Latest / The Strength In Numbers Podcast / EP 7: Phil Baier | Making Career Moves, Acing Interviews, and Developing Interns

Transcript

EP 7: Phil Baier | Making Career Moves, Acing Interviews, and Developing Interns · The Strength In Numbers Podcast

0:00
But you should always want to leave them with something other
0:02
than the impact that you left. All of the on campus interviews
0:05
I took, I've I've always had like a little packet.
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I go, I spend the extra 20 or 25 bucks to make sure it's bounded.
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Nice flat cover sheet. I remember for the Miami one, I
0:15
made sure I labeled each and everyone and put a little little
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sticky note on it. Thing that I put My Portfolio is
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like the first 100 days and it's laid out from developing culture
0:25
in the weight room what I am going to assess and track within
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the first couple days and then what we can actually train
0:31
within those same first couple days and how that is going to go
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from that first week to our third week to our fifth week to
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our 7th week. You need reps to understand how
0:41
to solve problems. Every year is almost like a new,
0:45
for lack of a better term, set of problems.
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Where were we week the previous year or needed improvements.
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OK, what's the best path to get us there?
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That's really why I only like to take take interns for at most
0:56
one year is because at some point, whether whether they're
1:00
elite and they're really, really ready to get a job or they,
1:04
they, they're, they're average and they probably just need one
1:07
more internship. Like you just don't want to have
1:11
the kind of repetitive process. Welcome to the Strength in
1:14
Numbers podcast. I'm your host, John Bloom, and
1:16
today we've got an incredible guest, Phil Buyer.
1:19
Phil's currently the men's basketball strength coach at
1:21
Kansas State, and he's had a ton of success in college
1:25
basketball, including an Elite Eight trip in 2023 with K State
1:29
and also an b-day trip in 2022 with Miami.
1:32
He is great at the physical development piece as a strength
1:35
coach, but also just influencing the program as a whole, right?
1:39
He's high level at using data, impacting recruiting, and most
1:43
importantly, integrating with and impacting the basketball
1:46
staff. In this talk, Phil brings so
1:48
much practical value, including how to develop interns,
1:52
understanding your next career move, and incredibly valuable
1:55
information on separating yourself as an interview
1:58
candidate. Enjoy the episode, Phil.
2:00
I'm I'm pumped to have this conversation.
2:02
You know me and you've never actually worked together, but
2:05
really from afar, you've been a mentor and, and really
2:07
influenced me in a lot of ways throughout my career.
2:09
And I, I know you've influenced and mentored a lot of other
2:12
coaches. So I know, I know that this is
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going to be awesome. Yeah, man, fired up to be here.
2:15
I mean, obviously our conversations, you, you got, you
2:18
got a lot of awesome things going on and excited to help.
2:22
Awesome. Well, you know, first thing I do
2:23
for for people that don't know you like like who are you?
2:26
What do you do and what drove you to do that?
2:29
Yeah. So I'm the director of men's
2:30
basketball. Strength and conditioning here
2:32
at K State are going on Year 4. I've worked with a number of
2:36
different teams. I was previously at the
2:37
University of Miami for three years with men's basketball
2:40
there before that. This is where we we got in
2:43
touch. But at the University of North
2:44
Texas for 2 1/2 years, had men's basketball and women's
2:47
volleyball there. Before that, Arkansas State for
2:50
two years had men's basketball, men's women's track and field,
2:54
helped with football, had a role in cheer and dance as well.
2:57
Before that, Southeast Missouri State as a grad assistant,
3:00
internships at Harvard and USC, pretty much working with every
3:03
team they had there. I went to Springfield College in
3:05
Massachusetts and played college football there for four years,
3:08
got my degree in applied exercise sciences.
3:10
And I mean for real, I've just always loved training.
3:14
I've always loved seeing other people get better.
3:16
And that's that's been my main driver to stay in collegiate
3:19
sector strength and conditioning as long as I have and obviously
3:21
to keep going. No, I love it.
3:23
And you know, when I look at really good strength coaches,
3:25
especially if we're talking about collegiate sector, I think
3:28
they do a great job of obviously like the physical development
3:31
piece, but also providing value outside of just the weight room
3:34
and how they're matching the staff in the program.
3:37
And I think that's something that you do at a really high
3:38
level. So can you just talk about like,
3:40
as you think about your role, how do you try and provide value
3:43
beyond just, you know, get NPR's and, you know, develop them
3:47
physically and, you know, speed, strength, all that, but beyond
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that? Yeah.
3:50
So the first, first aspect is really giving these sport
3:54
coaches, so for me, men's basketball data or information
3:57
so they can make informed decisions.
3:59
So go up into staff meetings or arrange meetings with
4:02
assistants, you're a head coach and just give them an update,
4:05
like whether, whether it's really, really good news or
4:08
where, where, whatever you're noticing on the floor or
4:10
whatever you're blessed to have for a data side of things, just
4:14
giving an update and letting that drive conversation.
4:16
So for me, that's, that's a big role in plaque practice
4:19
planning. And so ahead of time, what days
4:21
do we really want to go up and down and hit and be competitive.
4:24
And I'll, I'll pair that in the weight room with a high
4:27
intensity day as well, but being proactive and approach like that
4:31
and then reactive and helping them solve problems.
4:34
So just goes longer than it should or a, a player had a
4:38
different role in a game and, and it was a little more
4:40
stressful for them, like making sure what, whatever the plan is,
4:44
it's catered to them so they can be the best possible versions of
4:47
themselves #1 as players. But #2 the staff can really have
4:51
a strong feel going into whatever the day is.
4:53
And then beyond that, if you're in college basketball right now,
4:56
you'll learn that the transfer portal can be, could be a little
4:59
bit of a chaotic environment. So we have here, we will either
5:03
have spots to fill and have a lot of different candidates that
5:06
we like or or that come across our desk and sifting through who
5:10
will be the best fit is it takes everybody.
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So part of that for me is making strength coach calls.
5:16
Now, by no means am IA recruiter do it.
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By no means do I go out and try to find the most talented player
5:22
or whoever the best fit is. But when we get a hold of a
5:25
player and most of the time when we're when we feel we can get
5:28
them on a visit, I'll call the other strength and conditioning
5:31
coach and for whatever he or she can give me from a report
5:35
standpoint, I'll bring it to the staff.
5:37
OK, Obviously there's some like HIPAA stuff that you can't
5:39
involve, but how are they in the weight room?
5:42
Are they, are they one of the first ones out to practice?
5:45
And how locked in are they nutritionally?
5:47
What are their teammates think of them like?
5:49
That's that that's stuff that we all want to know and that we
5:52
were really doing before the transfer portal anyways.
5:55
It's just it was harder to transfer or, or the process of
6:00
transferring didn't have as many openings as it did in the past.
6:03
So like a lot of teams right now have to fill anywhere between
6:06
4:00 and I mean for us last year 10 spots.
