earning the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his actions. In his Underground Huddle talk he used a 6-minute video from HBO’s Vice News to describe the Battle of Fallujah in 2004, where he and his team used creative on-the-go thinking to ultimately destroy what was known as the “Hell House.” Encouraging the necessity to build “headspace and timing” into the personal schedules of the listeners, Grapes said that the way he does this today is through prayer, physical exercise, and continual learning. Mr. Grapes compares what we refer to as Disciplined Leaders to the “Ma Deuce.” A nickname for the M2 Browning machine gun, Grapes says that you can’t hide from a Ma Deuce and its impact should be powerful; however, like a true Disciplined Leader, it doesn’t operate effectively without proper headspace and timing.

The incoming freshmen each year for the Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) Division 1 Men’s Basketball team must “reconfigure their relationship with pain” according to the program’s Director of Sports Performance, Daniel Roose. A self-proclaimed “Off-Season Guy,” Coach Roose spent 2009-2019 as the head strength and conditioning coach under Shaka Smart at both VCU and the University of Texas. During his first stint at VCU from 2009-2015, Roose was a cornerstone to the Rams’ defensive style of play famously known as “Havoc,” which requires its athletes to be in outstanding shape. The type of player fit for Roose’s coaching always has “a chip on his shoulder,” and these are the types of players that defeated five Power 5 schools in the NCAA Tournament on their way to VCU’s first ever Final Four in 2011. In 2019, Coach Roose returned to VCU to work for his long-time friend and current VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades. According to Roose, the move was a no-brainer when Rhoades asked him if he wanted to “come home” while also warning Roose that if he ever missed his own kids’ games, he’d “get punched in the face.” Although his return to VCU in 2019 was with more experience and a larger focus on relationship-building, don’t confuse it with Roose’s goal for his players: he wants them to play “like a pack of Wild Dogs.” Doubling as a family man, Coach Roose is a loving husband and a dedicated father of two children – what TBL Coaching calls a Disciplined Dad. Listeners will enjoy this powerful and motivational conversation once again linking lessons learned from sports and business to life – an episode that is co-hosted by Performance Coach Larry Sanders (founder of TBL Coaching’s Disciplined Dads 90-Day Program). 

Randolph-Macon College head football coach Pedro Arruza arrived in Ashland, VA in 2004 for his first head coaching job and hasn't looked back since. Since his hiring, Coach Arruza has led the Yellow Jackets to three Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships and has been named the conference Coach of the Year each of those three championship seasons. In 2019, Randolph-Macon won 9 games for the third time in four seasons and completed a decade in which they won more games than any other team in the conference. A 1995 graduate of Wheaton College, Coach Arruza was a 2x All-American and held Wheaton’s all-time rushing record for over 20 years. An avid reader and believer in surrounding yourself with coaches and mentors that can push you to the next level, Coach Arruza points to one of his favorite books "Good to Great" when talking about challenging situations. In this book, author Jim Collins talks about "The Stockdale Paradox," a mindset which Coach Arruza has adopted in his leadership role. The Stockdale Paradox states that “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Mike Clark is the head football coach at Bridgewater College, a Division III program located right outside of Harrisonburg, VA. Currently in his 26th season as head coach of the Eagles, Coach Clark has won 6 conference championships, 164 games, and made an appearance in the 2001 National Championship game. Coach Clark’s teams have won 10 or more games in six different seasons and have gone undefeated in the regular season multiple times. In his 26 years as head coach, Bridgewater has posted 15 winning seasons; before Coach Clark’s arrival, the team only had five winning seasons in its previous 64. Coach Clark’s coaching resume began at Murray State with Coach Frank Beamer, under whom he also served as Defensive Coordinator for Virginia Tech for five seasons in the late 80s and early 90s. In his "fourth quarter" of coaching as he refers to it, Coach Clark has learned the importance of high-level leadership lessons like delegation and keeping a neutral mindset: not getting too high or too low. As he says, "Winners and losers are both imposters."

A 5-time conference champion, Hampden-Sydney College (Farmville, VA) head football coach Marty Favret says that the championships are great but what’s really important is that he has attended 32 weddings of his former players. A leader who strongly believes that having a sense of humor and relationships with your teammates and players are critical keys to building a winning culture, Coach Favret has led the Tigers to 131 wins since his arrival in 2000. In the three years prior to his hiring, the team won just four football games. A model of consistency for a long period of time, Coach Favret has spearheaded multiple graduating classes that have won over 35 games in their four-year careers and the coolest part for me is that I am a part of one of those classes. Coach Favret was my head coach at HSC where we won 35 games and 2 ODAC Championships from 2008-2011. Enjoy a great episode about leadership and winning with some reminiscing of the good old days mixed in the conversation. 

