Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #329: Jason Cage-Westlake (GA) HS | Building Champions On & Off the Track

Transcript

#329: Jason Cage-Westlake (GA) HS | Building Champions On & Off the Track · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  You're listening to the Gil Athletics Connections podcast
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  with host Mike Cunningham. Track and field world UNL tuned
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  in to our humble servant Mike Cunningham for another
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  extraordinary message or Gil Athletics connections.
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  Here we go back on the Gil Athletics Connections podcast.
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  Just super excited you would again join us here.
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  I'm always humbled week after week, amazing men and women
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  coaching, all events, all levels, high school, college
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  elites, middle school, summer, you name it.
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  And you guys continue to come back and listen.
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  And I think that's a true testament to our guest.
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  And that's going to be the whole story for today too, because
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  this guest is amazing. I've known him for a while now.
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  And if super impressed, I'm going to bring up one of the
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  things that impresses me the most about him.
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  And it's not his state titles, although he has a ton of those
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  as well. But we'll get into that.
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  So help me welcome the head coach from Westlake High School
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  down in beautiful Georgia, the wise, the wonderful Mr. Jason
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  Cage. Jason, how are you, Sir?
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  Doing good, Mike. Thanks for having me on.
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  Absolutely, man, I, you know, I was saying before we hit record
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  here, you know, we, sometimes it's hard for me to say we only
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  do 52 a year because, you know, one a week, but it's because
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  it's a lot of work. Each one of these is, you know,
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  time and editing and all that kind of good stuff.
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  But you have been on the list for a while and finally boiled
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  up to get to you. And so I'm super excited.
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  I'm always, I'm always scared. Honestly, Jason, if I put a guy
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  like you on my list and you know, after a year, year and a
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  half, it boils up towards your turn and then I go to invite you
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  and you're like, no, no thanks. And I'm like, oh crap, What I
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  was saying had all this anticipation for.
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  Right. So I'm super glad you agreed
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  man. I'm pumped to learn more about
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  your journey, learn more about your involvement in the sport of
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  track and field and specifically, you know what's
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  impressive. 1 of the many things that's impressive to me about
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  you is your heavy involvement in the sport and really coaching
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  and coaching Ed, and then some of the things you do with track
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  meets and stuff like that. And so I'm really excited to
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  learn like kind of peel that onion back and go beyond just
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  you coaching in the positions or, you know, places and
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  programs that you've been at and kind of get the why behind you.
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  Do you know a little bit more than some track coaches out
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  there? And that's not a slight to any
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  track coach out there. This is just Jason's probably
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  will learn his passion and we're we're going to find out more
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  about that. So I'm excited to kind of, like
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  I said, peel that onion back and learn a little bit more.
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  Gotcha. Gotcha.
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  OK, I'm ready. Awesome.
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  You're ready. That's that's that's the
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  attitude I knew of you for years.
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  Now you're ready. I love it.
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  All right, man. Well, let's get in our way back
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  machine here, assuming that you were an athlete and we certainly
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  know that that's not always the case of the great track and
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  field coaches that we have here on the show.
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  But assuming you were an athlete somewhere, track and field had
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  to start for you. Where does track start for
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  Jason? Well, I, I started at Banneker
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  High School in College Park, GA. That's where I graduated from
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  under a great coach. Man, we're still friends today.
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  Coach Edward Stigall, he puts on the program for special needs
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  kids also. But I'm a great supporter of his
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  program and what he does. He's not into coaching anymore,
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  but that's where I started at Banneker High School.
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  So you didn't run until high school?
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  Right. I didn't run until high school.
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  I started like 9th, 10th grade and I also ran for Quicksilver
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  Track Club. Oh, is that right?
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  I don't think I knew that. That's a boy.
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  That's classic. There.
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  But man, back in the 90s when we had a dirt track, it wasn't a
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  rubber track then. Dirt flying in your face and DC
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  Express track track club also. Yeah, man, I who was the kid we
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  had a kid who at Troy, this would have been the late 90s.
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  He was Quicksilver was also. He was a football guy that ran
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  track. Reg.
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  Reg. Oh my gosh.
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  What was his last name? Really?
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  I mean, Big Fast, a guy. Wish I could remember his name
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  now. Oh my gosh, that was so long
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  ago. Greg Garth.
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  Does that name ring a bell at all?
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  I don't. Remember that name?
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  I remember that name. I remember that name, Greg.
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  Yeah, he was fast. I loved him.
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  He was a good kid Anyway, so, you know, I feel better about
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  you not starting track until 9th grade.
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  We get some of these coaches on here that started back in 3rd
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  grade and three years old and I and I'm A, and I'm a guy who
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  also started freshman year and I'm like and I feel like it
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  makes me feel a little bad. Like why in the world wasn't I
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  doing it early in my life? What led you to track and field
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  and any other sports? Well, really, man, one of my
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  friends told me to come out for football.
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  That was like 9th grade. He was the running back.
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  Carlos Lacey told me to come out.
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  He played for Stanford. Still good friends with him
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  today. And you know, I want to play
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  football. I want to be the star guy.
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  So they put me at defensive back.
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  I was like, yeah, JV that at that time my best friend was
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  running my way. He was a running back and I had
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  to tackle him and he trucked me head on and next thing you know,
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  I just see black and, you know, stars.
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  So that next day I was like, oh, this sport is not for me.
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  So I went on the track and man, and I realized, hey, I'd rather
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  take the lactic acid than than getting concussions and seeing
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  Black Stars and lights. Oh, doubt.
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  You know, it's funny because you'll hear a lot of the
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  machoism of football. Like, you know, if you can't
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  take a lick, don't come out here.
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  And it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. By the way, not everybody can.
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  And and maybe not everybody should be taking some of those
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  ads. I have real concerns about our
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  football players at all levels with that kind of stuff.
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  So what? That's.
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  What I started Why? Why track though?
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  What was Were you a speedy kid? Were you meeting all the kids in
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  the neighborhood and stuff? Yeah, I saw that, you know, God
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  blessed me with a gift to run and, you know, I excelled at it.
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  It was a good stress reliever. I bonded well with my teammates
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  and it was just a camaraderie. And you know, after that 9th
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  grade man, I just took off. You know, I started running with
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  summer track clubs and, and I just love running track, you
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  know, And I did that all the way up through college.
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  I went to Meridian Community College in Mississippi.
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  Yeah. Then I finished up at Southeast
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  Louisiana University in Hammond, LA.
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  Oh, OK, hold on before we get there.
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  That's amazing. We we're definitely going to
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  have a lot of people, common friends there as far as the
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  coaches. That's good.
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  Tell me about your time still in high school here.
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  You said it took off and obviously led to, you know,
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  running in college, which, you know, we tend to forget.
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  What is it 7%? Maybe roughly 7% go on from high
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  school to college. So that's a big deal going on to
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  college. What was your relationship with?
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  You said he had a great coach, so maybe there was a great
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  relationship there. What was kind of that
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  relationship? Like when you'd show up for
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  practice, were you the guy that you know, already knew what the
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  practice was for the day because you already hung out with Coach
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  early? Tell us a little bit about that.
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  Well, you know, the coach always showed the kids love.
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  And you know, that's why I always try to do.
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  You know, today I really bonded well with my coach.
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  He really believed in me. He was always positive.
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  You know, it, it wasn't always about the workout.
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  It's just about the relationship which helped us succeed.
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  Did you were you the kind of kid that were you always asking
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  questions like I'm trying to figure out like where was
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  coaching, even if you may not have verbalized it as a high
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  schooler saying I want to become a coach, but spoiler alert, you
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  become a coach. Were you the kind of guy that
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  kid that was asking about the workouts and why we did them and
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  why we do this workout today and this one tomorrow?
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  Or were you just you know, all all grace to you?
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  You were 14 to 18 years old. Were you just the kid was like,
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  run, OK, I'll run. You know that that's.
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  Perfect. I wasn't the a kid that asks why
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  we're doing this and why we're doing that because I saw the
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  success that he had with the program before I even got there,
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  you know. So there was really no question.
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  I knew there was going to be a hard day each day, a hard day
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  each day. And you know, I just did what
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  the coach would tell me to do and he put it all together for
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  us. And were you a track fan, a
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  track nerd? Like, did you know who the if
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  you were a sprinter, did you know who all this top sprinters
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  at the Olympics were and all that kind of stuff?
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  Oh yes, Sir. That was when track and Field
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  news was out. I would go to like, I think it
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  was, I don't know if it was Barnes and Noble at the time,
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  but I would go to the local magazine store.
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  I couldn't wait. I would get my whatever, $4.00.
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  I would go to that section, pay for my magazine and I couldn't
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  wait to get home to read it. You know that we didn't have the
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  iPhones up today, Man, I would just read that thing and look at
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  all the rankings and and just study it like like an
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  encyclopedia. Yeah, they they call it
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  themselves the the Bible of track and field.
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  And boy, you know, I'm enough religious that I wish they
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  wouldn't call it that. But boy, I mean, nails it
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  though. I mean, come on.
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  Same thing, just cover to cover five times, you know, everything
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  dissecting all the what was your did you have a favorite episode?
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  Episode a favorite magazine. It's not episode Yeah, or what
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  they call that Gummit. Like, you know, so they'd have
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  the recruiting 1, they'd have the Olympic 1.
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  You know, they they have the different themes.
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  Did you have like a favorite one or was it all all?
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  Of them, yeah, my my favorite one would be the recruiting one.
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  Then I would, the first page I would go to was the rankings.
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  Yeah. You know, I would go to the page
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  and see, you know, where we at in the high school rankings,
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  etcetera, etcetera. And I spent a lot of time on
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  that page. Yeah, I did too.
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  And I don't know why because they couldn't have printed the
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  magazine would have to have been this thick to get to where I was
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  and where my team was. So it was ridiculous, but it was
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  it was I open, it was the Internet before the Internet
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  where we could see what was going on in California, Texas,
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  New York, etcetera. Like holy cow, those cats are
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  running what in California and Texas?
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  It was always very wide eye opening.
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  Right, right, right. Yeah.
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  I love that. But I, I, I do say track, man,
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  really, you know, of course, God, but track really saved my
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  life. I started out at a school called
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  Riverwood High School and 9th grade and, and I begged my
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  parents to come to the South Side because I was from College
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  Park to go to Banneker. And I ran track there, went
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  through some, you know, some rebellious years during my teen
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  years. But when I started running us
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  and, you know, of course, my coach, he really helped me out.
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  It just helped me to get, you know, stronger mentally,
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  physically and also spiritually. And then, you know, everything
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  just turned around for me. What thank you for sharing that.
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  I appreciate you being open and authentic there.
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  What was it about the sport or the coach or maybe a combination
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  of because like now, granted, I don't run a a history teacher
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  podcast, but I don't hear people saying, oh man, I found history
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  in classes in the professor and that changed my life.
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  No one says that even PE. Oh man, you know, I found PE and
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  found a purpose. But they say that about track
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  and field, that your story is not unique.
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  Thank goodness of people who found a path forward because of
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  our sport and a lot of times because of our coaches.
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  What? What was it for you?
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  I just think it was the coach #1 the sport #2 I really loved it.
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  I wanted to be successful, that I wanted to be good at it.
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  And I just think the discipline, some of the things I still apply
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  today to my life, the discipline that the getting up early,
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  especially in college, it really took off.
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  Just the discipline of life skills, the life lessons.
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  If if you're not coming to practice, hey, you're not going
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  to be running, you know, you're not going to be running this
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  meet. And you know, he always showed
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  us tough love. He would bring us food to the
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  meet, take us places. Coaches do a lot of things.
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  I know you know, that that's behind the scenes.
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  But just really being that, you know, father figure who on the
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  track also and supporting on the track and then in the classroom
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  and in the building made a big difference.
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  Coach obviously made a large different large change, large
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  positive impact on your life. When you think about him, like
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  when you you mentioned his name and so maybe that was the first
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  time today, probably not. You probably think about him a
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  lot all the time. Is there a story, a time, a
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  moment that you can think of that it just like it epitomizes
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  what he meant to you and and the rest of the team?
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  Yeah, I mean, you know, he everybody has their challenges.
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  I remember he would come to practice with his kids.
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  Matter of fact, he had a special needs daughter who just passed
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  away years ago. And that's why he still has this
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  special needs program that he does on the side of nonprofit,
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  You know, just sitting at her in a wheelchair, you know, him
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  working, him bringing her to practice.
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  Then he had another daughter later on and she went on
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  Michelle Stegall. She went on to run for
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  University of Florida. And, you know, just being a dad
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  and a husband and, you know, dealing with all that, you know,
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  just the trials of life and still, you know, being there not
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  only for his family, but also for the team, it just showed a
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  lot of resilience and, and a lot of care to him.