6:10
So you want to make sure you're bringing in the right type of
6:12
guys that are going to be a good match with the current guys you
6:15
have and obviously the staff you work for.
6:18
Oh, I do think those reports help.
6:19
I do think it's, it's provided us a little more clarity and
6:24
knowing the caliber player that we're getting and for me, where
6:27
to start from a programming standpoint.
6:29
Yeah. So what they're experienced with
6:30
and maybe from a goal setting standpoint, what they, what they
6:33
want, what the player wants to get done and how I can adapt my
6:37
system to that. Yeah, no, that's good.
6:38
And as you talk about that recruiting piece and and making
6:41
this cause beforehand, maybe talk about once you get someone
6:44
on an official visit in person and as you talk about it takes
6:47
everybody, right, Everybody seen an observation like what are the
6:50
things as you're obviously one trying to convince them to come,
6:54
but you're also evaluating them. What are you looking at from
6:56
your perspective when you have these kids on campus to see if
6:59
they are the right fit? Yeah, so #1 is what do they like
7:02
to do in terms of training, especially with the transfer
7:05
portal where they've, they've been in a college weight room
7:07
for anywhere between a year and sometimes, like for last year,
7:12
Coleman Hawkins, four years. OK, so he, they, they've had
7:15
experience. So what do they like to do?
7:17
We, we as a program, we train every single day.
7:19
Every day we're on the floor. We're going to do something in
7:21
the weight room. So I wanna know what they like
7:23
to do. So if that aligns with some of
7:25
their goals and what we need them to play like or operate or
7:29
or any changes we need to make like how can I incorporate that
7:33
into their program right from the get go?
7:35
And I know that we'll have great intent and great effort of it #2
7:39
is showing them that schedule that we talked about, OK, how we
7:43
plan our weeks in the summer, OK.
7:44
We're a morning team. So if they're, if they're not a
7:47
morning person, we're we're probably gonna have to talk,
7:49
have a good, strong conversation about breakfast and the
7:52
importance there. And it's like, hey, if I got to
7:54
walk over there with you and show you what options are good
7:56
based on your goals, I'll do it. But that's usually a big
7:59
conversation piece. And then in terms of things that
8:03
they do need to work on, just telling them what our system is
8:07
like how how we can adapt that. Do they like, are they
8:10
comfortable sprinting two or three times a week?
8:12
Are they comfortable throw a Med ball?
8:14
Are they comfortable with Olympic variations?
8:17
What did, what was their squad or deadlift pattern like at the
8:20
previous school did? Obviously Hawking involved and
8:24
everything, but with the force plates you can share data pretty
8:26
easily now. So you can get a report on a
8:29
guy. And if I do that and there I get
8:31
a report that the player is locked into the weight room,
8:34
I'll talk to him about how we can either get him to jump
8:36
higher or feel better or be more symmetrical.
8:39
So whatever the case is, just just be open.
8:43
I mean, for us, we're going to tell the truth and how we
8:46
operate and what the expectation is.
8:48
So making a conversation there. Yeah, and as you're talking
8:51
about gathering information of, you know, what they've done,
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what they do like, what they don't like with the changing
8:58
nature of the portal. And like you're saying, Russes
9:00
are turning over. And you know, especially for
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being in grad transfers where it's going to be one year or
9:05
some of these other kids where you know, the the likelihood is
9:07
a lot of them are there for just a year.
9:09
Are you, are you leaning towards giving more autonomy?
9:13
And in terms of how you, how they're training, knowing that,
9:17
hey, like I need, I need to maximize this year and you, you
9:21
understanding or liking kind of and buying in sooner is going to
9:25
help with that. Yeah, yeah.
9:27
I mean, there's levels to that man.
9:28
For instance, you might get a grad transfer where if they you
9:32
go through the NBA process, they're, they're not going to
9:34
come to you until July. And then it's going to be your
9:37
job to make sure they are physically capable of playing
9:41
every single day. They're healthy, they're strong,
9:42
they're fast, they're explosive, They feel good like, but you
9:46
only, you're only going to get 4 weeks and then they'll go home
9:49
for two or three. Then you got another 4 before
9:51
you start practice again. And that four is usually for us
9:54
a big ramp up in and practice intensity and conditioning to
9:57
make sure we're ready for the whatever, I forget what it is,
10:00
42 days. You get to get whatever it is
10:04
like 30 practices in. So there's obviously those,
10:07
those cases. And then if it's a younger
10:09
player, I'm, I'm, I'm still planning on them being here for
10:13
the duration of their collegiate career.
10:16
So if it's a sophomore or if it's a rising junior, we'll
10:20
still take them through a full assessment protocol and, and
10:24
develop them. Maybe you get a little Fast
10:27
forward or an easy button in terms of what they're, what
10:30
they're good at or what they like to do, but still put
10:33
together a plan that isn't rushing their process or, or, or
10:37
trying to fit a square peg into a circle hole.
10:39
So yeah, I mean that, like I said, there's, there's layers to
10:42
it. Obviously players are coming and
10:44
going right now, but you still do it out of love and you still
10:47
do it to what's best for the athlete for them to be on the
10:50
floor, No. Doubt and as we talked about the
10:52
port of, of, of kids leaving schools, think about you and
10:56
your career when you're making decisions of stay at this job,
10:59
take another job. What are the factors that have
11:01
gone into that for you to make those decisions?
11:04
Yeah, yeah. I actually had this conversation
11:07
a couple times at the CSCCA conference a week ago with some,
11:12
some interns from different schools and some entry level
11:16
people from different schools. It's, it's honestly changed as
11:19
you get older, as you mature early in my career, and this is
11:23
what I tell every intern that I hire like your next step like
11:27
you're, you're a rising senior. Your next step should get get
11:31
paid to coach athletes. If that's if that's as small as
11:34
a small monthly stipend or a tuition waiver, that's good.
11:37
You still have a responsibility to coach athletes.
11:39
So I started out as a volunteer intern, worked with a number of
11:43
different teams, helped a number of awesome coaches, but they all
11:46
told me, hey, your next job you should want to get paid to
11:49
coach. So that turned into GA OK, I had
11:52
a tuition waiver and I think I got it was like 800 bucks a
11:55
month something for stipend. I lived in southeast Missouri so
11:58
you can afford to do that. But yeah, after that it was
12:02
like, OK, well I'm getting older now so I need benefits.
12:05
All right, I need I don't I won't be able to be on my
12:07
parents insurance anymore. I obviously want a full time job
12:11
with the benefits so that that was another easy goal.
12:15
OK, so that turned into Arkansas State.
12:18
After that, I had about four years, four years cumulative
12:22
include the internships of coaching like you can then start
12:26
formulating what what you really like and dislike.
12:29
And for me, early on, I thought I was going to be a football
12:31
strength coach. I'd worked with Ryan Johnson,
12:34
Matt Shadid, Tim Caron, James Frazier and Tim Mullen at
12:37
Harvard. Like like those were all
12:40
football guys at the time. And that's that's where the
12:43
direction of my career was going.
