Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #173: Chad Balentine-Marion Military Institute

Transcript

#173: Chad Balentine-Marion Military Institute · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to season 3 of gila politics connection podcast.
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  See what today's guest has in store for us.
• 0:40
  Alright, welcome back to the guilty.
• 0:42
  Verdicts connections podcast, I'm a super humble to be your
• 0:44
  host. Mike Kennedy ham at where am I
• 0:47
  to go with Lennox? It's early in the morning.
• 0:49
  We're doing an awesome interview.
• 0:51
  You've already seen the Marquis, the name.
• 0:52
  I'm super excited to jump in. Help me welcome the head coach
• 0:55
  from Marion Military Institute in, really gorgeous Alabama
• 0:59
  because I'm that's why I consider home is.
• 1:00
  Alabama, help me welcome head coach the wise, the wonderful
• 1:03
  mr. Chad Ballentine, Chad, how are
• 1:05
  you sir? I'm doing great.
• 1:06
  My, how are you? I love it, man.
• 1:08
  I'm doing awesome. How he's my I don't get back to
• 1:11
  my what I call my husband in Florida, but I consider Alabama,
• 1:14
  my Homestay. How are things in my, in my
• 1:17
  great state of Alabama there? It's going.
• 1:19
  Well it's it's rained every day for the last three or four days.
• 1:22
  So we're dealing with a dome, a lot of rain but outside of that
• 1:26
  we're doing, well, we're trying to, we're trying to train and as
• 1:29
  long as it's not light and we're in for outside.
• 1:31
  So, you know, when we're recording this, there is huge
• 1:36
  like, unbelievable, flash. Flooding in Dallas.
• 1:38
  You're not getting that kind of Rain are you we haven't had
• 1:41
  anything like that. Yet.
• 1:43
  A lot of what we're getting is 2 steady rain?
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  What by the time? It gets it to gets to us.
• 1:46
  So hasn't been hasn't been too bad.
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  It has been cooler, though, so that's quite nice for mid-august
• 1:51
  and so nobody's, nobody's complaining about that part.
• 1:55
  So as I say, It's probably hard to believe but I played High
• 1:58
  School football at Alabama. And so these are the, these are
• 2:00
  the dog days of August right here, the preseason, the
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  two-a-days, it was miserable, we love drank those, we didn't stop
• 2:09
  practicing, they didn't, you know, Lot of practice, but at
• 2:11
  least it was cooler. Exactly.
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  Right. Well let's talk about something
• 2:14
  cool man. Let's talk about you super
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  excited to have you here, man. We you know, our goal is to
• 2:19
  uplift and honor coaches from around the country and we
• 2:23
  purposely work to get coaches from all levels, right?
• 2:27
  So we've had some are AAU coaches, High School, coaches
• 2:31
  Division, 1 division, 2 Juco, Nai.
• 2:33
  I think I'm to the point where we haven't missed a division.
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  So we know we've had coaches from Amal and the love that
• 2:41
  because it doesn't matter. The name on your chest.
• 2:44
  Maybe you've heard that from your athletes, right?
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  You say that wondering recruiting but it doesn't matter
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  for you. Coach, what name is on your
• 2:49
  chest? You as a coach, the person who
• 2:51
  chooses to be a track and field coach are important, and have
• 2:56
  amazing positive impact on young people.
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  So it doesn't matter. What division doesn't matter how
• 3:00
  many people are on your team, your story matters and I'm
• 3:03
  excited to jump into your story Chad.
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  So let's let's get into it. You know, at some point assuming
• 3:10
  that An athlete at some point coaching changed for you.
• 3:14
  It went from something that was done to you, you know, you coach
• 3:17
  told you to go run or jump this and that you did it somewhere in
• 3:21
  your mind. It had to change had to flip for
• 3:24
  you and be like, oh, wait a minute.
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  This is something I can become like, this could actually be my
• 3:29
  job to be a coach one day when does coaching as a profession.
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  Enter your mind. I would say, in my, in my
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  experience, in my Past and background in that kind of thing
• 3:42
  is. In the mentors, the mentorship.
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  So, you know, when in high school, when I finally decided
• 3:50
  to come out for track and then fell in love with it and Coach
• 3:55
  killing was a huge knife and killing was a, was a big impact
• 3:58
  and just seeing him being able to make an impact on our lives,
• 4:02
  as well as other teachers and coaches, you know, at that time.
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  So a lot of it, a lot of kind of happened during that during that
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  span, and then it was sort of reassured, you know, at the
• 4:13
  junior college level went out. When I went off to college and
• 4:16
  so salt, you know, Jason Marshall was such a, such a
• 4:19
  mentor, seeing his impact on on the girls on the girls.
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  We had only women's cross country and track and they're
• 4:26
  supposed to have a men's team to start at back at the time at
• 4:30
  Bell State and what it was that happened.
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  So we sort of ended up there on leadership scholarship.
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  Somehow me, me and a few others and so kind of kind of went from
• 4:39
  there. So just just saw an opportunity
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  to make an impact. Didn't really want to never
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  really had Plans to be a teacher or anything like high school
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  teacher, anything like that. But I saw the opportunity to
• 4:50
  maybe go into college coaching and decided to sort of take it,
• 4:54
  take it that route. You know, a lot of people don't
• 4:57
  know much. Like when you just said bevel
• 4:59
  State, like a ton of people just hit, pause to Google what and
• 5:03
  where is a bevel state it. And it's really funny for guys
• 5:07
  like you and I who know, bevel State and know some of the
• 5:09
  people that have come from bevel State.
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  How impactful bevel State, not only has been non obviously,
• 5:15
  Alabama and Education and Leadership but specifically in
• 5:19
  Track and Field track and field coaching.
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  So it's interesting that, you know, bevel stayed at the time
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  when you were going in no men's program in a women's program and
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  now I don't know if they re added.
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  Do they have no program now? I think.
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  Oh, they so as my journey went, I was able to go back and take
• 5:38
  over his head coach for a couple years, 09 through 2011, before
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  all the program, Was left for cut.
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  So they cut all the rest Athletics while I was there.
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  And so at that time, there was for sports remaining and but the
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  sense they, in the last few years, they have added back,
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  several Sports. And so they've started adding
• 5:56
  back volleyball and I think basketball and some other
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  things. So actually looking to add cross
• 6:00
  country within the next year or two as well.
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  So, there's some things coming, there's some things coming back
• 6:04
  around and you're right on that. There's been there's been some
• 6:08
  people to come through bubble State and become coaches.
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  I can name off, probably five or six, you know, at least just
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  right now that That if they're still coaching track and field
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  at a college or High School level.
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  So it's, it's definitely. And I was at Fortune, I'm
• 6:22
  fortunate know, every one of those themselves.
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  So, it's pretty, it's pretty awesome.
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  That's what I love about again. You know, 99% of people
• 6:28
  listening right now, have no idea about bevel State and the
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  impact that it's made on young people.
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  Not only young people who have gone on to become great coaches,
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  but their impact on more young people more athletes out there,
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  it's really quite amazing. That's why it doesn't matter if
• 6:42
  you are the Coach at University of Florida, I was use Mouse.
• 6:46
  Is my example. Exile of the death of your mouse
• 6:48
  on the podcast, lay back in the day, or now at Mary Military
• 6:51
  Institute. The impact you have doesn't
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  matter. Doesn't matter what where you're
• 6:56
  at. It's unbelievable, man.
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  It's really really positive. So you started thinking about
• 7:01
  coaching track and field because of people that poured into your
• 7:05
  life, you mentioned coach Killin, It coach Marshall, what
• 7:08
  was it about them? As you think back as your time,
• 7:11
  as an athlete under them in your time with them?
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  So what attributes are they have that?
• 7:16
  You kind of the kind of sound like you wanted to emulate?
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  Like oh man I want to do that I want to be that.
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  What was it about them? Well you know you know those
• 7:24
  guys and Ron Smith was it was a teacher as well that and high
• 7:28
  school that would or he's actually our middle school
• 7:30
  teacher in fifth grade and then went on to teach us in the sixth
• 7:33
  grade and and some of those teachers along that time just
• 7:37
  sort of their almost ended up being almost like older brothers
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  and sisters as we move through high school.
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  So you know, With all those people, we were very blessed
• 7:46
  myself. And the guys, and the girls I
• 7:48
  grew up with to have wonderful families and, you know, just
• 7:51
  grew up with, with great people. And we're surrounded by great
• 7:55
  people and our teachers and our coaches were phenomenal.
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  So what they kind of took with them was it was it was the
• 8:02
  relationships that they could that they could build with with
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  us and with other people and it, you know, you saw pretty
• 8:08
  quickly, it wasn't about them. That was about, it was about us,
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  They cared about us. And as long as we were good,
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  they were good. And so it was a matter of, you
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  know, kind of loving loving on people.
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  And and that was that's kind of been my bill the whole time.
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  I just told my athletes last week, that, you know, I've been
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  blessed to be a bit, some great institutions over the years and
• 8:32
  worked with some great people and colleagues and mentors and
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  things. And so, but my Approach is sort
• 8:38
  of always been, if you surround yourself with good people, the
• 8:41
  rest of it will take care of itself.
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  And so, That's just kind of where I am with with that and,
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  you know, in those guys were a huge impact, you know, and just
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  they, you know, daylight to dark and more.
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  So, and you seen it be well as you know, and as every coach
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  knows it's not it's not just a training.
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  If, if that were, if that were all of it, it would be a bill,
• 9:09
  super easy job, you know. And, you know, and, you know, so
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  we but you know what? Over 70. 75 percent of it is
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  recruiting and building relationships with with athletes
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  and families from the start. And you know, whether that's
• 9:20
  turbo, you know, back into their junior year on in high school,
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  or whatever. So, you know, just just seeing
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  their, their ability to relate relate to people and put their
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  themselves in other people's shoes.
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  And care about us was a big deal for for me.
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  And, you know, it's things that you take with you, you know, as
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  you get older and, you know, and you appreciate a lot.
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  You get older as well, you know, I think that's super important
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  in Bears. It's smart to restate what you
• 9:51
  just said there about that. It's not just the training, you
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  know, this, this profession, this Colleen of coaching track
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  and field on any level. By the way, high school college
• 10:01
  doesn't matter. It is hard.
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  You nailed it, right? It would be, I don't want to
• 10:05
  overstate it, but it would be super easy, right to coach.
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  If it was just X's and O's, if it was just show up on the track
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  for a few hours a day. Day and teach someone how to run
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  faster. Jump farther, throw farther,
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  right? But there is so much more to in
• 10:20
  fact that part might be maybe the 20% part and then 80% is the
• 10:25
  people you're in a people profession, right?
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  So, the relationships recruiting and all the other things that
• 10:30
  you have to do as a coach, especially specifically, as a
• 10:32
  head coach. So scheduling budgeting academic
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  support, Etc. It's so much more.
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  It's interesting that I think, you know, we've had several
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  guest here in the past. Months that have echoed.
• 10:45
  Exactly what you just said there.
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  It's a, it's interesting that. So, it seems like a lot of
• 10:50
  people would agree with you. However, when we go, we
• 10:53
  mentioned earlier convention, you u.s. tfcc a convention,
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  which I can't wait. I just one of my favorite times
• 10:58
  a year. It's kind of like, early
• 10:59
  Christmas for me to get to see everybody and hang out.
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  But when we go to Convention, a lot of the sessions are about
• 11:06
  the X's and O's and not as many. Now, they are doing a better a
• 11:10
  better job. I think, of adding other things.
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  There's been like this director, Operations track.
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  There's been, of course, the women and coaching Symposium has
• 11:20
  been amazing now for probably getting on close to a decade
• 11:23
  here. So there is more, but still, 90%
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  of it is, hey, go listen, to coach, teach you how to train
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  the throw, the javelin farther, how to do the, you know, 10K
• 11:31
  better etcetera. So something we need to do
• 11:34
  better in our profession for professional development.
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  I think for the people who choose to be coaches, is all the
• 11:40
  other stuff that it makes up 80% of it.
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  That's great. I love that you know coaches and
• 11:46
  people poured into you. It was interesting as you were
• 11:51
  recanting that story. I was thinking of this young 16
• 11:54
  17 18 year old Chad and you know you were think you were saying
• 11:58
  about how the coaches you know they poured into you they loved
• 12:02
  on you supported you not to pigeonhole people because I
• 12:07
  don't like doing that however 16 to 17 to 18 year olds are
• 12:11
  typically not the most Selfless people.
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  By the way, hands up. I'm guilty.
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  I was very selfish as a sixteen-year-old, and I probably
• 12:21
  thought more that my coaches owed it to me to coach, then the
• 12:25
  reverse like, oh, they're doing, like, they're helping me like, I
• 12:27
  felt like, yeah, I'm showing up. So, you have to coach, what was
• 12:31
  it about you as a kind of, a high school teenager, that you
• 12:35
  were able to kind of recognize that early that?
• 12:37
  Oh, man. These these coaches are, like,
• 12:39
  big brothers and big sisters. Like, they're like, almost like
• 12:42
  an extension of family did. Did that come from a background?
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  In the church? Was that parents?
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  Who were teachers? Where does that kind of?
• 12:50
  That, that's a different type of recognition for a, for a
• 12:53
  teenager. Well, thank, you know, I think
• 12:55
  it most certainly, our families play to played a role in that.
• 13:00
  You know, my, you know, my family in particular, my mom and
• 13:02
  dad or absolutely phenomenal. My mom just celebrated her 65th
• 13:07
  birthday yesterday and so happy birthday.
• 13:11
  So despite her telling me I didn't need to do it, you know,
• 13:13
  I drove Two hours last night to North Dakota man and they drove
• 13:16
  an hour and a half down. So we could eat dinner together,
• 13:18
  just turn around and come back and so.
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  But, you know, it was important to me that I got to got to see
• 13:23
  them last night. So you know, our mom and dad,
• 13:27
  you know, our moms and dads were were great.
• 13:30
  I mean, we had, we had a great great families, you know?
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  And like you said, you talked about, you know that, you know
• 13:36
  what, the extension of our families were where the coaches
• 13:39
  and that's a lot of dead is a lot of the what it was.
• 13:42
  It was the, it was the Rarities of of seeing them care as much
• 13:47
  or, you know, at least a close second, you know, as far as, you
• 13:50
  know, like our, like, our parents and, and, you know, you
• 13:53
  knew that you knew they had your back.
• 13:55
  I mean, coach kill and he'd be the first to tell you that he
• 13:56
  didn't. He didn't always know exactly
• 14:00
  what to tell me in the high jump, or whatever or Cutter
• 14:02
  Keith in the, or in the long jump or whatever it might be, he
• 14:05
  was football guy and he was learning kind of on the Fly
• 14:07
  himself but, but, you know, he sort of turned us loose.
• 14:10
  And in fact, we were talking about that back at the first met
• 14:12
  the state, To Gulf Shores because he's back to coaching
• 14:16
  track. Now, for the first time in the
• 14:18
  like several years is boys have gotten on a little bit older and
• 14:21
  they're throwing and stuff. So he's been reaching out to
• 14:23
  keep an eye on forever of for the latest information on what
• 14:28
  to what to do. He's like, you guys have been
• 14:30
  rolling with it a lot, a lot more in deeper than I have.
• 14:33
  So but, you know, we had they, it's hard to explain like we in
• 14:41
  a lot of ways. It was one of those things
• 14:43
  where, I wish everybody could have been a part of what I was
• 14:47
  growing up. I as I've grown into this
• 14:51
  profession and I've seen Kids come out of high school and
• 14:53
  moved moving to college and got to know some of their
• 14:58
  backgrounds. Like, I hate so much kills, my
• 15:01
  hurts my heart knowing that, you know, they couldn't experience
• 15:04
  what I experienced as far as, you know, we didn't, you know,
• 15:07
  we didn't always have everything we wanted but we had everything,
• 15:09
  we needed kind of thing. So, you know, and that was that
• 15:13
  was we were surrounded. About phenomenal people.
• 15:16
  You know, that was, that was the biggest thing, I think, you
• 15:18
  know, you know, a lot of those guys and girls, I grew up with,
• 15:22
  you know, Keith and my keep obviously saying the Keith
• 15:25
  because he's in the same profession that, you know, that
• 15:28
  I am. So but, you know, we may be the
• 15:31
  first to also tell you that, you know, we had something special
• 15:34
  and we knew that I think then we know that more now, you know,
• 15:37
  20-something years later and, you know, post high school.
• 15:41
  So it's a It was something to be a part of and that and a lot of
• 15:46
  that, you know, like I say it did it stemmed from our own from
• 15:49
  our teachers and coaches, you know, and it was a, which was a
• 15:52
  branch off of our families being blissfully unaware.
• 15:58
  It's sometimes an underrated skill because you don't know
• 16:00
  when you're in it, right? As you're telling that and
• 16:03
  you're talking about your high school coach, who now is back
• 16:06
  into it, which I love. There is no age day, there's no
• 16:11
  expiration date. On coaching.
• 16:12
  I love that, that he's back. To it.
• 16:14
  Specially saying he had his own kids are, you know, throwing so
• 16:17
  that's even more special coaching your own kids, but I
• 16:20
  started thinking about my own High School coaches at who
• 16:24
  didn't, you know? Now that I know what I know now
• 16:26
  on how to coach like they didn't know anything and they would be
• 16:28
  the first to admit. It's I'm not bashing them in
• 16:31
  that case, but as we were doing the workouts, I had no idea.
• 16:35
  I know that they were awesome and I love being around them.
• 16:38
  And they would have told me to run to the moon and back, I'm
• 16:40
  like, I guess I gotta run to the Moon about, like, I just trusted
• 16:43
  them. Now looking back, I can see
• 16:45
  that, you know, okay, well they didn't know what they're doing,
• 16:47
  but I also realize they had limited choices on how to get
• 16:51
  better as a track coach as well compared to today.
• 16:53
  Like now, I don't want, I still don't necessarily want to say
• 16:57
  and I probably have said this on the podcast that there's no
• 17:00
  excuse on not getting better. However, there is and there's
• 17:03
  much valid excuses, right? You're on family life, you know,
• 17:07
  track for guys like you and I are number one but you know
• 17:09
  what, some track coaches, it's number 10, you know, their
• 17:12
  family teaching science. It's for the high school and
• 17:14
  middle school and maybe coach in football and their hobby of
• 17:18
  playing, I don't know, Dungeons & Dragons or whatever those go
• 17:21
  higher and that's okay, that's all right.
• 17:23
  Can you imagine a world where everybody had track and track
• 17:26
  coaching is number one? I don't know.
• 17:28
  That that would be as great as we think it might be a Utopia
• 17:31
  that we want to think it is. Right.
• 17:33
  Well, you know, my buddy, an hour at the World Championships
• 17:37
  out in out in Oregon last month and that he also was on the high
• 17:43
  school track. Same with myself and he's high
• 17:45
  school track coach now, and teacher and stuff.
• 17:47
  So he and I and Keith were out there together and, you know, it
• 17:51
  was his first time there and wants a kid.
• 17:52
  And, you know, he's been there a lot, a lot of times.
• 17:54
  But, you know, a whole new world just hanging out at the Wild
• 17:57
  Duck cafe because you know that many people he's excited about
• 18:01
  track and field and it's on every every TV and everybody's
• 18:04
  going crazy and it's not football.
• 18:05
  And, you know, we're not sitting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Auburn
• 18:08
  Alabama or Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so, so it's not a, so
• 18:12
  it's not football. It's track.
• 18:13
  So, You know that's that's a different world, you know, for
• 18:16
  somebody like us that you know that that would like you said,
• 18:19
  we do love track and field and you know, it's our it's our
• 18:23
  Sport and it's you know it's what we own kind of built our
• 18:27
  profession around. But you know it's you know,
• 18:29
  obviously you know beneath you know Faith and family and
• 18:32
  friends I mean that would you know track and field or you know
• 18:34
  kind of Falls in there and you know you should corny you know
• 18:39
  say you know if you know one-track mind you know so like
• 18:42
  but like you know it's It's it's definitely different.
• 18:45
  And if it was in your right, if it was, if it was precedent, I
• 18:48
  don't know. I don't know if they'll be in a
• 18:50
  lot of ways, I think would be great and in some ways, who
• 18:51
  knows, it might not be so great, probably Drive, some of us
• 18:54
  crazy, Frank probably, right, all right.
• 18:58
  Before we move on, you know, we love.
• 18:59
  Shout outs. You keep seeing Keith and you
• 19:01
  and I know Keith. And then you also mentioned
• 19:04
  your, your friend, who's a high school track coach, give those
• 19:07
  to shout out, they deserve it. I want to hear everybody wants
• 19:10
  to hear who they are. Yeah, so matte black, you know,
• 19:12
  he's he's now he's good. Is just recently it out my high
• 19:15
  school. But in Alabama, north Alabama,
• 19:17
  and we were here before so he was a broke saw school as an
• 19:22
  assistant. He's been at Opa-locka High
• 19:24
  School Scottsboro. She's been in you know part of
• 19:27
  some really good programs, several state championships and
• 19:30
  you know, I know, I know him. I probably Stadium of ever met
• 19:35
  him but yeah, that that name sounds super Familiar, of
• 19:38
  course, you know, and of course, keytars Denim.