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  He he had hearing that he had every excuse in the book to be
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  like, look, man, I'm, I'm busy. You see what I got going on.
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  Come on. And being right about that, by
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  the way, no one would blame him. And yet his his heart, his
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  compassion was able to go from his family also to his track
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  kids family if you will. Yeah, so, you know, like I
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  practiced, he would bring her, she would be in a wheelchair,
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  she would be on the curve. And, you know, just seeing that
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  it it, it just really helped me grow up, help me mature, you
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  know, in high school and through life.
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  Also, matter of fact, I went through a situation like that.
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  My daughter was born her her intestines didn't connect, so
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  her digestive system didn't connect properly.
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  So, yeah. And this happened during track
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  season. So, you know, I was in the, me
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  and my wife were at the NICU children hospital for a whole
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  month from like February to March.
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  We couldn't bring her home. And, you know, and that's in the
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  middle of track season. So that was stressful for me.
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  But you know, when I would leave that NICU room, coming to the
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  track and seeing the kids, man, it was like a it was like a
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  breath of fresh air. And, you know, it just really
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  helped me. Like I said, the sport has saved
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  a lot of people, you know, I know a lot of people also that
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  suffer from depression, that it has really helped them and some
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  of my former teammates. I can't imagine what you and
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  wife went through with your child and but I have to imagine
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  that there were times of, you know, just times I want to quit.
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  I mean, you know, you got so much going through you.
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  Did you find strength in having that role model?
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  He had done that in front of you.
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  He had shown how I'm raising my daughter with special needs and
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  still was there ever that like man, he did it.
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  I can do this. Yeah.
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  I mean, yeah, yeah, it did a lot because it just helps you, you
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  know, when you run track in college, man, it's a whole
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  different ball game. You're resilient.
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  You got to keep going regardless of your injury, tough practices,
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  you just got to keep going to get to the other side.
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  But doing that and going through that, it really helped me grow
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  up, mature. My daughter's fine now, but just
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  going through that period of time when track, any coach
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  number on track officially opens up February and March.
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  And you know, you got parents. You know, I remember I was in
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  the hospital, a parent calling me about why is their child in
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  the 200 instead of the 100. I'm like, I'm in, I'm in the
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  NICU. Man don't matter.
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  Yeah, and that's what a lot of people have to realize, you
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  know, let coaches coach, just let the pieces fall what they
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  made and everything will work out.
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  Yeah, I think we very easily forget because we're so used to
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  in this example, Coach Cage, but we forget it's Jason 1st and
• 16:00
  Jason is married, Jason has a family, Jason has outside
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  passions and charities, etcetera.
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  And we forget it's we we get very myopic on oh, it's Coach
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  Cage. So why is my kid doing this or
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  why is my kid not doing this etcetera.
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  Yeah, we're we're people first. Yeah, I will.
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  And I'm sure you've heard me say this for Jason.
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  You know, there's no bigger fan than the track field coach than
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  me. And I still think it might be
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  the 4th most important title you have because dad, son, father,
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  those are way more important than coach.
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  And we and we get very it's very easy for us to think of coach as
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  our first, as our identity. And it's like, man, you're maybe
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  4th or 5th down the line because there's other things that are
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  important. Wow.
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  OK, so give us a little bit of time context.
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  What year did you graduate high school?
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  I graduated in 1996. 96, OK, so you're 2 years past.
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  OK, So senior year you're getting ready to maybe think
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  about the next level of college and running and going to
• 16:54
  college. Tell us, you said you already
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  kind of give us where you're going.
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  You went to Meridian. Why Meridian?
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  And what were you thinking of majoring in and becoming as an
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  adult? Yeah, well, before Meridian, I
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  had offers from like University of Mississippi, Ole Miss at the
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  time, but my grades were not there.
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  My, my grades were not there. You know, like I said, I had my
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  rebellious years. I, I, I I skipped school a lot,
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  went to a lot of skip parties. And, you know, it caught up with
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  me. So that's why I had to go to
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  junior college. But it was a blessing in
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  disguise for me. So I went to Meridian.
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  You know, I went there in January.
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  So I trained from August to December.
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  Did you stay home? I went late.
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  I stayed home in training. What?
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  Why? So I stayed home and trained
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  because I had to work. I had to actually walk on at
• 17:51
  Meridian because all the scholarships were basically
• 17:53
  taken up. You know Meridian at that time
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  was loaded. I was gonna say, was Joe was the
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  head coach, right? Yeah, Joe, Joe, yeah.
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  I love Joe. Yeah, man.
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  So he had the Jamaican, he had all this.
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  Everybody was already signed. So I had to work, work at
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  Walmart for a while, train and you know, I thought my training
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  was going well. I was, I was training.
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  But it's different when you train by yourself and then when
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  you get with these other guys, it's totally different.
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  He's like, oh, I wasn't even really training.
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  So I get there and man, that first worked with some of the
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  first workouts. I was like, oh, this is what
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  college is about. I thought I was the guy.
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  I thought I got third in the state.
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  I thought I was the man. Then I get there and see the
• 18:35
  Kenyans. I'm like, oh, these guys are
• 18:38
  like grown men, but they were my age.
• 18:42
  Those were some real, real dudes in junior college, man Miguel
• 18:47
  Pate, Matter of fact, one of my buddies today, love him.
• 18:50
  He was there. I.
• 18:51
  The single most underrated coach in the incident?
• 18:53
  Blay in my opinion. Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 18:56
  So I remember at night they would go have relay races in the
• 19:00
  grocery parking lot across from Meridian.
• 19:02
  Yes, at night. And then I saw, I remember
• 19:07
  somebody that challenged Miguel to jump over the top cab of this
• 19:12
  pickup truck. Nobody believed that he could do
• 19:14
  it. No way.
• 19:15
  And you asked Miguel. And this guy took like maybe
• 19:18
  four or five steps and jumped over the top of a pickup truck
• 19:22
  and next thing you know, he had the world championship.
• 19:24
  You, you know. I'll say I believe it because he
• 19:26
  was an athlete of. All.
• 19:27
  Athletes. Yeah.
• 19:29
  Still looks like he can jump 28 feet, by the way.
• 19:31
  He's he's amazing. Yeah.
• 19:33
  Wow. So what were you kind of a
• 19:36
  two-part question. Where is coaching as a career
• 19:39
  for you in your headspace here as a 18 ish 19 ish year old kid?
• 19:43
  Is it at all like you're even thinking about becoming a coach?
• 19:46
  Yeah, You know, I really wanted to be a coach.
• 19:50
  Also my PE coach, Coach Brown, he was also like an assistant
• 19:53
  track coach. Those were guys I really looked
• 19:55
  up to. They enjoyed their job.
• 19:57
  So yeah, I pretty much knew what I wanted to do when I got out of
• 20:01
  college. Before you even went to college
• 20:04
  though, was it a? Before I even went to college.
• 20:06
  Yeah, OK. So what did you go into major?
• 20:08
  I know Meridian, you know, I coached Yuko, so I get it.
• 20:11
  So you know, you may be taking a lot of I'm calling Gen.
• 20:14
  Ed classes and stuff, but your your mindset is where I transfer
• 20:17
  to. I'm going to be what kind of
• 20:18
  major? Yeah, kinesiology and health
• 20:21
  study. Yeah.
• 20:21
  OK. That's a very, you know, if I,
• 20:24
  you know, if I would say what would you major in to become a
• 20:25
  track coach, that would be one of the top five majors people
• 20:28
  would talk about. OK, that's not an easy major,
• 20:31
  though. No man, I, I remember even in
• 20:35
  the even in the swimming class and the lifeguarding class, the
• 20:37
  lady put a brick down at the bottom of a 10 foot pool and
• 20:41
  then we had to go get it. I was.
• 20:42
  Like no. Yes, you had to go down there
• 20:45
  and get it and you know, I, it was a struggle, but I, I passed
• 20:48
  the class, you know. All right, so you go to Meridian
• 20:52
  now. I love you're living, you know,
• 20:53
  in Atlanta city area for high school.
• 20:56
  Now you go to Meridian. That is middle of nowhere.
• 20:59
  Sorry. Shout out.
• 21:00
  Yeah, I love the Meridian staff there today.
• 21:01
  They do a great job. But it is, I know, junior
• 21:04
  college. It's in the middle of nowhere.
• 21:05
  How did you adjust to kind of that living that life?
• 21:10
  Man, like I said, it was tough. Man, there were no more they had
• 21:14
  that maybe one mall. It wasn't built up like it is
• 21:16
  now, but back in the day in the 90s, there was nothing.
• 21:20
  But it helped me. It helped me to focus.
• 21:22
  It helped me to lock in. There were no really no
• 21:25
  distractions. So all we did was run race, run
• 21:29
  race. I mean, that's all we did was
• 21:30
  eat, drink, track, talk about it, you know, next thing you
• 21:34
  know, we, we end up flying to Minnesota and one JUCO Nationals
• 21:40
  indoors. It was up in Minnesota.
• 21:43
  Yeah, it was. It was up in Minnesota.
• 21:45
  I think that was maybe 99 ish. OK.
• 21:47
  OK. Yeah, I think.
• 21:49
  That one. But yeah, we ended up when we
• 21:52
  had a little airport, I think the airport still exists in
• 21:54
  Meridian. And I never forget Coach Walker
• 21:57
  put us on these, I think it was ASA at the time, propeller
• 22:00
  airplanes. And we just went through a drop
• 22:04
  and man, dude, it was so scary. Like I didn't know what
• 22:09
  happened. Like 200 feet drop, you know
• 22:11
  those air pockets? Yeah.
• 22:14
  Teammates throwing up. I was like, man, I'll never
• 22:17
  forget this day, man. I thought it was dead, but we
• 22:19
  made. It this is the big one.
• 22:20
  This is where it all ends. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:25
  An airplane in the middle of nowheres.
• 22:28
  Yeah. Oh, my goodness.
• 22:31
  All right. You go through junior college
• 22:33
  now. Junior college can be tough for
• 22:36
  many, many reasons. Any, any school in college can
• 22:39
  be right. But you know, you mentioned like
• 22:41
  there was nothing else to do but lock in, but it's real easy.
• 22:44
  And again, I'm talking from experience with my own athletes.
• 22:46
  It's also real easy that there is nothing to do.
• 22:49
  And you do find yourself a lot of free time there.
• 22:51
  It's it's also very easy to go find the trouble that is, you
• 22:55
  know, out there everywhere for us.
• 22:56
  But you were able to keep your head on straight and and keep
• 22:59
  your eyes on the prize for for what's next?
• 23:01
  Yes, Sir. And, and I think that goes to a
• 23:05
  lot of good teammates too, man, because when I went there, man,
• 23:08
  do you know the Jamaicans show me love.
• 23:11
  I was eating, you know, I wasn't coming home.
• 23:12
  You know, they would cook on the weekends, the Kenyans would cook
• 23:16
  their meals. And it was just a good team, you
• 23:18
  know, a good team. And they show love, help each
• 23:21
  other, stay focused. We stay up there on the holidays
• 23:25
  together. But I think it was the team that
• 23:28
  helped get every person through that junior college.
• 23:31
  What? Are the team one of the many,
• 23:34
  many great aspects of track and field is the international
• 23:37
  flavor to it, if you will? How was that?
• 23:40
  I mean, that seems really kind of cool in regards to, you know,
• 23:43
  Jamaican feeding you for the first time.
• 23:45
  You never had their type of food.
• 23:46
  A Kenyan comes in and says, oh, let's share a meal here.
• 23:49
  Like, and then you just get you learn about other people's
• 23:51
  cultures you it helps put your life in perspective.
• 23:53
  Maybe some things you thought were pretty tough and you're
• 23:55
  like, oh man, Joe over here, he had a way tougher than I did.
• 23:59
  How was that experience kind of learning these other cultures
• 24:01
  that you were around there in Meridian?
• 24:03
  Oh, man, like I said, they treated me like brothers, man,
• 24:05
  that, that team right there. And I think, you know, that was
• 24:08
  the only, yeah, that was the only championship team I was a
• 24:11
  part of in college that won a championship.
• 24:13
  But I think we were, I don't think, but I know we were like
• 24:16
  brothers, man. We always looked out for each
• 24:18
  other. We put it out on the line for
• 24:21
  each other. If somebody was hungry, if the
• 24:24
  cafeteria was closed, they they will make sure everybody eat
• 24:28
  regardless of if, if it wasn't Golly from Kenya, the cocoa
• 24:33
  bread from the Jamaicans, man, they they would just make sure
• 24:36
  everybody is is good. That's cool, man.
• 24:39
  That's, you know, there's AI don't know if I want to say
• 24:43
  bigs. I don't know if I want to give
• 24:44
  that much credit to it, but there's an uproar about
• 24:46
  international students in in track and field specifically
• 24:50
  going on and you know, and politically as well, obviously.