12:44
OK. So like I get to Arkansas State
12:46
my second year. I meet in awesome staff, Grant
12:48
Mccaslin, Ross Hodge, Doreen Darling, James Miller, Hunter
12:51
Taylor, like I really like working with those guys and they
12:54
moved on and they they got me in the door at North Texas.
12:58
And after the interview process, I made the decision let's like,
13:01
hey, I really like working with these guys.
13:03
Once again, it's a full time job.
13:04
It's a great area, the DFW area. I was able to to think like, OK,
13:09
maybe I don't need to work football because I can train
13:11
these guys how I like training guys and it's how they need to
13:15
be trained. And then the staff allows me to
13:18
do a lot of awesome things and they respect me and we have a
13:21
really good relationship. OK, so then I'm at North Texas
13:24
and I was like, man, I, I really love just be men's basketball
13:28
only. So whether that's me working
13:30
within the administration and coaches and everything like that
13:33
trying to get that to happen there or after a second year,
13:36
Miami called and they they allowed me to interview for the
13:39
position and I've become men's basketball only at Miami do that
13:43
for three years had an awesome time did things that have never
13:46
been done in the program before go to the lead 8.
13:48
And then I mean, I met my now wife Jenna previously.
13:52
We had been dating for a while and for us it was like, hey, we
13:55
want to be able to buy a house and and be able to have know
13:59
that we're going to be at a job for potentially the rest of our
14:01
lives. And one of my good friends,
14:03
Doreen Dowling called me that they had an opening at K State
14:06
and interviewed here with Coach Tang and everybody and
14:09
ultimately love love coach L. It was one of the hardest
14:12
decisions I've ever had to make, leaving him.
14:14
But I knew that as as a man and from a family standpoint, this,
14:19
this is what would be best. So I made the jump and been here
14:22
at K State and bought the house. And yeah, I mean hopefully,
14:25
hopefully not going anywhere. Yeah, now that's so cool to hear
14:28
kind of that, that whole path. And obviously through that you
14:31
you worked at some great programs and especially with
14:32
some great head coaches. What are those things you've
14:35
seen from the different head coaches, obviously leading in
14:37
different ways, but like what are the commonalities of how
14:40
they've been able to have success at those programs that
14:42
you've seen? Yeah, yeah.
14:44
So for me, early in my career, I didn't have as much involvement
14:48
with the head coaches. Like, like I told you, I was
14:51
coaching a number of different teams.
14:52
I mean, you've been there or anyone who's in the collegiate
14:55
sector that has a number of different teams understands that
14:58
like you're lucky if you can get a meeting with the head coach
15:01
every every other week. So for the most part, you're,
15:04
you're just out there at practice or in the weight room
15:07
just observing and then trying to piece together what, what
15:10
some of the plans are there. But #1 like whether it be a head
15:14
coach or whether it be a head strength conditioning coach or
15:16
director strength conditioning, like you got to be a good
15:19
problem solver. Like, like knowing what issues
15:22
may arise. And then in the reactive case,
15:26
what's the best plan when an issue arrives?
15:29
Arise. Okay, so they were all great
15:31
there. And then the best ones are
15:34
obviously people first like they're gonna coach you hard and
15:38
they're gonna expect you to do things maybe that you're
15:41
uncomfortable with, whether it be changing your body or whether
15:44
it be something playing style wise on the floor.
15:47
But they're going to challenge you to be better.
15:49
But they're just, it's not just going to stop on the floor like
15:52
that. Expectation will be there for
15:54
the two hours of practice with one hour of lift, OK or
15:57
conditioning. But then after that, like
15:59
something as small as just sending a text after you get get
16:02
after they got on somebody or bringing them back later in the
16:05
day, Making sure they do do something really beneficial that
16:09
that helps them. Even if it's just meeting them
16:10
at dinner or somebody with Patella tendonitis, going
16:14
through their ISO routine with them or sled drags, just
16:17
different things like that. And, and knowing like what the
16:20
low hanging fruit is, what can we get the most immediate
16:23
benefit from? And then and then grabbing that,
16:26
knocking it out and then maybe even having to go on to
16:28
something else, but coming back to it and making sure it doesn't
16:31
get ignored. So yeah, that that that would be
16:33
the big, big three that I would say.
16:36
Now, as you're talking about that people first one and and,
16:38
you know, sending texts or whatever after, like I remember,
16:41
remember we first started connecting back when you're at
16:43
UNT. I remember you talked about how
16:45
you would just, you know, if somebody did something really
16:47
good in the lift or, you know, hit a PR or something like, you
16:49
know, you sent him a text later. And I don't know that that's
16:52
always stuck with me in something because I think it's
16:54
it's really like really small thing.
16:56
But I think those things means a lot, whether you know, evens
16:59
that or like writing the handwritten letter and just like
17:01
doing those things without necessarily a reason to have to
17:05
do them. And it's, I think it's
17:06
unexpected to a lot of people when you do it, and it actually
17:09
means a lot. Yeah, yeah.
17:10
I mean, one thing we we started at SIMO, Ryan Johnson had us had
17:15
us all do it, the whole staff, but was like, hey, we have we
17:18
have a bunch of different teams, but we can take 10 or 15 minutes
17:21
and and literally send the sport coaches a report of the lift.
17:25
OK, So like it's something, Hey, this was the focus.
17:28
It was high intensity. Like maybe the guys or girls
17:31
will be sore, but these two people hit PRS or this person
17:35
made a major breakthrough and his or her ability to catch a
17:38
clean or, or anything like that. Just so like, yeah, you don't
17:42
get those meetings. But if you can shoot out an
17:43
e-mail like that and let them know and then the sport coaches
17:47
can get with the players and share that excitement.
17:50
I mean, like talking about adding value, like that's going
17:52
to add value to your program. Your players are going to feel
17:54
respected. They're going to feel like
17:55
they're getting better, and they actually obviously are, but some
17:58
of them don't even realize it. So if they hear it from multiple
18:01
layers, that's that's really cool.
18:03
Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, that's
18:05
really cool. You talk about that.
18:06
It was like if you sent that and and say it's one of the people
18:08
that got APR and you know, later practice that day that the
18:11
coaches was talking before, it's like, hey, like Congrats on this
18:14
or whatever. Without that conversation even
18:16
happening. I feel like that then brings so
18:19
much more buying back to you because of the way they got
18:23
recognized by the person that determines their playing time
18:26
terms, all that, and then they look at you more favorably
18:29
because of that. Yep, Yep.
18:31
You're sharing the good. We're not just keeping the
18:33
excitement and whatever our square footage is here, but, you
18:37
know, yeah. No, I love that not for you as
18:40
as you've made that journey from you know, starting out as intern
18:43
all the way up, especially now as you have been more in the
18:46
men's basketball world really ingrained into those Staffs.
18:49
How how is the way that that you operate or your coaching style
18:53
programming style adjust based on the the head coach and the
18:57
program and fit that you're that you're in from those different
19:00
stops. Yeah, yeah.