• 19:40
  And he, you know, he and I obviously, you know, he's he's
• 19:42
  the assistant needs. To jump, small tiles.
• 19:44
  Coach at Texas Tech now and you know, and, you know, Keith and
• 19:48
  I've been doing this thing for a long time.
• 19:50
  And even though he's in Texas and I'm in Alabama, I see him
• 19:53
  more than I see anybody from high school throughout a year
• 19:55
  because, you know, our parents still live a mile apart, we grew
• 19:59
  up with, you know, we sent, we're third cousins, we grew up,
• 20:04
  you know, a mile apart from each other parents grew up together
• 20:07
  and then, you know, hanging out and stuff.
• 20:09
  So, and then we've, you know, we live together five years of
• 20:12
  college, and Um, you know, at the junior college level and at
• 20:16
  Bell State Community College and Hamilton and then also
• 20:18
  Tuscaloosa. So when we was at Alabama
• 20:21
  together, so, you know, we've definitely been a lot of places
• 20:26
  and seen a lot of things because of track and field.
• 20:28
  And we have a lot of the same people to thank along the way
• 20:31
  and so, and including each other, I believe.
• 20:34
  And, you know, I think he would say the same thing about me, so
• 20:38
  we get to, we get to bounce each other's, you know, ideas off
• 20:41
  each other at Christmas or Thanksgiving or whatever, you
• 20:43
  know, a lot of times It's too. So you know, so it's been it's
• 20:47
  been a journey that I don't think I don't.
• 20:48
  In a lot of ways. I don't think here.
• 20:49
  I either one would have expected it to be but you know, we we
• 20:54
  didn't really in the beginning didn't really set out for
• 20:56
  anything in particular, you know, but, but somewhere along
• 21:00
  the lines. I remember, I do remember being
• 21:02
  in. I think we were at Belleville
• 21:04
  State when, you know, at some point or maybe maybe that was
• 21:08
  when I was at Troy and he was at Auburn, and we were kind of in
• 21:12
  an apparent, EA intern ship. Up things at the time.
• 21:15
  But we, we kind of decided I wanted to go small College head,
• 21:19
  coach route, you know. And he wanted to try for the big
• 21:22
  the big time and the power 5 and see what you're at that time.
• 21:26
  It wouldn't refer to as power 5, but we kind of wanted to see
• 21:30
  what it was about and sort of see if he could see if he could
• 21:33
  do it, and there's no doubt that he has.
• 21:35
  So, you know, so it's been, it's been awesome for both of us.
• 21:38
  We, we've been blessed, for sure.
• 21:40
  Well, and I'm allowed to poke fun.
• 21:42
  First of all, I know you're listening.
• 21:43
  Opening right now, Keith, you know, Chad beat you.
• 21:47
  He's on the podcast before you. I know that's going to cause
• 21:50
  some riffs, Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas, and I'm sure I'm
• 21:54
  going to hear about it at convention, you know?
• 21:56
  It's just the way the cards fell my friend, but no love Keith,
• 21:59
  the death. You know, obviously consider him
• 22:01
  a great friend as well and just obviously, you know, it goes
• 22:05
  without saying, what kind of Kochi is?
• 22:07
  I mean, he's, you know, he's God.
• 22:10
  Yeah, I didn't his best long jumper mail, My best male long
• 22:15
  jumpers, probably, two of them added together.
• 22:17
  Wouldn't have been that PR so it's just tell how good he is.
• 22:20
  Okay, so where did you set out? So, let's talk about, how, what
• 22:24
  was your first foray into coaching?
• 22:27
  What was the first? Was it?
• 22:28
  The ga at Auburn? Where do we, where do we start?
• 22:31
  Well, so we'll keep this at all when I was at Troy.
• 22:33
  That's wrong yet, but so, but I originally actually a stayed, I
• 22:39
  wasn't going to. I wasn't going to acquire my
• 22:40
  associates degree, bevel State. I was just going to transfer
• 22:42
  straight to Alabama with whatever credits I had I ended
• 22:46
  up staying back semester to to finish my associates degree.
• 22:51
  And so in that time, I just sort of went from almost like a
• 22:54
  student assistant with Jason Marshall to being an assistant,
• 22:58
  you know, unpaid assistant. But I was finishing my degree
• 23:00
  and finish my associate degree. So I was helping helping him for
• 23:03
  a little while and during that time, I believe that was think
• 23:08
  that was JJ's overlap. I think JJ Downs, would have
• 23:11
  been there during that time because It was just sales second
• 23:16
  year, and then, and then I moved on to the University of Alabama.
• 23:18
  But, but even while I was in Alabama, from for a couple of
• 23:21
  years, I was still kind of helping when I could, I was
• 23:23
  helping coach Marshall home from time to time, you know, kind of
• 23:27
  from the distance, you know, hour and 15 minutes away.
• 23:30
  So, and was actually looking at one time, I was looking to walk
• 23:34
  onto the track team in Alabama, but I'd really want a while
• 23:38
  without Keith. Did we actually get?
• 23:42
  I both were going to and at the time.
• 23:43
  I'm coach Tiffin Rod. Tiffin was a was the assistant
• 23:47
  was a jumps coach there and so we discussed me coming out how
• 23:50
  jump keep coming out too long jump and you know walking on or
• 23:53
  whatever there wasn't a whole lot of depth in those areas time
• 23:56
  and so but I needed one class credit to be eligible to compete
• 24:00
  in the spring and so an indoor and outdoor season.
• 24:02
  So I own which I had come December but at the time I
• 24:07
  didn't want to take any more student loans than I had to, you
• 24:11
  know, to pay for school. I was working.
• 24:13
  I was Class 1518 hours, a semester and working at Home
• 24:18
  Depot, 35 to 40 hours a week. But at that was kind of cool is
• 24:22
  during that time, Miguel Pate was still training
• 24:26
  professionally. And so keep the Miguel were
• 24:28
  training together. And so, because I can remember
• 24:32
  like and then so they were training together and Miguel,
• 24:34
  and I were working together at Home Depot and so, because at
• 24:37
  the time, the Olympic Committee had some type of deal with,
• 24:40
  that's right. And so they could which because
• 24:42
  I used to I used to To get on the Miguel about it.
• 24:45
  I was like man, you know you I'm working nearly 40 hours a week
• 24:48
  you work 20 and make what make make the money for 40.
• 24:51
  So that's how the that's what the deal was that he could work
• 24:53
  half the time and make double the pay.
• 24:54
  So I was like what? You know, it is what it is.
• 24:57
  I you know, I'm I'll forgive you for that.
• 24:59
  So but you know so but those two were, you know, kind of training
• 25:03
  together. And but, you know, from from
• 25:06
  there it was, you know, after after Alabama, I think I
• 25:10
  actually had a little bit of a deer because they're not called
• 25:13
  Tom, and even in between time, some I've worked a whole, a lot
• 25:17
  of retail, you know, even in some management positions and
• 25:20
  stuff. So, but so kind of in between, I
• 25:24
  was I was doing that between graduating, from University of
• 25:26
  Alabama, with my bachelor's degree.
• 25:29
  And then I ended up taking the g a spot for for a year with Coach
• 25:33
  Lancaster at Troy. So I was down there with shows
• 25:37
  me and like so. So, oddly enough, I go to, I go
• 25:42
  to Troy and Diego Leaves Troy and goes to Auburn.
• 25:46
  So hence I gave it a go Flagger. So that's where I come in to
• 25:49
  know him as well. So we got to make sure you say
• 25:51
  last names to, because you, and I know these people, by the way,
• 25:54
  shout out to Diego's, I know he's listening right now as
• 25:56
  well. New assistant coach for Sprint's
• 25:58
  at Ohio State, he's a buckeye now, what?
• 26:02
  A life, he lives, he goes from Miami to Columbus, Ohio.
• 26:05
  I mean, someone, some of us lived a little bit more, Charmed
• 26:08
  life than the others. Also, shout out to Diego.
• 26:11
  Really proud and happy for you and know how all that came down.
• 26:14
  It was, it was amazing by the way, a lump Diego has been on
• 26:18
  the podcast as well. So I love that.
• 26:21
  So you're at Troy. Now, I haven't mentioned this in
• 26:24
  a while and it's kind of sad. Troy is the greatest University
• 26:29
  in the world. That's my alma mater, everybody.
• 26:30
  It's where I went to school. My first born's name is Troy.
• 26:33
  That's how important that school is.
• 26:36
  And, you know, really I should be with this podcast.
• 26:38
  I should be on the hunt to interview every coach who's ever
• 26:40
  been at Troy because first of all, that alone would be 173.
• 26:44
  Plus episodes, there's been amazing coaches that have come
• 26:47
  through Troy including Jill, Lancaster, former head coach at
• 26:50
  Oklahoma and now she's at, I'm going to get all the directions
• 26:53
  mixed up. Northeast Oklahoma, Northwest
• 26:57
  Northwest Northwest. Okay.
• 26:59
  Yeah, I couldn't remember which one Northwest Oklahoma
• 27:02
  University and doing a great job there.
• 27:04
  What a legend? I mean, you know, Drake Relays
• 27:06
  Hall of Fame. I mean, just a true legend.
• 27:09
  So, you know, the world wants to know, Oh Chad I mean, just how
• 27:13
  great was it at Troy University? I mean it's kind of Heaven on
• 27:16
  Earth, right? Well it was a great school and
• 27:18
  you know so we back in in high school we are state
• 27:21
  championships were always at Troy and that's right.
• 27:24
  Mine too yeah still in the stadium before that you know
• 27:27
  moved out by God the old green I don't know what kind of surface
• 27:31
  it was not a binding Armando it was it was hard comp that's the
• 27:36
  way you know so our state championships you know were
• 27:39
  there and so but in that Time from my senior year of high
• 27:43
  school to from 2002, to 2009, when I landed there and, you
• 27:46
  know, the campus to town at grown just crazy.
• 27:51
  I mean, it how much it had grown and that length of time.
• 27:53
  So, so, you know, I got down there we and it was me and, you
• 27:58
  know, Tommy Barksdale, you know, so Barksdale, you know, me and
• 28:01
  him talk every day, you know. Now.
• 28:03
  So, you know, he and I, I was at when I was at bevel helping out,
• 28:08
  he was helping out at Walla. State Community College would
• 28:10
  stand too risky. And so, you know, so like you
• 28:13
  know and then he and I end up, you know, at Roy together.
• 28:17
  Diego had been there the year before moves moves on to and him
• 28:20
  and him and actually so when Diego left Troy him and Keith
• 28:25
  became roommates at Auburn because Keith went from the
• 28:28
  intern spot to get my years mixed up but he went from the
• 28:32
  intern spot to a g a spot in the Kinesiology department and was
• 28:35
  you know it's still assistant would track and field and so
• 28:38
  Diego was doing that as well. And you know so they were Have
• 28:41
  they were roommates and Tommy an hour at Troy together.
• 28:44
  So so the connections are just crazy and then at that time,
• 28:48
  you'll trip Brundage was there and Prevail.
• 28:50
  And, like I said, coach Lancaster, coach Lambert was
• 28:54
  still involved as well. Bob Lambert was still very
• 28:57
  involved with the program at that time.
• 28:59
  And, you know, great great guy to be around, you know, as well.
• 29:02
  And you know, and you know, and it's like you said, of course,
• 29:05
  Lancaster. So so knowledgeable on, you
• 29:08
  know, in the weight room and she ain't sleeping breeds track and
• 29:11
  Field here in still does, I'm sure but you know she you know,
• 29:14
  from from 5:30 in the morning to whatever time at night and then
• 29:18
  on Sunday, afternoons after church.
• 29:20
  So it was just like, you know, she was in office all the time
• 29:22
  and so she was very it was also me all shoe.
• 29:26
  It was, it was funny because she was really Frugal, you know,
• 29:29
  about things like she would she would make sure the athletes had
• 29:31
  what they needed, as far as you know, gear goes and, you know,
• 29:34
  the D disorder and all that kind of stuff.
• 29:36
  But she would stop at Walmart and buy $2 sweatshirt, and then
• 29:39
  go get it. Go get ice cream.
• 29:41
  Going to throw in a wing foot on it and that's kind of what she
• 29:43
  just did. You know?
• 29:44
  That's why she acts like she did her thing, you know.
• 29:46
  And I and like so you know, I thought that was pretty cool
• 29:49
  though and she would, you know, how she would go about some of
• 29:52
  that stuff. And but, you know, she was, she
• 29:54
  grew up on a farm and we had a lot of similarities and a lot of
• 29:57
  the things that we did that I did and keep did Growing Up.
• 30:01
  And so she and I would have jokes and stuff about different
• 30:05
  things. So it was it was fun.
• 30:06
  We had we really did, she know she's doing well and I'm
• 30:10
  actually really Reach out and check on her so at some point
• 30:13
  but soon and it's been a while since I ran into her but but
• 30:17
  yeah it's it's unbelievable that the connections and kind of, you
• 30:21
  know, how I love that kind of goes by and then, you know, once
• 30:24
  you connect with these folks, it sticks with you and you know you
• 30:27
  don't you don't forget the things that you learned and the
• 30:29
  people you met along the way at this point.
• 30:33
  Are you fully into like this is going to move to be my career
• 30:37
  because, you know, you talked about the time at Home Depot and
• 30:39
  yet other retail you including me, Human Experience.
• 30:42
  I mean you could have easily I could be interviewing the newest
• 30:45
  CEO of lows right now. You know you you know at this
• 30:50
  point as you're working through your g a position at Troy.
• 30:53
  Are you like okay? Yeah I'm going to be a track
• 30:56
  coach. This is the path for me.
• 30:59
  Yeah, you know, in a lot of ways, I think I was, I thought
• 31:02
  that was the case and but then, you know, originally so so I'll
• 31:07
  back up just a little. So at bevel State 1 before I
• 31:10
  actually went to, The University of Alabama and Keith and I and
• 31:14
  we actually ended up room and for the most part, those two
• 31:17
  years with with also, with also, with other people that we grew
• 31:20
  up with they ended up at Alabama after they had spent time at
• 31:23
  Northwest shows Community College and in Florence and then
• 31:26
  they ended up in Tuscaloosa and we all ended up back together
• 31:28
  having grown up together since we were five, excuse me.
• 31:33
  But um, so At one point, I actually toured the meteorology
• 31:40
  department at University of South Alabama because I wanted
• 31:44
  to be a meteorologist and I was wanting to get my bachelor's
• 31:47
  degree at and USA and then move on to, uh, to get my atmospheric
• 31:50
  science degree. And I remember like, I don't
• 31:53
  remember why mom didn't get to go.
• 31:55
  I think she just could get off work or something.
• 31:56
  But I remember that, my dad and I am Keith ended up to her and
• 32:00
  South Alabama, because we were also talking to the coaches of
• 32:03
  time that was before coach brewski out there.
• 32:06
  You know, see if we could either at least walk on maybe to the
• 32:08
  track team, you know, are in our freshman year.
• 32:11
  And so, so we go down, we go down and tour, the tour the
• 32:15
  department and I remember, I remember even Keith sayings
• 32:19
  like, man. I think I want to go to
• 32:21
  meteorology now, after seeing this, do you know, just kidding
• 32:23
  but he was like, but it was because we had toward that, you
• 32:26
  know, the department and things and it was, you know, he was
• 32:28
  kind of with us and then we sort of went through the stuff that
• 32:30
  he wanted to look at to so. But but I had to, I remember.
• 32:36
  The department headed toward us around.
• 32:39
  He was like he said, yeah, you know, when you once you once you
• 32:42
  get your degree and meteorology, you'll be one math credit away
• 32:45
  from having a math degree and I was like, that's too much math.
• 32:49
  And yeah. So at that point that that sort
• 32:51
  of dropped off, I decided, okay? Whether it's going to definitely
• 32:54
  be a hobby, all I really want to do is Chase tornadoes and
• 32:56
  hurricanes, you know, I know so I'm out.
• 32:59
  You know what's funny about that?
• 33:00
  That's a lesson right there in recruiting and also something
• 33:03
  that as we learn and As a sales professionals as well is, it's
• 33:08
  called don't answer unasked questions.
• 33:11
  So sometimes you can and I've been guilty of this early
• 33:14
  marker, maybe you have experienced this on recruiting.
• 33:17
  You can talk yourself out of a recruiter like you their
• 33:19
  recruits coming in then you say you keep talking and it's like
• 33:22
  you just spoiled it, right? So that that Professor was
• 33:25
  saying that as a boat like he thought that was an extra like
• 33:28
  hey man, you'll only be one class away from at like you get
• 33:30
  two degrees and instead it was like, oh wait a minute.
• 33:33
  I was coming here until you said that because that means Is a lot
• 33:36
  of math. And that ain't this guy.
• 33:38
  I don't want to beat that. That's what really interesting,
• 33:41
  that's true in life, you know. And at the time, it was just
• 33:45
  because it was like all the way through Cal 3 and differential
• 33:48
  equations and all this different stuff.
• 33:49
  And I'm thinking, well, I want to do is be able to know how to
• 33:52
  read these. Radars that are all around this
• 33:54
  block, the ground shake room and you know, and hunker down in
• 33:57
  here under the basketball arena during hurricanes in the winter
• 34:00
  in the gulf and all that kind of stuff.
• 34:01
  So go out to Oklahoma and Chase a few tornadoes or whatever.
• 34:04
  So you know, they They, you know, but I was like, you know,
• 34:08
  but obviously, you know, coaching was, it was, it was
• 34:11
  love at that point to and, you know, and so as that kind of
• 34:14
  moved through, you know, I think that, you know, at my time at
• 34:18
  Troy and some different areas there.
• 34:20
  I did, I did want to coach and I felt like that was where it was
• 34:24
  at and it, but I was still sort of filling it out, you know, and
• 34:27
  it took seven some time, you know, after that, I believe, you
• 34:30
  know, I'm sure a lot of coaches. I know several that have have
• 34:35
  been in the same boat. Sometimes it was, this is not
• 34:39
  paying what I needed to pee. Can I do this very much longer
• 34:42
  as I'm getting older and needing, you know, needing to
• 34:44
  make x amount of money to, you know, for family or whatever.
• 34:47
  So, you know, so that was kind of the part that, you know,
• 34:51
  eventually and we can get into a little later probably.
• 34:53
  But, you know, I did steer away from coaching for a little bit
• 34:56
  and got, you know, went into retail management.
• 34:57
  So, but found my way back, sometimes we get lost and find
• 35:03
  exactly where we were supposed to be.
• 35:05
  That's right. So let's continue because we
• 35:06
  talked about where a ga at Troy. So far here in our journey we
• 35:10
  know if you're doing it right? That's at most usually a two
• 35:13
  year appointment. I didn't go to grad school but
• 35:16
  it would've taken me at least three to four.
• 35:17
  It been like a whole, another undergrad for me.
• 35:20
  What was next? What you you get to graduate
• 35:22
  degree and you decide to do well.
• 35:25
  So I actually didn't finish the graduate degree at the time.
• 35:26
  So I was there for a year I took I took several classes to get my
• 35:31
  own degreed lineup out. So I had some undergrad classes
• 35:33
  still at to go to mix with the grad.
• 35:36
  The grad classes at the Tom after.
• 35:40
  So I leave, I leave there after a year.
• 35:43
  Just had a lot of things going on with sort of medically at the
• 35:45
  time. Has a lot of things.
• 35:47
  I don't some Crohn's and things that were bothering me at the
• 35:50
  time. So I ended up back in Florence
• 35:52
  for a little while and was able to get a job as a supervisor at
• 35:56
  Dick's Sporting Goods and so I worked for several several
• 35:59
  months there and then I had planned on On working my way up.
• 36:07
  I was actually told by the manager that, you know, when I
• 36:09
  hired on that hay with the, you know, since you have a
• 36:11
  bachelor's degree and in retail experience, you can move through
• 36:14
  really quick if you wanted to and, you know, and right on up.
• 36:17
  And so that was sort of Where I Stood it, but I about a month
• 36:21
  into that. I told her, I said, the only way
• 36:22
  I leave here anytime soon as I said, is it for some reason
• 36:25
  Jason Marshall leaves, bubble State Community College, and I
• 36:28
  can step in because I kind of knew that he was thinking about
• 36:31
  stepping away. So I said that would be the only
• 36:34
  way if I could, if I could get that.
• 36:35
  Job. Well, and you almost in July, he
• 36:40
  waited to nearly August. And it was like, Hey, FYI.
• 36:44
  I'm about to put the papers on the desk, you know, two-week.
• 36:47
  Notice. Get your stuff ready.
• 36:49
  Let's see if we can line this thing up.
