Timeout for Better Coaching

Mat Pistole of Bureau Valley High School has been in coaching for more than a decade, and never endured the kind of losing streak he is now enduring. Rather than get discouraged, he has drawn important lessons about coaching and the meaning of sport from his struggles. A twitter post about this went viral. Now, Mat joins Time Out for Better Coaching to talk about the lessons he has learned, and the important lessons that other coaches can take from his experience. 

Neil Duffy is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, a highly decorated lacrosse coach, and the assistant boys' lacrosse coach and head girls' basketball coach at Norfolk Academy in Virginia. In this episode he digs into the importance of culture, the power of a "feedback loop" with former players, and the creation of the Someone Special Night program. 

5:42 - Coach Duffy talks about the ways his former teammates and players are woven into his day-to-day coaching. This includes how he learns from his players have moved on to college ball and what their experiences do to enhance his program. His favorite question to these plyers? "What's your coach's thing?"

12:00 - The power of coaching in Sound bytes.

15:00 - How attending your players' weddings reshaped the way that Duffy approaches coaching.

20:00 - The importance of adopting the culture of the school that you're at. 

25:00 - The Someone Special Night program at Norfolk Academy.

Zach is the football coach at Nitro High School in West Virginia. He became a head coach at the relatively tender at of 29. In this episode, he talks about his quick rise through the coaching ranks, what he learned about himself and his players coaching through a season turned upside down by Covid, and the importance of diet for health. 

Butch Prosser is a retired high school coach from Georgia. He's been a championship football coach, women's basketball coach, lacrosse coach, and played a role in developing a training guide as part of a Olympic Committee initiative. He also talks about the innovative program he used to keep kids who rarely saw the field in football engaged with the sport. 

1:00 - Butch walks us through his career - from developing a love for coaching in his local parks-and-rec program that had older kids mentor younger players; to his days coaching championship teams.

2:15 - The importance of play, and learning to work out your differences face-to-face.

5:30 - The down-side of sports specialization. Overwork, no rest. 

6:40 - Butch was part of developing a handbook for physical education teachers, a project that was organized by the Olympic Committee when the Summer Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia. 

10:40 - Specialization in sport has had a negative impact on the ability of high school teams to recruit athletes.

11:20 - Butch talks about his favorite sports to coach.

12:40 - ... and his most memorable moments.

14:30 - The characteristics of a good coach.

15:40 - Butch discusses the ways he learned to adapt throughout his career as a coach.

17:45 - Navigating the coach/parent relationship

22:30 - Getting kids who aren't going to play a lot to buy into the program. He talks about how Monday was "Bowl Game" day for players who didn't get a chance to play on Friday nights, while the varsity team reviewed game film.

26:35 - On coaching and the importance of taking care of yourself.

28:20 - What Butch does and doesn't miss about coaching.

29:50 - Advice for young coaches.

Kristin Sheehan

Kristin is a program director with Play Like A Champion Today, which was founded at the University of Notre Dame. In this show she explores what her organization has learned about helping high school coaches become more effective. She also shares the powerful story behind the Play Like A Champion Today sign that Notre Dame’s players touch on their way from the locker room to the field. That story holds a treasure chest of wisdom for coaches and players and parents alike.

1:20 – Kristin discusses how she got involved in sports growing up, found her way into gymnastics, and eventually found herself on the cheer squad at the University of Notre Dame.

5:00 – Kristin talks about the history of Play Like A Champion. The significance of the finding that sports does not build character. The birth of PLC’s curriculum.

7:45 – Where did we go wrong with youth sports, and begin prioritizing winning over everything else.

9:00 – How the organization chose Notre Dame’s iconic “Play Like A Champion Today” sign that hangs outside the locker room for its organization. The organization follows the mantra. The significance of “Today” in that saying.

14:50 – Some thoughts on Coach Lou Holtz and the impact he has had on the organization. His cornerstones of Trust, Commitment, and Love.

17:30 – How PLC Today sees the transition from youth sports to high school sports.

20:25 – How coaches can ease that transition. The significance of communicating very clearly with athletes and parents about expectations and playing time. Developing a culture that loves every member of the team equally.

23:30 – The tension between high school and travel coaches.

26:20 – Learning to empower players who may not have much opportunity to play.

29:30 – The importance of letting the student-athlete to drive the recruiting process.

31:50 – Ways that coaches can deal with coaching during COVID.

34:00 – During COVID, don’t lose touch with your athletes. A better way to reach athletes.

35:50 – Project Play and PLC’s being honored by that organization.

37:50 – How to connect with, and learn more about, Play Like A Champion.

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.

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.