19:02
So I'd say the big one was I took some things that we did
19:06
with the sprinters and jumpers at Arkansas State when I work
19:09
track and field to here, like especially in our offseason,
19:13
let's try to make it the same fatigue the same day.
19:16
So now that that's that's that's a tight line that you need to
19:19
walk depending on your relationship relationship with
19:22
your head coach. I'm I'm super blessed that coach
19:24
Tang gives me the time of day, listens, will will most of the
19:28
time apply anything that I say. It's like, Hey, I want to be
19:31
really, really intense in the weight room on Tuesday.
19:33
If you could, if you could make sure we get some full court or
19:36
some top speed sprinting in transition defense, whatever the
19:39
case is involved in practice and and ramp it up and get after it
19:42
that that'd be great. But in terms of like adapting it
19:46
like here, it's it's all individual based.
19:49
OK, So like we talked about the transfer portal, you'll have
19:52
some people that you've had for 1-2 or three years.
19:55
You might have some players that only have one year left and then
19:59
there'll be a bunch in the middle that are usually like
20:01
anywhere between two and four years left.
20:03
So getting getting them to achieve their goals while making
20:09
sure they have plenty in the tank to go out and practice with
20:12
and meet the demands of whatever the day is.
20:15
That's that's what I'm looking at.
20:17
So for some people like it's going to be a lower body day if
20:20
we have the whole team. Came in here at once.
20:22
You'll see a handful of guys in the belt squat, you'll see maybe
20:25
3 or 4 back squatting, two or three front squatting, one or
20:29
two on some single leg variations.
20:31
And that's based all based on where they're at in their
20:33
program. So upper body, unless the player
20:36
has had a previous injury, everybody can really train the
20:39
same and we'll get them all in here together.
20:41
And it's it's a pretty intense fun environment.
20:43
But but yeah, for the basketball offseason, like to make sure
20:48
everything is always trending in the right direction.
20:50
Like I've adopted that track and field, same fatigue, same day
20:54
mindset. And I'm really, really lucky
20:56
that our staff buys into it and we're able to put a good program
21:00
out there that keeps keeps these guys up right and going in the
21:03
right direction towards their goals.
21:05
Whether it's weight gain, weight loss, jump higher, run faster,
21:08
quicker, eliminating a minute restriction that maybe they had
21:11
before. Yeah.
21:13
And and as you talk about how it is so, so individualized to what
21:17
each person needs and I can talk even before you mentioned how,
21:21
you know, if somebody goes to NBA draft, they're not there
21:23
till July. As it has shifted even to more
21:26
this more individualized approach, how do we how do you
21:29
still use the weight room in the offseason to drive the
21:33
togetherness of a program while still driving individual goals
21:37
and needs for each person? Yeah, yeah.
21:40
So for the most part, later in the week, we'll do a total body
21:44
day that features not very technique intensive movements.
21:48
So we can bring everybody in. And whether whether my staff is
21:52
somebody who's been at two or three internships before and I
21:55
feel really comfortable with them coaching a lot of things,
21:58
or whether it's somebody's first collegiate or even strength
22:01
conditioning internship, I know I can, I can kind of run
22:04
everything together myself. So like later in the week, we'll
22:07
do a lot of trap bar deadlift, chin UPS, mid ball throws,
22:10
sprints, type of machine isolation work.
22:13
And we'll get everybody into getting here together, pushing
22:16
together. Like on days like that, if we
22:18
have a tempo, we'll have like one player call out the whole
22:20
tempo. They got to be over the music.
22:22
So you're learning how to raise your voice there.
22:25
We'll, we'll do a lot of anything that can be measured,
22:28
whether it's bar speed or our power outputs on our elite form.
22:32
If they hit all their reps in the right weight, in the right
22:35
range and they go over and sign the board, try to make sure guys
22:38
are at their optimal version of themselves every single day.
22:41
So they can do that. Obviously like the the feed the
22:44
cat mindsets with our timing gates.
22:45
So what we'll do 10 yard accelerations of fly 10s
22:48
throughout the week, different record rank and publish.
22:52
And so they see that right when they come into the facility from
22:54
the previous day. But yeah, I mean upper body
22:57
days, very, very easy to do that.
22:59
But lower body days, it's, it's a part of the recruiting process
23:02
where we we show them, it's like this is what you're experienced
23:05
with. This is what we're going to
23:07
start you on and hopefully get you to hear in terms of the
23:10
program. But ultimately it boils down to
23:13
if you want that togetherness and you want that energy, you
23:16
need to bring it yourself as the, as the head strength
23:19
conditioning coach or, or the director of strength
23:21
conditioning for men's basketball.
23:23
Like if I'm not walking through the door, excited by what we
23:26
have for the day, excited when the guys achieve something,
23:29
holding them accountable to things that they need to be held
23:32
accountable to within Coach Tang's vision and what, what my
23:35
expectations are as well. Like it's, it's just not, it's
23:38
just not going to happen. So.
23:40
No, that's great. As you're talking about, you
23:42
know, as you talked before about, you know, same stress
23:45
from the weight room to basketball.
23:46
It kind of sounds like that's too.
23:47
It's like if if we're going to you're matching like your
23:50
logistics to the, you know, togetherness or individual and
23:55
individualization kind of thing. So it's like, OK, we're going to
23:57
match the stress of we're now more maybe technique skill where
24:03
that's needed a little bit more and we need a little more eyes
24:05
and can be a little more individualized to the person.
24:07
OK, let's break that up a little bit more.
24:09
But you know, we decrease the skill that we need for it.
24:12
We decrease the, you know, the eyes we know and everything OK,
24:17
we can then bring everybody together more and kind of have
24:19
those those peaks and valleys from that standpoint, just like
24:21
you do from stress with basketball in the weight room a
24:23
little bit. Yeah.
24:25
That's cool. As, as we, you know, as we talk
24:28
about, you know, as we talked about leaving jobs or taking new
24:31
jobs back back when I was at ACU and I was getting ready to leave
24:35
there, talking with you was, was really huge through those
24:40
interview processes. And you, you were super helpful
24:43
with just learning how to, how to go through those processes
24:46
and how to really, you know, create materials to separate
24:49
yourself and, and how you're handling those communications
24:52
with the, the different staff members that are in that
24:53
interview process. So could you just maybe talk
24:55
about if something you know, you talked about like those interns
24:58
and and taking those steps up or young coaches, but even older
25:00
coaches, like if we're if we're in an interview process, what
25:04
can we do to really separate ourselves as a candidate in that
25:06
field? Yeah, yeah.
25:08
So I mean, separating yourself is really a unique way to put it
25:12
#1 if you're going on campus, I forget who told me this or if I
25:16
just listen to it in podcast, but you should always want to
25:19
leave them with something other than the impact that you left,
25:22
like just your presence. OK.