• 36:50
  So so I started making, you know, moves to try to get, you
• 36:54
  know, to get that position. And so he let me know and, you
• 36:57
  know, and when he did break away, the not, you know, kind of
• 37:00
  swooped in as fast as I could. And, you know, you know how it
• 37:02
  works. I mean, if you, if you see it
• 37:03
  posted online or two weeks behind, Kind of thing.
• 37:06
  So, luckily I knew about it before anybody else did.
• 37:09
  And so, you know, long story short, I was able to go at that
• 37:12
  point, then I'd left Troy and met and worked.
• 37:16
  Basically, just a summer at Dick's Sporting Goods as a
• 37:19
  supervisor and then, and then I was, you know, I was head coach
• 37:22
  at 26 years old at felt back at bevel and that was the goal that
• 37:26
  that was the time. That's what I wanted.
• 37:28
  I wanted to return to. I wanted to return to Bell
• 37:30
  State. I, you know, I had a heartfelt
• 37:32
  connection to the school, The Faculty, the staff and, you
• 37:35
  know, The people there, the idea at the time you know was was
• 37:40
  phenomenal and stuff. So Russell Halton and so you
• 37:42
  know it was it was good, it was a good fit for me.
• 37:46
  I knew that I would feel comfortable there.
• 37:48
  That's what I wanted to do. I knew all of the hats that I
• 37:51
  would wear their but I still but I still wanted it.
• 37:55
  You know, I still wanted to do that and boy did I wear some
• 37:58
  hats? Which I knew I would because you
• 38:00
  know I knew what Jason was doing whenever he was hair.
• 38:03
  So you know but you know he so I mean, I was, you know, student
• 38:07
  service assistant. So, 2012, half my we was
• 38:10
  supposed to be in student services, so additions and
• 38:13
  financial aid. And so basically, I put 20 hours
• 38:15
  in there and then an additional 42 coach because obviously, you
• 38:19
  can't do that in 20. So you know, it's intramural
• 38:22
  sports coordinator. So I was had flag football.
• 38:24
  I was refereeing two evenings a week and so I'd have my girls,
• 38:27
  my distance Runners running their mileage.
• 38:30
  Around, the campus is on those days.
• 38:32
  Just so I could at least scream at them when they came by.
• 38:34
  And so, and then I was on Oz committees covers only only
• 38:37
  sport on campus. So I was on every committee with
• 38:39
  the dean and and stuff so um, in the like executive faculty or
• 38:45
  whatever. So but so definitely, you know,
• 38:48
  definitely kept me, definitely kept me busy and but I loved it
• 38:51
  and we, you know, it was, it was great.
• 38:53
  We had some, we had some good recruited, real strong that
• 38:56
  first year and and everything was going really well, and until
• 38:59
  proration hit a little bit in the state and the governor.
• 39:03
  You know, through, thank 3% or 4%, Percent cut in education at
• 39:07
  the time. And so, you know, and then that
• 39:09
  was that was, that was it, that was, it was time to cut.
• 39:13
  You know, we talked about being blissfully ignorant, blissfully
• 39:16
  unaware, you know, Looking Back Now, hearing all the things that
• 39:20
  you were doing at bevel and by the way, it's not just bevel
• 39:24
  that's a common occurrence. Sadly.
• 39:28
  But you were recruiting coaching that alone.
• 39:30
  Full-time job being the head coach at 26 years old.
• 39:32
  Although the game we talked about all the things budgeting
• 39:34
  scheduling Etc, You have to do with that position, but your
• 39:40
  intramural coordinator your reffing football games, two
• 39:44
  nights a week. Did you ever accidentally as the
• 39:46
  girls were running by throw a flag at them?
• 39:48
  Your sports, get your sports mixed up.
• 39:51
  I probably should have sometimes they weren't running like they
• 39:53
  needed to, you know that my my should have flagged them but
• 39:57
  yeah, you know it was it was a lot to juggle but but it was
• 40:00
  also something I was willing to do just get us.
• 40:02
  That's what I was getting at. Did you you know being
• 40:04
  blissfully unaware? As you're doing that as a 26
• 40:07
  year old was it like you were just having the time of your
• 40:09
  life because, you know, reference football thought the
• 40:11
  worst job in the world and obviously coaching track is not
• 40:13
  the worst child or where you kind of listen aware.
• 40:15
  Just like, yeah, I know I'm working probably 80 hours a week
• 40:18
  but I'm having fun. I'm outside.
• 40:19
  I get to do things and be active, where you kind of just
• 40:22
  or was there any little creep of like, man?
• 40:24
  I would like to just be Kochi track and I'd like to be making
• 40:28
  more money doing that. What we're were you at headspace
• 40:31
  WISE? I think it was probably a little
• 40:32
  bit of a mix but like you said, you know, blissfully unaware is
• 40:35
  a Good way of putting it, I think, you know, you sort of
• 40:37
  understand but you know, at you know.
• 40:39
  But at the same time, you know, you don't know what you don't
• 40:41
  know. And you know, you kind of when
• 40:43
  you when you're around, when you're around good people, I
• 40:46
  we've talked about earlier be around, good people every day
• 40:48
  and you get to you, get to go to work and even though you're busy
• 40:52
  and you know all the time and you got things going on, your
• 40:55
  you your kind of, you know, for the most part you're doing
• 40:58
  something you enjoy and you're getting to be around the
• 40:59
  athletes and build those relationships and that kind of
• 41:01
  thing. So so you do get kind of lost in
• 41:03
  a lot of what you're what you're doing now.
• 41:05
  You know, when you know, part of the time when when you're going
• 41:08
  to pay bills and you realizing that things are a little tight,
• 41:10
  you might, you might be rethinking some things.
• 41:13
  So I think it was, I think it was always, you know, something
• 41:17
  that entered your mind, you know, from time to time like
• 41:19
  okay is this is this is this worth it, you know, and or is it
• 41:23
  going to, you know, and just seeing if there was ever going
• 41:25
  to be like an increase, you know and you know and you know okay
• 41:28
  well I'm doing this or is it going to?
• 41:30
  Is it going to reap rewards later on and stuff?
• 41:33
  So, you know, but you tried not to take things.
• 41:35
  About that in the moment, you try to you know kind of be where
• 41:38
  your feet are, you know so to speak and so yeah you know and
• 41:41
  as much as much as you could and you know that was that was the
• 41:46
  one of the only moves that I guess I've made in my career
• 41:49
  that I didn't that I didn't choose was when was when the
• 41:52
  programs were cut it bubble, you know.
• 41:53
  So, you know, I everything else has been on my own time for the
• 41:57
  most part. So, it's a and that's hard that
• 42:00
  makes it, that makes it difficult when somebody else is
• 42:03
  dictating, you know, inside of you Troll.
• 42:06
  So that's a great point about you know, ask about being
• 42:09
  blissfully unaware well if you're always searching so
• 42:12
  during that time a bevel, if you always had your eye you know
• 42:15
  over here at Thousand Miles Away of like well maybe I should try
• 42:17
  to go there you don't. Maybe get to do as good.
• 42:19
  A job as you can and should be doing, right?
• 42:21
  Where you are, where your feet are.
• 42:23
  That's, that's a really, and I think that's a really important.
• 42:26
  I don't want to call it a lesson but a really important kind of
• 42:28
  thought process. Not only for coaches but for you
• 42:31
  know, parents people just in general, you know, where your
• 42:35
  feet are being Tensional exactly where you are and whether you
• 42:39
  are pursue other activities or sometimes activities are pursued
• 42:43
  on you. You know, then then you change
• 42:45
  your mind frame and then become become their so programs, cut it
• 42:50
  bevel which, you know, anytime we're cut track and field
• 42:54
  programs, I don't know. But I won't speak on other
• 42:56
  programs but track and field. So fundamental to what we do in
• 42:59
  society in other sports and character-building.
• 43:02
  It's always a mistake when we're cutting programs.
• 43:05
  So they make the Mistake at cutting bevel your now.
• 43:09
  Thrown into a flummox, what do you do?
• 43:11
  Well, you know, so my so it was, It was kind of wild and, you
• 43:16
  know, the the pro is getting cut or getting announced that they
• 43:20
  would get to us as coaches that they were getting cut.
• 43:22
  That day was wasn't that particular day, wasn't even the
• 43:26
  worst thing that happened to me on my own.
• 43:28
  My papa had passed away that morning at about 8:00, or 9:00
• 43:32
  in the morning. I got the phone call.
• 43:34
  I just been at home the night before.
• 43:35
  Or and drove home late to Hamilton.
• 43:38
  So so thinking that, because that weight was going to be our
• 43:42
  sport, was our spring break. So I had actually, the thought
• 43:46
  was, you know, he seemed to be okay or a little bit better at
• 43:49
  the time. So we thought he would be around
• 43:51
  for most of the week. And so I went home.
• 43:54
  I went back to Hamilton that night, everybody kind of
• 43:56
  dispersed. And then the next morning, I was
• 43:58
  headed out about 9:00 because I got home late and, you know,
• 44:02
  whatever size headed to campus Because I decided I told my
• 44:05
  family, I was like, whoa. I won't work half of the week
• 44:07
  because faculty was off for spring break.
• 44:08
  Staff was not. So you know less we took off so
• 44:10
  I was trying to work half the week at least I said I'll work
• 44:13
  for Wednesday or and then I'll just come home for the rest of
• 44:15
  the week. So my cousin called that morning
• 44:19
  and told me and I knew what was I knew what it was for engine
• 44:22
  also. So I just I was actually heading
• 44:24
  out the driveway so I just turned back in and picked up.
• 44:27
  Got my dog out of house, put him in the vehicle.
• 44:29
  And and we and we started back back back home.
• 44:33
  So I had, you know, we live out. Country in North Alabama and
• 44:37
  also we're at my grandparents house and and some time that
• 44:40
  afternoon. I had our midday, I'd walked
• 44:43
  outside in the yard and got at some point got just enough
• 44:47
  service that you know that a voice mail came through and I
• 44:50
  listened to it and it was my athletic director and he and all
• 44:52
  he was really saying was, hey, you know, we're going to have a
• 44:55
  kind of impromptu meeting at 2:00 on the Jasper campus.
• 44:58
  You know, if you could be there, whatever.
• 45:00
  And I'm thinking, okay, that's not enroll do that.
• 45:03
  Like, that's not something we do.
• 45:05
  So um so I had a bad gut feeling, you know, it had
• 45:10
  already been a horrible day so so but I you know I got I don't
• 45:14
  know if I got my grandparents house falling or was able to get
• 45:17
  enough service to call, but I called Russell and he was like,
• 45:20
  and he was like Hey, you know, you know, meeting, whatever can
• 45:24
  you make it? And I said, well, here's the
• 45:25
  deal. I said I ran I ran home today
• 45:27
  and I told him why he's all well, you're good, you know,
• 45:29
  don't you know, take care of family, do what you got to do?
• 45:32
  This is fine, I said wait a minute.
• 45:33
  I said what's this about? And he said well, and and I
• 45:37
  said, look, I said, are we done? I said, just I said, I said just
• 45:41
  tell me he said, yeah, he said he said we are.
• 45:44
  He said that, you know, everything's getting cut and I
• 45:46
  said, we'll listen, I said, I didn't bring anything with me,
• 45:48
  I'll have to have closed for the rest of the week.
• 45:49
  I got to go back to Hamilton anyway, tonight, at some point
• 45:52
  and then come back. So I said, let me just, I'll
• 45:54
  just leave a little bit, come to the meeting and then, and then
• 45:57
  go from there. So, so I drove, you know, you
• 45:59
  know, a little bit later, I drove him down, Jasper for the
• 46:02
  meeting. And so, we sleep, we We, you
• 46:06
  know, had the disk, you know, have the discussion with the VP
• 46:08
  or, you know, assistant associate Dean or whatever's and
• 46:12
  vice president. So, it was me, my was the
• 46:15
  baseball coach, and a couple other coaches were on vacation
• 46:18
  one or one. It had I think, dental surgery
• 46:19
  or something, and then another was on vacation, so, softball
• 46:23
  and basketball. So, we myself in the baseball,
• 46:26
  coaches only ones in the room with the Ada.
• 46:28
  And so, but, you know, it was definitely not ideal, but but
• 46:32
  the but the big thing was for me was it was Monday of spring.
• 46:35
  Right. So, it was, you know, and we can
• 46:39
  get, we can dive deeper late, maybe later.
• 46:41
  But like, you know, it's unbelievable.
• 46:43
  How things come full circle on things because they, the
• 46:49
  programs that beveled, our track and field program, and cross
• 46:52
  country. In particular was, wasn't that?
• 46:53
  It was March 14th on a Monday spring break.
• 46:57
  When the programs were cut announce cut will, when we added
• 46:59
  track and field here at MMI, it was March 14th Monday at Spring
• 47:04
  break, Exactly 11 years to the day later so-and-so, tragico
• 47:09
  track and field ended with me. And then 11 years later, it
• 47:11
  started with me and the state of Alabama.
• 47:14
  So you know, it was definitely when I was able to kind of put
• 47:17
  that together and how I was able to know for sure, that that was
• 47:20
  that I had my dates straight was I asked my mama said, what was
• 47:23
  the date that pop all passed away and he was, and she was
• 47:25
  like, March 14. I said, oh no, I knew it.
• 47:29
  I said, I knew I had that straight.
• 47:30
  I said, that's unbelievable. And so, you know, tell me some
• 47:33
  app, still trying to wrap my head around that whole thing,
• 47:35
  Does a lot of things obviously, has changed my life and 11
• 47:38
  years. So it's been a lot of places
• 47:40
  met, a lot of people and and had a lot of athletes and, you know,
• 47:44
  different levels and stuff. So it's weird how things come
• 47:47
  full circle. But that's that's a lot said to
• 47:51
  say that the next step once the programs were cut was just I
• 47:55
  was, I was so concerned about my athletes.
• 47:57
  I was concerned about my girls, I had a really good group of
• 48:01
  girls that you know, several that have just been all
• 48:03
  Americans that indoor Nationals. The week the week before.
• 48:08
  Actually so we were, you know, we're about to hit the outdoor.
• 48:10
  We were starting outdoor season Once they got back from spring
• 48:12
  break. So so I.
• 48:15
  So what I did was I hope that I could get through the week
• 48:19
  without them knowing that the problems with cut but by
• 48:22
  Wednesday which I Was preparing for a funeral that day with but
• 48:28
  I was getting phone calls from my team manager athletes, hey
• 48:31
  we're here in this. Is this true and I was so
• 48:33
  frustrated, I was just really aggravated that they were fine.
• 48:35
  Out but you know some some people had got wind and then the
• 48:38
  news got a hold of it and and stuff.
• 48:40
  So because baseball and softball were playing games during the
• 48:44
  during spring break. And so their teams were they
• 48:46
  told their teams during during that time, you know, within a
• 48:49
  within a day or two. So I wasn't able to keep it from
• 48:52
  them but I you know I was like look I've got a plan when you
• 48:54
  get back on Monday we're sitting down.
• 48:56
  We're going to talk room tip. Talk everything.
• 48:57
  So in the meantime later that week I think it was maybe
• 49:01
  Thursday or Friday. I sent one email to Dee Brown
• 49:04
  and I will Central Community College and and said, hey can
• 49:08
  you can you forward this out to all the coaches in a sudden will
• 49:13
  put together an email you know about our program getting cut.
• 49:16
  I said in anybody who's interested in any of my girls
• 49:19
  you know, please just make me aware, let me know and I will
• 49:21
  make sure that they know that they know what options they
• 49:24
  have. So so did he was able to do that
• 49:27
  and literally five minutes. I mean, within five minutes, I
• 49:30
  had emails coming in, from from central, Arizona Community
• 49:32
  College, have been sins and touched It's time and which he
• 49:37
  and I had already talked about some girl, some of my girls but
• 49:41
  because they had traveled with us, you know, some to Nationals
• 49:43
  and stuff, but sharing a bus or whatever.
• 49:47
  So but you know, so within, I mean, it was like, Hey, I want
• 49:51
  to talk to your thrower that someone was able to name them by
• 49:53
  name. I want to talk to Teresa, I'm
• 49:55
  gonna talk to your triple jumper your hurdler and so they cited,
• 50:00
  I just put together a list and had you know you know all the
• 50:02
  girls is okay. Look, you know, here's who's,
• 50:04
  who's hit want to? Talk to you, you know, I
• 50:07
  entertain everybody, you want to if you're not wanting to go far
• 50:09
  from home or if you're not one of the worst are from all over
• 50:11
  anyway. So I said, but anything I can
• 50:14
  help with will will help you get through.
• 50:16
  And so that was where that was for the focus turned from from
• 50:19
  March through the remainder of the, you know, to the season and
• 50:23
  we'll kind of went from there. You know, Chad simplistically
• 50:27
  life is kind of in three buckets, there's our work life
• 50:32
  as our personal life, and then there's our spiritual life.
• 50:37
  When we have something catastrophic happened in one of
• 50:41
  those buckets, it's a big deal, you know, we recently had Jim
• 50:46
  Sprecher, from University of Lynchburg on the podcast.
• 50:49
  He was at Ball State when they dropped the program, he had to
• 50:53
  hear about it on the radio, that's how he learned about it.
• 50:56
  And he was, he was an Alum. It was his alma mater as well.
• 50:59
  It's just, it's gut-wrenching. I mean it's it makes you start
• 51:03
  questioning things right. Like am I in the right?
• 51:05
  Profession. Is this really what I want to be
• 51:07
  in in our personal life and we have someone that passes away,
• 51:11
  someone close to us. We, we talked about the
• 51:14
  tightness of your family. You had both of these things.
• 51:19
  So, in two of our three buckets, you had both of these really
• 51:23
  likes no hyperbole or catastrophic events happen on
• 51:27
  the same day. I mean, I can't imagine the
• 51:32
  amount of pain sorrow that you To be that you probably were
• 51:37
  going through at that point did the thoughts of quitting ever
• 51:43
  occur to you and if they did, how do you how did you get over
• 51:46
  that? And no one would have blamed you
• 51:48
  if you decide, you know what? I'm going to go back home, I'm
• 51:49
  going to work in the local retail store and you know, I'm a
• 51:52
  live, a good life. It's okay.
• 51:54
  That's a great life that that that's not.
• 51:57
  I'm not demeaning that at all, but to have at such a young age,
• 52:02
  you know, you're not even 30 at this point program cut.
• 52:05
  Father passes away. I mean, this is this would be
• 52:08
  too much for a lot of people to handle.
• 52:11
  Did that ever quitting ever come into your mind?
• 52:14
  And if so, how did you push on and pursue on ya think that, you
• 52:19
  know, you know, would when my grandfather passed away like
• 52:21
  that was sort of, you know, obviously, that could sort of
• 52:25
  trumped the other at the time and, you know, so it was sort
• 52:28
  of, you know, kind of process them as best I could
• 52:31
  differently. You know, a little bit, a little
• 52:32
  bit differently but you know, I think that being able to sort of
• 52:37
  turn my attention to the athletes and focus.
• 52:40
  Their first was a big deal. I mean, you know, the people at
• 52:45
  Bell State thought enough of me that they were, you know, they
• 52:47
  were looking to other places that I could potentially work on
• 52:50
  campus, you know, either on, you know, do something else.
• 52:53
  You know, that kind of thing to find me another job if I wanted
• 52:55
  to remain there and but obviously, I'll coaching is what
• 52:59
  I wanted to do at the time. So I, you know, I was looking to
• 53:01
  look in to find something and, you know, and it was just Just
• 53:06
  trying to trying to fill it out. I don't really think there was
• 53:09
  really any thought of necessarily quitting.
• 53:13
  I did, you know, I I guess I just sort of tried to sit back
• 53:17
  as best I could and process it as let it be a lesson and kind
• 53:22
  of because there was some different things that you know,
• 53:25
  along the way in that process where you know I just didn't
• 53:28
  feel like you know the droppings of the program were done in the
• 53:33
  right way. I mean it wasn't it wasn't
• 53:34
  really the slamming. But I was, you know, I was a
• 53:37
  little bit frustrated with, you know, with kind of how it went,
• 53:40
  kind of how it went down and I didn't feel like that.
• 53:42
  So sort of in my eyes, it was it was kind of a way to, you know,
• 53:48
  alone because because along the way along the journey, you know,
• 53:51
  you kind of you have, you have lessons.
• 53:54
  You figure out the things that that you want to take with you
• 53:58
  and do later. And say, okay, I'm going to use
• 54:01
  that. And then you also have the
• 54:03
  things where I hope I'm not going to do that.
• 54:04
  I'm not going to not going to be that person, or I'm not going
• 54:07
  to, you know, that's something I don't want to.
• 54:08
  I don't want to have attached to my name or my reputation.
• 54:12
  So, you know, I just believe there's a right way to treat
• 54:15
  people. And so the right way, right way.