• 24:55
  And I'm torn because on one hand, you know, I'm very much,
• 24:57
  you know, these are American tax paid institutions and budgets
• 25:01
  and things like that, But I also know like man, having
• 25:05
  international teammates, I, I think that makes you a better
• 25:08
  person when you get out on the other side, when you go into
• 25:10
  society again, you just have some perspective of what it's
• 25:12
  like in other countries and other parts of the world.
• 25:15
  I just, I don't know, I just would hate to lose that for our
• 25:18
  young kids. Yeah, and like I said, man, I
• 25:20
  had Nigerians man, to this day I was in some Nigerians wedding a
• 25:24
  couple years ago. So like I said, the the team,
• 25:28
  the team, the bomb was so strong and tight.
• 25:31
  That's cool. I love that.
• 25:32
  OK, so you graduate from Meridian, did you?
• 25:34
  So because you started a semester late, like did you make
• 25:37
  up credits in the summer? Like so did you graduate in a
• 25:39
  December or did you make up in a graduate in a summer?
• 25:43
  No, I made a critics in the summer, stayed there for summer
• 25:46
  school. OK, So when you so you, you left
• 25:49
  in 1 1/2 years because of the summer?
• 25:53
  Right, right. And then I went to southeast
• 25:55
  Louisiana. Why southeast Louisiana?
• 25:57
  What a great school. Was Corey the head coach there?
• 26:01
  No, it was Sean Brady. Oh yeah, that's right.
• 26:03
  Sean Brady. Yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 26:05
  Yeah, Dude, you, you got into the mix with some amazing
• 26:08
  coaches, Joe and yeah. Dear now.
• 26:11
  Holy cow. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 26:13
  Yeah. How was that?
• 26:13
  Experience Oh, it's good man. You know, coach Brady man he
• 26:18
  that guy was a he was a realist man so good.
• 26:21
  And you know, he you, but you had to do your job.
• 26:24
  I tell everybody I love coach Brady man, you know, but you got
• 26:29
  as a college athlete, you have to produce.
• 26:31
  And I remember one year and I had a stress fracture, right.
• 26:35
  So at the exit, meet him, I'm walking into his office, you
• 26:38
  know, to discuss what's going to go on forward.
• 26:42
  He was like, hey, Cage, man, we're just going to have to cut.
• 26:44
  I'm going to have to cut some of your meals, take you off of some
• 26:47
  scholarship money for your meals because, yeah, because you
• 26:52
  didn't score at conference. I'm like, Coach, I have a stress
• 26:54
  fracture, man. Like, hey, man, I had to go out
• 26:58
  and use this money elsewhere. But to this day, I still talk
• 27:00
  and text to him. But it's part of the business,
• 27:03
  you know, It's part of the business.
• 27:05
  Yeah, that, you know, and it's more so now, but that's, that's
• 27:10
  a heck of a story right there. Yeah, man, but like I said, but
• 27:13
  he will always, you know, he would still look out for me in
• 27:16
  the summer. You know, he will made made sure
• 27:18
  I had a place to stay going to summer school.
• 27:20
  You know, he will make it up on the other end.
• 27:22
  But yeah, he always looked out for me.
• 27:24
  I love him. We had him.
• 27:25
  We actually had him on a panel. So we had him and Corey
• 27:29
  Mastretta. Those guys are both at Parish
• 27:35
  Catholic, Catholic High and and Brian Fetzer, it was all about
• 27:41
  coaches who had coached in college but then but went from
• 27:44
  there to high school. And So what some of the pros and
• 27:46
  cons and things like that. And they they were the great
• 27:49
  insight into, you know, the differences and some of the
• 27:52
  positives. And I still look, you know, at
• 27:53
  our high school coaches. And I know, boy, especially as
• 27:55
  teachers, man. Got what?
• 27:58
  Y'all but the trackside, everybody kind of has this like
• 28:02
  this falsity that you know, oh, because it's college, it's so
• 28:05
  much better. And things like that's like it's
• 28:07
  not necessarily better, it's different, not necessarily
• 28:10
  better, but I'm not saying that high school is better either.
• 28:13
  It's just it's different. You just prepare yourself for
• 28:15
  what the differences are, that's for sure.
• 28:19
  Yeah, get ready to live at the airport Thursday.
• 28:21
  Yeah. Thursday through Sunday, January
• 28:23
  until yeah, July, August. Yeah, yeah.
• 28:26
  There was a really cool discussion on Twitter this past
• 28:29
  weekend about home visits and are they still valuable and
• 28:33
  what's the ROI and things like that.
• 28:34
  And I was like, yeah, you know, I was like, I wonder if we ever
• 28:37
  do get to a park because home you talk about travel.
• 28:40
  Just because it's the fall and you're the spring coach doesn't
• 28:42
  mean you have it off because it's no track.
• 28:44
  You got to go home visits and stuff.
• 28:45
  And it's like, man, we're just always on the road and our
• 28:49
  families miss out on a lot of things because of that.
• 28:52
  Yeah. All right, so you're at
• 28:53
  southeast Louisiana, and you were there before the new track
• 28:57
  came in. Because that's fairly.
• 29:00
  Yeah. Oh, man.
• 29:01
  Dang it. It's great.
• 29:03
  They did a great job there. OK, so you're getting
• 29:06
  kinesiology degree, you're running Boyle.
• 29:09
  Sean's taking all your meals. You're not eating.
• 29:11
  Thank God for your teammates. What you you graduate.
• 29:16
  What's the first step? You said you wanted to be a
• 29:18
  coach for a while. What's the first step we take
• 29:20
  into the profession? Well, first I started
• 29:23
  volunteering at the school down the street, Saint Thomas
• 29:26
  Aquinas. OK, there in Hammond.
• 29:29
  There in Hammond, we won the state championship across
• 29:32
  country there. Yeah.
• 29:34
  So then I come back home to Atlanta.
• 29:38
  I started volunteering, coaching at school I'm at now Westlake
• 29:44
  High School. So the first year, first whole
• 29:46
  year, I basically volunteered. Not basically.
• 29:48
  I did volunteer because they already had another head coach
• 29:53
  and. Was was it always the plan as
• 29:55
  you're in Mississippi and then Louisiana, was it always the
• 29:58
  plan to go home or was that just, I don't say happenstance,
• 30:01
  but it just. Yeah, I think it was the plan to
• 30:04
  come home. I had family in Baton Rouge, in
• 30:06
  New Orleans, but you know, it's nothing like home.
• 30:10
  Nothing like home. Yeah, got it.
• 30:11
  OK. So you go to Westlake and they
• 30:13
  have coaches and the coaching staff.
• 30:15
  So you you volunteer there? So hey, you know, I I volunteer
• 30:20
  and you know, we started building a cross country program
• 30:23
  up and and track program up. One of my mentors, Robert
• 30:28
  Wilson, did a great job. He's now the AD over Henry
• 30:32
  County high schools down in Henry County, Georgia.
• 30:37
  But yeah, we started out with like 6 guys and 9 girls on the
• 30:42
  track team and now we have over 200 kids on the track.
• 30:46
  Yeah, no, I know where you're at now, buddy.
• 30:48
  It's still amazing to me. Anytime someone tells me when I
• 30:51
  say how many kids do you have in the team and they start with
• 30:52
  two, it's always like, holy, can you say 100?
• 30:55
  That's a lot, 200, that's amazing.
• 30:58
  And obviously building a culture there that people want to to be
• 31:00
  involved there. What were you doing for your
• 31:04
  volunteering for for coaching? Are you teaching?
• 31:07
  Are you subbing? What are you doing for income?
• 31:10
  Yes, so I was teaching at a middle school down the street,
• 31:13
  San Town Middle School. And so after the middle school
• 31:16
  will get out, I will come over here and and coach at Westlake.
• 31:20
  Did the middle school have a track program or no?
• 31:23
  No. Well in Georgia they have a
• 31:24
  track pro and Georgia Middle School in Fulton County they
• 31:28
  only have one track meet a year. So it's not really a program.
• 31:32
  They only run one time a year. So I just decided to come over
• 31:35
  here to Westlake and volunteer. Is that a a real track meet or
• 31:39
  is that like a field day? Did you know, did you have field
• 31:41
  days back in the day? You know what I talked.
• 31:42
  About Yeah, we have field days in middle school, but this one
• 31:44
  is like a real track meet just called the full county
• 31:47
  championship. Yeah.
• 31:49
  But yeah, it is a real track. Meet OK, so they get like
• 31:51
  experience of like, you know, the real deal of track and field
• 31:54
  before they go to high school, right?
• 31:56
  That's cool. Yeah, I like that.
• 31:57
  That's really good. So you're volunteering and you,
• 32:01
  you're kind of making it sound like you were maybe more
• 32:03
  involved in the cross countryside than the Sprint
• 32:05
  side, even though you were a sprinter.
• 32:07
  Is that? Yeah, so.
• 32:09
  So after high school, I had to move up to the 800 and cross
• 32:14
  country. Yeah.
• 32:15
  Because like I said, when I got there in the 90s, man, you had
• 32:18
  40. I had a guy, Wayne Willary,
• 32:20
  here's from Jamaica. He's 45.
• 32:22
  And the other guy was 45. And I'm running 48 out of high
• 32:25
  school. So you have to move up.
• 32:27
  There's no space for you, you know.
• 32:29
  So I moved up and started running middle distance in cross
• 32:34
  country. A KS, 10 KS.
• 32:36
  Yeah, I adjusted, man. Just had to adjust.
• 32:38
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. From A200400 sprinter, you move
• 32:41
  up, you know, to a KS. I think the worst pain I ever
• 32:45
  felt was when we had. What was that?
• 32:48
  Yeah, we had Jude. Jude Code.
• 32:50
  It was at Texas A&M. It was like a qualifying meet, I
• 32:54
  think. Seneca.
• 32:55
  Yeah. Seneca last to them.
• 32:57
  It was running too. It wasn't a qualifying meet.
• 32:58
  It was just a regular meet. I saw Seneca Lasteder and the
• 33:01
  Arkansas boys and I remember, man, them almost lapping me,
• 33:05
  man, I, I was like, this, is this just for the birds?
• 33:09
  And I remember, I think it was Coach Brady took us back to
• 33:12
  Mississippi and I was laying down back in that and, you know,
• 33:15
  in those white vans back in the day.
• 33:16
  And I, I laid down with my eyes closed the whole way from Texas
• 33:20
  A&M to Mississippi. I didn't even get out to eat.
• 33:24
  I was in so much pain. I was like, oh, I didn't know a
• 33:26
  teen cake and hurt like that. And I was running like 3131.
• 33:31
  The boys were running 28. I'm like, Oh my God, that's the
• 33:34
  worst pain I ever felt, Mike. I've almost felt unconscious.
• 33:38
  I remember that kind of same time frame, I was at Troy and we
• 33:42
  went to, I think it was nationals and maybe it was a
• 33:44
  year or two later, but it was around the 2000 time frame.
• 33:48
  And the Arkansas boys are running and Coach McDonald is
• 33:54
  literally like communicating their pace to like, I run 65 on
• 33:59
  this one and they would run a 65 and they'd come back around.
• 34:01
  He's like, I move it to 62. It was during the 10K or
• 34:04
  whatever. I might be wrong in my times.
• 34:06
  Don't be adding me here about that.
• 34:07
  But it was just so like clockwork.
• 34:09
  They just almost like like a metronome.
• 34:11
  It was just boom, boom, boom. Oh, you need a 70, OK, I'll do a
• 34:14
  70. Oh, you need a 65, OK, I'll do a
• 34:15
  65. It was just those guys in
• 34:17
  Seneca, you know, obviously national champion, big time 1500
• 34:21
  meter guy and could run any of the the events.
• 34:24
  That was, I mean, it's no joke today obviously either.
• 34:26
  But that was a fun time in track and field, that's for sure.
• 34:31
  So what what year? What was your last track season?
• 34:34
  We're kind of going back here a little bit because now I'm
• 34:36
  starting to think it's like where we were in the kind of the
• 34:37
  same region maybe at the same time.
• 34:39
  What was your last track season? What year?
• 34:41
  What season? That was like 2000 and 2000.
• 34:48
  Six, you missed your Yeah, Yeah. OK.
• 34:50
  Yeah. So I, I was at Troy until 2000,
• 34:53
  but then I went to Kansas JUCO and then Indiana Ball State
• 34:58
  University. So I, I, I thought maybe we
• 35:00
  would have, but I saw the Meridian guys a lot too.
• 35:02
  So I I bet you there's some point where.
• 35:04
  We. You guys came up a lot to like
• 35:07
  the, I think they still have this meet, but it's a little
• 35:10
  different. The Alabama Relays because I
• 35:12
  because I knew Joe well as a kid, because I knew his dad at
• 35:15
  Ole Miss and stuff. So yeah, what a great time.