25:24
So, well, all of the on campus interviews I took, I've I've
25:28
always had like a little packet and I take, I go, I spend the
25:31
extra 20 or 25 bucks to make sure it's bounded, like
25:34
professionally bounded, nice flat cover sheet.
25:37
And depending on the itinerary, like, like I remember for the
25:40
Miami one, I made sure I labeled each and everyone and put a
25:42
little little sticky note on it. So on the cover, the letter
25:45
there and the title page it within it, like it are on it and
25:49
everything. Like if I met the administrative
25:52
assistant, I was like, OK, here, Reggie, here you go.
25:54
Nice to meet you. Sorry, we don't get we don't
25:55
have time to talk, but that's a little bit about me.
25:57
So it's like like when you're saying like always leave them
26:00
with something, It's it's it's sitting there on their desk.
26:04
And if there's other candidates after and they don't they can,
26:08
they have to go back and whoever you spoke with has to go back
26:11
and remember what the other person said.
26:12
Where for for me, it was like, hey, everything in my packet and
26:16
portfolio is right here. OK.
26:18
So everything I talked about from training players in the
26:21
summer versus in season, everything I talked about from
26:24
developing my coaching philosophy or like different,
26:28
different questions I can ask during recruiting to help things
26:30
like that. So it's all right there.
26:32
But ultimately, and this is a big thing I tell, tell my
26:36
interns is like, don't, don't fake it.
26:39
Like don't try to be someone else.
26:40
Don't try to be me. Just cuz I recommended you for a
26:43
job, that doesn't mean they're looking for someone exactly like
26:45
me. If you pretend to be something
26:47
you're not and then you get the job and then the expectation is
26:51
that to be something you're not, it's going to be a very
26:53
frustrating time, whether that's from training athletes, whether
26:56
that's from like the expectation of how you need to operate.
27:00
And maybe you are married, maybe you have kids and, and you, you
27:03
said, Hey, I'll be, I'll be in there from 2:00 AM to 9:00 PM
27:06
every single day. And then all of a sudden they
27:08
expect that and that's you're just not able to do that.
27:11
That's going to create frustration.
27:12
So other things just being ready from that from the get go.
27:17
OK, So like thing that I put My Portfolio is like the first 100
27:21
days and it's laid out from developing culture in the weight
27:24
room, what I am going to assess and track within the first
27:28
couple days. And then what we can actually
27:30
train within those same first couple days and how that is
27:33
going to go from that first week to our third week to our fifth
27:37
week to our 7th week and, and how that's going to roll.
27:40
Obviously, there's going to be some things that maybe you need
27:42
to spend more time on or there's going to be some things that you
27:45
can move a little faster and get to based on whatever the nature
27:49
of the program is. But ultimately having something
27:51
to leave them with having every base covered depending on the
27:56
the job description. So go and read the post.
27:59
Like if they post a job, that's going to have a lot of the
28:01
expectations in it and you can kind of build a portfolio based
28:05
on that. But like there's, there's a
28:07
number of different ways to do it.
28:09
Like like for for here where where men's basketball, I work
28:12
with the men's basketball staff. I have some interactions with
28:15
other strengths and conditioning coaches, but that's, that's what
28:17
it's at. But I also interviewed for a
28:19
head strength conditioning coach job where I would have to hire
28:22
Staffs for other teams and have a policy on occupational
28:25
professionalism and how to work a budget and things like that.
28:29
So making sure that you in that interview, if it's a, if it's a
28:34
Zoom or Riverside or FaceTime, whatever it is, you can,
28:38
whatever question is thrown your way, you can like, yeah, turn to
28:40
page 14. We can talk about what I'm
28:43
looking for with my assistance or you want to talk about what
28:45
we're doing somewhere. OK, turn to page 22.
28:47
Yeah, Yeah, I know back, you know, at the time of that time
28:51
at ACU and you started telling me about some of this.
28:53
Like now, now every interview I've ever done, I've I've
28:56
brought those type of booklets in and like you're saying like
28:58
one, it just shows like you're prepared and it's it's above and
29:02
beyond what most people do. So that like they they view you
29:05
a little bit differently with that.
29:06
And and then another thing is like, I feel like with the
29:08
people that aren't as like directly making the hire
29:12
directly involved, but they do interview and they're and they
29:15
have influence in some way. Like you're saying, if you can
29:18
leave it with them with something now, they can actually
29:20
like look back on who you are and and like you stand out where
29:24
they might not be as in the weeds of like your philosophy or
29:27
you know, everything about you. It's like, oh, like this person
29:29
was prepared, like they seem to do, you know, be a pretty high
29:32
level professional, like they'd probably be good for the job.
29:34
And then I got to like you're saying there with being able to
29:37
say, Oh, turn to this page. I think even like if it's a Zoom
29:40
interview, I found that to be really helpful where you don't
29:42
have to have it as long, but you can have some of those things in
29:45
a PDF and everyone, hey, can I share my screen, pull that up,
29:48
go through that. And I found that's been really
29:50
valuable. And it just makes it a lot
29:52
easier for you to talk about it too, especially through that
29:54
Zoom format. Yeah, yeah.
29:56
And another thing from one of my previous stops, I didn't even
30:00
realize I was doing it, but like the, the head strength
30:03
conditioning coach pointed it out and said it was a big time
30:06
separating factor was like, especially when you're going to
30:09
work on a, whether it's like a football staff where you're like
30:11
one O 5 for a basketball staff, where like I told you, I'm up,
30:15
I'm up in the staff meetings and we're planning this thing out
30:18
and everything like that. Like you're, you're part of a
30:20
team. Like there are some, some jobs
30:23
where you'll, you'll, it will just be you and that's strength
30:27
conditioning and you stay in the weight room and that's, that's
30:29
all to do. And that's totally fine.
30:31
But this strength coach pointed out that it's like you kept
30:34
saying we and you were talking about your program, not, not
30:37
your interns or anything. You just kept saying, we said,
30:39
Hey, we train this way. We believe this is the right
30:43
culture that you should implement.
30:45
You think this is the right standards of execution.
30:47
We implement everything like that.
30:49
And he's like, that's, he's like, that's what we need.
30:52
We need someone who's going to bring in new ideas and new
30:55
energy, but ultimately adapts to what we have already built.
31:00
So it's like that's something that I try to try to instill in
31:04
everybody and realize as a strength conditioning coach
31:06
here, it's just a piece of a puzzle.
31:08
Yeah, no, that's a, that's a really great point.
31:10
You know, as you talk about like him giving you that feedback, it
31:13
also makes you think as you were talking about where based off
31:16
the job description you're going to make that packet or resource
31:19
a little bit different to that. I think too, if, if there are
31:22
multiple rounds of interviews, whether it's you're having phone
31:25
calls and it's Zoom, then it's, you know, on campus and then you
31:28
have the actual thing. I think it'd be really valuable
31:30
to like through those conversations and those initial
31:33
interviews before you get to the real thing that you're going to
31:35
bring something like use those conversations and what they ask
31:38
about and show that they care about to then craft that to
31:42
those things. You know, if they, they keep
31:44
talking about nutrition and, and change and you know, body comp,
31:47
like, let's make the focus of that on that subject and show
31:50
that I can do this at a high level.