• 54:17
  And wrong way to do business. And I know and I know, you know,
• 54:19
  all about that and the success you've had with Gil and, and
• 54:22
  other things in your life. And so, you know, and I just,
• 54:25
  you know, to me that, you know, when they, when I call it, like,
• 54:28
  for instance, with the coating of the program, when they called
• 54:30
  us in to talk to us, the president wasn't in meeting and
• 54:34
  that was her decision. And you know, and then we're
• 54:37
  going to be asked for our thoughts were.
• 54:39
  Well, you didn't, you didn't, you know why we ask now, bro?
• 54:42
  Yeah, what's better now right? Like now and so like I, you
• 54:45
  know, and so, you know, and I was like Lou got, you know, when
• 54:49
  I was given the opportunity to talk and I actually remember
• 54:52
  saying, you know, I said well technically it's a little late
• 54:56
  for that, I said it, but I said in also, I said I haven't been
• 54:59
  here long enough, you know, as in this capacity to, I don't
• 55:03
  feel like form an opinion. I see At the same time, I said,
• 55:06
  I've been affiliated with the school for nine years.
• 55:09
  I said, you know, as a student and you know I got my degree
• 55:13
  here. I said I you know I think the
• 55:14
  world of the faculty and staff. It's been good to me.
• 55:17
  I said, you know, I've got friends here and I still I'm,
• 55:21
  you know, the people that we met that Keith and I met while we
• 55:23
  were able State. I mean their lifetime friends.
• 55:27
  I mean they're just you know as close or closer to us in some
• 55:30
  ways than you know, a lot of ways to go over the last 20
• 55:33
  years and noticed his two people who grew up with and High school
• 55:36
  and we didn't think that was possible because we had a
• 55:38
  close-knit group. I mean, it was, you know, we it
• 55:40
  was it was, it was phenomenal. So but you know I don't think, I
• 55:45
  think it was more of a just you know kind of take the lesson and
• 55:49
  move on, understand it. All things happen for a reason
• 55:51
  and see what the in. See what the next move was and
• 55:55
  you know, fortunately, you know, some things were, you know,
• 55:57
  started kind of happening I did. But now the thing I did do is I
• 56:01
  waited till I'd Focus so much on on Finding all the all of my
• 56:06
  girls places to go all my women places to go that I think I
• 56:11
  looked up and it was like June you know some Midsummer and I
• 56:15
  didn't have any come August I didn't have anywhere to go, you
• 56:17
  know? So I was like, I got to figure
• 56:19
  something out and and so, but along, but along the way, you
• 56:23
  know, we had, you know, I had, I'd start applying for some
• 56:26
  things and so the next, the next step was actually interviewed
• 56:31
  for a position at Georgia Southern.
• 56:35
  Assistant coach position and but coach Cox at Kenneth Kenneth Cox
• 56:40
  at Birmingham, Southern it called me the day before I was
• 56:43
  supposed to interview at Georgia Southern and said, you know,
• 56:45
  we're first he texts me and he and I have been kind of texting
• 56:49
  for a while because his even though we didn't really know
• 56:52
  each other really well. He, I told him about programs
• 56:54
  get cut it. The very next weekend when we
• 56:56
  were to meet at Jacksonville State together and he was
• 56:59
  recruiting one of my girls, you know took to come run for him
• 57:02
  the next year or so. And so I, um, Here, I remember,
• 57:08
  I remember I didn't think about it a lot then, but I thought
• 57:11
  back on it when he was texting me that day and I was like, what
• 57:14
  are you hinting around? At our, you got a position
• 57:16
  opening up, or what, because he was cute, but he wasn't being
• 57:18
  real clear, but he's kind of asking me.
• 57:19
  Hey, how's it going? Or you, are you looking, or you
• 57:22
  find anything, whatever? And so, and, and but I could
• 57:26
  remember when I told him that day, that him and smother
• 57:29
  coaches at our programs have been, you know, we're getting
• 57:31
  cut. He at JSU, he was like, He said
• 57:37
  that, you know, it's like you just punched me in the gut.
• 57:38
  He was devastated. I mean, it really was, genuinely
• 57:41
  it genuinely hurt him. That noted that somebody, you
• 57:44
  know, he knew or whatever it was getting to know was losing their
• 57:47
  program. So you know, because I mean the
• 57:49
  guys got a heart of gold so obviously you know Kenneth
• 57:52
  Kenneth Cox well so you know and so he you know he and so he and
• 57:57
  I started talking more and then that text message pops up that
• 58:00
  day. Well I had to interview the next
• 58:02
  day for Georgia Southern so I was driving down to stay the
• 58:05
  night and I was going to be there for a day and a half and
• 58:07
  so he was a lot. We'll listen.
• 58:11
  Well, actually trying to remember it.
• 58:14
  I think that actually happened over the weekend.
• 58:15
  I was actually visiting friend. We were in Chicago visiting
• 58:17
  friends and got children at the time.
• 58:19
  So when all that kind of lined up, but anyway, he was like, he
• 58:22
  said, well, when you after you come back from Georgia, Southern
• 58:25
  can you come here on an interview the next day?
• 58:27
  And I was like, sure, absolutely.
• 58:29
  So, so it kind of worked out, you know, ended up at going to
• 58:34
  interview with him and he offered that day, Georgia
• 58:37
  Southern call me, she wanted to offer but then she ended up in a
• 58:39
  situation to where she was really frustrated, she was
• 58:43
  wanting to hire me but then she had to open up the job again
• 58:47
  because the ad and the athletic director, see the athletic
• 58:50
  director in the president at the time, didn't want a male coach
• 58:52
  coaching female athletes and they only had women only and so
• 58:57
  she was aggravated that she was going to open it back up, but
• 59:00
  didn't want me to take a chance on missing the Birmingham,
• 59:02
  Southern job pay was about right at the same.
• 59:05
  So it was closer to home and so you know, coach Cox and I'd hit
• 59:08
  it off and stuff. So so I ended up telling him
• 59:11
  yes. And you know, and landed at
• 59:14
  Birmingham Southern for a couple years you know.
• 59:16
  I'm so glad we were able to talk about Kim Cox because you know,
• 59:20
  you kind of nailed it, the Heart of Gold.
• 59:23
  I'll be there are some amazing people in this profession that
• 59:26
  you and I both know and had interactions with and consider
• 59:30
  friends and kin cocks. You know, I can if you know, can
• 59:34
  Cox when When Chad was telling that story about when he told at
• 59:38
  the Jacksonville State meet that, you know, the programs
• 59:40
  being cut like Ken was like genuinely hurt.
• 59:45
  Like, I know that like, I knowing him.
• 59:47
  I know that's exactly like it hurt him.
• 59:51
  Who had no affiliation with it? No, it's not going to hurt him.
• 59:54
  His life moves on with that. He was genuinely impacted by
• 1:00:00
  that because of his friendship with you and just his love of
• 1:00:03
  the sport of your truck person, he just automatically.
• 1:00:05
  Sonia. He is an amazing person.
• 1:00:08
  How was your time at Burning? So that's a really gorgeous
• 1:00:11
  campus, a gorgeous Track, and Field Complex kind of, you know,
• 1:00:15
  down and bunch of woods in the bag and throws area over here
• 1:00:19
  and you're right. I just love the setup that
• 1:00:22
  Burnham Southern has. There it was, it was, it was
• 1:00:25
  phenomenal. You know, I came in at a time
• 1:00:27
  when you know, coach Mary Birdwell had heard, her husband
• 1:00:34
  had passed away. Not too.
• 1:00:35
  Too long before that and so that same summer he had he had
• 1:00:39
  contacted coach Cox if you know Kenneth had contacted coach bird
• 1:00:44
  and asked her if you know he was trying to help occupy our time
• 1:00:48
  more or less and you know keep her keep her around the sport of
• 1:00:50
  track and field and around young people.
• 1:00:52
  And and so she, you know, he had asked her to come on, to help,
• 1:00:56
  you know, coach to know the coach the distance, and the
• 1:00:59
  cross country Runners, so, in the fall.
• 1:01:01
  So like he, so she was coming on.
• 1:01:04
  Well, I had had Some of her former athletes that Hoover when
• 1:01:08
  she was at Hoover High School. I had had someone for kids at
• 1:01:11
  Bell State, you know, as you know, as the athletes.
• 1:01:14
  So we you know, I knew of Coach bird, I'd met her, you know, but
• 1:01:17
  I didn't know her Legend. Oh my gosh, I story is like
• 1:01:23
  crazy and like you know just she's so like I wouldn't take a
• 1:01:27
  million dollars for those two years of BSE, you know, and
• 1:01:31
  what? Well, anything in my career
• 1:01:32
  honestly like I don't regret not one day of it, but Anywhere I've
• 1:01:36
  been but, you know, so coach bird and I get there at the same
• 1:01:39
  time in the fall and, you know, even even up until the day she
• 1:01:44
  passed away, like she, she would talk about that one that one
• 1:01:50
  year at Birmingham, Southern my every time, I mean, I would see
• 1:01:52
  her would sit down at an indoor meet or or an outdoor meeting
• 1:01:55
  Montevallo or wherever it. She would bring up that group of
• 1:01:58
  kids and there was a lot of reason and a lot of reasons for
• 1:02:00
  that. But one thing was we had, you
• 1:02:03
  know, we already had several athletes on the team.
• 1:02:05
  We all belong obviously, but we had, we had several multi-sport
• 1:02:08
  athletes that, it came out. And so we had, we had a group of
• 1:02:11
  like, five guys, that it came out from football that it
• 1:02:14
  competed for years, football, Birmingham, Southern and just
• 1:02:16
  wanted to keep competing. So, they came out and about to
• 1:02:19
  graduate mate, and they came out and and competed for us.
• 1:02:25
  We had we had a girl or two. That was basketball in the fall
• 1:02:30
  and All Conference that would end.
• 1:02:31
  It was all-conference in track and field every year and as well
• 1:02:34
  and spring. And then And then so and then
• 1:02:37
  she'll be more was also shoot. So she was volleyball in the
• 1:02:40
  fall all-conference and then same way and with track coach
• 1:02:45
  turned the jumps and then Coach Bert.
• 1:02:47
  Also help me help me with the Joker's as well.
• 1:02:49
  So because she knows every, you know, she knew everything she
• 1:02:52
  knew everything about everything, you know, she she,
• 1:02:55
  she trying to officials in the state of Alabama and audio and
• 1:02:58
  USB usatf. And so, especially in the high
• 1:03:02
  school ranks and snout, how about Hall of Fame?
• 1:03:04
  And Thank you know, Sports Hall of Fame so but but she would
• 1:03:09
  talk about those kids all the time.
• 1:03:10
  And so and it was because they bought in and it was you know, I
• 1:03:15
  thought back like I like when she when she passed away back we
• 1:03:18
  think last year year and a half ago, I had a tough time with
• 1:03:22
  that, you know. So for a while, still do, and I
• 1:03:26
  told somebody just recently, I'd give anything this string to
• 1:03:29
  pull up a stool or a cinder block, or something beside her,
• 1:03:32
  and just, and just listen to her talk.
• 1:03:34
  And because when She and I like when we get to the new like if
• 1:03:37
  she was calling me, I had to make sure I like okay.
• 1:03:42
  If I was busy I couldn't answer it right.
• 1:03:43
  Then as I got caught books back in a few minutes because we're
• 1:03:46
  going to be on the phone for a while.
• 1:03:48
  Like you know, it was not going to be just a quick conversation.
• 1:03:50
  It was going to be, you know, we're going to be talking about
• 1:03:53
  track and field and then it might spend to the Braves or
• 1:03:55
  whatever she was huge, Atlanta Braves fan and stuff.
• 1:03:59
  So shoe travel whole country even in her 70s, you know, to
• 1:04:02
  elect Junior Olympics, all the way to California and Oregon and
• 1:04:05
  Isis. And, you know, and I would get
• 1:04:07
  on her about being careful but she's like all, you know, out if
• 1:04:11
  the Braves are playing, I'll have them on the radio, if
• 1:04:13
  they're not. I'll have my Elvis own and I'll
• 1:04:15
  be, I'll be I'll be cruising down the road so, you know, she
• 1:04:18
  but but, you know, she she it was unbelievable to watch her
• 1:04:22
  around those around those kids that you're in, and Kenneth
• 1:04:27
  would be, would be able to tell you the exact, you know, what it
• 1:04:30
  meant to him to. And so it was just, it was
• 1:04:33
  unbelievable because those guys like, Like I remember Darius and
• 1:04:37
  we'll and Aaron those skills football guys that it came out
• 1:04:41
  and you're talking linebacker said, you know, four times her
• 1:04:44
  size. She's you know, she's not even
• 1:04:46
  five foot tall and, you know, enter 70s at the time and it was
• 1:04:50
  so funny like they never did track and field in their lives.
• 1:04:52
  Never through never done anything.
• 1:04:55
  And she's out there trying to teach Darius, how to throw the
• 1:04:57
  hammer and I'm like coach, you can't hold that. 16 Pound
• 1:05:00
  Hammer, like you give that to him, you figure something.
• 1:05:03
  So, you know, eventually she finally picks up the broom.
• 1:05:05
  You know, the bring they have on she's trying to show the term
• 1:05:07
  and stuff, but she's got it in her hand.
• 1:05:10
  I mean, she's fixing to and so, but I remember the first day, he
• 1:05:13
  picks it up, she's looking at him and she's like she said,
• 1:05:17
  what are you doing? Wait wait, wait, wait.
• 1:05:19
  What are you doing? And he said, he said that will
• 1:05:21
  Coach Jody Hice? I'm left-handed.
• 1:05:23
  She said what you're left-handed?
• 1:05:25
  She said, good great. She said, I'll my life is many
• 1:05:28
  years. I've been doing this, you know,
• 1:05:30
  at the time 50-something years, you've been coaching coaching.
• 1:05:33
  She said I own. She's, I've never had a
• 1:05:34
  left-handed throwing What she said.
• 1:05:36
  I don't I'm having I'm now everything's backwards for me.
• 1:05:38
  So I've got to figure so but you know, I think if I remember
• 1:05:41
  correctly, one of those, every one of those guys scored and wow
• 1:05:44
  and in the conference meet and so, but but what was so awesome
• 1:05:48
  out. I was thinking back when she
• 1:05:49
  passed away to those days that we would be out there and, you
• 1:05:53
  know, and and it was on it was it was amazing to watch those
• 1:05:57
  guys fall on like because when she talked you listened and
• 1:06:01
  social so they would you know, they would fall on every word
• 1:06:03
  she said and you know and and Looking back on it.
• 1:06:06
  I think you know those guys at 21 years old, you know, football
• 1:06:10
  guys. Linebackers 280, 300 pound, you
• 1:06:13
  know, muscle up, guys, I date a lot of kids.
• 1:06:16
  You know, at that age wouldn't have listened to a little over
• 1:06:19
  75 year old. Tell them how to throw a
• 1:06:21
  16-pound ball of Wireless. You can't hold, you know.
• 1:06:24
  Well, you know and like but they did and they were just they
• 1:06:27
  would fall on every word. She said because they knew she
• 1:06:29
  knew what she was talking about and they knew but she had their
• 1:06:33
  best interest in mind. And so, You know, those man that
• 1:06:37
  it was it was Unreal to just be a part of that if you know, they
• 1:06:40
  they gelled together. It was, you know, we had, you
• 1:06:42
  know, we just almost 12 Conference on the guys side that
• 1:06:45
  year we were second by just a couple points but but it was it
• 1:06:50
  was amazing like that, you know, the way they bought in and and
• 1:06:53
  Coach bird had such an impact on my life, like, you know, for the
• 1:06:56
  last whatever, you know, it's been now, you know, in the time
• 1:07:00
  that I've known her. So it's a, it was, it was a lot
• 1:07:04
  of fun. We had, we had a The phone at
• 1:07:05
  Birmingham, Southern you mentioned earlier about the
• 1:07:08
  people that you surround yourself with and you're in a
• 1:07:11
  time period where to of some of the greatest people in this
• 1:07:15
  sport Mary Birdwell, it can cocks, are you're all on staff
• 1:07:19
  together, man. It's that I knew that had to be
• 1:07:21
  a special time because I knew of these special people.
• 1:07:24
  During that, let's take a small pivot here.
• 1:07:27
  Chad. So you're now in year kind of
• 1:07:30
  three, four, five, ish, six ish of your coaching career.
• 1:07:33
  What are you doing? You were Marilee, a high jumper
• 1:07:37
  but we know coaching on almost any level.
• 1:07:40
  We like to say the high school and Juco level.
• 1:07:42
  Especially but this happens on all levels.
• 1:07:44
  You're coaching everything at some point in time or definitely
• 1:07:47
  other events that you weren't necessarily an athlete.
• 1:07:50
  What are you doing for like your own coaching education?
• 1:07:54
  Are you doing any of the usatf level ones Global twos?
• 1:07:58
  Are you doing more of the peer conversations with other
• 1:08:03
  coaches? How are you kind of making
• 1:08:04
  yourself a better? Like X's and O's type of Coach.
• 1:08:08
  So we so I actually I got my, I got my usatf level one in.
• 1:08:14
  Actually while I was at Bell State as a student, I believe it
• 1:08:16
  was, it was either It was on the back end of that.
• 1:08:21
  So I think Keith and I see both went to Mountain Brook, High
• 1:08:24
  School and I think I'm almost positive JJ Downs.
• 1:08:28
  Had something to do. I want to say he had something
• 1:08:29
  to do with usatf and you may? I don't know.
• 1:08:32
  I was your teeth. That's the only reason I asked
• 1:08:34
  Chad was so that you could tell the world that I was your track
• 1:08:37
  teacher. That's all I really care.
• 1:08:38
  I was talking about. So and so level one was at
• 1:08:45
  Mountain Brook that year and then so then fast forward Well,
• 1:08:50
  you know, 2011, when I'm at Birmingham Southern, but before,
• 1:08:55
  but before that, while I was at bevel, is to head coach, I
• 1:08:57
  started I slept on the floor convention chip Brundage was
• 1:09:03
  still at Troy, so in Diego actually are Diego and I stayed
• 1:09:07
  with chip that year while Diego was helping at Auburn.
• 1:09:12
  I can't remember if Keith's seems like he's roommate ruined
• 1:09:14
  with somebody too because we're all low man on the totem pole.
• 1:09:17
  Everywhere, what, you know for, well, I was, I was, I know, I
• 1:09:19
  was level of time as head coach, but still I didn't have the
• 1:09:22
  money to be able to pay for convention, you know, and or
• 1:09:25
  anything like that. So so we were sleeping on floors
• 1:09:28
  and going and learning from the symposiums and starting to get
• 1:09:31
  to know people and then, so that that winter, we go to wear at
• 1:09:38
  think Eastern Illinois for indoor Nationals, Junior,
• 1:09:40
  College Nationals and and we're at the coach's meeting the night
• 1:09:46
  before the first day of Nationals and Todd Layman, who
• 1:09:49
  was Um, like I think he's our president at the time I think or
• 1:09:52
  one of the people in jca that was, you know, that was helping
• 1:09:56
  get us through and stuff. So he walked up to me at, you
• 1:10:02
  know, in the line to get food and was like, hey Chad, I need
• 1:10:04
  you to talk to the group tonight and I'm like, huh, you know,
• 1:10:09
  he's I need you to talk to the rest of the coaches, and I was
• 1:10:11
  like, why do you need me? Why do you need me to talk to
• 1:10:13
  the rest of coach and what it was?
• 1:10:15
  He wanted me to explain to them because I had went the previous
• 1:10:18
  year to Convention and You know, he said look, he said they NJCAA
• 1:10:21
  is got to figure out and got to learn the importance of why we
• 1:10:25
  need to be at convention and get to be a part of the NJCAA, or
• 1:10:29
  the NJCAA needs to be a part of the u.s. tfcc A and so on with
• 1:10:34
  the with the NCAA schools and everything, so he said so just I
• 1:10:38
  just want you to tell them why you do it and you know, walking
• 1:10:40
  or whatever. So, you know so okay.
• 1:10:43
  Well, you know, sod money prompted me.
• 1:10:45
  I just told the group that, well, you know, I get a lot out
• 1:10:48
  of it, you know? I went one time.
• 1:10:49
  I'm going to continue to go if I have to scrape, you know, scrape
• 1:10:53
  by to get to make it happen. I'm going to try to learn every
• 1:10:55
  which way I can and you know and get and get down there and be a
• 1:10:59
  part of that. I you know I got so much of it
• 1:11:00
  at and so much out of it the first time I experienced it and
• 1:11:03
  stuff so and then I know that time in actually you know Don
• 1:11:08
  cock sent the email week or two ago.
• 1:11:12
  We are officially finally 100% part of the coaches association
• 1:11:17
  now in case of a so we've been trying To get fully involved
• 1:11:20
  ever since then. And so, because then it was, it
• 1:11:24
  was me, and Todd, and Coach, Phillip Phillips from Cali Kid,
• 1:11:30
  Mark, some of those guys from Cloud County, you know.