• 35:18
  That's a lot of lot of good memories and.
• 35:19
  Joe was probably like 24 when he was my coach.
• 35:22
  As I say, he's about. I think we're roughly the same
• 35:25
  age, so yeah. Driving us to meet at that age.
• 35:28
  Yeah, yeah. No, that would make that would
• 35:31
  that would seem fit. He was.
• 35:32
  He was and is amazing. I love, love Joe a lot.
• 35:35
  OK. Volunteering at Westlake.
• 35:38
  You're teaching middle school, volunteering at Westlake, you're
• 35:42
  doing cross because you, you changed into a cross.
• 35:44
  I can't, I did not know that at all days.
• 35:46
  I just pigeonholed you as a Sprint guy for many, many
• 35:49
  reasons. So, so love that.
• 35:51
  What are you doing? If anything, at this point for
• 35:55
  coaching education and, and for coaching education, I kind of
• 35:58
  break it down into two buckets. There's formal and informal.
• 36:02
  Formal is, you know, back then we had USATF level 1, level 2,
• 36:06
  things like that, clinics and then informal is your calling
• 36:10
  Joe up and saying, hey, so I got to coach, I got to coach
• 36:13
  distance surrounders here at Westlake.
• 36:15
  I know what we did. But maybe that's not, you know,
• 36:17
  so there's formal to informal. What are you doing, if anything,
• 36:19
  at that point? For as far as coaches education,
• 36:24
  you know, I, I was going to, you know, some USATF clinics think
• 36:29
  and then I started, I met you in Colorado at the USTF clinic.
• 36:36
  Yep. And you know, so that's what I'm
• 36:39
  doing and going to the local Georgia clinics also.
• 36:44
  However, I started, I wanted to learn more, you know, so I
• 36:48
  started to have our own clinics and invite coaches informal.
• 36:54
  The first one, what we did was with, you know, some counselors
• 36:59
  parents. I had former track athlete AJ
• 37:03
  Tyrell come speak about his story and his dad was, was a
• 37:07
  great supporter. He had four kids that ran for us
• 37:10
  just by being a supportive dad, you know, just getting the
• 37:13
  knowledge out there to the parents, you know, had Christian
• 37:17
  Coleman come speak to the parents.
• 37:19
  The second one, which was last year, we had the twins, the
• 37:23
  Urban twins, come and speak, Coach Barnes from American
• 37:27
  Heritage and myself and Coach Watson.
• 37:30
  And so leading up to this year, you know, the minority coaches,
• 37:35
  the women, especially, Coach Carroll, Coach Thomas from
• 37:40
  Mississippi State, the Baylor's jump coach, Coach Stacy, Coach
• 37:44
  Boone from UCF. So just getting it from their
• 37:47
  perspective, because I know most of them have coached both men
• 37:51
  and women and they do a great job of what they're doing.
• 37:53
  So just wanted to let the other coaches hear what they got to
• 37:56
  say so they can just take in the knowledge.
• 37:59
  Yeah. And and that's where I want to
• 38:00
  get to. That's the thing I alluded to at
• 38:02
  the beginning during the intro about something that really
• 38:04
  impresses me about you. It's your extra involvement with
• 38:07
  coaching education, not only for what you're doing with these
• 38:10
  clinics, but you yourself. I'll tell a quick story, but
• 38:14
  then I want to get back and kind of get us up to the timeline.
• 38:16
  What really impressed me when we met in Denver was your use of
• 38:21
  social media. We were doing the live podcast
• 38:24
  and I remember you tweeted out you're like, hey, college
• 38:27
  coaches. So I'll be hanging out.
• 38:29
  Here's where I will be at, you know, 8:00 PM or whatever on
• 38:31
  Monday. Come see me like it that just
• 38:34
  like when I talk about, you know, networking and proper ways
• 38:37
  of networking and improper ways of networking, like that was to
• 38:40
  me like a like AI mean just a sprinkle on.
• 38:45
  I hate to use the word steroid, but you know, blow it up.
• 38:49
  I know it's terrible, but you know what I'm saying?
• 38:50
  Like really like, Oh my gosh, here I am.
• 38:52
  Here's a guy using social media, leveraging our our platform,
• 38:56
  what we were doing. I just thought that was like
• 38:58
  that. I told you I was like, man,
• 38:59
  that's impressive. Like here's this high school
• 39:01
  coach. I want to take advantage of
• 39:03
  getting to learn and know all these college coaches.
• 39:05
  Well, then I'm going to let them know where I'm posted up for the
• 39:07
  next two hours. Let's let's talk.
• 39:09
  I thought that was so cool. So I want to dig into that here
• 39:12
  in a little bit, but let's keep moving forward at Westlake
• 39:16
  volunteering, coaching distance. You know, spoiler alert, you
• 39:20
  become the head coach. So how do we keep progressing?
• 39:24
  You know, man, like I said, learning, learning, you can
• 39:28
  always learn. I think coaches should always be
• 39:30
  learning, learning from different coaches, taking them
• 39:33
  to national meets like Arcadia, I'm going to out of state meets.
• 39:38
  We've been to TSU relays, some of Miami Northwestern meets and
• 39:43
  just learning and seeing these different teams and coaches.
• 39:45
  I remember coach, coach Lee from Bullis, man, I remember the
• 39:48
  first time we went to Arcadia, we, we got out there maybe a day
• 39:51
  or two, maybe a day or two before the meet.
• 39:55
  He was like, hey, man, you got to come earlier than that.
• 39:58
  And, and I planned it for the next year.
• 40:00
  And I said, OK, you know what? We're not going to be jet
• 40:02
  lagged, you know, because that was our first time.
• 40:04
  I was a rookie. I said, we're going to go 2 days
• 40:07
  before the meeting. And then the next time we came,
• 40:09
  it was a whole different ball game.
• 40:11
  The kids were arrested. We won, we won the relay.
• 40:14
  We got, we got, we won the four by one, we got second and the
• 40:17
  four by two. And you know, just the knowledge
• 40:20
  and the wisdom. Going to the Olympic trial, I
• 40:23
  went to the Olympic trial to see that.
• 40:25
  Going to the SEC championship, I think that's one of the best
• 40:28
  places a coach can learn when you go to a big time SEC meet.
• 40:33
  I went to Kentucky this year. I went to the NCAA meet in
• 40:36
  Texas. I think that's one of the places
• 40:39
  you can learn so many things at those meets, you know?
• 40:44
  If you're open to it, I think you're right.
• 40:46
  Yeah, yeah. I think, you know, that's one of
• 40:49
  the impressive things about is you're open to these things
• 40:52
  affecting you and changing you in a positive way and giving
• 40:54
  those opportunities to others, your, your athletes and your
• 40:57
  other your coaches and things like that.
• 41:01
  So what? So how do you how do you become?
• 41:03
  How do you go from volunteer coach to head coach?
• 41:07
  Yeah, so a coach had left. So our AD said, Hey, I want you
• 41:12
  to take over coach Anger since you said who?
• 41:15
  She's been here a long time. Our basketball coach, he said, I
• 41:18
  want you to take over on the girls side.
• 41:20
  I said, OK, but at Westlake we run the girls and boys program
• 41:24
  together. So on paper, I'm the girls head
• 41:26
  coach and coach Watson's the boys head coach.
• 41:30
  So from there we just, I'd take over, you know, all the coaches.
• 41:35
  I I'm not just saying the two head coaches out of out of guys.
• 41:38
  It's the whole, the whole staff. You know, we have great coach.
• 41:42
  We have a total of of nine coaches.
• 41:45
  They do good with the girls. I always make sure I have, you
• 41:48
  know, an elderly female on the staff or older female.
• 41:51
  And I say elderly, older, female, older, mature, you know,
• 41:54
  and the younger she's listening with.
• 41:55
  It you're going to get in trouble for saying elderly,
• 41:57
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, older female, but they do
• 42:01
  good with the ladies and the younger female, she does good
• 42:05
  with the ladies also. But over the years that, you
• 42:08
  know, that kids see the success, we begin to win.
• 42:12
  You know, we're going to three P being to dominate teams.
• 42:16
  You know, we take our losses too.
• 42:17
  We take our lessons, call them lessons.
• 42:20
  We take our ails too. And we learn to keep moving on.
• 42:22
  But you know, I tell all the kids, you know, who get
• 42:25
  scholarships, at the end of the day, it's all about getting that
• 42:28
  degree. You know, you want to run fast.
• 42:30
  You're going to have a little window that you run fast, OK,
• 42:33
  But you're going to have to go on and do life.
• 42:35
  You're going to get married, have kids, have a job, and
• 42:38
  you're going to have to apply these same principles to your
• 42:41
  family and your job at times. So let's double click into what
• 42:47
  you have done at Waste Westlake. And I don't mean the athletes
• 42:51
  necessarily, although unbelievable.
• 42:53
  It's been amazing. There continues to be amazing.
• 42:56
  I was more so I got to visit. I don't know, was that a year
• 42:59
  ago? Yeah, last year.
• 43:01
  Yeah, it was last year. Sometimes it all blends together
• 43:04
  unfortunately. And you have done a great job,
• 43:07
  you and your staff and and really you and your staff, but
• 43:11
  also you have to have great support from your athletic
• 43:13
  department, your principal, etcetera.
• 43:15
  But when you go there to West Lakes Track, you see a an
• 43:21
  obvious attempt to promote the athletes there are your you
• 43:26
  know, you've been very blessed to coach, you know, Gatorade
• 43:28
  athletes of the year and things like that.
• 43:29
  So those posters are up. You know, you host the correct
• 43:34
  me if I'm wrong, but I think this is correct.
• 43:36
  The Christian Coleman invite is there as well.
• 43:38
  Christian because Christian. You ran for for Westlake.
• 43:41
  Yeah, he ran for his 9th grade, he ran for his 9th, and his
• 43:44
  sister, his sister ran for us all four years.
• 43:46
  OK, that's right. So there's a connection there.
• 43:47
  So you have him back on things like that.
• 43:51
  Where did that I where did the idea of doing these extra things
• 43:54
  because you you could run a very successful many, many successful
• 43:58
  track and field programs around the country don't do and I'm not
• 44:01
  given a real great picture of this.
• 44:04
  It's it's really Immaculate what they do here guys.
• 44:09
  But you could have a great track program without any of that.
• 44:11
  I don't know that any of that. Maybe I'm sure it added some
• 44:15
  part of it. You know, the kids want to see
• 44:17
  pride in themselves and things like that, but you got to coach
• 44:20
  them and love them first and foremost, right?
• 44:22
  But where did the idea to do that extra stuff, the the
• 44:25
  banners and and many other things that you've done?
• 44:28
  Where does that? Where does that come from?
• 44:31
  I just think that's come from passion, man.
• 44:33
  I, I love the sport. Like I said, I, I want to
• 44:36
  promote the kids. I want to, you know, put the
• 44:39
  kids on a pedestal. You know, that's our sport.
• 44:42
  That's we, we love our sport. If you love your sport, you're
• 44:45
  going to go all and try to go all out for them.
• 44:48
  You know, we have some more projects on the way, but that's
• 44:51
  what we like to do. We we love track and field.
• 44:55
  So, you know, that was the idea to put the record board up, the
• 44:58
  school record board. We're working on the stadium
• 45:00
  record board now in their state championships.
• 45:03
  If you win Gatorade athlete of the year, you get your poster
• 45:06
  up. But you know, we love our sport.
• 45:08
  When you, when you go to Kentucky, when I went to
• 45:10
  Kentucky, they, they have their athletes up.
• 45:13
  You know, you go to most of these colleges, but you know,
• 45:16
  Oregon, they're like, they just love the sport.
• 45:20
  And I, I love the sport as well. So, OK, so is that where it's
• 45:24
  coming from? Because you go to many, many
• 45:28
  other great facilities for your for your high school for for
• 45:31
  track, for Meads and things like that.
• 45:33
  And, and this is no diss on them, but you don't see that at
• 45:36
  every place. But because you've allowed
• 45:38
  yourself to be open to going to a Kentucky and a Texas, and in
• 45:41
  Oregon, you see those and you're like, well, wait a minute, Why
• 45:44
  just because we have high school after the name instead of
• 45:46
  university, why can't we have that at Westlake?
• 45:49
  Yeah, you, you have to go. Like I said, going out.
• 45:52
  I think some of the best lessons, you know, things I've
• 45:56
  learned is just going out and seeing and looking and see what
• 46:00
  they do, see how they promote their athletes.
• 46:03
  And that's what we have to do here.
• 46:04
  You know, that's what we want to do here and we just want to
• 46:08
  continue that and and put it on a pedestal and promote the sport
• 46:12
  because that's one of the biggest sports in high school
• 46:14
  also. Yeah, very true.
• 46:15
  What percentage of your success and and I don't necessarily mean
• 46:20
  the state titles, although that's part of it.