31:52
And then make them think like, hey, like they're about all the
31:54
same things like we're about and they're really good at this.
31:57
So I can trust that they're going to provide the value I
31:59
need provided. Yeah, yeah, I mean, like I said
32:02
earlier, dude, it's, it's about #1 being yourself and #2 making
32:06
sure you're as qualified and like what you said, as prepared
32:10
as possible for everything so they can have a good feel about
32:14
who you are as a person and what you believe in.
32:16
And then and like, OK, well, he, he or she meets all of what we
32:20
expect or what we want, so. That's awesome.
32:23
You know, as we're talking about this and you, you've mentioned
32:26
the conversation you've had with interns a lot.
32:28
When you do have interns or maybe you have some, some
32:30
younger part time staff with you, what's kind of your
32:33
framework of, OK, this is how we're going to develop these
32:37
younger professionals to be really good at what they do for
32:40
me. Like when I, I've been thinking
32:41
about that more and more myself, you know, as I try and hopefully
32:44
bring on staff and interns with, for my business and, and like
32:48
me, like, you know, I started working with, with Decker there
32:50
at ACU and it was like, I'm just like fully in it with him.
32:53
And then I'm like learning on my own too.
32:55
And I never went through like a formal internship process where
32:58
there's like a curriculum or anything.
33:00
So I guess for me, it's like like where do you start with
33:03
that education and then fitting that to the individuals and how
33:06
you're developing them? Yeah, yeah.
33:08
So really quick about my internships, the first one I did
33:12
was Harvard. If you're anyone out there
33:14
looking for an internship, especially I did in the summer.
33:17
So I'm going to lean towards the summer there.
33:19
Like that is an unbelievable opportunity applied to it.
33:22
It's going to be very aggressive.
33:24
They're going to they're going to bring you in and they're
33:26
going to not really expect much within that first two weeks, one
33:29
of which is just kind of teaching you OK.
33:31
And then they're going to progressively like kind of let
33:34
you get into the program. Coaching, being responsible for
33:38
certain players or certain stations ultimately get you to
33:41
the point where you can have a handful of players, whether that
33:44
be as small as two or as many as 12.
33:47
And your it's your show to take them through the warm up or take
33:49
them through their strength work or power work.
33:51
So then that turned into my, the USC internship where it was
33:55
like, like Tim, Karen hired me. He he was like, look, we know,
34:00
we know you can coach. So here, come here and get reps
34:04
OK, So you're going to be on the floor from 5:00 AM helping us
34:07
with football to PM training the US Olympic water polo team.
34:12
Like, like, like, and you got to learn to connect with the
34:16
football players to woman's basketball, to sand volleyball,
34:19
to water polo to like a number of different ways.
34:22
And you got to, you got to learn to be, I think Brett Bartholomew
34:26
says it like socially agile, OK, know, know who you, who can
34:30
respond to if you yell at them or who you just need to kind of
34:32
grab and pull to the side and say, Hey, that's what we got to
34:34
do. But getting back to the main
34:36
point here, like, like you're good if I hire you.
34:39
I, I've seen that you have some qualities that you can show up
34:44
on time. You care about strength
34:45
conditioning, You're, you're a real person.
34:48
You can have a conversation about different things outside
34:51
of just XS and OS. And then it will be on me to
34:54
teach you how to implement a program for whatever you believe
34:58
in. Like I never ask interns to to
35:01
be like me or to sound like me or sound like our women's
35:05
basketball coach Lane, strength condition coach lane, like it
35:08
all comes down to fitting your personality to your coaching
35:11
style. And then we'll give you the
35:12
tools and reps to develop that. So they come in like our first
35:18
week. We just teach them.
35:19
Just teach them, hey, this is our squat progression, this our
35:22
hinge progression, this our push and pull progression.
35:24
This is how the Dasher gates work.
35:27
This is how elite works. Like here's how the hockey force
35:30
plate works. This is where this goes.
35:32
Everything like that kind of like an orientation and then
35:35
that first week or so they're just spotting, telling people
35:38
what's next, helping out with different like super sets or,
35:41
or, or moving equipment. Then we'll, we'll get to the
35:45
point where usually I'll give them 111 athlete.
35:48
I, I feel really good about where I know I could just shout
35:52
across the room say, hey, this is what we got.
35:53
And they're going to go do it at 100 mph and know if the weights
35:57
light, they'll stop it, put it back and hit a heavier weight.
36:00
If it's too heavy, they'll stop it, put it back.
36:02
You know where you trust them and ultimately progress them
36:05
through to the point where they can take almost half the team.
36:09
I try to keep our internships at one year because we are just
36:12
men's basketball or we're just men's a women's basketball.
36:15
So like I can't just give them my whole team.
36:19
Like I have to do the job myself.
36:21
Whereas like there'll be times where in the past at other
36:24
places, like all right, you go, you've been with me for a year.
36:26
You go start tennis and take them through as much as you can.
36:29
Once I finish with this football group or this basketball group
36:32
or something like that that has some overlap, I'll come back and
36:35
I'll finish the group for you. But it it boils down to
36:39
progressively inserting them into coaching roles and then not
36:43
almost scaring them in terms of the amount of information that's
36:47
out there from an X's and O side.
36:49
So we start off whatever resume they sent me, I just, I pick it
36:53
apart. So hey, I think you're laying
36:55
this out wrong. You should put your college
36:58
athletic experience higher so they see that.
37:00
And you should put your shadowing hours from your major
37:03
a little higher so they know you've at least been in the
37:05
weight room. This line has way too many
37:07
words. Put some color in here, logos,
37:10
anything like that. And that works all the way up
37:12
into developing a coaching philosophy and a training
37:15
philosophy. And then we'll play, we'll have
37:17
little little games where it's like, OK, here's 10 different
37:21
lifts, stretches, stability work, sews, full list of things
37:27
make a perfect day that will get pre practice lift for any team
37:32
you want that can be done in an hour.
37:33
All right, so organize it, organize it that way.
37:36
And a lot of the times that it's an eye opening experience for
37:40
them that that lane and I will pick it apart and ask them why
37:43
or what their rationale is for it.
37:45
And like give them some pointers on like, hey, maybe you should
37:48
move that Sprint work up since you're going to be doing Sprint
37:53
after three different post chain things you just had that might
37:56
not turn out too well. And then that turns into putting
38:00
a monthly lift program together and then putting a monthly speed
38:03
and conditioning program together and now blending the 2.
38:05
So if it's basketball, how do you get it done in 4 hours a
38:08
week? And then a whole summer manual,
38:13
then in season training and by the end of the internship,
38:15
whether it's as short as eight weeks or as long as 16 to half
38:21
the year, they have that portfolio.