• 1:11:32
  Hey, would, you know, and could come D Brown, you know, Don
• 1:11:36
  cock, some of those would come but outside of that, nobody in
• 1:11:38
  the Juco level would was really a convention.
• 1:11:40
  So now we've grown and everybody, you know, there's a
• 1:11:43
  lot more starting to starting to show up in problems are starting
• 1:11:46
  to get more involved but but you know, I saw it.
• 1:11:49
  What is it convention? And I think.
• 1:11:51
  Now I've been honestly, I've been, you know, 12 of the last
• 1:11:54
  14 years or something like that. So, you know, try to try to go
• 1:11:58
  and, you know, I'm not, I'm not shy to be able to walk up and
• 1:12:03
  talk to anybody or at least jump in any conversation.
• 1:12:05
  And because I learned that very early on in going to Convention
• 1:12:09
  that, you know, these guys and women that have been there and
• 1:12:12
  done that for the last 30, 40 years Hall of Fame coaches,
• 1:12:15
  whatever like they're willing to disperse that knowledge on the
• 1:12:18
  younger. Our younger generation.
• 1:12:20
  So I figured that out in my late 20s that, you know, we could do
• 1:12:24
  that. What's your advice?
• 1:12:25
  So right now someone's listening and maybe they've been to
• 1:12:29
  Convention, maybe they haven't. First of all, shout out to, you
• 1:12:33
  know, Sam seems and the whole us tfcc organization.
• 1:12:36
  I agree with you. I'm so happy to hear that.
• 1:12:38
  NJCAA is now officially a part of the u.s. tfcc a because, you
• 1:12:43
  know, it's the u.s. track and field and cross country coaches
• 1:12:47
  association this Association. For you.
• 1:12:50
  The track and cross country coach regardless of level in
• 1:12:56
  CAA? Yeah, check NJCAA.
• 1:12:59
  That's right. Check any I check high school
• 1:13:02
  check this is your coach's Association and it's one of the
• 1:13:06
  most important bodies that we have out there for the men and
• 1:13:10
  women who choose to be a track and field and across or Cross
• 1:13:12
  Country Coach because it's what is going to hopefully help
• 1:13:16
  continue to elevate the profession whether it's Titles,
• 1:13:20
  pay the professional development, personal
• 1:13:23
  development and of course, the development of the sport itself
• 1:13:27
  on the Collegiate side of things.
• 1:13:29
  So, you know, I'm a huge Gil is a huge supporter, u.s. to see a
• 1:13:33
  I personally and just a huge supporter of the u.s. tfcc A and
• 1:13:38
  what the men and women of that organization are doing for you,
• 1:13:42
  the track coach. So you should be in that and
• 1:13:45
  having your voice heard. Now, having said that, sorry
• 1:13:48
  where I was getting to chat. Someone's listening right now
• 1:13:51
  and maybe they're going to go to Convention for the first time.
• 1:13:53
  This December? It's in Denver.
• 1:13:55
  Can't wait. December and dividend vertice.
• 1:13:57
  Everybody. And they, you know, they want to
• 1:14:00
  talk to coach so-and-so but man, that's how, I don't know if I
• 1:14:06
  can do that out. I'm low man on the totem pole.
• 1:14:09
  Like you, you put it earlier, right?
• 1:14:10
  And this coach has one XY and z or whatever attributes you want
• 1:14:15
  to say is successful, I can't just go up to them and introduce
• 1:14:18
  myself. If and talk to them, what's your
• 1:14:20
  advice to that young person right now?
• 1:14:23
  Young coach to do that. How, what's your advice?
• 1:14:26
  I'll come back coming into convention or any meat to be
• 1:14:29
  real Frank as long as they're not coaching, right?
• 1:14:32
  Well, I would, I would say that, you know, understand it, they
• 1:14:36
  were once in your shoes. Now that you're the shoe that
• 1:14:39
  you're in now. So in the position you're in and
• 1:14:41
  you're in your little nervous or whatever and about picking the
• 1:14:44
  brain of some you know somebody who's who you think nose hole.
• 1:14:49
  More than you do. And maybe doesn't you don't
• 1:14:52
  think you deserve to be in their presence at, you know, at all or
• 1:14:55
  whatever. So, you know, they've also been
• 1:14:58
  in that position at some point at some point in their life.
• 1:15:01
  So, you know, getting in there, you know, I would say that, you
• 1:15:05
  know, if you're, you know, if you're an assistant coach or
• 1:15:07
  even if you're a head coach at a, for the first time and and
• 1:15:11
  still, you know, young and kind of landed that job a little bit
• 1:15:13
  soon or something, like the getting getting, Taking and
• 1:15:19
  going with the, the coaches that you already do know.
• 1:15:22
  So utilizing one another's connections because the
• 1:15:26
  connections pieces is such a big deal.
• 1:15:28
  And, you know, I think we all we all kind of learn that, you
• 1:15:31
  know, you know, pretty early on for the most part.
• 1:15:34
  You know, that's, you know, when we went to convincing this past
• 1:15:37
  year, Tommy Barksdale and I we usually we usually travel
• 1:15:41
  together and, you know, we've ripped across the to Phoenix and
• 1:15:45
  we, you know, we drove I'm not a huge fan of flying so I, you
• 1:15:48
  know, and I'm all about a road trip, so so we know.
• 1:15:52
  So we did Phoenix a couple times and, you know, and as far as
• 1:15:55
  being the first one, but like, so this year, when we went to go
• 1:15:58
  to Orlando, his throws coach now is my former on throw at Barton
• 1:16:04
  College in North Carolina when I was there.
• 1:16:05
  So, so, so, Mike owes his first time insurance is too.
• 1:16:09
  Glorious. You met those guys, you know
• 1:16:11
  what convention so, and then Aquarius with, who was at
• 1:16:14
  Mississippi State, you know, as an athlete or whatever.
• 1:16:16
  So he, you know, so those we're headed to Denver, And and
• 1:16:20
  they're asking questions you know they're young guys are 24
• 1:16:22
  25 and and so he so they're asking questions of me and Tommy
• 1:16:27
  like hey what do we expect? What do we need to do?
• 1:16:28
  You know whatever and and Barksdale was like just just
• 1:16:33
  follow Chad because he knows everybody and so and so I just
• 1:16:36
  started laughing I was I don't know everybody.
• 1:16:38
  I was like I said I just and so and so what I you know so it's
• 1:16:42
  funny you ask that question because I have I have actually
• 1:16:44
  answered that for them as best I could and I said well I said
• 1:16:47
  it's not that I know everybody I said.
• 1:16:49
  I have my own personal connections and then their
• 1:16:52
  connections like the so people have worked with over the years
• 1:16:54
  like Kenneth Cox and different ones and people I've met through
• 1:16:56
  him and then I have Kids connections because you know,
• 1:17:01
  when Keith and I've been in different places.
• 1:17:03
  So I have, you know, a ton of his connections like I can't
• 1:17:06
  remember I'll get his wedding 34 years ago in San Marcos.
• 1:17:11
  I can't remember how many college track coaches.
• 1:17:13
  It was where there but I want to say it was in the 20s.
• 1:17:15
  It was 20 something that we're, you know.
• 1:17:17
  So it was kind of kind of cool. I mean We may all made a picture
• 1:17:20
  together, whatever but they hung but you know not what that was
• 1:17:24
  my advice to them. I was like, you know, you just I
• 1:17:27
  said you kind of take each other's connections that they're
• 1:17:29
  already doing it now where the people like, you know, each of
• 1:17:31
  them went to high school with are not high school but with to
• 1:17:34
  college, with and competed with our meeting, each other's
• 1:17:38
  connection. So, you know, and it's also
• 1:17:40
  their High School coaches and their former, you know, college
• 1:17:43
  coaches and stuff, whether it be JJ Downs, was, you know, was
• 1:17:46
  Aquarius is coach in high school and then And then, you know, and
• 1:17:50
  then, of course, Dave Dudley, you know, in college so that,
• 1:17:52
  you know, they just a branch out because it really becomes the
• 1:17:56
  coaching World becomes a really small world.
• 1:17:58
  When you really start to, you know, fill around and it's
• 1:18:01
  amazing who you know, that also knows that person, you know.
• 1:18:04
  So and some capacity that you have no idea how they even could
• 1:18:07
  have met, you know, shout out to Micah and Aquarius.
• 1:18:10
  That's where I first met them as well and really, you know, just
• 1:18:14
  good young coaches like so excited to see, you know, five
• 1:18:18
  years, ten years. Years 15 years, down the road
• 1:18:20
  for them and what they're going to be doing in this profession
• 1:18:23
  that I have a hunch, we'll be hearing their names, quite often
• 1:18:27
  to be realize, they're outgoing guys, and they'll do well.
• 1:18:32
  So, again, to that young coach coach, that's listening right
• 1:18:35
  now, you know, you've been, you've been to a lot of
• 1:18:38
  conventions. Chad, what if there's a lot
• 1:18:43
  going on at convention, right? Not just only the personal and
• 1:18:47
  professional development. They You know the classes and
• 1:18:52
  things like that, but there's the hallway talk, right?
• 1:18:54
  And that's some of the most valuable stuff that's there,
• 1:18:57
  there's committee meetings, there's a Ward's meetings,
• 1:18:59
  there's the Bowerman, the Hall of Fame.
• 1:19:03
  I mean, they're just so much going on.
• 1:19:05
  If what would you advise? You have a young coach that's
• 1:19:09
  going and they look at the schedule and it's overwhelming
• 1:19:13
  sometimes, right? What's the one thing besides
• 1:19:17
  stopping at the Gila FedEx Booth of?
• 1:19:19
  Course, we just know. That would be your number one
• 1:19:20
  advice. But so what's your number two?
• 1:19:23
  Like, don't miss can't miss. You have to participate in X.
• 1:19:27
  Is it a committee meeting? Is it the Hall of Fame?
• 1:19:30
  Banquet? What's the one thing?
• 1:19:32
  I'm sorry. The second thing that you would
• 1:19:35
  advise you just cannot miss. You would be wasting your money
• 1:19:38
  on time if you didn't do this. I would I think it's I think
• 1:19:44
  it's a little bit, a two piece and it could even be a
• 1:19:48
  three-prong on three. I'm deal but for me and I know I
• 1:19:52
  know some people, you know, skip it and go, you know, go to their
• 1:19:55
  own thing, but not many. And and now I think the Hall of
• 1:19:57
  Fame dinner and the Bowerman presentation are phenomenal for
• 1:20:02
  a little bit different reasons. You know, the Hall of Fame
• 1:20:04
  dinner to me is always because I am a very emotional guy and I'm
• 1:20:11
  very much people person and I'm very empathetic of other
• 1:20:14
  people's situations and, you know, we talked about Coach Cox
• 1:20:16
  being so, you know, heart connected to Things and I talked
• 1:20:19
  about, I talk to my athletes about about that about, you
• 1:20:22
  know, like look if your teammates hurting you should
• 1:20:24
  have enough empathy and they've got something going on at home
• 1:20:27
  or whatever that should bother you a little bit it at least a
• 1:20:30
  little, you know. And so, you know, so with all
• 1:20:34
  those with all that, you know, being the case, like the Hall of
• 1:20:37
  Fame dinner, you know, that's a that's either somebody, you
• 1:20:40
  know, somebody that's on the very back end or they've done
• 1:20:42
  Rich. They've already retired from
• 1:20:44
  from doing this, and they're, and they're going back through
• 1:20:46
  their life, you know, in a very short span.
• 1:20:49
  You're getting to hear, you know what it meant to them.
• 1:20:52
  And, and so and kind of their journey and a nutshell and of
• 1:20:56
  course they have to fit into a small speech.
• 1:20:59
  Or if it's somebody who's already passed away, you know,
• 1:21:01
  somebody's talking on their behalf.
• 1:21:03
  But but for me that's a, that's a very emotional night.
• 1:21:06
  That's, you know, it kind of ties in, you know, you know, you
• 1:21:08
  sort of started start thinking about, you know, 20, 30 years
• 1:21:12
  down the road, you know what, what this life is going to look
• 1:21:16
  like and, you know, and but you're Also hearing some of the
• 1:21:20
  same things that you've encountered in already in your
• 1:21:22
  career with, with coaching athletes and being around other
• 1:21:27
  coaches and things. So, you're getting here, their
• 1:21:29
  journey and you're getting a seat, you know, the real life,
• 1:21:34
  the real life, emotion of what that's like and kind of.
• 1:21:38
  And I think that that's a, it's very raw.
• 1:21:41
  It's very, it's very moving and, you know, it always is, I can
• 1:21:45
  remember one that stands out mine and my mind was like two
• 1:21:48
  years ago. Um, when her name, eludes me and
• 1:21:53
  it shouldn't, but that just retired.
• 1:21:55
  I'm from Ohio State the head coach Gil, connections alone,
• 1:21:59
  Karen Dennis. Who is one of my all-time
• 1:22:01
  favorite interviews? Absolutely.
• 1:22:03
  If you have not listened to her interview right now, as soon as
• 1:22:07
  you're finished here with Chad, run to the to the condition of
• 1:22:11
  you. One of the most amazing human
• 1:22:13
  beings in this world. Love her.
• 1:22:15
  So happy for her retirement, man.
• 1:22:17
  She's she deserves it. Yeah, go ahead.
• 1:22:20
  I just love her during heart. So her age that night it was
• 1:22:24
  like like you know it just it was phenomenal because you know
• 1:22:27
  in the time she came up and you know and you know as a female
• 1:22:30
  coach and and stuff and all of the things that she encountered
• 1:22:34
  and just it was a very it was very emotional and very moving
• 1:22:37
  and at the time like Hillary was sitting beside me and she you
• 1:22:42
  know in and she you know crying and stuff and might so Hilary
• 1:22:46
  was was Mark was actually a coach bird Wells athlete.
• 1:22:49
  High school. She was mildly to battle State,
• 1:22:51
  hop, Community College, and then she was barksdale's athlete at
• 1:22:56
  University of Montevallo. And then we ended up working
• 1:22:57
  together for a few years at the University of Montevallo, you,
• 1:23:00
  no one was able to hire another coach and I took throws off of
• 1:23:03
  me and she coached the unfrozen, I took the just jumps and multi
• 1:23:07
  so and I told her, I said as a young coach that I thought, if
• 1:23:11
  this doesn't, you know, she saw this is blue and so she actually
• 1:23:14
  went right to care and after she was like I got to get to her,
• 1:23:17
  you know, I'll tell her how much this It means to me.
• 1:23:19
  So, you know, in Hillary's, not currently in coaching now, but
• 1:23:23
  she but I promise you, she didn't forget that moment.
• 1:23:26
  You don't, we just get a picture with, with Karen and, and talk
• 1:23:29
  to her and, you know, and I'm for a few minutes.
• 1:23:31
  And so, so that's for me, you know, the whole thing, you know,
• 1:23:35
  dinner is an emotional night, and then the Baumann
• 1:23:37
  presentation is just, you know, it's really awesome to be there.
• 1:23:40
  And, you know, and every time John Anderson has done it, it's,
• 1:23:43
  you know, been the MC just what a, what a remarkable guy for our
• 1:23:46
  Sport and you know what he does for everybody.
• 1:23:48
  So, But that's a, that is a very, very fun evening and being
• 1:23:56
  a part of that and you feel feel a little bit special.
• 1:23:58
  Every time you sit there and then the crowd and just get the
• 1:24:01
  type that in. Yeah, I just pulled up the list
• 1:24:03
  for this year's coaches Hall of Fame since you brought that up
• 1:24:06
  because you're right, I mean listening to the journeys of
• 1:24:08
  people and, you know, you've been saying the word connection
• 1:24:10
  several times. There's a distinct reason why
• 1:24:12
  the podcast was called The Gila FedEx connections podcast.
• 1:24:16
  You you nailed it. Exactly.
• 1:24:18
  Right. So this Year down over in
• 1:24:21
  Denver, we're going to have Josh Culbreth.
• 1:24:23
  I used to work with his son Jehan at the Olympic Training
• 1:24:27
  Center in Chula vista's. His dad already was a hall of
• 1:24:31
  fame for so Greg, craft former head coach now, recently of
• 1:24:36
  Arizona State, I have an amazing experience with him about really
• 1:24:42
  selflessness. He told me a story, as it
• 1:24:44
  relates to the Pac-12 Conference meet and Arizona State norgan
• 1:24:48
  and It was quite amazing, the selflessness that he showed
• 1:24:54
  towards the to the, to the Pac-12.
• 1:24:56
  So Greg craft Houston, Taylor long time, MIT coach worked for
• 1:25:02
  this man for a long time. An amazing amazing, human being
• 1:25:06
  art Venegas, do I need to say anything else besides art
• 1:25:09
  Venegas? I mean, come on, throws coach.
• 1:25:12
  You is who are Venegas, is here's another one.
• 1:25:15
  I mean, these really are. It's amazing.
• 1:25:17
  I don't know how to keep saying I'm higher and higher because At
• 1:25:19
  the top peak, right? Mark Wetmore, University of
• 1:25:21
  Colorado. Come on man, Steeplechase magnet
• 1:25:25
  there, Sue Williams, who I don't know very well unfortunately,
• 1:25:29
  but I was reading her bio from like UC Davis.
• 1:25:31
  And such really a Pioneer man, like quite an amazing bios
• 1:25:37
  that's who is going into the Hall of Fame this year and I
• 1:25:42
  can't wait I can't wait to hear you know Marc what more are
• 1:25:45
  Venegas and those guys all have just like stories that you
• 1:25:48
  could. Just sit there, like, around the
• 1:25:50
  campfire all night. Like, keep going.
• 1:25:52
  Don't break, don't take them off the stage.
• 1:25:54
  Let's let's keep listening. Well, let's keep moving on,
• 1:25:56
  because you know what, we're really doing right here.
• 1:25:58
  Chad is, we're having like a pre Hall of Fame interview for one
• 1:26:01
  day when you go into the Hall of Fame.
• 1:26:05
  That would be amazing. Yeah, with some of those men and
• 1:26:08
  women but what an honor that would be, you know, it would be,
• 1:26:12
  it would be phenomenal for sure. And, you know, and talked about
• 1:26:16
  possibly being three prongs to the convention I would say,
• 1:26:18
  like, you talk to, you know, Said hallway, talk.
• 1:26:20
  You know, I think that, you know, just just those
• 1:26:22
  conversations at 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning at convention are
• 1:26:26
  amazing. I, you know, I sit in a compose
• 1:26:28
  a symposium in Orlando. In December, with Sean, Sean
• 1:26:33
  Carlson was coach Carlson at the time of Notre Dame, now
• 1:26:36
  University of Tennessee, but in after listening to him, I knew I
• 1:26:40
  was like, okay, at some point this week, I've got to pick.
• 1:26:42
  I've got, I've got a question for him.
• 1:26:44
  I've got to ask him a question and so on it was about 1:30 in
• 1:26:47
  the morning when he came passing by To the lobby of the, you
• 1:26:50
  know, the Marriott and I was like coach coach something, you
• 1:26:52
  only get you for a second and you know, and so he broke off
• 1:26:54
  for a minute and I was able to ask what I needed to ask and you
• 1:26:57
  know, so because you know here where I'm at now at him in my
• 1:27:00
  house and my service academy prep athletes are very
• 1:27:08
  academically inclined like like what he deals with the Notre
• 1:27:10
  Dame so so from a training standpoint and what he was
• 1:27:13
  talking about and in putting some things together, if out
• 1:27:16
  could very much relate to some stuff that I had.
• 1:27:19
  Encountering. So I wanted to, I wanted to run
• 1:27:22
  some things by and make sure I was felt like I was on a rock in
• 1:27:25
  the right place as far as you know some things went.
• 1:27:28
  So you know and again very accommodating took time to
• 1:27:33
  answer what I needed to answer and you know and and that's and
• 1:27:35
  that's the way and that's the way most coaches are.
• 1:27:37
  I mean, I think, you know, I have learned that you see a lot
• 1:27:42
  of times what you're going to see, you're going to see in the
• 1:27:44
  news with different sports is is the bad.
• 1:27:46
  You know, you know like a coach good coach.
• 1:27:49
  Messes up or something and does something that they shouldn't
• 1:27:51
  do. And then that's what gets kind
• 1:27:53
  of, you know, you know, broadcast out more so than other
• 1:27:56
  things. But there's a lot of good people
• 1:27:59
  and, you know, that and you've met a ton of them a lot more of
• 1:28:01
  them than I have. But there's a lot of good people
• 1:28:04
  in our profession and doing doing this on a daily basis and
• 1:28:07
  they're in it for the right reasons.
• 1:28:08
  And so luckily I've been been able to meet a meet a lot of
• 1:28:12
  those folks myself in the amazing podcast timing world.
• 1:28:18
  So this will be news. You but it won't be used to you
• 1:28:21
  who's listening? So Sean Carlson was just on the
• 1:28:23
  podcast. Probably about two weeks before
• 1:28:26
  you're listening to this right now in September.