• 46:22
  I think you having 200 plus kids in your team as a success
• 46:25
  because I think kids, they have a lot of choices today.
• 46:28
  There's a lot of things they could do at Westlake.
• 46:29
  Think there's a lot of things they can do in that area that
• 46:31
  that don't even have to do with the high school.
• 46:33
  They have a lot of choices, but 200 plus choose to go to track
• 46:37
  practice, which is not easy. By the way, this ain't the say
• 46:41
  this is a chess club and I'm sure somebody from a chess club
• 46:43
  is going to get on to me. But but you know, they they
• 46:45
  choose to go do a a hard sport. How much of all the you know
• 46:49
  what I define a success, that whole amalgamation of things do
• 46:53
  you contribute to the signs and the record boards and kind of
• 46:57
  the I want to call it the flash, but I don't want to dismiss
• 47:01
  diminish what you're doing by trifling off its flash.
• 47:05
  Is it small? Is it big?
• 47:08
  What? What part of?
• 47:08
  That I think it's kind of small, but I know that when it attracts
• 47:14
  other people, I know that like because when you come in there
• 47:17
  to a football game and you see the big crowds come into
• 47:20
  football, that's what they see up there.
• 47:22
  So, you know they say, oh, this is what they have for the 100
• 47:25
  meters this is who had the record for the boys 100 meters.
• 47:30
  Oh, they have a Gatorade athlete of the year and they could be
• 47:32
  there for football but they might say a parent matter of
• 47:35
  fact, a parent came up to me and said hey, hey, what did you get
• 47:38
  these signs from? My my son runs track.
• 47:40
  He had the school record. I'm going to get his name on the
• 47:43
  board. But just, you know, or any other
• 47:47
  parent, they might say, hey, I like this.
• 47:49
  I like, I want my child to come run for Westlake because they
• 47:52
  see that we care about the sport.
• 47:55
  Yeah, it's interesting that I was hoping and I cuz I knew in
• 47:58
  my heart the answer was small. Not, you know, not not 0.
• 48:03
  But it's not like Oh yeah, you know why we run fast Mike?
• 48:05
  Because we put the posters like Nah, sorry, you got to do all
• 48:08
  the other things first before. Right, right.
• 48:10
  Right. Yeah, that's why I call it the
• 48:11
  Flash. It's like, well, if it all went
• 48:12
  away tomorrow, well, the meat and potatoes is still coaching
• 48:15
  and loving the kids and that's going to continue no matter what
• 48:18
  poster is or is not up on the the field house, if you will.
• 48:21
  Yeah, right. Yeah.
• 48:23
  What about, you know, are you teaching science?
• 48:26
  Cuz you're a kidney challenging major.
• 48:29
  I teach health and PE. You teach health and PE, so you
• 48:31
  got. A full mostly health classes.
• 48:32
  So you got a full teaching docket, You're coaching track
• 48:36
  and field. That's hard enough as its own.
• 48:38
  Are you still coaching cross country?
• 48:40
  Still coaching Cross. Country, Yeah.
• 48:42
  So you're coaching all the time, you are continually looking to
• 48:46
  how do you update and upgrade your facility and your school.
• 48:50
  So the posters and the record boards, things like that.
• 48:54
  And then it's just not enough for you.
• 48:56
  So now you host these clinics every year.
• 49:01
  Again, if you didn't host a single one, no one would say
• 49:05
  anything bad about you. They're like, of course he
• 49:07
  teaches, he coaches and they do really well.
• 49:10
  Of course he doesn't do camps or clinics.
• 49:12
  Why? Why would he?
• 49:12
  It's the But somehow Jason decides I'm just going to fit
• 49:15
  all that in again. I asked the question, where does
• 49:18
  that come from? Is that did?
• 49:21
  Was your life changed by a teacher or by a clinic or where
• 49:25
  does that come from? I just think it comes from the
• 49:29
  impact of what coaches do and how they can change a kids life.
• 49:35
  That's why we have the clinics. That's why I want to put on our
• 49:38
  own clinic so coaches can get a different perspective from
• 49:43
  college coaches and high school coaches because coaches, man,
• 49:48
  they probably have one of the biggest impacts in the building,
• 49:50
  no doubt. You know, they have one of the
• 49:52
  biggest impacts in the building and in life.
• 49:54
  You know, like I said, the relationship continues to go on
• 49:59
  and you know, we would just want to hear from, you know, a
• 50:02
  college coach perspective of not only coaching but just life's
• 50:05
  life things. You know, and I had to call a
• 50:09
  college coach about something else the other day and, and just
• 50:12
  how they work with their discipline.
• 50:14
  And here are some things in place that we do discipline wise
• 50:18
  if somebody doesn't show up to some practice etcetera.
• 50:22
  And I love that you, first of all, it feels whether you are
• 50:28
  trying to actively do this or not, you're you're doing it
• 50:31
  regardless. I love your almost paying back
• 50:36
  or your homage to your track coaches by you're now educating,
• 50:40
  help educating other track coaches.
• 50:42
  You know, there there's going to be kids that you'll never know,
• 50:44
  never see, never hear about that will have a more positive
• 50:48
  experience at their track program because a coach went to
• 50:51
  one of your clinics and became better, whether it was better XS
• 50:54
  and OS on, you know, how to coach a sprinter or what not, or
• 50:57
  culture creation, etcetera. Discipline, you know, thinking
• 51:01
  about how you do discipline, etcetera, or even goes to your
• 51:04
  program and just sees what you did with your record board and
• 51:06
  goes, well, wait a minute, we should probably have that too.
• 51:08
  And now a kid has a better experience because of that.
• 51:10
  So I just love that, you know, whether that's intentional or
• 51:13
  not from you, you are you're you're standing on the shoulders
• 51:16
  of the coaches that came before you, that you that coached you,
• 51:19
  and now you continue to help uplift this amazing profession.
• 51:23
  Right, right, right. How?
• 51:25
  Did you? Go, go ahead.
• 51:26
  I'm sorry. No, so I was going to say, so
• 51:29
  just coming to these clinics, it can really change and and I
• 51:34
  opened it up not only coaching, but parents, because I know
• 51:37
  parents play a huge part in in kids life.
• 51:41
  They may be coaching them on the side while they come into our
• 51:44
  practice. So I opened it up to coaches and
• 51:47
  parents because I know there's a lot of track parents who play a
• 51:51
  big major piece in that track kids life.
• 51:54
  So I wanted to to them for them to hear it also.
• 51:58
  Where does the idea your clinics you had, you have kind of a a
• 52:02
  theme to them? Almost every clinic I go to
• 52:07
  doesn't have a theme necessarily, right.
• 52:09
  It's here's these great coaches and that's good.
• 52:11
  That's the majority. I was really struck by this
• 52:15
  year's clinic. I mean, what, what did you call
• 52:17
  it? Legends or something like that?
• 52:19
  And it's. Yeah, like Trail Blazers.
• 52:21
  Trail Blazers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 52:22
  And, you know, and then I look at who's there and it's like
• 52:24
  Stacy and Dana and Carol and April and I'm just like, Oh my
• 52:28
  goodness, like dude, this is amazing.
• 52:33
  Where does that idea like your creativity of like, hey, instead
• 52:36
  of just, you know, I'm gonna say just.
• 52:38
  And I hate that word, but if you would have had three of those
• 52:41
  ladies plus, you know, name three other male coaches,
• 52:44
  doesn't matter. It still would have been awesome
• 52:45
  no matter where they would have been from.
• 52:47
  But I think it makes it more special when you have your
• 52:50
  trail, but real Trail Blazers in our profession as women in our
• 52:53
  in our profession. Where does that creativity come
• 52:55
  from? Man, I, I believe that God has
• 52:59
  given everybody a gift and you know, you just have to listen to
• 53:02
  what he's saying and, and you'll be successful and bless other
• 53:07
  people because that's what ultimately I want to do is just
• 53:10
  to bless other people. But yeah, those gifts come.
• 53:13
  God's giving everybody a gift. So, you know, we have to tap
• 53:16
  into it and go ahead and apply it.
• 53:18
  And, you know, it'll be a blessing.
• 53:20
  Not only this is not for me, this is for other people, other
• 53:24
  parents, you know, who we want to get exposed, not only on the,
• 53:29
  you know, the recruiting side, but also on the life skills
• 53:32
  side, you know, just to know what they are looking forward to
• 53:35
  as they go to college. Do you feel, you know, just as
• 53:41
  you said that it struck me about junior college, struck me about
• 53:46
  your story about, you know, my word, I don't think you use this
• 53:49
  word, you know, a knucklehead as a young kid, which, you know,
• 53:52
  again, all grace, you know, 1418 years old.
• 53:55
  I get it. Same.
• 53:56
  By the way, it's not like I, you know, it's not like I'm like,
• 53:59
  Oh, Jason, I never got in trouble when I was a high
• 54:01
  schooler, but it makes me want to cuz I love like junior
• 54:04
  college is my favorite level of track and field.
• 54:07
  You know, I look at when I go to junior college nationals, I look
• 54:10
  out and I see athletes that, you know, they needed second, third,
• 54:13
  fourth, fifth chances. And, and I think to myself, I
• 54:15
  think it kind of hit me one year when it was at Pitt State a few
• 54:19
  years ago because I was like, why is this my favorite?
• 54:20
  It's not, you know, it's very, very good.
• 54:22
  Not putting down the junior college athleticism by any
• 54:25
  means, but you know, I've been to Olympic trials and
• 54:28
  Prefontaine. I've been to better overall
• 54:30
  quality, you know, meets, but this is special to me.
• 54:33
  And I was like, I wonder why? And it kind of hit me.
• 54:35
  It was like, Oh, these are, you know, for lack of a better term,
• 54:39
  the misfits, the second chancers.
• 54:41
  And it's like, oh, that's me. Like I needed a second, third,
• 54:44
  fourth chance where I wouldn't be where I am today.
• 54:47
  And it and I think it was just kind of like, oh, that's me
• 54:49
  where I'm getting to. And my question is with, with
• 54:51
  the, you know, your high school, junior college, etcetera, and
• 54:55
  these things that you're doing that don't necessarily benefit
• 54:59
  you or even Westlake, you know, these clinics and things like
• 55:04
  that. Do you have a feeling of like
• 55:06
  that you owe like because of the second, third, fourth chances
• 55:09
  that you've gotten and now you're a very successful coach
• 55:12
  and male and teacher in the society.
• 55:14
  Do you, do you ever have a feeling of like I owe, I owe my
• 55:17
  old coach, I owe my old teacher that give?
• 55:19
  Me a second. Like I said, man, track has man.
• 55:23
  If I didn't run track, I would have been a lot of places,
• 55:25
  especially in college. I wouldn't have seen a lot of
• 55:26
  places. I wouldn't have met a lot of
• 55:28
  people. My life would totally be
• 55:30
  different. Just the exposure, you know,
• 55:33
  traveling and flying and staying with this person, staying with
• 55:36
  that person, being that person, you know, and, and even going
• 55:41
  back to Quicksilver or coach who passed away, Ernest Dixon years
• 55:46
  years ago. We had a dirt track and we were
• 55:49
  running on dirt track, man. And you know, just the passion
• 55:53
  he had for track and field. They wouldn't get paid for that.
• 55:56
  You know, those guys back in the 90s, man, they, they straight
• 55:59
  volunteers for years, not, not just one year.
• 56:03
  I'm talking about years on top of years on top of years staying
• 56:06
  out there long hours. Those guys really love track and
• 56:11
  field. And you know, they, another guy,
• 56:14
  Coach Foster, he's been, he still coaches there.
• 56:18
  They just love track, man. And, and they, they, they now
• 56:21
  probably coach somebody's grandchildren that they coach.
• 56:24
  You know, the other day in class, somebody came up to me
• 56:26
  and said, Coach, you, you taught my dad.
• 56:29
  I said no, I'm not that old. And she brought me the pictures.
• 56:31
  I said, yeah, I did teach her dad.
• 56:33
  Yeah, no. Way.
• 56:35
  Yeah, you're not that old. Holy cow.
• 56:36
  Yeah. No, I know, I know.
• 56:38
  Had to be like your first student ever.
• 56:40
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 56:41
  I was about to say, holy cow. Yeah, that's a little.
• 56:44
  It was a wake up call saying when one of my first time my
• 56:47
  athletes became a coach, I was like, oh, wait, I coached you.
• 56:50
  What do you mean by coach? You're you're a real adult.
• 56:52
  That's amazing to me. Yeah, that's right.
• 56:55
  That's unbelievable. All right, I, I just wondered
• 56:57
  about that because you know, sometimes we get in those
• 57:00
  situations where we feel like we owe and sometimes that comes
• 57:03
  from a place of inadequacy of like, you know, like you're
• 57:07
  always chasing that, you know, because I owe and, and I just
• 57:09
  want to make sure you knew you're, you don't owe anybody
• 57:12
  anything. You're doing an amazing job.