38:23
We just talked about though, their resume, their cover
38:26
letter, their coaching philosophy, their training
38:28
philosophy, Temple programs. A lot of times we have our
38:32
policies and procedures here. I'll just give it to them.
38:34
Be like, I don't know what weight room you're going to be
38:36
in, but here's a good start and and that works out, works out
38:39
really well. If they're here longer, we can
38:41
kind of show them how to kind of really dive into some different
38:44
apps or Excel for player profiles and everything like
38:47
that. But ultimately, like we just
38:49
said about the interview process, be yourself, know what
38:52
you have gaps in and be afraid to address them or ask questions
38:56
and then be open to feedback in terms of all that other
38:59
programming and portfolio stuff. And you should be ready to go
39:03
coach your own team by the end of it.
39:04
Yeah, wow. That was that was super
39:06
valuable. And and one thing it made me
39:08
think of so like that, that first year that I started
39:11
interning at ACU, my undergrad with, with Decker, I remember
39:14
like, like you're saying, like you're learning all this stuff
39:16
first. I remember sometimes he would
39:18
have me make programs and it's like, like I want to make this
39:20
my own, but I feel like I just want to copy like everything
39:23
that I'm learning like from him. And it's like it wasn't until
39:25
that summer after a year of doing that that I went and
39:28
started, I went back home and started running some teams on my
39:31
own and I didn't have anybody with me.
39:33
Like it was just me and the fire, like learning how to make
39:35
decisions and adjustments and, and do that.
39:38
And from that, that really helped me.
39:40
And obviously there's so many changes since then, but that
39:42
that started helping me learn to actually put my spin on it,
39:45
learn how I want to program and coach how how through a process
39:49
like what you're talking about with the internship, where
39:51
you're learning from someone that's really good, you're
39:53
learning this information, you're seeing how they do it.
39:55
How can coaches like still learn to develop their own philosophy?
39:58
Like, do you think it takes actually taking that step to
40:01
running your own team on your own to?
40:03
Do that, I do, I do. And I mean like one of the
40:07
benefits of the Harvard internship, I don't know if they
40:09
still do it, but like we would, we would run a high school
40:13
training camp that they had there.
40:15
So there'd be like 15 athletes there that we would have to
40:19
right from the jump, take them through things.
40:21
So even before we even really knew much they, they would, they
40:24
would sit back and they watch. And if it got if, if we're doing
40:27
something wrong, they'd come in and fix it.
40:29
But no, like I, I do think so. Yeah, that's, that's ultimately
40:33
like I'm thinking of two interns right now that, that I've had
40:37
where they've, they've been like, hey, like I want to come
40:41
back for the summer or come back for the fall.
40:43
Or I'm like Mandy or girl, you've been with us.
40:46
You've been with us for so long. Like being in here with your 13
40:49
to 15 athletes, like, like you just need to go run your own
40:56
show, even if that's starting a speed school and you still come
40:59
and help me. And like you go out there and
41:02
you just have a number of different athletes like you got
41:04
to you got to learn to be like, OK, wow.
41:07
We took we took this program and it took us an hour, 20 minutes
41:11
to take them through the whole whole lift.
41:15
What's that because of me? Was that because of the, the,
41:20
the facility? Was that because of the staff
41:23
or, or whatever the case is like, like you just, you just
41:26
need to go out and get reps. And I do think you can learn
41:30
that as an intern. But you got to be able to ask a
41:33
lot of questions like like after a session when we do our
41:37
debriefs, you got to have the vulnerability to just be like,
41:40
hey, I didn't understand why you said it said this to that
41:43
athlete or why you move this differently from last week.
41:49
And, and if you can remember that type of stuff that that'll
41:52
be in your mind for when you're developing your own program.
41:55
Like something as simple as like, hey, like it's a total
41:57
body day where we're super setting RDL's with chin UPS
42:01
where it's like, well, maybe the grip, it was going to be an
42:04
issue at some point within that one.
42:05
So why don't you change something and you still getting
42:08
both of them done, but one isn't limiting the other.
42:11
So yeah, I, I, that's really why I only like to take, take
42:15
interns for at most one year. It's because at some point
42:18
whether, whether they're elite and they're really, really ready
42:22
to get a job or they, they, they're, they're average and
42:26
they probably just need one more internship.
42:28
Like you just don't want to have a kind of repetitive process,
42:33
especially in terms of that curriculum I talked about.
42:35
It's like by that second year, it's going to be on them.
42:39
It's like, Hey, where's your knowledge gaps?
42:41
Like when when I I'm just thinking about myself, like like
42:45
I had four different experiences with College in in college with
42:50
strength, strength conditioning coaches.
42:52
One was a little more or it might look like functional.
42:55
Another was a little more powerlifting.
42:57
Another more was a little balance between speed work and
43:00
an Olympic lifted variation. Like I had AI had a good feel on
43:05
on how to train. I just didn't have a good feel
43:08
on how to organize it. And like why you push hard in
43:11
certain areas in the spring versus in the summer or
43:15
postseason, what the winter looked like from a football
43:18
standpoint. But, yeah, like, and after a few
43:21
weeks, like, I usually try to get them to go over to our
43:23
Olympic facility or over to baseball.
43:25
And just like, hey, they're an afternoon group.
43:27
If you got nothing going on after 1:00 PM, like, I don't
43:30
really need you around like that.
43:32
It's a volunteer internship. So we either go work or go get
43:34
more reps. Yeah.
43:35
Now that that's really good and as you talk about, you know,
43:38
finding that knowledge gap of actually getting into it and
43:40
realizing the questions of like what you need to figure out
43:43
that, you know, that was a really cool thing for me where
43:45
like I was for a couple years, I've been running teams on my
43:48
own after being intern. And then I went, I went to tech
43:51
and was the assistant to Darby. And I think that was really
43:54
valuable because it's like I've been in that position now where
43:56
I was leading everything. And now I knew more the
43:58
questions that I needed to figure out to develop myself or
44:01
what I wanted to get better AT. And I got to go work for one of
44:04
the people that's the best at that and learn from him.
44:07
And then go back to being the director and feel like I'm at a
44:10
much higher level of those things that I had that gap at.
44:12
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I stand by it like
44:16
when you asked it earlier, like what what were all the great
44:20
head head coaches or head strength condition coaches?
44:22
Like you need reps to understand how to solve problems.
44:26
Every year is almost like a new, for lack of a better term, set
44:30
of problems. Where were we weak the previous
44:32
year or needed improvements? OK, what's the best path to get
44:36
us there? OK.
44:37
And and like, if I didn't, if I didn't work tennis at Southeast
44:41
Missouri State, like I wouldn't have a good knowledge of how how
44:44
to take care of a player with a struggling shoulder.
