Timeout for Better Coaching

Eric Hyman had a front seat to collegiate athletes for almost five decades. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned All-ACC honors in football. Following his career, he began coaching - first at Furman University. In 1982 he moved into the front office where he became Associate Athletic Director at Furman. From there he went on to become Athletic Director at the Virginia Military Institute, Miami University in Ohio, Texas Christian University, the University of South Carolina, and Texas A&M University. His list of honors is long. And his insights into athletics are unrivaled. This is an episode that every high school coach will want to hear.  

1:25 - Eric walks listeners through his life, from his early days as an Army brat to his career at Texas A&M.

3:05 - Eric discusses his high school coach Mr. Miller, and the profound impact he had on his life. "It's not how much you know, but how much you care" is a motto that Hyman took from Mr. Miller and has carried it with him throughout his life. 

5:55 - As a coach, Hyman talks about an experience he had with a young man who taught him the importance of taking an individualist approach  to coaching and not a blanket approach.  Getting to know players as people, and the importance of serving them, and letting them see your human side. However, Hyman was considered a tough coach to play under. He also coached women's basketball and built a team from nothing to being ranked #3 in the nation.

10:45 - The evolution of women's sports as Eric experienced it as a coach.

14:30 - What have we lost and what have we gained in college athletics? Eric talks about the impact of money; the all-consuming aspect of college sports; the loss of amateurism. On the upside, there's the attention paid to athletes, the opportunities athletes have, the exposure to the world that they can get.

19:10 - What Hyman looks for in hiring coaches. 

22:25 - How close is the AD to the recruiting process of high school students? Eric discusses the ins and outs of recruiting these players. 

25:55 - Hyman talks about the ways that high school coaches can best help their athletes who have a shot to make it at the next level, and how to help those who don't have that opportunity. "Man's flight through life is sustained by your knowledge."

30:05 - Hyman talks about what high school coaches who want to make the jump to college need to know. 

33:00 - While the visibility of sports is as high as it's ever been, the numbers of people participating are falling at a disturbing level. Hyman talks about his concern about this, and the importance of returning joy to the game.

36:00 - Hyman on the importance of multi-sport athletes. 

37:10 - Hyman on the importance of giving athletes not only time off to recover physically, but time of to recover mentally and emotionally.

38:45 - The importance of having fun.

Jim Thompson is a social entrepreneur, a prolific writer, and the man behind the movement that has shifted coaching toward an approach grounded in "relentlessly positivity." As the founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance in 1998, Jim has helped usher in a sea-change in youth and high school coaching by teaching us all to prepare our athletes to win, and to be better people in life. 

It is my deep pleasure to provide this half-hour conversation with Jim that ties together relentless positivity, climate change, poetry, and athletes in a way that few people have. He also discusses his new book, "A Rope to the Barn: A New Vision for Youth Sports"

1:00 - Jim talks about the founding of the Positive Coaching Alliance, and how his time at the Behavioral Learning Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, steeped him in the concept of "relentless positivity."

3:45 - The Double-Goal Coach: Preparing players to win and be better athletes.

6:00 - Tony Dungee's role in the PCA, and changing what it means to be a good coach. 

8:15 - Research about positive coaching - Yes, being positive yields more wins.

9:20 - Phil Jackson as a model coach; David Bradford of Stanford on "Core values" and "Peripheral values"; the lesson of Dennis Rodman

11:50 - Jim talks about the favorite of the nine books he has written; the "Elevater" concept. The SOBER Concept (Stop/Observe/Breathe/Expand/React)

16:10 - Jim discusses the book he is currently writing, "A Rope to the Barn" - What that means, and how it relates to youth coaching. The importance of identity.

18:30 - Jim talks about why youth sports needs a new vision, and he ties this to the reality of climate change and how that is going to affect us all. 

24:50 - Covid and its connection to youth sports and to climate change.

27:40 - On Phil Jackson and his identity, and the importance of instilling that kind of identity in kids.

28:50 - Sport and spirituality - "The practical ways we orient ourselves to the sacred [things of ultimate value]" Poetry is one of the very best ways to discover the spiritual

31:10 - Jim on his new nonprofit - This Is What We Did

1:00 - Allison talks about how she got into coaching, talks about the difficulties of cracking into the coaching ranks.

3:35 - For coaches who want to make the jump from high school to college, it's important to not let that desire get in the way of finding the right fit. 

4:35 - Georgia has become a hotbed of volleyball, which is one of the fastest growing sports in America. Allison talks about why the competition in Georgia is so intense, and how the club and high school teams feed off of one another.