• 57:14
  You you've paid all debts that you may have occurred through
• 57:18
  life. And now you're continuing, like
• 57:19
  I said, to stand on the shoulders of the giants of the,
• 57:22
  you know, the men and women that coached you and poured into you
• 57:25
  and didn't give up on you. And now there's kids that are
• 57:28
  benefiting from that because now they get to say that about you.
• 57:30
  You know, Coach Cage believed in me.
• 57:32
  He did not give up on me. He gave me the second, third and
• 57:35
  fourth chance that I needed and and deserved, honestly.
• 57:37
  So yeah, I love that. OK, so love your creativity.
• 57:42
  Are you who is you're much smarter and better than I am.
• 57:46
  I I over rely on AI for graphic and things like that.
• 57:50
  You come up with some amazing posters for these clinics,
• 57:53
  amazing social media posts. Who's doing?
• 57:56
  Are you doing these or do you got someone doing?
• 57:57
  These No, Sir, I'm not doing that.
• 57:59
  I have a guy, a social media guy.
• 58:01
  He's in the building. Mr. Mr. We call him Mr. C He
• 58:04
  travels with us too. He records our meets.
• 58:07
  He does all social media. He has a website.
• 58:12
  I mean, not a website, sorry. IG highlights, sports media.
• 58:15
  He was a former football player. He ran track too.
• 58:17
  So he loved to cover us. He loved to do the AI and all
• 58:21
  that stuff. And you know, it's 2025, so we
• 58:24
  have to move with the time like the kids move.
• 58:28
  He does an excellent job. Dude.
• 58:30
  I'm still picturing that the poster for the for the clinic
• 58:34
  coming up and I'm just like, man, that was really well done,
• 58:37
  man, that's really good. That's good.
• 58:39
  We'll tell him people he don't even know are are very impressed
• 58:43
  with his work. He does a a fantastic job.
• 58:45
  All right, Jason, let's turn to some of the kids you've coached.
• 58:50
  And we really don't talk much about the individual kids and
• 58:53
  things like that because many, many things go into it.
• 58:56
  And I, I don't want to say I really don't care.
• 58:58
  That sounds so callous, but but more want to talk about you have
• 59:02
  coached some of like America's top kids like, you know #1
• 59:08
  recruits and things like that. I'm curious how that is.
• 59:12
  You know, most of us are going to coach very average kids, not
• 59:16
  because we're average coaches, but because, you know, there
• 59:18
  there is a reason why it's called average.
• 59:19
  That's what the most of our kids are going to be.
• 59:21
  And, and hopefully we end up coaching a state champ or state
• 59:24
  qualifier and that's huge. And that's awesome.
• 59:26
  That's Bravo. What's it like coaching some of
• 59:29
  these kids that you've been blessed to work with these, you
• 59:31
  know, Uber elites, like when I say Uber elites, I'm, I'm not,
• 59:36
  I, I don't want to overstate it, but not understate.
• 59:38
  I'm talking about he's got kids that have gone to every whatever
• 59:41
  you think is a big name track and field program that have gone
• 59:44
  for visits there and have signed there and things like that.
• 59:46
  So you get a lot of attention. There's AI should say this way.
• 59:49
  There's a lot of attention that comes with that.
• 59:50
  Not always positive, by the way, but a lot of attention comes
• 59:53
  like how do you handle, you know, some of the, I don't want
• 59:57
  to overstate this, the mega stars.
• 59:59
  That sounds terrible, but you know, that's different than
• 1:00:01
  coaching. I don't even want to say a
• 1:00:03
  normal kid. It's a terrible question.
• 1:00:05
  Jason, how do you handle all the crap that comes with coaching?
• 1:00:07
  Really good kids. That's probably the best.
• 1:00:09
  Way to you know, I think first, this is my 22nd year and I'm
• 1:00:14
  learning over the years, you know, you have to the NIL thing.
• 1:00:18
  I know City Job was our first NIL guy.
• 1:00:22
  He was the first African American male teenager to sign
• 1:00:28
  with Brooks Shoes. So he was the first one, but
• 1:00:32
  beforehand with plenty others. And I think one thing I learned
• 1:00:35
  from one of our mentors, Coach Robert Wilson, you have to sit
• 1:00:39
  down with the parents at the beginning of the season and go
• 1:00:41
  over almost everything in detail.
• 1:00:46
  Yes. So you got you have to be
• 1:00:48
  proactive. You have to be proactive about
• 1:00:51
  it. There are, there are going to be
• 1:00:53
  ups and downs. There are going to be times you
• 1:00:57
  may have to discipline if they don't, you know, comply to your
• 1:01:03
  rules. But at the end of the day, you
• 1:01:07
  know, it's all love, you know, from the coaches and, and, and I
• 1:01:10
  think most of the parents pretty understand that.
• 1:01:15
  And sometimes they do have a lot of more requirements as far as
• 1:01:19
  travel and you know, they got they got invited to this meet
• 1:01:23
  that meet. But I think at the end of the
• 1:01:24
  day, if you're just proactive from heads on starting August or
• 1:01:28
  September, sitting down with that parent and going over
• 1:01:31
  everything, I think everything will pretty much work out.
• 1:01:34
  And you have experience with this?
• 1:01:36
  Because I can never. It's not.
• 1:01:38
  It's city, right? That's city.
• 1:01:41
  He wasn't your first Gatorade Athlete of the Year, so it's not
• 1:01:45
  like he he may have been your, you know, the.
• 1:01:48
  Person. Yeah, as I'll say, the the Track
• 1:01:51
  World changes every year. So, yeah, it was different than,
• 1:01:54
  you know, some of the others. And it's I love how you said
• 1:01:57
  that about, you know, you didn't use this word, but you were
• 1:01:59
  describing communication, sitting down with the parents,
• 1:02:01
  talking to them because, you know, good friend of both of
• 1:02:03
  ours, Joe Lee has been on the show.
• 1:02:05
  And I asked them very similar. You know, how do you deal with,
• 1:02:08
  you know, you got a special thing in your hand here.
• 1:02:10
  You know, that means that means everybody is coming at you.
• 1:02:13
  By the way, Joe has been called the dumbest coach in the world
• 1:02:17
  100 times on social media and stuff.
• 1:02:18
  And it's like, it's it cracks me up.
• 1:02:21
  It's just so amazing. It's part of it, It's part of
• 1:02:25
  it. So funny, It's so funny.
• 1:02:26
  It's crazy. But but he said the same thing
• 1:02:30
  that I'm trying to tie it in like, oh, this, this seems to be
• 1:02:32
  a theme now of coaches who have these, you know, elites,
• 1:02:36
  athletes. It's like, oh, you better get on
• 1:02:37
  the same page as parents quickly or go South quickly.
• 1:02:45
  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.
• 1:02:47
  Yeah, you just have to. Y'all just have to.
• 1:02:49
  Everybody has to come together to meet.
• 1:02:51
  And like I said, being being being proactive really helps and
• 1:02:57
  just writing, writing things out, putting out the schedule,
• 1:02:59
  say, hey, this meet, we're going to run this spin or this event,
• 1:03:03
  this meet you may be resting, this meet I want you to do just
• 1:03:06
  relays, you know, things like that.
• 1:03:08
  Having a a game plan not. Yes, you have to have a game.
• 1:03:12
  Plan early, not week to week. Yeah, early on, have a rough
• 1:03:17
  draft. Basically, the draft might
• 1:03:18
  change. Just putting it out there in the
• 1:03:20
  classroom on the board. Hey, this is what we're doing
• 1:03:22
  this week, this week, this week, this week, this week.
• 1:03:25
  And you know, just adding up the tiles that they may run their
• 1:03:28
  signature event from stating backwards.
• 1:03:31
  You have that plan right there to your left, don't you?
• 1:03:34
  Yeah, no, it's not. It's not over here to the left,
• 1:03:36
  but I'm saying when I have. OK.
• 1:03:37
  Because you keep looking at like this plan, yeah.
• 1:03:40
  I'm talking like I'm in a meeting now.
• 1:03:42
  Yeah, right. That's how we do it.
• 1:03:44
  That's how we do it. I love it.
• 1:03:45
  Yeah, cuz you, I think you're right.
• 1:03:48
  You have to have a plan, but you have to remember your plan is
• 1:03:50
  not chiseled in stone. This isn't the 10 commandments
• 1:03:53
  because official visits come up. If he's an NIL person, that
• 1:03:57
  means there's going to be some media attention or, you know, or
• 1:04:01
  responsibilities to do and things like that.
• 1:04:03
  So now I mentioned Joe and you know, I love Joe to death.
• 1:04:07
  We're I've been very blessed to become friends with Joe has been
• 1:04:10
  called an idiot 100 times on social media.
• 1:04:13
  I have not. Heard that about.
• 1:04:15
  I haven't heard it. I was just about to say that,
• 1:04:17
  but that doesn't mean it. It obviously happens.
• 1:04:21
  People will call, you know, my mentor and just a great friend
• 1:04:24
  and have so much adoration as Boosh, ex Nader.
• 1:04:26
  And there are plenty of people that think Boob doesn't know
• 1:04:28
  what he's talking about. OK, so I know you, you and staff
• 1:04:32
  have gotten that. How do you deal with that?
• 1:04:35
  How do you deal with people saying, well, I would have done
• 1:04:38
  this or I would have done that and, and by the way, that means
• 1:04:41
  he would have done so much, but he would have run 42, you know,
• 1:04:44
  whatever. Hey, man, you know, I've been
• 1:04:48
  cussed out to my face and social media, you can say whatever you
• 1:04:51
  want to, but when you have a parent come up in your face and
• 1:04:54
  say if you did that, that, that, yes.
• 1:04:58
  Wait. So I think you really have to,
• 1:05:01
  like I said, man, you have to have God.
• 1:05:03
  Yeah. But after that, the social media
• 1:05:05
  is cool, but when they say it to your face, that's a whole
• 1:05:09
  different ball game. But at the end of the day, man,
• 1:05:12
  you got to realize you're not there for the parents, man.
• 1:05:15
  You're there for the kids. You know, you're not there.
• 1:05:18
  I'm not, I'm not studying what you're saying.
• 1:05:20
  I'm I'm here for your daughter or your son.
• 1:05:23
  And you know, I may have to sit your daughter down.
• 1:05:26
  I may have to sit your son out and meet because they don't want
• 1:05:29
  to do this workout or they don't want to come to practice.
• 1:05:31
  OK, Well, don't. You won't run and you're here.
• 1:05:36
  You're at Westlake. So I have told, you know, plenty
• 1:05:40
  of people, plenty of parents. If you don't like it, there's
• 1:05:43
  plenty of, there's how many 809 hundred schools you might want
• 1:05:48
  to go transfer somewhere else, you know, so you could pick you,
• 1:05:54
  you could do whatever you want to do.
• 1:05:55
  If I go, if I see if I go to a restaurant and I do not see any
• 1:05:59
  cars, nobody ever goes there. Why would I go there?
• 1:06:02
  Right, right, right. You, you're here.
• 1:06:04
  You chose Westlake. I didn't choose.
• 1:06:06
  You chose so at the end of the day, I'm here for your kid.
• 1:06:11
  But you can also go run unattached.
• 1:06:14
  You don't have to run for us. I would still love you and I
• 1:06:17
  still show love for you. Your son can still come hang out
• 1:06:21
  with me. Your daughter can still hang out
• 1:06:22
  in my room, which I know they love to.
• 1:06:25
  But hey, you can still go run unattached.
• 1:06:29
  You don't have to run for Westlake if you don't want to do
• 1:06:32
  what we're asking you to do, just like a job.
• 1:06:35
  If you're not, that's what I'm saying.
• 1:06:37
  When you get to a job, you're not going to say I don't want to
• 1:06:39
  come in from 9:00 to 5:00. Your, your wind up being fast is
• 1:06:43
  very short. So eventually what are you going
• 1:06:46
  to tell that professor when you say, when you say I don't want
• 1:06:48
  to show up at this time, What's going to happen then?
• 1:06:52
  But it's just teaching them life lessons because it's, it's you
• 1:06:54
  know, it's going to catch up with you if you don't learn and
• 1:06:58
  go ahead and comply and ask what the coach is going to tell me to
• 1:07:01
  do. Yeah, I love that.
