Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / 2022 USTFCCCA LIVE podcast: Alex Kline-MTSU
Transcript
- 0:00Yeah, you know, we named the podcast The Connections Podcast
- 0:04for a reason. Man, I love connecting with
- 0:06people and new people. And we got another new person
- 0:08here today. I love it.
- 0:10Introduce yourself here, my friend.
- 0:11My name is Alex Klein. I'm an assistant coach of
- 0:14Middleton State University. I love it.
- 0:17Alex, come a little closer for me here.
- 0:21So you're at Middle Tennessee State University which, so I
- 0:24have to admit something I do. You know, I've done this
- 0:26podcast, we're we're getting started in our fourth season in
- 0:29January and and there is a rhyme and reason to the guests that we
- 0:33have on the podcast. But I do feel sometimes a little
- 0:38bit of a responsibility to interview coaches that may not
- 0:42be around for very long. And that regret hit me a little
- 0:45bit with my dear friend Dean Hayes over this past year and
- 0:49his story is amazing and and I and I just.
- 0:53I kind of kicked myself of not being able to capture that for
- 0:56other people for posterity reasons.
- 0:58Man, love Dean with all my heart.
- 1:01He was great. I mean, he built his program to
- 1:03where he is. I wouldn't have a job if he
- 1:05didn't build, if he didn't build the program to where it is.
- 1:07And he he left a great legacy behind.
- 1:11Big shoes for me to fill to come in.
- 1:14If I could be half the coach. That the pack legacy behind.
- 1:17I mean tell have done a terrific job.
- 1:19Hey man. And you know Alex in an
- 1:23unenviable position. You talked about filling the
- 1:25shoes. You don't fill the shoes and
- 1:27fill your shoes and you build your own legacy knowing that you
- 1:30have the experience and joy of having known and watched him do
- 1:33his crap. So I just wanted to say that to
- 1:36you there, Alex for that. So Alex.
- 1:38So shout out to Dean Hayes, man. Love Dean to death and miss him
- 1:42dearly. He was.
- 1:43I was a young coach at Troy University and with C Dean all
- 1:47the time. He's always a selfless man.
- 1:50That's the best company I can give him.
- 1:52So, Alex, tell us about the convention.
- 1:54How many years have you gone to the convention here?
- 1:56So this is my first year at the convention.
- 1:58It's my first year as a coach, so you're smart guy.
- 2:03You looked at the schedule before you got here and it's a
- 2:06long schedule. What's one or two things that
- 2:09you circle that you were like? And there's no way I'm missing
- 2:11this. So I'm gonna butcher the exact
- 2:14name of the seminar, but it was the one for rookie head coaches
- 2:17and assistant coaches and kind of what it takes to become a
- 2:19head coach. Obviously I'm still young, I'm
- 2:22new to the coaching profession, but at the end of the day,
- 2:24that's the ultimate goal. That's the dream is to be able
- 2:26to have a program of your own and you know.
- 2:30Everything I can learn at this point that'll help me in the
- 2:32future. It doesn't matter how far away
- 2:34do you remember who, who's given that or who gave that.
- 2:37I do not. Yeah, that's a question.
- 2:39You got the knowledge. That's the most important part.
- 2:41Well, Alex, we're having a little fun here tonight.
- 2:42I've got 100 random questions, and they are, they're random, my
- 2:45friend. They're one through 100.
- 2:46You get to pick the number of what question you get tonight.
- 2:49I'll go 23 from my age. See all of us old people from
- 2:53the Midwest went us, Jordan, and you went your age.
- 2:56I love it. 23. You remember when you where you
- 2:58were at 23? I try not to remember that
- 3:02you're at half time. I'm 46.
- 3:03I'm. I'm exactly double your age.
- 3:05It only gets worse. Just so you're all right, man.
- 3:0823 Get out of my kitchen, man. What's your least favorite food
- 3:12or ingredients? My mom is going.
- 3:18To kill me. We're live and it's recorded.
- 3:21Don't Don't get yourself in trouble, vegetables.
- 3:25Especially the Greens. I thought you were gonna say
- 3:27like something. Your momma made Oh no, my mom is
- 3:29a terrific cooking. I cannot wait to go home to have
- 3:31momma's cooking. But I thought Mom was gonna call
- 3:33right now and cut the show off. But she But she knows just just
- 3:37a little bit of vegetables. Just just the bare minimum.
- 3:39Alright, So what are you? Are you a meat guy?
- 3:41Potato guy. She calls me the Carb King.
- 3:43Pasta, potatoes, bread. I love it.
- 3:47I love it. Well, Alex, tell us what's got
- 3:50you most excited? What are you looking forward to
- 3:51the most in this 2023 season upcoming?
- 3:55Just to be able to, you know, new experience, new school, new
- 3:59athletes and trying to see how far they've come.
- 4:01You know, we had a great fall training, made a lot of progress
- 4:05and I think the kids are ready and I know I'm ready to put that
- 4:09to relation to see all the hard work they put in.
- 4:11Well, you never get another first year so enjoy it.
- 4:15Give yourself a break. Meaning you're going to make
- 4:17mistakes. There's lots of coaches here
- 4:19have been 20-30 years and they're they're making mistakes,
- 4:21they're human. So give yourself a break and
- 4:23just know that it's it's going to work out.
- 4:25You're doing a great job. Thank.
- 4:26You, you, you learned from your mistakes.
- 4:28So absolutely, absolutely. Let's take a selfie.
- 4:30Let's do it. And I appreciate you coming on
- 4:32the live recording of the Bill Athletics Connections podcast.
- 4:35Thank. You very much appreciate you
- 4:36brother. How precious man.
- 4:38I've never my first year and golly boy did I make some
- 4:41mistakes. They say, you know he brought up
- 4:43a good thing he talked about you learn from your mistakes.
- 4:46Well, that was true. I would be a genius, but I don't
- 4:49think that's always necessarily true with with this guy here.