• 1:28:29
  So I would agree. I love that Shawn, you know, I,
• 1:28:33
  we tend to think it's really weird, like we think, because a
• 1:28:37
  coach, a person who is a coach has a big-name school on their
• 1:28:40
  chest, Notre Dame and Sean's case now, University of
• 1:28:43
  Tennessee, like that, they're going to big-time us.
• 1:28:45
  Like I'm an I'm MMI, he's not going to talk to us.
• 1:28:49
  I don't know that I actually hear that very often in the
• 1:28:52
  track world, I don't know about football and basketball and
• 1:28:55
  such, but I have never heard, never, you know, like you said,
• 1:28:58
  Chad, I know, air quotes here, every my goal is to know every
• 1:29:02
  track coach in the world in America, specifically, but I
• 1:29:06
  have never had a story where someone said, hey man, that
• 1:29:08
  coach, I tried to talk to them and they just they just kind of
• 1:29:13
  pushed me off, you know, I've never heard that affect.
• 1:29:16
  All I hear is the exact opposites like me.
• 1:29:17
  And I went up to Coach. So, and so, did I?
• 1:29:20
  And they talk to me. It's like, yeah, you're human,
• 1:29:23
  you know, that's, that's kind of how they got to where they are,
• 1:29:25
  is because they treated people like humans.
• 1:29:27
  So it kind of fits in with their success model.
• 1:29:30
  The other thing I wanted to add to that.
• 1:29:32
  So shout out to Sean, if you haven't listened to his podcast,
• 1:29:34
  he's got a great. We really delve into the
• 1:29:36
  University of Tennessee and what they're doing uniquely with
• 1:29:39
  track and cross country coach, and it was really eye-opening
• 1:29:42
  fascinating, and we did a lot of myth busting with that interview
• 1:29:45
  as well. So, again, if you haven't
• 1:29:46
  listened to it, it's a great one hour.
• 1:29:48
  It's one of My shortest, I guess we have one hour with Sean
• 1:29:52
  Carson. So, go back and listen to Alan.
• 1:29:54
  The other thing to add to what you said there.
• 1:29:55
  Chad, he talked about the midnight 1:00 a.m. hallway
• 1:30:00
  talks, right? And that's you know, funnily,
• 1:30:03
  that's what we here. Finally, that a real word, we
• 1:30:05
  hear a lot is the midnight conversations.
• 1:30:07
  Don't be if you're listening and that intimidates you because
• 1:30:10
  you're not a night person. Maybe you're a morning person
• 1:30:13
  jokingly. I want to say you better become
• 1:30:15
  a night person for the one week at convention.
• 1:30:17
  However, that's not true. Because you're dealing with a
• 1:30:21
  stratum 1500 plus coaches. You've got a segment that are
• 1:30:25
  morning people. God bless you seen this chat.
• 1:30:27
  How many times? Because I got to be up early to
• 1:30:29
  get to the booth and work and all that stuff.
• 1:30:31
  I'm really the guy who doesn't sleep at convention.
• 1:30:33
  You guys are up to 1 a.m. or sleeping in till 9:00.
• 1:30:36
  I'm up at it buddy. But how many times do I get up
• 1:30:38
  at 5:00 4:30 in the morning? They are convention and people
• 1:30:41
  are coming back from their Five Mile runs like Houston Frank's
• 1:30:45
  you. You always do that crap and I'm
• 1:30:46
  like, how I can't 25, miles fresh little, that's noon.
• 1:30:51
  These guys are doing it. So, don't be intimidated if you
• 1:30:54
  hear that midnight, 1:00 a.m. thing, it definitely happens
• 1:30:57
  100%. But however, I know of plenty of
• 1:31:01
  amazing conversations that are happening at 5 a.m. 6 a.m. 7
• 1:31:04
  a.m. right outside. The Starbucks, you know, those
• 1:31:07
  chairs that they put right out there, how many amazing
• 1:31:09
  conversations? So, if you're a morning person,
• 1:31:11
  don't get intimidated with that. They're still awesome other
• 1:31:13
  morning. People coaches out there that
• 1:31:15
  you'll have awesome conversations with.
• 1:31:18
  Okay, let's keep going. And so you've got a name,
• 1:31:20
  dropped a couple of schools here.
• 1:31:21
  Let's put these in order. Where do we do?
• 1:31:23
  What do we go after Birmingham? Southern so Birmingham.
• 1:31:27
  Southern not on my second season.
• 1:31:30
  We second year. I'm there.
• 1:31:31
  We that would be my guess 2011. I was there 11/12 12/13.
• 1:31:39
  So going out of the spring and out of the spring, and into the
• 1:31:42
  summer of 2013, I guess it was. I I talked to Coach Cal talks
• 1:31:46
  about I was living Well, let's see, I just got married at first
• 1:31:53
  sight. So, in etosha, now, living in
• 1:31:54
  Tuscaloosa, we're live in Tuscaloosa.
• 1:31:56
  And I was driving back and forth to Birmingham Southern from from
• 1:32:00
  Tuscaloosa and and I kind of went, I was like, well, I kind
• 1:32:05
  of want to make a little more money whatever.
• 1:32:06
  So so I talked to Coach, I talk to Kenneth about getting a
• 1:32:09
  part-time job with Gander Mountain region, you know,
• 1:32:11
  retail and in Tuscaloosa there and working some hours and he's
• 1:32:16
  like, yeah, during summer, we got some down time, especially
• 1:32:19
  in the evenings and weekends, whatever your To do that.
• 1:32:22
  So so I applied for a position to do that and I interviewed at
• 1:32:28
  The Gander Mountain and the two people they interviewed me was
• 1:32:32
  like, you know, how you like have you thought about going
• 1:32:35
  into are applying, would you be interested in applying for like
• 1:32:39
  a supervisory position or you know, whatever.
• 1:32:40
  And I was like what I mean wouldn't that entail more hours
• 1:32:44
  like I'm not really. I'm just trying to be part time.
• 1:32:46
  I wasn't trying to be full-time or whatever so there's a lot we.
• 1:32:49
  Yeah. And so then they wanted me to It
• 1:32:51
  with the store manager. And I was like well I'll give it
• 1:32:53
  the time of day but I saw mention it to Kenneth.
• 1:32:55
  I said well I'm going to see what the fill out, see what
• 1:32:57
  they're talking about. Well, long story short, he
• 1:33:00
  wanted they wanted to bring me on full-time as a supervisor and
• 1:33:05
  then the company was growing so fast at the time that, you know,
• 1:33:07
  the idea was is, you know, again, kind of like Dixon told
• 1:33:10
  me a few years earlier like would, you know, having a degree
• 1:33:12
  have an experience, you know, I can move to the company quick
• 1:33:15
  and all this kind of stuff. So so ultimately the store
• 1:33:19
  manager Affirmative position in the pay was right at the same,
• 1:33:27
  but the opportunity to grow was like super quick, it seemed like
• 1:33:31
  and so I had a decision to make and not you know, I didn't
• 1:33:33
  really I had no intentions of getting out of coaching at the
• 1:33:35
  time, really. But at the same time, I was also
• 1:33:37
  in a place in my life and in my heart where I was really want to
• 1:33:39
  make more money pacem pacem dead off.
• 1:33:42
  Get some stuff, you know, some dead out of the way, sort of
• 1:33:44
  things. So.
• 1:33:46
  So I talk to Kenneth. We had a real good conversation
• 1:33:49
  and of course he he was going to have my back.
• 1:33:51
  Back regardless of what I decided to do and support which
• 1:33:54
  you know, whichever direction I wanted to go.
• 1:33:55
  And so ultimately I made the decision to to finish out this,
• 1:34:00
  you know. So I went ahead and started with
• 1:34:01
  Gander Mountain and but I finished out summer recruiting
• 1:34:04
  and into the into August and then I picked up full time with
• 1:34:08
  Gander Mountain and stepped away from coaching at that time.
• 1:34:10
  I was with Gander Mountain for in Tuscaloosa for five months.
• 1:34:16
  And I went on a store put together a new store and over
• 1:34:19
  the two-week span, we put together.
• 1:34:21
  You store in Dothan, Alabama. And then also was on the weekend
• 1:34:24
  slide over to Albany Georgia, to start that store and off of that
• 1:34:28
  the district manager had recommended me to be hired in
• 1:34:32
  the as a hard lines manager in a in the store in Jackson
• 1:34:36
  Tennessee. And so the store manager came by
• 1:34:38
  Tuscaloosa, interviewed me in November offering the job and
• 1:34:42
  with him, you know days, I was moving to Tennessee at the time
• 1:34:44
  so you know saying I loved my position in Tuscaloosa.
• 1:34:49
  I kind of got through to the wolves and Jackson Tennessee.
• 1:34:52
  And that store, it was a completely different.
• 1:34:53
  It was just a completely different Dynamic set up, story
• 1:34:56
  been there a long time and, you know, and it wasn't one of the
• 1:34:58
  new smaller stores. They sold.
• 1:35:02
  They actually sold far less guns and ammo, and a whole lot more,
• 1:35:05
  you know, apparel and that kind of thing.
• 1:35:08
  So, and but all the sections, the store was different.
• 1:35:12
  But I started on Black Friday week and that was, you know, as
• 1:35:15
  the hard lines, managed out of the horrible situation for, you
• 1:35:17
  know, and itself. So.
• 1:35:19
  Because that store was making ridiculous.
• 1:35:21
  The money, I think we made at the time I was in Tuscaloosa
• 1:35:23
  store, we'd made like 45,000 or on a Saturday, you know, and we
• 1:35:30
  made nearly 200,000, I think the day of, you know, of black on
• 1:35:35
  black Friday and then the day and then the day after.
• 1:35:37
  So you know it was it was it was crazy and, you know, so, but
• 1:35:43
  anyway, we actually it didn't take long doing that and working
• 1:35:47
  the crazy hours that I was working.
• 1:35:48
  And even though I was making more money, To figure out like I
• 1:35:52
  do not want to do this like, you know, it just it, you know, I
• 1:35:55
  was like okay I've chased the money and you know this is not
• 1:35:58
  this is for all the wrong reasons kind of thing.
• 1:36:02
  I never I'll even look back now and I don't necessarily I don't
• 1:36:04
  regret the move because it does it help me get my heart in the
• 1:36:07
  right place and understand where I needed to be but but I was
• 1:36:11
  able to so I managed to get to late February and I guess it was
• 1:36:17
  in the There was a spot of supervisory position in
• 1:36:21
  receiving. It got a mountain in Florence
• 1:36:22
  Alabama. It came open.
• 1:36:23
  And so I was like, okay, well, I could I could get back to get
• 1:36:29
  back to Florence kit. Get home because Natasha, was
• 1:36:33
  having trouble getting a job and, you know, in Jackson, so
• 1:36:35
  she was, but we were back and forth to the time.
• 1:36:37
  And so and so I was like, well, I can get closer to her and you
• 1:36:41
  know, she's working in Tuscaloosa, we could do
• 1:36:43
  whatever, we can kind of manage or whatever little bit better.
• 1:36:46
  So she so I get to Florence. And I knew that I was like, okay
• 1:36:51
  so opportunity for me to works because the the hours in that
• 1:36:55
  position was like 72 73 or something like that or it was
• 1:36:58
  like a during the day during the week.
• 1:37:00
  So I knew I knew, I could leave there and go to Rogers High
• 1:37:03
  School, where I'm all Mater and help with track team.
• 1:37:06
  So, I went out there on the soon as they started practicing and
• 1:37:09
  said, hey, you know, talk to the coach that was doing during the
• 1:37:12
  time Coach Brown, she was still helping and so she knew me,
• 1:37:17
  Jerry folks didn't know me, but we We got to talking and I said,
• 1:37:20
  look, I don't want to step on any toes but anywhere you could
• 1:37:22
  use help just tell me and I'll help out.
• 1:37:26
  And so of course, they welcomed my help.
• 1:37:27
  And so I was able to so that was where the, where the joy came in
• 1:37:30
  again was, I was able to leave. Leave work and go back.
• 1:37:33
  Go straight to the track and help those kids.
• 1:37:35
  So so I was able to do that from from March, 22, the end of the
• 1:37:40
  season, you know, to state meet and and then somewhere along
• 1:37:45
  those lines, we get to the summer Natasha was coaching Some
• 1:37:51
  like a basketball coach girls basketball team like the summer
• 1:37:55
  summer league, basketball team and and now started a Junior
• 1:38:00
  Olympics team. I started in my area, my home
• 1:38:03
  Hometown area. So I started a usatf program and
• 1:38:09
  we we competed and, you know, and actually that summer, went
• 1:38:12
  out to had five to go to Junior Olympic Nationals in Houston,
• 1:38:16
  but the the We what I've done somewhere along the lines of
• 1:38:22
  Midsummer. Remember, you know, Natasha
• 1:38:25
  saying, hey, you know it's probably you probably need to
• 1:38:26
  get back into coaching. Well, you know, there are two
• 1:38:30
  later, she was saying I already, I should have knew better than
• 1:38:31
  to say that to you because I like that night, I was like Own
• 1:38:34
  Line like looking and so and so that, you know, so it was like,
• 1:38:38
  oh well you know in some on the coach's Association and I'm
• 1:38:41
  looking at the jobs and there's Jacksonville State and there's g
• 1:38:45
  a spot. And I was like, well, I can get
• 1:38:47
  back in on my Master's with Coach her Aid.
• 1:38:49
  Going to contact. So, at the time also Gibson was
• 1:38:51
  still there. So I, you know, I knew I could
• 1:38:54
  count at her quick on Facebook so I contacted her.
• 1:38:57
  She's actually working at Ross, place now and burn.
• 1:39:00
  That's right, saw that. Yeah, she left just left Drake.
• 1:39:02
  So, um, but um, contact her filling her out.
• 1:39:07
  She was like, yeah, actually, the TA spots are really good,
• 1:39:10
  you know, really good position that's going to be most likely
• 1:39:12
  to jumps. And I said, well, that's me and,
• 1:39:14
  you know, and then he was fixing to have to hire a throws coach
• 1:39:17
  and so on. So I, um, Then I reached out to
• 1:39:20
  I just I just decided I was like one more time or apply but I'm
• 1:39:23
  also going to just type coach Ray an email so I think coach
• 1:39:26
  Ray an email and and love love Steve rate of death like you
• 1:39:31
  know what a what a what a character he is and so I he
• 1:39:33
  owned so I sent him this long email will like later that day
• 1:39:37
  or the next day I get a big long email back.
• 1:39:40
  And so I'm like reading the email and he writes the etops
• 1:39:43
  email like he talks and it was it was fantastic was just like
• 1:39:45
  us sitting here, having a conversation or something and so
• 1:39:48
  on. But anyway, it goes to the thing
• 1:39:51
  and that shows like look, I've got 40 people, apply for this
• 1:39:54
  position. But you've recruited the state,
• 1:39:56
  you know, the state. We know each other.
• 1:39:57
  Like, if you want this, this is yours.
• 1:39:58
  I don't want to have to, I don't want to have to do anything
• 1:40:00
  else. This is your sisters if you want
• 1:40:02
  it. I'm like, okay, I didn't expect
• 1:40:05
  that to happen that fast and had been like not even two days, you
• 1:40:08
  know? So you know, since I've even
• 1:40:10
  been looking so. But anyway, I was able to I was
• 1:40:12
  able to get back into coaching with coach Ray at Jacksonville
• 1:40:16
  State, and, and then Bryan corn. You know, you got to know him
• 1:40:20
  really well. You know what, fantastic throws
• 1:40:22
  coach, he is, and so like, he, you know, he spent his time
• 1:40:26
  there, and then he was at Eastern Michigan for about four
• 1:40:27
  years as well. And then now he's at New,
• 1:40:30
  Mexico, state and so, but we had a great great year.
• 1:40:34
  And, and, you know, I got to know coach Ray a lot better.
• 1:40:37
  And, and Brian, and that kind of thing.
• 1:40:40
  But that was my forte back into coaching, and also my Master's
• 1:40:44
  Degree. And then when the next spring
• 1:40:47
  rolled around The therapist and hire new full-time, coach Etta
• 1:40:53
  assistant coach at Montevallo and so Barksdale came color and
• 1:40:56
  so and so I was able to get right back into a full-time
• 1:41:01
  position, pretty pretty quick, and go and go from there.
• 1:41:05
  So in the interest of time, I don't want to rush the story but
• 1:41:12
  there's a lot of cool things going on at MMI.
• 1:41:14
  So I want to make sure that we have time for that.
• 1:41:17
  So let's go through and It's hard to do this, because we're
• 1:41:20
  at the Montevallo. Tommy Barksdale eyes Tommy.
• 1:41:24
  I know you're listening as well, man.
• 1:41:26
  Love you to death, just some great time there, another
• 1:41:29
  amazing facility. I love how they have their set
• 1:41:32
  up there with their colors and everything.
• 1:41:35
  It just, it's just a really fantastic facility there.
• 1:41:38
  So let's let's do a little bit of fast forwarding and what I
• 1:41:41
  mean by this, tell us the next few stops as we get to mmi, and
• 1:41:47
  if there are any important Specs for each of those stops please,
• 1:41:51
  you know, interject there. But let's let's hit the
• 1:41:53
  fast-forward button just a little bit so we can get to
• 1:41:55
  what's there's an exciting time going on at mayor and Military
• 1:41:58
  Institute. So I want to give it.
• 1:42:00
  I want to give it its proper time.
• 1:42:01
  So let's what do we do here from Montevallo?
• 1:42:04
  So, you know, someone that's that when a position upon Val
• 1:42:08
  came open, I had talked. First thing I did was step into
• 1:42:11
  coach Ray's office. How you know, I didn't intend on
• 1:42:14
  being here year. I was going to be here to finish
• 1:42:16
  my masters and then make a move. You know, what is Your opinion
• 1:42:19
  like I will stay, you know, if he was like look, I'd love to
• 1:42:23
  keep you. He said I and if and if we had,
• 1:42:25
  if I had a full-time position and open it up or something, I
• 1:42:27
  would tell you to stay, but he said, but you know, Barstow has
• 1:42:30
  got a program that's growing there but they built a new
• 1:42:32
  track. They're one of the only teams in
• 1:42:34
  college wise in the state that are that are moving forward.
• 1:42:37
  It was a lot of things. He said you guys are friends,
• 1:42:40
  you known each other. He said, you know, you've got to
• 1:42:41
  use this for the stepping stone that it is to get back into
• 1:42:44
  coaching and get me. So that was the goal.
• 1:42:45
  He said so, what a great story of selflessness, by the way.
• 1:42:49
  Because coach Ray, shout out to coach Ray.
• 1:42:52
  He's an amazing human being. He had every reason to be
• 1:42:55
  selfish there. Hey, you know, he's losing a
• 1:42:57
  coat, he's got to go search for another coat that didn't that
• 1:42:59
  didn't itself. Has its own stressful thing,
• 1:43:01
  another hat that you wear as a coach hiring and evaluating
• 1:43:05
  staff, right? So no one would have faulted him
• 1:43:08
  for saying, hey Chad, you really need to buckle down.
• 1:43:12
  Get this grad program, if you're building something here, you've
• 1:43:15
  recruited, you know, he easily could have said, you know, For
• 1:43:19
  his own reasons, like, just a check.
• 1:43:21
  Give me another year for crying out loud.
• 1:43:23
  However, instead, what did he do?
• 1:43:25
  Hey, you know what? You know what?
• 1:43:26
  I think might be best for you, Chad.
• 1:43:28
  I think this might be the right move for you.
• 1:43:30
  What what? I don't know that there are many
• 1:43:33
  more stories of selflessness so are selfless selflessness.
• 1:43:38
  There, then that man shout out to what a great example.
• 1:43:41
  He gave right there. Keep going.
• 1:43:42
  I just want to make sure we point that out because I hate,
• 1:43:44
  you know, it was awesome and I told him so appreciative and he
• 1:43:48
  he, he It Came Calling a few years later to try to harm me
• 1:43:51
  back as an assistant. And then ultimately wanted me to
• 1:43:54
  step in as to head when he retired and but you know, just
• 1:43:57
  didn't work out a time. But but so but at that point,
• 1:44:00
  you know, he was just like, look, you know, this is this is
• 1:44:02
  an awesome opportunity. The goal is to get back into
• 1:44:05
  coaching, you know, I was married.
• 1:44:07
  We you know, he said you can't, he said you, you and also need
• 1:44:10
  to be under the same roof. You did the back and forth and
• 1:44:12
  Tuscaloosa. Amen.
• 1:44:13
  It's not gonna you know, you got to make it happen.
• 1:44:15
  So he was 100% behind behind what we had going on and what
• 1:44:18
  boss Thought Tommy was doing at Montevallo and him and Julia its
• 1:44:22
  time. And so and so I just it was very
• 1:44:26
  much appreciated that he that he felt that way and hope that
• 1:44:29
  wasn't even any hesitation you know.