• 1:07:02
  Yeah. You know, it's funny to me when
• 1:07:06
  I hear the myth about high school coaches can't coach
• 1:07:09
  college and because they don't know how to recruit or they
• 1:07:12
  don't know how to do travel or whatever, you know, there's many
• 1:07:14
  just all bad dumb excuses. And then I'll sit down and talk
• 1:07:17
  with a high school coach. I'll be like, you know, if you
• 1:07:19
  took away the words high school after Westlake and put
• 1:07:22
  university, there would be no difference in what you're
• 1:07:25
  talking about. You know, you the learning curve
• 1:07:27
  of going to California two days before instead of one day
• 1:07:31
  parents, NIL recruiting. I couldn't tell you if your high
• 1:07:37
  school. I know your high school because
• 1:07:38
  you told me you taught health or you yeah, you teach health
• 1:07:40
  classes that that's all I know that there's no no real
• 1:07:43
  difference here in that sense. Just dealing with 1418 year old
• 1:07:46
  kids instead of 18 to 22 year old kids.
• 1:07:50
  Speaking of college, how do you what's your I love when I get
• 1:07:54
  high school coaches on here because there's another, you
• 1:07:57
  know, great debate in social media world.
• 1:08:00
  You know, that's where I live, Jason, you know that of the
• 1:08:03
  involvement of the high school coach in the recruiting process.
• 1:08:06
  Some coaches, some high school coaches say, man, I can't
• 1:08:09
  believe you would you would not call me to talk about my kid.
• 1:08:12
  Others are like, man, this is between you and the parents and
• 1:08:14
  the kid. And I don't care where they go.
• 1:08:16
  I just want them to go like, you know, I'll help out again.
• 1:08:19
  What What do you think about your role in recruiting?
• 1:08:24
  You know, for the most part, a majority have, you know, college
• 1:08:28
  coaches have contacted me about a kid, maybe one or two have
• 1:08:33
  not, and they just go to the summer track coach, which is
• 1:08:35
  cool. At the end of the day, as long
• 1:08:38
  as the kid gets in college, you know that that's the main goal,
• 1:08:42
  you know? I I think there's a fear and you
• 1:08:45
  know, we, we live our life in fear and sometimes right that a
• 1:08:50
  coach from I'll use my alma mater because it's my alma
• 1:08:53
  mater, you know, small school, Troy University, that Troy calls
• 1:08:57
  you up about a kid and because you know, you're big time coach
• 1:09:00
  Cage like man, you ain't Alabama, you ain't Georgia.
• 1:09:03
  What I'm not going to send my kids to Troy.
• 1:09:05
  There's this fear that you will become like this gatekeeper.
• 1:09:08
  Can you talk to us about why that's a a ridiculous statement
• 1:09:11
  in regards to how you operate your program in regards to?
• 1:09:14
  Recruit. Yeah, man, I don't, I don't
• 1:09:16
  operate like that. I, you know, HBCUSI, talk to
• 1:09:19
  them all because, you know, I like you said, the big schools,
• 1:09:24
  you better be ready. You better be ready to do your
• 1:09:27
  job. And I think some elite athletes
• 1:09:32
  are not ready for that. They may need to go to that
• 1:09:35
  smaller school. So, you know, you may need to go
• 1:09:38
  take a visit there and see, because what you, what you don't
• 1:09:41
  want to do is burn bridges. And I'm going to try to burn
• 1:09:44
  bridges with no college coaches because that college coach may
• 1:09:47
  be at a bigger university next year.
• 1:09:50
  And I tell our kids that make sure you answer that test text
• 1:09:53
  back, regardless of their HBCUNAIA Junior college.
• 1:09:59
  Make sure you answer that text back.
• 1:10:02
  Make sure you call them back if they call you because that coach
• 1:10:06
  may be a world champion coach one day.
• 1:10:10
  He may be over the World Team. You know, you never know what
• 1:10:13
  path they're going to go on. So I'm not a gatekeeper like
• 1:10:16
  that. I'm open to all schools.
• 1:10:19
  And you know, like our kids have went to schools from junior
• 1:10:22
  college to NAIA to Division Two to to the to the power force.
• 1:10:28
  Yeah, the the bridge you burn today might be the bridge you
• 1:10:30
  need tomorrow. Don't burn the stinking bridge.
• 1:10:33
  Yeah, yeah. So talk to us about the reverse
• 1:10:36
  side. How do you as a high school
• 1:10:39
  coach, you get a young lady, a young man that comes up to you
• 1:10:41
  and says, man, I saw where Sid went to his visits.
• 1:10:44
  That's great. I want to go there too, coach.
• 1:10:46
  Why don't they recruit me and they're just not athletically at
• 1:10:49
  that place. How do you, how do you handle
• 1:10:52
  the say the ego? Because I don't know if a if a
• 1:10:56
  young kid knows any better, but how do you handle outstretched
• 1:10:59
  expectations? Maybe that's the better way of
• 1:11:01
  putting it. Yeah, what I, what I just tell
• 1:11:03
  them to go look at SEC conference.
• 1:11:05
  Look, look and see if you can score #1 can you score in that
• 1:11:08
  conference? Do you think you can score
• 1:11:10
  within the next two years? If not, I, I suggest you keep on
• 1:11:15
  shopping, keep on looking elsewhere because right now they
• 1:11:20
  won't even take you as a walk home.
• 1:11:22
  So you need to go where someone wants you, where you're, where
• 1:11:26
  you're needed so you can take your services.
• 1:11:29
  Some people might go to Publix, some people might go to Kroger.
• 1:11:32
  I don't know what grocery stores you all have there.
• 1:11:34
  Some people might go to Walmart, but you need you needed to go
• 1:11:37
  where you can shop around. Right.
• 1:11:41
  Yeah, and that's great. That all sounds good, coach, but
• 1:11:46
  probably you've had a kid that said that's cool.
• 1:11:48
  But no, I grew up a Georgia fan. I want to go to Georgia and
• 1:11:51
  they're running. Maybe a guy's running 50 seconds
• 1:11:53
  for the cord. And it's like, man, Donald, this
• 1:11:56
  is not the play. How do you, you know, you told
• 1:11:59
  me to go look coach, I saw it, you know, 8th place was 48 point
• 1:12:03
  because the kid, you know, walked in or whatever.
• 1:12:05
  But you said in two years I could do that in two years.
• 1:12:07
  I just need a chance. I, I just need a chance.
• 1:12:09
  You hear that a lot. I just need to just give me a
• 1:12:11
  chance. How do you, I mean, you know,
• 1:12:13
  you've played this fine line of like, I don't want to be seen as
• 1:12:15
  a hater. I'm not a hater.
• 1:12:16
  I'm, I'm a realist is what I am. But how do you get that?
• 1:12:20
  I mean, I guess it goes back to a lot of trust and things of of
• 1:12:22
  all that nature. How do you handle the that that
• 1:12:25
  person who says I just need a chance coach?
• 1:12:28
  Well, your chance can be and that's why I tell every parent
• 1:12:32
  if you want to go to those big schools, these big names, make
• 1:12:36
  an investment and go to the conference meet and see can you
• 1:12:41
  really last? Can you really score?
• 1:12:43
  Can you? Because they show, they don't
• 1:12:46
  show everything on TV. Go and see those girls crying.
• 1:12:50
  Go and see when you warm up and the coach don't tell you to
• 1:12:54
  order for the 4 by 4 until until it's time to get on the line.
• 1:12:58
  Can you handle that type of pressure?
• 1:13:00
  Are you are you built for that? Are you built for the check in
• 1:13:04
  area? When everybody's mean mugging
• 1:13:06
  you in the four by four other team mates talking, you know
• 1:13:10
  they're not going to show that on TV.
• 1:13:12
  You know, So that's what I say, go invest, go invest and go to
• 1:13:16
  the meet all these meets around here and go and see how the
• 1:13:20
  environment is and see if you can really last and stand.
• 1:13:25
  Do you think you talked about being at USTF CCA?
• 1:13:29
  I was very impressed. Was it?
• 1:13:31
  Yeah, I think it was this past year at the Texas Track and
• 1:13:34
  Field Coaches Association. I turn around and there's my
• 1:13:37
  Georgia coach. I'm like, what do you do?
• 1:13:38
  Do you take a wrong turn? Like what are you doing here?
• 1:13:40
  Do you think these relationships, both high school
• 1:13:42
  coaches and college coaches that you not only make through the
• 1:13:46
  recruiting process of the kids, you know, the kids that you have
• 1:13:48
  being recruited, but through USTFCA, going to the SCC meet,
• 1:13:51
  etcetera. Has that been a help?
• 1:13:53
  Like do you think you've gotten a kid 10 more percent
• 1:13:57
  scholarship because because of the relationship you're having
• 1:14:00
  or got them a roster spot when maybe they might not have
• 1:14:03
  normally gotten a roster spot? No, I don't.
• 1:14:07
  I don't think I've gotten anybody more money, but I can
• 1:14:09
  say I think I've earned coaches trust and being a realist about
• 1:14:14
  the kid, you know, tell them what they're probably going to
• 1:14:18
  experience and and go through. But I think I've earned some of
• 1:14:22
  the coaches trust with that. Yeah, Yeah, I think so.
• 1:14:26
  That's I do. There had to be something to it
• 1:14:28
  because relationships matter at the beginning and the end of the
• 1:14:31
  day. I think relationships matter.
• 1:14:32
  And I think especially college coaches that see you trying, you
• 1:14:37
  wanting to be involved, you, I think honestly, you know, when I
• 1:14:41
  look at a person and I go, man, here's a person who hosts their
• 1:14:43
  own clinic and they don't have to, that's the kind of thing
• 1:14:46
  that impresses me. It's like man doing things you
• 1:14:48
  don't have to do and you're doing it for others.
• 1:14:51
  That's the kind of person I want to be around.
• 1:14:52
  That's the kind of person I want to know more about it.
• 1:14:54
  That's the kind of person I would trust when it comes to
• 1:14:57
  other decision making possibilities.
• 1:14:59
  So I wondered if there was something to all the
• 1:15:02
  relationships that you're you're building.
• 1:15:04
  Yeah, and I want to say one more thing about that athlete.
• 1:15:09
  You know, we always talk about Gatorade athlete of the year,
• 1:15:11
  but I think I was talking to our other coach, Coach Watson.
• 1:15:16
  We need to have a teammate athlete, athlete of the year
• 1:15:19
  with with over the past couple years with the best attitudes,
• 1:15:23
  who's there to serve. You could trust them.
• 1:15:27
  And I'm I'm going to invite one of my former athletes.
• 1:15:31
  Her name is Andrea Howard. She's in WWE lashes is her name
• 1:15:36
  Lash legend. So she triple jump for us, man.
• 1:15:38
  She was one. When they say coaches, I have
• 1:15:41
  favorites and she's one of my top five favorites because of
• 1:15:45
  her attitude. And she would just always, you
• 1:15:50
  know, be respectful and she played basketball.
• 1:15:53
  She went to College in the WNBA. She did track, you know, just to
• 1:15:58
  stay in shape. She ran on a 800.
• 1:16:00
  She ran on a 4 by 4. Sorry, 800 and she has a triple
• 1:16:04
  jump record. But when I tell you she was one
• 1:16:06
  of my favorites, man, because she it was no talking back, no
• 1:16:09
  attitudes, yes Sir, no Sir, respectful.
• 1:16:14
  I think we need to have like a team that to me that's bigger
• 1:16:18
  than Gatorade athlete of the year.
• 1:16:20
  You have all those Gatorade athletes of the Year and you've
• 1:16:22
  been through things that I've experienced in coaching because
• 1:16:26
  you're going to go far in life. And that's what I tell people.
• 1:16:28
  You're going to go far in life. This person may be Gatorade
• 1:16:32
  Athlete of the Year. However, this person may not be
• 1:16:35
  as fast as you, but they're respectful, have a good
• 1:16:38
  attitude, they're on time, they do what the coach tells them to
• 1:16:42
  do. They're going to go a long way.
• 1:16:45
  Yeah, that's akin to the when coaches for conference and state
• 1:16:50
  and nationals, the coach of the year awards, man, some some
• 1:16:54
  conference. I've seen this in the college
• 1:16:55
  side. I don't know that I've seen this
• 1:16:56
  in the high school side yet. And it certainly isn't prevalent
• 1:17:00
  in the college just yet when they give coaching Staffs of the
• 1:17:02
  year and it's like, Oh yeah. And I believe in the leadership
• 1:17:07
  and of the head coach tremendously.
• 1:17:09
  But you know, to win a championship, everybody,
• 1:17:12
  everybody the, the throws coach who didn't even have a kid
• 1:17:16
  score, that's the guy that drove your bus, helped your
• 1:17:19
  fundraising, whatever, you know, helped you as the head coach,
• 1:17:22
  like you need a a shoulder to talk to after a meet.
• 1:17:25
  It's the staff that comes together.
• 1:17:27
  And I love this idea of like, you know, our, our greatest
• 1:17:30
  athletes get all the awards that they're due and, and they're
• 1:17:33
  amazing. That's awesome.