6:20 - Allison talks about the tensions between the club and high school coaches, and what the benefits of each are for the athletes.

9:00 - Allison talks injuries, club sports, high school teams, and protecting the athletes.

13:00 - Allison talks about the pressure of moving to college.

13:48 - Allison talks about Teach for America, what it is, and how it has influenced her as a coach.

19:00 - How Allison creates buy-in with her players.

20:30 - How to deal with players who don't buy-in fully.

23:30 - Allison talks about how she self-diagnoses her own weaknesses and where she needs to develop.

25:00 - How does one get better about dealing with confrontation.

27:30 - Allison discusses how she is helping her players deal with the uncertainty of college recruiting.

Roy Kessel is the founder of the Sports Philanthropy Network, an organization committed helping sports leagues and teams do good in their communities. Roy has built an impressive network of top-tier sports personalities, local community sports organizations, and funders who are committed to advancing social change, education, empowerment, and opportunity through sports. 

In this episode, Roy helps high school coaches understand the sports philanthropy landscape, and gives them real-world into making connections with organizations that can help support their work. There are no short cuts or magic buttons to push when it comes to raising money, but there are more and less effective ways to go about it. Roy will give you the tools you need to know how to start.

Roy's talking points and the minute markers in the show you can find them are:

1:20: Roy discusses his trek through the world of sports to the creation of SPN. He'll talk about his work as an NFL agent, the growth of the sports business world, leading fundraising efforts for high-profile organizations like the Rose Bowl, and how he came to develop an organization to helping athletes make the most of their celebrity and their desire to do good in their communities. 

6:35: Roy talks about the breadth of the sports philanthropy world, including the four broad spheres it operates in: 1) Leagues, 2) Athletes' Foundations, 3) Community based, grass-roots nonprofits, 4) Funders and Sponsors, including corporate foundations and private foundations dedicated to supporting Sports Based Youth Development.

10:00: How do high school coaches raise money? (How do you become an overnight success? You start 20 years ago.) Roy talks about the important of understanding the landscape you exist in, knowing the difference between "true sponsorship" and "goodwill sponsorship", and the importance of setting goals and targets, and articulating them effectively.

16:30: High school programs should learn about programs that are designed to meet a specific need, like the Sports Bra Project, whose founder Roy featured recently on his own podcast show. 

18:30: Roy talks about how coaches can connect with organizations that will support with their needs, and the role that SPN can play. 

22:50: If you coach in a community that is challenging socio-economically, how do you gain access to people who may be able to help you grow and expand your work?

31:30: How can organizations approach a foundation, especially one started by a local athlete who has reached the highest levels of success in professional sports?

35:30: Nick Saban and his coaching style. 

40:30: Sports Philanthropy World Conference

Javan Bexson lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, and is the founder of Underdog Coaches. Over the course of his high school coaching career he has coached seven sports. 

1:00 - Javan describes how he came up with the name "Underdog Coaches" and what the organization is about.

3:11 - Javan describes becoming a head football coach, having never coached the sport, and how leveraged technology to bring himself up to speed in the sport.

6:04 - Relationships, according to Javan, are the best part of coaching. Javan talks about how he builds those relationships.

8:30 - A key part of developing those relationships is to be vulnerable. Javan discusses the risk-reward factor of being vulnerable, and how you do that without stepping over the line and becoming too close.

10:50 - The importance of owning up to mistakes when coaching.

13:00 - How to get kids to buy-in to what you are trying to get across. "What have you won?"

17:30 - How coaches get kids to walk a continuum from finishing, to winning, to championships.

19:50 - The biggest difference between high school sports in Canada and the US? Opportunity

22:30 - The importance of learning to celebrate each step of the athletic process.

26:00 - Coaches can improve themselves by taking training in sports that they don't coach.

30:00 - Javan on what he wants his coaching legacy to be.

Megan Bartlett has a long career in youth sports and in developing resources and materials to help make coaches better. Today, she runs We Coach (www.weallcoach.com). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, We Coach, per its website, "works with organizations that are serious about increasing their social impact through sport. Our team of experts helps integrate innovative practices from the fields of youth and community development into sports programs and strategies." In this episode she speaks in depth about trauma and its impact on young athletes, helping athletes deal with stress, and the ever-expanding portfolio that coaches are expected to carry. 

1:00 – Her evolution in youth sports, the development of We Coach, and her work developing tools for coaches.

4:20 – Megan discusses the greatest problems that she sees coaches facing.

6:05 – Lessons that coaches can learn from teachers.