Six-time National Coach of the Year Glenn Caruso is the head football coach at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and says that in order for one to perform at a high level, they must have the ability to recalculate…and do so quickly. Since his hiring in 2008 at St. Thomas, the Tommies have won 126 football games and have made two trips to the Division III National Championship game. According to the St. Thomas athletics website, “Caruso accomplished something unheard of in college football coaching: He improved his won-loss record in each of his first seven seasons as a head coach. He inherited a Macalester program that was 0-9 the previous fall and guided the Scots to records of 2-7 then 4-5. He took over a St. Thomas program coming off a 2-8 season and has posted records of 7-3, 11-2, 12-1, 13-1 and 14-1 in his first five seasons.” In 2021, the St. Thomas football team will compete at the Division 1 level, a tall task that only coaches like Glenn Caruso would be ready, willing, and able to handle. Buckle your chin strap for this powerful conversation with a high-performing leader and coach who chooses to talk more about the good stuff off the field – family, daily actions, and eliminating apathy – more than he chooses to talk about his success on the field. 

Recognized by many as the world’s premier sports psychologist, Dr. Bob Rotella joins The Bottom Line Podcast for a fire conversation about attitude, passion, and grit. Dr. Rotella helps coaches and athletes in golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, and more and advises business leaders at large companies including Ford and Coca-Cola. In golf, he has coached over 70 Major Champions and as recently as this year he worked with the Miami Heat in the offseason who, as of the date of this recording, are an astounding 10-1 in the NBA Playoffs which they entered into as the 5th seed. Helping people use their minds and emotions to take them to the top of their chosen profession, Dr. Rotella encourages us to “Love The Challenge” and says that if you want to be great, you must be wired for all four quarters. 

Assistant Basketball Coach at Boise State University R-Jay Barsh “loves, serves, and cares about his players. He is filled with passion, experience, knowledge and purpose to help his team be the best they can be” according to bestselling author and renowned motivational speaker Jon Gordon, one R-Jay’s mentors and friends. Only 37 years old, Coach Barsh played on or coached multiple championship teams at different levels including high school, community college, Division III, and the NAIA before landing his first Division 1 opportunity in 2019 at Boise State. The secret to winning is in the relationships he has with his players. Coach Barsh says that in order to properly mentor or coach someone – you must have “The Red Carpet Conversation,” one where you prepare for and dress up mentally to allow someone into your life for ultimate accountability. To hold someone accountable, you must be prepared to ask the question: “What do you want me to keep score of?” Be sure to listen for tips from Coach Barsh on some immediate actions you can put in place to make yourself better, including his evening and morning routine…with nothing but his mind, a marker, and a water bottle. 

Past guest on the TBL Podcast Coach Kevin Sutton of the University of Rhode Island basketball program (TBL 024: Pro vs. Professional) hosts a weekly Master Zoom Class he calls "Living Trophies." These virtual sessions are attended by 25-50 sports coaches, administrators, and leaders across the country. In this particular class, TBL Coaching Founder Ben Rogers was asked to present. According to Coach Sutton, “Living Trophies are those people who allow you to impact their lives. They listen and learn, then they apply that knowledge as they live out their best lives. Living Trophies become positive members of their communities. They give back to others and start to impact lives of those they come in contact with. Some will do this on a small scale, and others on a large scale. It can be anything from showing sincere interest to those they meet, to creating foundations to reach large numbers of people in need. Living Trophies are individuals for whom you have impacted in a positive way, and they in turn become a person that impacts others.” **Ben’s presentation begins at the 2:10 mark of this episode.**

Markel Corporation has an incredible history in regards to its growth, the way it has adjusted to the market over time, and of course the incredible legacy of leadership in and outside of the Markel family including current Vice Chairman of the Board Tony Markel, who joins The Bottom Line Podcast. According to “The Markel Style,” a book that goes into detail about the growth of the company starting all the way back in 1917 when Sam Markel started his first insurance company, Markel was worth $35 million when it went public in 1986 and today it is valued at over $15 billion. The financial and philanthropic success of the Markel Corporation can be summed up by simply stating that at Markel, they “Believe in hard work and a zealous pursuit of excellence while keeping a sense of humor.” Listen in to hear Tony Markel & Ben Rogers discuss the fundamentals of leadership, business, and life and remember: “Being a market leader is not about market share.” Being a market leader does not mean you have the largest book of business, but instead means that people in business look up to you.