• 1:17:34
  But there was a teammate that helped that individual at some
• 1:17:37
  point in time as well. That's why relays are so much
• 1:17:39
  better in my opinion. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:17:42
  The relay it are. It's a team.
• 1:17:45
  It's a team effort. 100% you, you've seen it.
• 1:17:47
  I have to imagine you've seen this.
• 1:17:49
  You'll see kids that, you know, just using numbers here, can't
• 1:17:52
  break 50 to save their life on an open 400.
• 1:17:54
  But boy, they get that baton in their hand and they know like,
• 1:17:57
  oh, I'm running for that person up there and not just me, you
• 1:18:01
  know, split 48 something all day.
• 1:18:03
  Yeah, yeah, it's something different when you're running
• 1:18:06
  for somebody or something else and not just yourself.
• 1:18:10
  Yeah, makes a difference. I think so.
• 1:18:12
  Well, Jason, what's got you excited about the future?
• 1:18:15
  You you're you're the kind of guy, you know, you not have
• 1:18:17
  enough conversations. You're always thinking, you're
• 1:18:20
  always planning. There's always, I feel like you
• 1:18:22
  have like this at least a top ten list of I want to get this
• 1:18:25
  done and this done and this done, this done.
• 1:18:27
  What's got what's on your mind? What do you got coming up here?
• 1:18:31
  You know, just getting ready for these meets.
• 1:18:32
  Christian Coleman Invitational. We now made it a 2 day meet
• 1:18:36
  instead of a one day meet because it's, there's just so
• 1:18:39
  many kids and just getting, you know, upgrading.
• 1:18:43
  We're getting a new stadium record board out here and you
• 1:18:48
  know, just going to purchase some more equipment and just
• 1:18:51
  getting ready for the year. I'm, I'm excited about the year.
• 1:18:54
  We may not have the big names, but, but like I said, man, I, I,
• 1:18:59
  I like the kids who, who we have.
• 1:19:02
  I like their, like their attitudes, I like their passion
• 1:19:05
  and just ready to work with them and continue to continue to run
• 1:19:09
  and continue to learn, you know, just throughout life and helping
• 1:19:13
  others get in school, you know, helping others get a scholarship
• 1:19:15
  because that's what's what it's about.
• 1:19:18
  Going to any, going to USTFCCA? Any other high school track
• 1:19:21
  clinics not in Georgia? No, not in Georgia.
• 1:19:24
  I'm going to go to the the Texas one.
• 1:19:26
  I'll be there in January. So I'll be back at that.
• 1:19:29
  Continue, continue to learn. I love coming down there and
• 1:19:33
  just, you know, here in the coaches plan on going back to to
• 1:19:37
  the SEC that I think it's at Florida this year.
• 1:19:40
  Take a couple. I took one of our coaches last
• 1:19:43
  time. So I want to take I want to do
• 1:19:45
  it like a more get more coaches or like a coaches trip.
• 1:19:49
  So that's the plan. I think it's even closer buddy.
• 1:19:51
  I'm pretty sure Georgia host SCCS this year.
• 1:19:54
  OK. Well, yeah, because we're doing
• 1:19:57
  their facility right now and I'm pretty sure it was like, Oh
• 1:19:59
  yeah, I think the all this is leading up to them hosting this
• 1:20:02
  year as well. And then I just heard.
• 1:20:04
  I'm glad I you mentioned that because that made me think I
• 1:20:06
  just heard over this weekend. And maybe you didn't hear this,
• 1:20:10
  maybe you don't, Maybe I'm breaking the news to you.
• 1:20:12
  That'd be that'd be so cool if I'm doing this.
• 1:20:14
  By the way, I'm here in the Georgia High school state
• 1:20:16
  championships are now going to be at Georgia's facility.
• 1:20:19
  Yes. So they're going to be at UGA.
• 1:20:21
  This is and this is the thing, Mike, it's going.
• 1:20:22
  It's the same week as SEC. I wonder.
• 1:20:25
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I immediately started looking at
• 1:20:27
  dates. I'm like, oh wait a minute,
• 1:20:28
  those got to be real similar. So, so they said we can't host.
• 1:20:34
  So it's Monday. I think it's Monday, Tuesday,
• 1:20:36
  Wednesday, Thursday. Each day has a classification.
• 1:20:38
  For for the high school. For high school, yeah.
• 1:20:41
  Yeah. And I, I want to, yeah.
• 1:20:43
  So it's going to be pretty busy. And then I know it was
• 1:20:46
  originally scheduled for Florida, but I don't know if
• 1:20:51
  because we're going Monday through Thursday.
• 1:20:53
  So do you think SEC's will be Friday, Saturday, Sunday or the
• 1:20:55
  previous like SEC's bleed into Georgia high school or vice
• 1:20:59
  versa? It's it's usually that weekend
• 1:21:02
  like May. Like 7-9 or fifteen, yeah. 15
• 1:21:05
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:21:07
  So it's the same weekend state, so I don't know what they're
• 1:21:09
  going to do. Wow.
• 1:21:11
  First I heard it was at Auburn, then I looked it up.
• 1:21:13
  They said OK, it's that Florida, but.
• 1:21:16
  I hold on, I got to do a real time check.
• 1:21:17
  I am, I am really confident, which means I'm probably wrong
• 1:21:22
  that it's at Georgia because I remember just thinking about
• 1:21:26
  like I said, we're doing that facility right now and and I was
• 1:21:30
  like, oh, that'll be perfect. I'll definitely be at SCCS this
• 1:21:33
  year. What are we doing outdoor?
• 1:21:37
  You know, I'm actually closer to Auburn.
• 1:21:38
  I thought it was going to be Auburn.
• 1:21:39
  I'm closer to Auburn in Georgia. That's true.
• 1:21:42
  That's true. I just think of, you know, I
• 1:21:44
  think of Georgia. It's all together.
• 1:21:47
  Oh, here we go. I don't know if this will have
• 1:21:51
  it now. It says 2025.
• 1:21:53
  Oh, man, I can't. Let's see how good.
• 1:21:57
  I'm just going to ask you to. Oh, yeah, I almost went to AI
• 1:21:59
  and did it. Where is 2026?
• 1:22:03
  Outdoor SEC championships and you know I'm a big AI fan.
• 1:22:15
  It ain't always right. You know where it says now what
• 1:22:18
  does it? What does it say?
• 1:22:19
  Hey, it's. So dumb.
• 1:22:22
  So you know how when you know how when you Google it now gives
• 1:22:26
  you the AI answer before it gives you the links it so it
• 1:22:29
  says I'm I'm reading this verbatim.
• 1:22:30
  The 2026 SEC Outdoor track and field championships will be held
• 1:22:34
  at Hayward Field in Eugene. It says from June.
• 1:22:40
  It says from June 10 to 13th. So that's the NCAA and it so
• 1:22:43
  it's mashing things. What a dummy.
• 1:22:46
  OK, hold on. SEC school set to host future
• 1:22:49
  NCAA championship sites. Let's see what this says here.
• 1:22:54
  Georgia. So it doesn't say there.
• 1:22:58
  So you said Florida. You thought we go to Florida.
• 1:23:00
  Well, this doesn't have it at all.
• 1:23:02
  Oh, this is all and there's 26 now.
• 1:23:05
  This doesn't have it. 2025 was a Yeah, No, it doesn't have 2026
• 1:23:12
  on here. Yeah.
• 1:23:15
  No, I don't know where it is. OK.
• 1:23:17
  I thought it was Georgia. I'm hoping it's Georgia for a
• 1:23:19
  couple of reasons. One, the new facility would be
• 1:23:21
  amazing. 2, when I heard about the Georgia State champions, I'm
• 1:23:24
  like, oh man, that'd be so cool to just wrap it all and just
• 1:23:27
  stay down there for the time, you know?
• 1:23:28
  That'd be really fun. That'd be really cool.
• 1:23:30
  That'd be awesome. Well, maybe I'll see you at the
• 1:23:33
  state meet. This year.
• 1:23:35
  Oh yeah, yeah. Jason, man, I'm so proud of you,
• 1:23:40
  brother. I just love what you do.
• 1:23:44
  I love that you pour into your kids.
• 1:23:45
  I love how, you know, I think 99% of all the conversations you
• 1:23:51
  and I have had, only 1% of that has been about like a city and
• 1:23:55
  things like that. And and that's not a distant
• 1:23:57
  city. You know, he and I had some back
• 1:23:59
  and forth on Twitter good back and he's a seems like a very
• 1:24:01
  good young man. I love him and and definitely,
• 1:24:03
  absolutely rooting for him. So that's not what I'm saying.
• 1:24:06
  But what I love is that your identity as a track coach, your
• 1:24:09
  identity as a person isn't wrapped up in like, look at me.
• 1:24:11
  I coach City very much like Joe, by the way.
• 1:24:13
  I know Joe gets all the attention because of Quincy.
• 1:24:17
  Joe will talk to you about all his other kids.
• 1:24:20
  First, Yeah, yeah, yeah, foremost.
• 1:24:22
  So no one person is bigger than the team.
• 1:24:24
  That's right. And I think that shows your
• 1:24:26
  character. One person, you know, it'd be,
• 1:24:27
  it's very easy for us to hang our hat on one athlete as good
• 1:24:31
  as a city, for crying out loud. I mean, there's not many that
• 1:24:32
  we're we're better than that young man and he's going to have
• 1:24:35
  a long career. So I just love your servant
• 1:24:38
  leadership to your program, to your kids, to your coaching
• 1:24:41
  staff, to your graphics guy. I just love this community that
• 1:24:46
  you're involved with there at Westlake that helps all pull in
• 1:24:48
  the the rope in the same direction to, to create
• 1:24:51
  championships and championship experiences for for you and your
• 1:24:54
  school and your your program, your kids there.
• 1:24:57
  Appreciate it, Mike. Appreciate it.
• 1:24:58
  Absolutely, man. So thank you so much.
• 1:25:00
  You know, the most expensive thing you can ever give me is
• 1:25:01
  your time, man. And I know school started two
• 1:25:03
  weeks ago. You know, it's never easy.
• 1:25:05
  There's never a good time, especially for my high school
• 1:25:07
  coaches who are teachers, man. So I'm just grateful for your
• 1:25:09
  time, openness, and authenticity today.
• 1:25:12
  OK. Appreciate it, Mike.
• 1:25:13
  Absolutely, guys and gals, thank you.
• 1:25:15
  Absolutely brother. You deserve it.
• 1:25:16
  The guys and gals, thank you so much for being here.
• 1:25:18
  It's a truly a blessing. Man.
• 1:25:20
  I love our high school coaches. It's amazing what they do.
• 1:25:24
  I mean, it really is when you think about coaching track and
• 1:25:27
  field is, you know, a very small part of their day.
• 1:25:30
  They they're teachers. And by the way, don't forget
• 1:25:31
  their their spouses and there's families and, you know, a life
• 1:25:35
  outside of coaching and, and they continue on a daily basis,
• 1:25:39
  a seasonally basis and get it done with the young boys and
• 1:25:42
  young girls under their charge. And like I said, any program
• 1:25:45
  that has 200 kids, they're doing something right there.
• 1:25:48
  You know, kids have a lot of options.
• 1:25:49
  They're attracted to success. They're attracted to discipline.
• 1:25:53
  And and that's definitely the case here at Westlake with Coach
• 1:25:55
  Cage and the staff there in Georgia.
• 1:25:57
  So thanks again for being here today and helping me up with and
• 1:26:00
  honor this coach. Join us next week.
• 1:26:01
  We'll do it all over. Thanks guys.
• 1:26:05
  If it goes to appreciate the coach the ones that point people
• 1:26:08
  most every season needs a voice of reason speaking the growth
• 1:26:12
  you got to prep before you carry the load.
• 1:26:14
  It's coffee to the soul For those of us who stay on the go
• 1:26:17
  proper hand off to stay in the zone which you packing for the
• 1:26:20
  road. There's more than one way to go.
• 1:26:22
  Take notes that's paying you're told it ain't practice If your
• 1:26:24
  purpose Saint Clair. It can't happen until you listen
• 1:26:27
  with both is can't mentor without a mentor of years of
• 1:26:30
  experience. You can reinvent those years.
• 1:26:33
  Every plan's got to stand and deliver to and the price
• 1:26:36
  sacrifice can you give up you. It's a choice and the fight not
• 1:26:39
  a win or lose. It's not a ploy boy device.
• 1:26:41
  Y'all can make more moves. It's not about how to it's all
• 1:26:44
  about why you don't know till you know who you are inside
• 1:26:47
  6,000,000. Waste of time, choose none.
• 1:26:50
  So y'all cross finish line. The work ain't done so we learn
• 1:26:53
  from the experts but y'all got to put in the network.
• 1:26:56
  Guild Athletics is the network. It's all about connections put
• 1:26:59
  together for the profession to where every track coach could be
• 1:27:02
  blessing.