9:00 – Trauma and how coaches can recognize/deal with that. The dangers of a dysregulated child and a dysregulated adult/coach.

14:10 – When high school coaches have a dysregulated athlete who has suffered trauma, there’s good news. They can be turned around. The strategies are the same as they are for a child. It will just take a lot longer.

15:30 – The answer to too much stress isn’t no stress, it’s dosing stress. This is what makes sports such an important component in helping young people deal with trauma.

20:00 – How do we open sports for those who won’t compete at the collegiate and professional levels?

24:45 – How do coaches model dealing with Covid?

28:50 – How can coaches do a better job of managing parents? And how can parents do a better job supporting their athletes?

33:00 – Insights into how to work with We Coach.

Amy Manson lives in Boulder, Colorado. She's an accomplished athlete, as well as a program manager for Positive Coaching Alliance. For the past 20 years she's also been a youth Track & Field coach. In this episode, Manson discusses the role her coaches had in her development, the Positive Coaching Alliance and its approach to training high school coaches, and the important lessons that parents should know about the student-athletes they live with. Highlights from the show include:

1:30 - Manson was a "good, but not great" athlete coming out of high school. She explains the impact that her youth, high school, and college coach had in helping her pursue her career as a runner when she could have easily walked away from the sport.

5:30 - Manson discusses what the purpose of a coach is. She employs an "assembly line" analogy that puts the role a coach plays in any athlete's time with that coach into perspective.

8:00 - Manson discusses "whole person" coaching and the impact on both the athlete and the coach.

9:45 - Manson discusses the poison that can spoil the water in a coach-athlete relationship, or in a parent-athlete relationship.

13:00 - Manson discusses how to avoid conflicts between parents and coaches over an athlete's role and performance.

14:30 - Research reveals much about the coach-athlete relationship that is intuitive. That same research, however, shows that what makes for a healthy parent-athlete relationship is counter-intuitive. Manson explains.

16:50 - Manson discusses the Positive Coaching Alliance, what it does, and the tools it teaches coaches and parents to do a better job of leading student-athletes.

20:30 - What makes a sports experience positive for a student-athlete? Manson discusses.

22:30 - If you bring PCA into your school, what can you expect? Manson walks us through what you can expect to learn.

27:15 - Manson discusses what it is like to work with a PCA "Double-Goal" coach.

Nicole Ialeggio is an athletic trainer at Riverbend High School in Fredericksburg, VA. 

In this episode  Nicole explains the role of the athletic trainer at the high school level, the difficult decisions she has to make, what it takes to become an athletic trainer, and the things that coaches should know about the work trainer's do. Here are the highlights.

5:50 Mark - Nicole discusses the growing responsibilities that schools and districts place on high school trainers. She talks about the difficult decisions she has to make, what informs those decisions, and how coaches and trainers need to mesh for the good of the student-athlete. 

8:45 Mark - Nicole talks about the pressure we are placing on student-athletes and some things that need to happen to restore balance in high school sports. She talks about the dangers of overspecialization and year-round training, the importance of re-introducing the multi-sport athlete, and the need to restore fun to high school games.

13:00 Mark - Why high school training is more challenging and rewarding than working at the college or professional route.

16:15 Mark - Athletic trainers and the important role that they play for low-income students.

17:00 Mark - Nicole discusses what it takes to become an athletic trainer.

19:00 Mark - Nicole talks about the powers athletic trainers have in games, and the limits of those powers.

22:00 Mark - Nicole discusses women in high school athletics and some of the distinctive challenges they face as athletes and as trainers.

26:00 Mark - Nicole discusses from an athletic trainer's perspective what a great coach is.

Rodney Anderson has played and coached at many levels of football. From pee-wee to semipro, and from player to commissioner, there isn't much in this game he hasn't seen. In this episode, Rodney shares from his wealth of experience. Here's a breakdown of our conversation:

0:00 - 7:30 - Rodney talks about his many stops along his football journey, and the connections he's made along the way.

7:30 - 14:30 - Rodney talks about relating to players, and introduces an insightful look at what it takes to be a leader: "You can't lead if you've never been in the back."

14:30 - 28:05 - Rodney discusses what drew him to coaching, and then delivers a Master Class on the ups and downs that high school athletes go through as they follow their football journey. Through the experiences of his sons, he reminds coaches and players and parents that there are no straight lines in sports. And for that reason, it's crucial that everyone keep perspective about athletics and the real end game.

28:05 - End - More than a football coach, Rodney is a vocalist and an artist. Here he talks about how the worlds of athletics and the arts combine.