• 1:44:31
  So so I go to Montevallo and ultimately end up.
• 1:44:35
  I'm sort out the jump, small tires and throws and Hillary was
• 1:44:40
  assisting with some of the throws as like an intern.
• 1:44:43
  And then the next year, we were able to hire a another full-time
• 1:44:47
  coach. So I was able to add heard Two
• 1:44:50
  on for officially full time. So she took over the throws and
• 1:44:52
  I just went jumps multitask at that point the next two years.
• 1:44:56
  So I was there three years, I did apply few places.
• 1:45:00
  I took that ended up taking the head job ahead.
• 1:45:03
  Track field, cross-country position at Barton College and
• 1:45:06
  and Wilson North Carolina at the NCAA division.
• 1:45:08
  Two school as well. And so, and, you know, Saul and
• 1:45:12
  there, I get there in September, you know, coach Nicholson, had
• 1:45:16
  done a great, you know, coach Nick, had done a great job with
• 1:45:19
  With the program up to that point and for the couple years
• 1:45:21
  he was there and but ultimately it was just a it was the it
• 1:45:28
  wasn't the best timing for the move at the time.
• 1:45:30
  You know, at that point in my life and I've told a lot of
• 1:45:32
  people that had that that had that have been 10 years earlier,
• 1:45:35
  had been a great move, you know, because it was it's a great
• 1:45:37
  school. It's a great place.
• 1:45:39
  It just wasn't you know same kind of deal like we were trying
• 1:45:43
  to get. We're trying to sell a house,
• 1:45:44
  that's things that was happening, you know, Natasha
• 1:45:46
  couldn't get mood. And if she was finishing her
• 1:45:50
  Semester of her grad degree at Montevallo, I'll still taking a
• 1:45:54
  class or two each semester at JSU to finish mine as well.
• 1:45:58
  And so she was, you know, it was just we were very back and forth
• 1:46:02
  and it was, it was kind of a struggle.
• 1:46:04
  And so we got to, we got to may, I got to March and, you know,
• 1:46:08
  and Larry Russell who's, you know, All-American, three years
• 1:46:11
  before I hear three different times before I got there on, we
• 1:46:15
  went to endure Nationals at Pittsburg State in Kansas and,
• 1:46:18
  you know, he Sports in the country, All-American, New
• 1:46:20
  School record in the long jump. Just, you know, we had, we had a
• 1:46:23
  great time, but I knew I had to have a sit-down with ad after
• 1:46:26
  after indoor I just, I was like, I got to get back to Alabama.
• 1:46:29
  I was a nervous wreck. I was absolutely a nervous wreck
• 1:46:32
  because I didn't, I'd never at that point in my life.
• 1:46:35
  I'd never in any at any point at ever left a job without having
• 1:46:40
  another one lined up. And so, and, but I had been at
• 1:46:44
  home a few weeks earlier and a friend of, you know, a friend of
• 1:46:47
  mine said, she could put me. We're doing some stuff.
• 1:46:50
  I knew I could get back on doing whatever it takes 14 Goods.
• 1:46:53
  Because I'd worked in are kind of part time on while I was at
• 1:46:55
  Montevallo, some early mornings, unload trucks, whatever in
• 1:46:58
  receiving because, you know, I did it too much in the past.
• 1:47:01
  So, just to make a little extra money.
• 1:47:03
  So I knew I had places I could, you know, at least make enough
• 1:47:07
  money to pay bills. And that was all I was need to
• 1:47:08
  do until something would open. So I had a conversation with a
• 1:47:12
  tractor after the indoor season. I was like, look, I got, you
• 1:47:15
  know, he even talked to me about trying to stick it out through
• 1:47:17
  the outdoor season. But I actually felt like I said,
• 1:47:20
  I just don't think that this I think this I really do feel in
• 1:47:23
  my heart like this is the right time.
• 1:47:24
  I said I need need to make the move now, not later.
• 1:47:28
  I said, because I don't want to be halfway in halfway out.
• 1:47:30
  I said, if I, if if if my, you know, if I'm feel like I'm
• 1:47:34
  partially in Alabama, I'm not, I'm not doing my job in North
• 1:47:37
  Carolina with these kids. And so, you know, well young
• 1:47:40
  people and they're not kids obviously, but, you know,
• 1:47:42
  college-aged athletes, but they are they so, you know,
• 1:47:47
  ultimately make the move back. Alabama that March and not, you
• 1:47:51
  know, I was working. I was unloading.
• 1:47:55
  I was in receiving it Old Navy some mornings at the mall.
• 1:47:59
  I was unloading trucks at Dick's part of the time in the other
• 1:48:03
  mornings and then I was working evenings loading trucks at UPS.
• 1:48:07
  So and that was about to kill me because for the month that I did
• 1:48:11
  that, I had been so long since I've done that top of labor.
• 1:48:14
  Now, you just do it all the time, you know, back in the day
• 1:48:17
  when Hearts tonight, when Keith and And me and all the guys was
• 1:48:20
  hauling hay from time. We were 14 15, 16, 17 years old
• 1:48:23
  every day in the hot heat of Alabama, but it's been a long
• 1:48:27
  time since I could handle that. But so ultimately just was on
• 1:48:31
  the lookout for jobs, they got back home, got back to Central
• 1:48:35
  Alabama and was on the back in Calera living in Clara.
• 1:48:38
  Um, and you know, I helped, you know, Tommy Runnymede, I think
• 1:48:42
  that, you know, in May and help coach Birdwell running me to
• 1:48:45
  Birmingham Southern hurt, usatf meet In May and and then you
• 1:48:52
  know it was on the lookout for positions.
• 1:48:54
  And when this position when the MMI position came open, I
• 1:48:58
  actually I didn't know about it. Until Tommy called me, Barksdale
• 1:49:03
  called me and said, hey, you know, it was the one of the
• 1:49:06
  assistant IDs at Montevallo had, you know, had knew that he knew
• 1:49:09
  coach downs and to the baseball coach here and so somehow, you
• 1:49:13
  know, he knew that the position was open and it was head cross
• 1:49:16
  country and I'm a mostly. I mean, I'm I mean, I've coached
• 1:49:19
  everything like you said, you know you at some point you do.
• 1:49:22
  And and so I've coached every every area up to this point but
• 1:49:28
  in 2019, but I had I never owned, I didn't really consider
• 1:49:32
  while taking a just ahead cross country only position.
• 1:49:36
  So I did at first, I wasn't even going to apply.
• 1:49:38
  And actually I remember talking to Tommy about, I was like a
• 1:49:40
  nice, don't know, but the pay was really solid for, you know,
• 1:49:44
  and for in Juco position, it was going to be more than I'd ever
• 1:49:48
  made. You know?
• 1:49:49
  And so in any position and actually what kinda what led me
• 1:49:55
  to to apply was, I've looked at my athletic directors, bio
• 1:50:00
  online and I kind of dope into that a little deeper and seeing
• 1:50:04
  that she'd been here a long time and every sport had been added
• 1:50:09
  since she had been here. So the I saw the growth is
• 1:50:11
  because that was the thing. I seen it, I seen growth.
• 1:50:14
  Also found out that there was already a track on campus and so
• 1:50:18
  when I figured that out. I thought okay you know in my
• 1:50:21
  head I had it already wheels turning.
• 1:50:23
  There might be the possibility that at some point we would add
• 1:50:26
  track and field and so so I you know, I did consider not
• 1:50:30
  applying and I thought no, you know, I this could be good, you
• 1:50:33
  know, it's an hour, it's an hour or so from me you know let me
• 1:50:37
  let me look into it and I didn't, you know, I didn't I was
• 1:50:39
  like at least you know fill it out.
• 1:50:40
  I didn't know what the military aspect of it would be had no
• 1:50:43
  idea what the tie-in from military and athletic standpoint
• 1:50:46
  would be. But but man, it's been
• 1:50:49
  Phenomenal, three years and, you know, I'm starting my fourth
• 1:50:51
  year and like, just unbelievable people.
• 1:50:55
  Here, we got great people in great positions, so talk to us
• 1:50:58
  about that, you're in year three.
• 1:51:00
  So, you now understand the school much better.
• 1:51:02
  It's a very unique school. I remember it from my time at
• 1:51:05
  Troy hearing about it and just really not understanding it.
• 1:51:08
  Give us kind of the rundown. What is Marion Military
• 1:51:11
  Institute? You said it's a Juco.
• 1:51:13
  So it's a two-year School. The word military is in it.
• 1:51:16
  So that's different. What tell us about MMI.
• 1:51:19
  So so we are a milk. We're Military College.
• 1:51:22
  We're part of the Alabama, Community College system now and
• 1:51:25
  have been for the last several years used to be private and use
• 1:51:29
  tax. I have a high school attached to
• 1:51:30
  it as well, but we were part of the report of the community
• 1:51:35
  college system of Alabama and but we're one only for prep
• 1:51:40
  schools in the country for the for the military, where the
• 1:51:44
  oldest one in the country, and the country would oldest at you.
• 1:51:49
  Prep School, the staff you know 1842.
• 1:51:52
  So so we've been around a long long time and so you know we're
• 1:51:57
  also the only one that Services all five academies so that sends
• 1:52:01
  such that sends people to all 55 of the academy.
• 1:52:03
  So but they're in the military and the name is definitely
• 1:52:09
  something. I had to get used to because in
• 1:52:10
  the first few, I'd say first two or three months of recruiting,
• 1:52:13
  if I cold called anybody, you know, just, you know, calling a
• 1:52:16
  recruit note with no idea if they had.
• 1:52:19
  Any you know aspiration to go military or anything?
• 1:52:24
  It was it was like soon. As I said this coach Valentine
• 1:52:27
  Mary Military Institute, they just if they weren't looking at
• 1:52:30
  military, they just shut down. They all they heard was military
• 1:52:32
  and they felt they were signing, you know, they thought they
• 1:52:34
  were, you know, signing up for the military and that's not it
• 1:52:37
  at all. Like, you know, you know there's
• 1:52:38
  there's a non-military route where you can come here and get
• 1:52:41
  a two-year associate's degree and, you know, basketball player
• 1:52:44
  can go on to, you know, to play basketball at the University of
• 1:52:46
  Alabama or Georgia, Southern. Wherever they want to go.
• 1:52:50
  And so in the same way in which track and field, and cross
• 1:52:53
  country now, you know, now as well.
• 1:52:54
  So but but we have we basically have three programs and the one
• 1:53:01
  is the service Academy program and that's you know, so they if
• 1:53:06
  if they can be non sponsored so you know so if they if they're
• 1:53:09
  if they don't get into say the Coast Guard Academy out of high
• 1:53:12
  school and that but they want that extra they're trying to get
• 1:53:17
  ACT scores up there trying to get Their physical ability up,
• 1:53:20
  GPA High, whatever it may be, or a combination of everything they
• 1:53:25
  can, they can either pay their own way, or they're here on some
• 1:53:28
  type of scholarships, you know, whether it be athletic or
• 1:53:30
  whatever to come here for. Ideally usually, it's a year and
• 1:53:35
  then they would, and then they would get their own service
• 1:53:37
  Academy. Appointment, hopefully after two
• 1:53:39
  semesters, they would get appointed to Academy.
• 1:53:42
  Whichever Academy, it might be they and then the sponsored the
• 1:53:47
  sponsored. Folks that are in that sap
• 1:53:50
  program are actually. They've they've actually been to
• 1:53:54
  say Coast Guard, training over the summer, you know, for three
• 1:53:56
  or four weeks or whatever it is and and and they're like you
• 1:54:00
  know right on the brink of getting into the academy but
• 1:54:02
  they're like, okay, we got it. We're going to place you here at
• 1:54:04
  MMI for going to pay x amount for your school.
• 1:54:07
  Going to go to in my for a year and then you're pretty much
• 1:54:10
  guaranteed. A spot back here in Annapolis or
• 1:54:12
  whatever you know whatever it is you know, next fall.
• 1:54:15
  So so we so I have a combination of the non sponsored in
• 1:54:19
  Sponsored Coast Guard, Academy Air Force, you know, different
• 1:54:21
  ones. And then another area that's
• 1:54:26
  really, really neat. And I think is as a fantastic
• 1:54:28
  program is our ECP program which is our early commissioning
• 1:54:32
  program so they can come here. If they're looking at the Army,
• 1:54:36
  if they're looking to go Army, you can come here.
• 1:54:39
  You go. While you come to what's called
• 1:54:41
  tiger camp for a week and at the end of June 1st of July, then
• 1:54:46
  you're sent to this is going into your first year of college
• 1:54:48
  If you go to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training for three
• 1:54:53
  weeks. And then you come, here you go.
• 1:54:55
  You go, you start your classes. You know, if your, if your track
• 1:54:59
  across the country, we're training, we're doing our thing,
• 1:55:01
  you're doing PT with, with the military side, three days a week
• 1:55:03
  got got your class schedule, but you go to school, you've been to
• 1:55:08
  basic and you go fall spring, and then in and then, and then
• 1:55:12
  that summer, the second summer, you go to Advanced camp in Fort
• 1:55:14
  Knox and and then come back for fall spring again.
• 1:55:18
  And Then when you so in the two year, after two years, you
• 1:55:21
  graduate with your associates degree that morning and in the
• 1:55:24
  afternoon you step off stage and commissioned into the army of
• 1:55:27
  the second Lieutenant officer salary.
• 1:55:30
  I mean, you're go like I just like this past year.
• 1:55:32
  I had three girls to twins from Florida and a girl from Alabama
• 1:55:36
  that, you know, they're all at Syracuse University.
• 1:55:38
  Now, working on their bachelor's degrees there their second
• 1:55:40
  Lieutenant officers, so that they have PT, I think twice a
• 1:55:44
  week, but they're the leaders of PT at Syracuse because they're
• 1:55:47
  here versus Yes. Is so you know, so they've got
• 1:55:52
  to a point. So it's a really awesome
• 1:55:56
  program. If you're going you end up ahead
• 1:55:58
  of the people that are West Point, you know.
• 1:55:59
  Basically. Yeah.
• 1:56:01
  You know I was an Air Force ROTC, scholarship winner so at a
• 1:56:05
  high school I went to a school in Chicago, where I was in the
• 1:56:08
  Air Force ROTC with the plan that, you know, you go through
• 1:56:12
  four years, to get your degree. And then you're a commissioned
• 1:56:14
  officer in the Air Force. This seems like, like, I wish I
• 1:56:18
  did. Known about this because I
• 1:56:20
  didn't hack it in that program. All academics.
• 1:56:22
  I just couldn't be an engineer, but I love the Air Force and my
• 1:56:26
  family have been in the Air Force etcetera.
• 1:56:27
  This seems like mm, you're talking about.
• 1:56:30
  This is a quite amazing actually hearing the CCP program.
• 1:56:34
  It's an awesome, it's an awesome program.
• 1:56:36
  And you know, and it's a it's an opportunity to, you know,
• 1:56:39
  because those girls are going to have their so they're getting
• 1:56:41
  their school pipe for, you know, through their bachelor's.
• 1:56:45
  They're essentially what four years into six years or seven
• 1:56:48
  years Commitment. And that we just have to re
• 1:56:50
  contract or whatever later. Wow.
• 1:56:52
  Like, you know, they're, they're setting themselves up in a very
• 1:56:57
  quick, you know, very quick route, you know, basically, and
• 1:57:00
  you've got to be debt-free doing it.
• 1:57:01
  And they, you know, they ran, they ran cross-country here.
• 1:57:03
  But but, you know, that would get to do whatever they decide
• 1:57:06
  to do at Syracuse, you know? So that the ECP program is
• 1:57:10
  phenomenal. And then and then we also have
• 1:57:12
  the leadership education program, the LEP, which is just
• 1:57:15
  simply, you know, associates degree and move on kind of
• 1:57:18
  thing. And You get you get your two
• 1:57:20
  year degree and you can go, you know, they can leave and go play
• 1:57:23
  basketball baseball softball, run track play, tennis, you know
• 1:57:26
  what, ever? So cross country.
• 1:57:28
  So we got, you know, we've got got those courts and it's the
• 1:57:33
  Dynamics, pretty, pretty awesome.
• 1:57:34
  Like, you know, because everybody hears active and so
• 1:57:36
  like that was, you know, my first few days in 2019.
• 1:57:39
  I remember pulling on the games like, 5:15 and I, you know, it's
• 1:57:41
  not even light outside and I'm used to on people usually run
• 1:57:44
  around is the cross country Runners, you know, this time of
• 1:57:47
  year at daylight in like There's like 200 people go into the
• 1:57:50
  track and I'm like man this is different like you know.
• 1:57:53
  So so you know definitely definitely kind of a different
• 1:57:56
  Dynamic when you've got that many people on the move but but
• 1:58:00
  it's it's awesome to see the growth and you know there's good
• 1:58:04
  there's good set of coaches here and you know, and you know,
• 1:58:07
  we've got got a phenomenal athlete director, you met
• 1:58:10
  briefly and know in the beginning we were getting set up
• 1:58:13
  for this and stuff so that's a that's a that's a huge thing.
• 1:58:17
  And and you know As well as I do.
• 1:58:19
  When you've got good Administration you know
• 1:58:23
  everything will kind of Click along, you know, really well.
• 1:58:27
  Yeah, there's no replacing good leadership that the exactly,
• 1:58:30
  right? Yeah.
• 1:58:31
  And we alluded to this and you you gave us the gym that when
• 1:58:34
  you took the cross country only position that there was a track
• 1:58:37
  on campus, what's some? We alluded to this like the
• 1:58:40
  excitement that's going on in my talk to us about what's recently
• 1:58:44
  changed healthy things. Grow and MMI is growing in
• 1:58:48
  track. Field.
• 1:58:49
  Yep. So we.
• 1:58:51
  So we did you know, president Colonel Monahan was you know
• 1:58:56
  brought it up in January. We would kind of been talking
• 1:58:59
  about it off and on for a little while my athletic director and I
• 1:59:03
  know dr. Avi, you know, she and I had
• 1:59:05
  discussed its almond. And then, you know, current
• 1:59:07
  Mohan. We knew that we wanted to add a
• 1:59:10
  sport at some point, you know? And it was a matter of, you
• 1:59:15
  know, he I think we're actually at a baseball game in February
• 1:59:18
  because I'm up to this point. I've been the game day
• 1:59:23
  administrator for the other sports as well.
• 1:59:24
  So, you know, I'm kind of sick of to the, you know, it's a be
• 1:59:28
  as far as, you know, being in the spring games and stuff.
• 1:59:31
  You know, well, usually, when she is too but like, you know,
• 1:59:34
  but especially when you can't be there and stuff, because she's
• 1:59:36
  on so many committees with national office and then
• 1:59:39
  conference and things. So she has to a lot of women
• 1:59:40
  sports moment, support administrative type of stuff.
• 1:59:42
  You know, she has to attend. So so, but the turmoil and came
• 1:59:47
  up and was like so coach. Don't we could add track and
• 1:59:50
  field, you know, and gradually added and and build the
• 1:59:53
  facilities we need, and do what we need to do with what we have.
• 1:59:56
  And not go too crazy with the cost and everything in the
• 1:59:59
  beginning. But gradually build up and I
• 2:00:01
  said, absolutely. I said, we've got, you know, we
• 2:00:03
  have a track, we've got, you know, we can gradually, you
• 2:00:05
  know, spilled the distance into it, absence printers parlors,
• 2:00:08
  and then jumpers and things, and throwers.
• 2:00:11
  And and so it started to really grow legs and January, and
• 2:00:15
  February. And, and then when I really seen
• 2:00:18
  that we, you know, Look like we we met for sure at track and
• 2:00:21
  field. I told I told Colonel hand and
• 2:00:24
  dr. Abbey, I was like, look, if you
• 2:00:26
  know, I said, this is something we're going to do.
• 2:00:27
  I was like, you know, if we can announce it, you know, pretty
• 2:00:30
  quick, I said, I can, I think I can recruit pretty pretty
• 2:00:33
  quickly, at least through the outdoor season, you know, in the
• 2:00:35
  state and around. I was like, but it's gonna be
• 2:00:38
  hard the longer we, wait, because of the Season things
• 2:00:41
  out, once schools, you know, let out for the summer, it's harder
• 2:00:43
  to get a hold of coaches and athletes and that kind of thing.
• 2:00:46
  So, or get into schools and Of so, but you know, it kind of it
• 2:00:52
  grew legs pretty quick and now they, you know, this rain would
• 2:00:54
  stop, they've got their prepared, you know, we've
• 2:00:56
  actually we ordered our forms from from you guys from Gill
• 2:00:59
  Athletics to get to to get our throws area set for shot and
• 2:01:04
  discus and everything. And we're going to lay the
• 2:01:06
  runways for triple jump, high jump or triple jump.
• 2:01:09
  We want to lay the and we order in our high jump sitting on the
• 2:01:14
  landing system and stuff, so know very soon.
• 2:01:16
  And so I'll be putting in a big oh, Order to you before, too
• 2:01:20
  long, coach Barnes and I was able to hire assistants so, you
• 2:01:23
  know. So so Malik is here and, you
• 2:01:26
  know, young guy, you know, very, very energetic guy on former
• 2:01:31
  Collegiate, throw at you through its Southeastern, Louisiana
• 2:01:34
  University, and, and then, and then use the code year.
• 2:01:37
  He was actually at a university Cumberlands as well for a year
• 2:01:41
  in Kentucky. And then now, he just finished
• 2:01:43
  his master's and stuff. So, we Trying to trying to build
• 2:01:50
  and, you know, we're adding, you know, we, I think we've got 36
• 2:01:54
  athletes at right now and 11 about 11 or 12 of them are.
• 2:01:57
  So from March 14th. Now, it was able to get about 12
• 2:02:01
  that were just exclusively track and field.
• 2:02:03
  The cross-country the distance side.
• 2:02:05
  I've been able to grow that every year and add more depth
• 2:02:08
  and so we actually have more depth this year than we've had
• 2:02:11
  and, you know, super excited about that.
• 2:02:13
  And hoping that's a hoping that kind of stares Us in the
• 2:02:17
  direction we want to go wee-wee. We're going to, you know.
• 2:02:20
  Again now I keep talking about relationships and having the
• 2:02:22
  right people in the right places and, you know, that's a, that's
• 2:02:25
  a big thing, you know, when it comes to like I say, I've had
• 2:02:28
  great mentors and bosses and presidents and 80s and other
• 2:02:32
  places, but the doctor IVs phenomenal.
• 2:02:34
  And she's a, she's a huge asset to what we do here.
• 2:02:37
  She's Fair across the board, she wants everybody to win but she
• 2:02:40
  also wants everybody to do it the right way and and so you
• 2:02:44
  know she's very you know she's very good with the compliance
• 2:02:46
  and getting I mean just like Everything.
• 2:02:49
  I mean, and, you know, you know, the drill at at Yuko, she's
• 2:02:53
  she's DEA days. She's compliance.
• 2:02:54
  She's the SSID. So everything that's going out
• 2:02:56
  on our, you know. Everything's get posted on our
• 2:02:58
  website is hurt. I mean, that's she's doing all
• 2:03:01
  the all of our stuff are a lot of our media stuff.
• 2:03:04
  I don't know how there's enough hours in the day for to do
• 2:03:06
  everything she needs to do. Yeah, that surprises me for, I
• 2:03:08
  was going to give a shout-out to dr.
• 2:03:09
  Because again leadership matters and what I was going to comment
• 2:03:13
  on and now I know the answer. You know, when we add programs
• 2:03:16
  first of all Bravo for Adding programs, we should always eat,
• 2:03:21
  we all win in the track world when programs are added.
• 2:03:24
  So I'm super super excited and happy for Marion Military
• 2:03:28
  Institute to add track and field under dr.
• 2:03:30
  IVs leadership, but what I was really impressed, one of the
• 2:03:34
  things I was really impressed with this.
• 2:03:35
  You were going out and recruiting and signing these
• 2:03:37
  kids. The announcements that were
• 2:03:39
  being met. These were professional, like I
• 2:03:42
  love the little, you know, social media cards that have the
• 2:03:44
  kid and where they're from, and the events and things like that.
• 2:03:47
  Like, that's just an added extra Touch that makes those kids feel
• 2:03:50
  special that they did that they deserve, by the way.
• 2:03:53
  So I love that and it could have been excused for a first-year,
• 2:03:58
  not even a first year program. You haven't had your first year
• 2:04:00
  yet for a new program to not do that.
• 2:04:02
  And be like, oh yeah, you know, so and so is coming great.
• 2:04:04
  The professionalism of the announcements was really quite
• 2:04:08
  amazing and impressive. And so, on one hand, I'm not
• 2:04:11
  shocked. That it was Doctor, I think
• 2:04:12
  doing that because of the leadership component.
• 2:04:15
  However, it's just awesome. You guys are really publishing
• 2:04:19
  yourself as a first-class program from the jump from the
• 2:04:23
  get-go right out the gates. And that's really, you know,
• 2:04:26
  commendable again leadership and you're part of that leadership
• 2:04:29
  as well, Chad, it really is quite impressive.
• 2:04:31
  And really like exciting and energizing for like, what is
• 2:04:36
  first year going to look like? It's going to be fun or how
• 2:04:39
  pumped are you? I'm excited.
• 2:04:41
  I'm super excited. We you know we were able to get
• 2:04:44
  several local local athletes and as well and so that's been
• 2:04:48
  that's been a You know, I know, Colonel Mala hand really pointed
• 2:04:50
  that out recently, how much it meant to him to tap into the
• 2:04:56
  local high school here. And, you know, some things that
• 2:04:59
  maybe they haven't done as much, so in the past and so attractive
• 2:05:03
  feels already kind of opened up the doors from for some kids
• 2:05:06
  around that that otherwise maybe they wouldn't had opportunity to
• 2:05:11
  or feel like they could have come to a place like him in
• 2:05:13
  mind. So you know, because we are
• 2:05:16
  different and, you know, you do wear the uniform, you do, do,
• 2:05:18
  you know? No, it is the marching.
• 2:05:19
  It is to the discipline and the leadership side of the military
• 2:05:23
  even if you're not going military but it's very doable
• 2:05:26
  you know Colonel and said the other day in a speech to the
• 2:05:28
  parents there's nothing here that that you can't do there's
• 2:05:31
  nothing here that any of these people can't do that are coming
• 2:05:34
  through here and he's right. I mean that's you know, they're
• 2:05:38
  more than capable everything that you're not asked to do any
• 2:05:40
  things so crazy that, you know, that you can't do it.
• 2:05:43
  So, but, you know, with his leadership and Doctor obvious
• 2:05:46
  leadership and and there's all Other things happening on
• 2:05:49
  campus, you know, we're building new math and science building
• 2:05:52
  and Press Box for softball. And there's a lot of things
• 2:05:55
  happening and over the course of the next couple of years will,
• 2:05:58
  you know, probably hope, you know, I think the plan is to get
• 2:06:01
  track resurfaced and then at that point will lay a high jump
• 2:06:03
  84 and everything at the same time and input put service over
• 2:06:08
  the areas for the long triple and stuff as well.
• 2:06:12
  Because, you know, I was trying to I thought, you know, kind of
• 2:06:15
  frugal and some things too and I understand that we can't just
• 2:06:18
  jump and you know, spend all the money in the front end and so I
• 2:06:21
  was like, what we get a roll away run away from you know
• 2:06:23
  playing recorder role way wrong way on top of the concrete for a
• 2:06:26
  couple years and then when we come in to resurface in real
• 2:06:29
  life, to realign the track, we can bring in off, and we can
• 2:06:31
  just do it all at once, to how the high jump, a printout on the
• 2:06:34
  out in the center and because we were thinking about putting the
• 2:06:37
  discus and, you know, which we don't really have the area when
• 2:06:41
  I have to figure out something as far as Hammer goes for going
• 2:06:43
  to try to train a very, very well but for the space in the
• 2:06:47
  liability, but We're figuring out areas for discus and shot.
• 2:06:50
  It was like, you know, one thing we started doing last year, they
• 2:06:54
  started to HBCU football, like showcase thing that they do and
• 2:06:59
  it's for like NFL Scouts to come and like a big deal and it's
• 2:07:03
  blown up. We're doing that again, this
• 2:07:04
  coming year, we're hosting that again in December.
• 2:07:07
  And so, they'll all come onto campus and in the NFL teams of
• 2:07:11
  give money or give support that, you know, they're kind of
• 2:07:14
  backing that with jerseys different things.
• 2:07:16
  So, so they still are you? Doing that stadium for football,
• 2:07:20
  you know, at least once a year for at least the next couple of
• 2:07:22
  years and so, so we had that in mind and trying to make sure
• 2:07:26
  that we can place things, you know, where it would be, you
• 2:07:28
  know, out of, you know, out of their way but also not conducive
• 2:07:31
  to what we're doing and you know and being able to you know,
• 2:07:34
  utilize that you know best of our ability.
• 2:07:36
  And you know so it's everybody's been on been on the same page
• 2:07:40
  and we kind of you get it you get everybody working in unison
• 2:07:43
  and and so it's been it's been good.
• 2:07:46
  I you know it's I'm excited about the growth like you talk
• 2:07:48
  Out, you know, I guess, you know, for me, it's super
• 2:07:52
  exciting because I've been a part of being cut, you know, so
• 2:07:55
  and so when you've seen that side of it and you've been on
• 2:07:57
  that end, you know, to get to be a part of New New Growth.
• 2:08:01
  It really did really make a lot of things come full circle for
• 2:08:05
  me and you know, and you know, you look back over the last 10,
• 2:08:09
  20 years and in you understand more.
• 2:08:12
  Now, why things happened the way they did.
• 2:08:14
  And you know, you know and I know I don't regret any of it.
• 2:08:18
  I think that there was a reason for it and so there's been
• 2:08:22
  positive, you know, positive impacts, you know, overall you
• 2:08:27
  know, from from everything that's actually happened.
• 2:08:29
  So because I think about the moves I've made and the places
• 2:08:33
  I've been, I wouldn't like, well, if I had to did this, I
• 2:08:36
  wouldn't know this person or wouldn't know that person and,
• 2:08:39
  you know, and like I can't can't imagine that, you know, being
• 2:08:41
  any different than it is now. Yeah, I have this picture.
• 2:08:44
  You know, as we wrap up today here, Chad as we've gone through
• 2:08:47
  your journey, And just thinking about now, where you're at
• 2:08:50
  today, I had this picture of like this treasure map.
• 2:08:54
  You know, the old school treasure map that has the, you
• 2:08:56
  know, the winding road in the dead ends and the back tracks
• 2:08:59
  and then x marks the spot, you know, the treasure and it feels
• 2:09:03
  like MMI and your position now is the treasure.
• 2:09:08
  And there's this just this amazing tapestry.
• 2:09:10
  This amazing backstory of getting their ups and downs.
• 2:09:14
  Certainly you've had your share of downs and thank goodness.
• 2:09:17
  You know you mentioned your wife Natasha you've had a lot of UPS
• 2:09:20
  as well with this adventure. It just feels like you know, the
• 2:09:23
  journey to where you are today. It's really special, you know,
• 2:09:28
  all of it culminates together and it's really a story of
• 2:09:31
  people you know you started this interview off today talking
• 2:09:35
  about the people that you surround yourself as one of the
• 2:09:37
  first things you said today and that has borne out through each
• 2:09:41
  one of your store or for each one of your stops, the people
• 2:09:45
  that helped along the way and that you were able to help.
• 2:09:48
  Along the way, you know, if I were to interview people along
• 2:09:51
  that Journey they would they would flip that story to you.
• 2:09:53
  It's like, oh yeah. Then what, you know, I have Chad
• 2:09:55
  I could speak in Cox talking about you and I had Chad down
• 2:09:57
  staff and man. It was just so awesome to be
• 2:09:59
  able to just trust him and he could just get this thing done
• 2:10:02
  on the jumps and what an amazing person.
• 2:10:03
  It was great to recruit with him like we were just in step like,
• 2:10:06
  you know, the impact that you have made on others as well as
• 2:10:10
  the impact that others have made on you, man, and I'm just super
• 2:10:13
  excited that x marks the spot. The treasure, you know, your
• 2:10:17
  home is what it feels like. Like here at MMI growing things
• 2:10:21
  in a track and field program. Great people around you with the
• 2:10:24
  colonel and dr. IV and you know the new coach
• 2:10:27
  here Malik it just it's really special to see what you're going
• 2:10:32
  to build right there and Marion Military Institute.
• 2:10:35
  I'm super excited about, you know, interviewing to you again
• 2:10:39
  in 5-10 years and talking about this time period that you have
• 2:10:42
  here. And what's, you know, the the
• 2:10:44
  special things you're going to build in the people people that
• 2:10:48
  you're going to. Impact on a daily basis.
• 2:10:51
  Why don't you know, and just kind of taught time to that, you
• 2:10:54
  know, I know you talked about your, I know I do talk about
• 2:10:57
  people in that, you know, I think to my athletes.
• 2:11:00
  I talked about how, you know, they're going to get obvious.
• 2:11:04
  Their academics is Morse most important.
• 2:11:06
  But, you know, and, and athletic side of things, too.
• 2:11:08
  But you know, they're going to get the relationships that they
• 2:11:10
  build out, you know, that's going to be what carries carries
• 2:11:14
  them, 5 10, 20 years down the road, that's what they're going
• 2:11:16
  to. Remember the relationships with
• 2:11:17
  teammates and Coaches and professors and you know like so
• 2:11:21
  much has changed in my life over the last several years and like,
• 2:11:24
  you know, Natasha and I are not together anymore, we're not
• 2:11:26
  married anymore, but we're good friends and we acknowledge the
• 2:11:29
  fact of how important we were to each other's lives over the
• 2:11:32
  course of the last 13, 14 years. And so, you know, I know she
• 2:11:36
  feels that way. I know I do and because there
• 2:11:40
  was a ton of growth in a ton of growth during that span.
• 2:11:44
  So, you know, and it's something that for something to You know,
• 2:11:49
  my high school days would, you know, and having the support of
• 2:11:52
  my, you know, my mom and dad and sister and, you know, and it
• 2:11:55
  kind of starting from there and you know and you know, even last
• 2:11:58
  night I like my mom and dad there to this day, they still
• 2:12:01
  come to meet, you know, they you know they you know any me that
• 2:12:03
  they can come to they're going to be there and you know they
• 2:12:07
  traveled him and I want on that recruiting trip for two and a
• 2:12:09
  half weeks back in May and Mom and Dad to retire.
• 2:12:12
  Now they jumped into a road with me and we went all the way to,
• 2:12:15
  you know, to California, Oregon and back and So, you know, so it
• 2:12:19
  was awesome to be able to put him at Dad's done the trip like
• 2:12:21
  that a couple times. But you know, Mom Polly got to
• 2:12:24
  go this time because she's retired now as well.
• 2:12:25
  And, you know, just just amazing and I it means the world to me
• 2:12:29
  and in but I think that, you know, the the impact and you
• 2:12:33
  know, and I hope that I hope that I hope and pray that, you
• 2:12:37
  know, that I've had the impact anywhere remotely on my student
• 2:12:41
  athletes and, you know, up to this point and in the future and
• 2:12:45
  then also on other people at as much.
• 2:12:47
  So as People in my life, I have poured into me and that kind of
• 2:12:52
  thing because I've grown a lot. And you know, I just said this
• 2:12:57
  again, the other day to somebody in it because I bring up Lou
• 2:13:00
  Holtz, both his books. I've read no to how many times
• 2:13:03
  in one of the things that he says is, everybody has someone
• 2:13:06
  to thank for him, for his, for his, or her successes in life,
• 2:13:10
  like none of us, you know, and me and somebody would do, they
• 2:13:12
  were talking about the fact that none of us got here by there by
• 2:13:16
  ourselves. If anybody tells you, you got
• 2:13:17
  there, you got here alone. Underlying, I don't care who
• 2:13:19
  they are. I don't care if they're the
• 2:13:20
  president or if they're the CEO of the biggest company in the
• 2:13:23
  world or whatever like somebody if it wasn't a parent or
• 2:13:26
  Guardian, it was a code to mentor of Pastor of something
• 2:13:31
  spouse. Whatever somebody along the way.
• 2:13:35
  And you know, helped, you know, help get you where you are
• 2:13:37
  today. And and I sure there's a whole
• 2:13:39
  low, a long laundry list of people that I could think.
• 2:13:42
  And, you know, and I'm very it would take me forever to get
• 2:13:46
  through all the names that I'm thankful for.
• 2:13:48
  And It starts with people, I grew up with and you know, my
• 2:13:51
  family and in my college roommates and you know and
• 2:13:57
  teammates through the years and then colleagues and stuff as
• 2:14:00
  well. So and then all the obviously
• 2:14:03
  the athletes, if it weren't for that plates, you know, wouldn't
• 2:14:05
  be doing this. So but it's a it's been a
• 2:14:08
  journey so far and I do and I am very blessed to be where I'm
• 2:14:12
  where I'm at, because this is very unique.
• 2:14:13
  This is a super unique area, super unique situation and And
• 2:14:18
  you know, and I look back even now, you know, going and
• 2:14:21
  starting the fourth year and I can't believe that I even
• 2:14:23
  considered not applying could, you know what like you know,
• 2:14:27
  what a stupid move that would, you know?
• 2:14:29
  So but but yeah, that would probably not have been out of
• 2:14:32
  that. Would have definitely been one.
• 2:14:33
  I'll modify would probably regret it.
• 2:14:35
  I don't know that I would ever known difference but, but yeah,
• 2:14:38
  that would, that was sort of that would have been a different
• 2:14:43
  turn of events for sure. Well, I agree with you, 100% my
• 2:14:46
  friend. You know, we stand on the backs
• 2:14:48
  and Holders of others that came before us and it's our
• 2:14:51
  responsibility to then have other stand on our backs in our
• 2:14:55
  shoulders and you're certainly a great example of that with the,
• 2:14:58
  the many lies that you've touched so far.
• 2:14:59
  The cool thing is, you're just getting started, you're still a
• 2:15:02
  young and you've got out and many, many years to go, my
• 2:15:05
  friend, I don't know, Mike. I get, I get older by the day
• 2:15:08
  off, if Lord, let the good Lord. Lets me live.
• 2:15:10
  I'll be 39 and November November 1st.
• 2:15:13
  And so, I remember when I turned 39, a long time ago, I thought I
• 2:15:17
  was getting old too. Two buddies but you know, it
• 2:15:20
  just depends on, you know, I guess like song goes, I still
• 2:15:25
  feel 25 most of the time, you know, I guess but but it's a
• 2:15:29
  it's amazing how fast the years go by, you know, I know, but
• 2:15:35
  it's been fun. I know, you know, when math and
• 2:15:37
  Keith an hour track it and you know, Eugene the other day we
• 2:15:40
  were discussing that like that's the first time the three of us
• 2:15:42
  have been on a on a track together and over 21 years and
• 2:15:46
  of all places where at the world Chips for the first time on
• 2:15:49
  American soil. So that was that was pretty
• 2:15:52
  phenomenal and but you know it it's amazing how fast years
• 2:15:56
  years go by? Yeah, it's awesome man.
• 2:15:59
  It's going to be it's going to fly by here coming up soon and
• 2:16:01
  just excited to see the all the accolades and the people that
• 2:16:04
  you touch the next few years. My friend, hey man, Chad, you
• 2:16:08
  know one of the most important and expensive and grateful
• 2:16:13
  things you can ever give me and Gil.
• 2:16:15
  I thought X is your time and so I'm really just so thankful For
• 2:16:18
  you to come down and sit down with us here today and talk
• 2:16:21
  about really, an amazing journey again that that pirate's
• 2:16:25
  treasure map and just really excited for what you got going
• 2:16:28
  on here and for your future. And again just so thankful that
• 2:16:32
  you would share your value. There's, you know, hundreds and
• 2:16:35
  hundreds of people will listen to this and get a lot of value
• 2:16:38
  out of your story, a lot of encouragement.
• 2:16:40
  Someone is going to reach out to someone at convention that they
• 2:16:44
  wouldn't have but now they will because of your advice my friend
• 2:16:47
  and that's that means you Affected more people's lives
• 2:16:49
  than you'll ever know out there. So again, Chad, thank you so
• 2:16:52
  much for being here today. Really do appreciate you and
• 2:16:55
  excited for you. Thanks, Mike.
• 2:16:57
  I appreciate you and honored to do this.
• 2:16:59
  And, you know, if I can be of any help, you know, obviously,
• 2:17:02
  let me know and we've known each other a long time, and you're a
• 2:17:05
  huge, your huge asset to the coaches and the things you're
• 2:17:08
  doing with this and go Athletics and everything that you pour
• 2:17:12
  into you pour it you pour into people, you know, just like the
• 2:17:15
  rest of us and so and that's what that's what.
• 2:17:18
  Matters us. What's going on?
• 2:17:19
  What's going to get us through? That's right, man.
• 2:17:21
  Thank you. I appreciate, you have an
• 2:17:22
  awesome day. Thanks man.
• 2:17:23
  You too, thanks Mike. What an incredible journey coach
• 2:17:33
  has been on so awesome to hear their story in their own words,
• 2:17:36
  tremendous proof of the positive effect coaches make on a daily
• 2:17:39
  basis. Help us spread the word of this.
• 2:17:42
  Great journey by sharing on your favorite social, media channel.
• 2:17:45
  And don't forget to take a minute to rate and review the
• 2:17:47
  podcast. You This might get a shout out
• 2:17:49
  on a future episode, that's it for today.
• 2:17:52
  Join us next week, when we'll connect you with another amazing
• 2:17:55
  courage.