44:47
OK, If I didn't work, if I didn't work volleyball, like I
44:51
wouldn't have had as much experience with different power
44:54
development drills that I learned from different
44:56
volleyball strength and conditioning coaches I talked
44:58
to. If I didn't work for some
45:00
awesome culture drivers in in football, like I wouldn't have
45:05
as good of an experience or good of tools to lead a full team
45:09
lift together. OK, Like there's, there's some
45:12
people out there like I think of like some former person trainers
45:15
have taken on as interns. Like you give them more than
45:17
four people and they're they're a completely different person.
45:20
Whereas like like some some maybe converted football guys
45:24
into into basketball strength conditioning coach.
45:26
They're like, oh man, like I could see every Rep here.
45:29
This is nice. Yeah.
45:30
No, that's great. That's super valuable.
45:32
So I'm going to get into so kind of three questions that I close
45:35
out the podcast with and and this first one actually really
45:38
ties into what we're talking about right here.
45:39
But for you now, when you realize that you need to improve
45:44
in a certain, how are you closing that gap for yourself?
45:47
Number one, ask, ask other people who I know are very
45:50
involved with professional development, people that I trust
45:54
like aren't just running like a cookie cutter program out there
45:58
every single year, same set, same Rep, same scheme,
46:00
everything like that, whatever that gap is.
46:03
Like if I, if we recruit somebody that had a coming off a
46:07
shoulder labrum tear and I need to dive in deeper and how to how
46:10
to help rehab that I'm going to go go ask people that I trust,
46:17
Hey, who do you know that is a specialist in this that would be
46:20
willing to talk if I professionally reach out Or what
46:23
resources have you used in the past and not be afraid to just
46:26
go buy it or ask some places, if you're fortunate enough, you
46:30
have a continuing education budget, have the school help you
46:33
out with that. But for me, like right now it's
46:38
hey, how can can we get everything we do in here that we
46:42
measure to also translate to the floor?
46:45
And how can we get guys to see the benefit to being in this
46:49
room right here and how it's going to translate to the floor?
46:52
Because like a lot like we keep going back to kind of like the
46:55
transfer portal, like call it what it is that the player, if
46:58
he's leaving or she's leaving, like they didn't have a good
47:02
experience at the previous spot or they're just they just want
47:06
want more. So if that's resources, that's
47:08
that's all right. Yeah, you're going to have my
47:09
attention more now. What do you want to get done?
47:11
So I know I mentioned it earlier, but like the
47:13
vulnerability aspect of it, like if you can, if you can be
47:16
comfortable within yourself to know that, hey, this is an area
47:19
I need to improve in. Like, let me go ask some people
47:23
I trust that can point me in the right direction.
47:26
And then I mean, you have the discipline and the care factor
47:29
to go out and whether it's buying something or whether it's
47:33
creating an hour to talk to somebody about something.
47:36
I mean, that's really where the handwritten letter stuff came
47:38
from that we've talked about was it's like, if you want to know
47:42
something, I would be very specific with that.
47:43
Like if I want to reach out to you, you John, about starting a
47:48
business, I'm going to be like, hey, I've seen the stuff that
47:49
you put on Instagram and a couple of people I do know we
47:53
have mutual contacts. I would love to hear about your
47:56
first year out of college athletics, A shorthandwritten
47:59
letter with that, with your business card.
48:00
Like my dad, my dad told me this is like, it takes a real jerk to
48:04
not respond to that. Yeah.
48:05
Like, as long as you're not asking like for a hey, let's
48:08
let's talk about strength and conditioning.
48:10
Like, that's very vague. And like, so yeah, that's,
48:14
that's really my process with that.
48:16
Yeah. Now that that's really good.
48:17
I think that that last point is so true.
48:20
Like if, if you can, you know, you know, say you listen to
48:23
somebody's podcast or an article they wrote or something.
48:26
It's like, hey, like I really enjoyed reading and listening to
48:28
this and especially this point. Like, can I talk to you about XY
48:32
and Z about it's like, like, yeah, like that's a specific
48:35
thing. Like they've showed interest and
48:36
they've showed they've put in work to do that was like, hey,
48:40
hey, coach, can I pick your brain?
48:41
It's like maybe maybe they'll respond, maybe they won't.
48:44
But that again, that's like that's very lazy in a way too on
48:47
your end. Yeah.
48:48
Now the second question and the theme of this podcast, right?
48:52
Strengthen numbers along with the book.
48:54
It's about mentorship and other other people guiding us as
49:00
coaches and things. So, so Keys you've talked about,
49:03
you know, you mentioned some, some names during this, but who,
49:06
who are the, the key people or maybe situations that you feel
49:09
have impacted your coaching journey the most?
49:12
Yeah, yeah. I mean, in terms of coaching,
49:15
James Frazier and Tim Mullen at Harvard got me started.
49:17
They were, they were ones that believed in me, took me on, let
49:21
let me fail and learn and were were extremely honest in the
49:25
feedback process. They kind of put me in touch
49:28
with Tim Karen along with Greg Karasquilo and he was at USC at
49:33
the time. I wanted, I wanted to see what
49:35
the highest level strength condition was like.
49:36
So he was an open book for me and he still is.
49:39
He still is, but but like he was like, hey, well, we're only
49:46
going to have a few curriculum type of things here in terms of
49:49
books you read or lessons I teach you and stuff.
49:51
But feel free to come with any questions you have in terms of
49:54
coaching or programming for myself or for any of the
49:58
assistants there. Then Ryan Johnson, but was the
50:01
director at Southeast Missouri State right now, Not anymore,
50:04
but he's the one that hired me there.
50:06
Like he's the one that really kind of helped me learn like
50:10
what the big picture is in terms of planning, like putting out a
50:13
whole year program in advance and knowing like, hey, these
50:17
different points in the year you're going to have a little
50:19
more flexibility with. But these points you got to be
50:22
really, really hard with and, and stay on track and make sure
50:25
they're they're ready for their season or they're doing the
50:27
right things coming out of the season.
50:29
But he gave me a really, really good framework there.
50:32
Matt Shadid at our Arkansas State, once again, not not there
50:35
anymore, but really how to drive a culture that's tough, fast,
50:40
fun, but also having like super high standards of execution and
50:44
knowing how like you could push players but like coming back and
50:49
loving on them too. And no one knowing how to
50:51
balance that after that. I mean, it was kind of like my
50:54
show. But like right now head coaches
50:56
I've worked for Grant Mccaslin and Jerome Tang right now coach
51:00
L in between Jim Larnega. Like those are three very, very
51:04
different philosophies in terms of practicing and approach and
51:08
just ultimately being adaptable to work with them.
51:12
It was it was a major key. So that's those are the big ones
51:16
I would tell you. That's so cool to hear.
51:18
Last question, and this one's always hard if you need a second
51:21
thing about, but today what, what have I not asked you about
51:24
what we not talked about today that's really important that we
51:27
do talk about? Yeah, whoever you choose to live
51:30
your life with, like, like, I love my wife Jenna.
51:33
She's arguably the best, the best decision I've ever made.
51:36
She's moved with me three times and we, we've done distance,
51:39
we've done done all that. Like, like making the, the right
51:43
choice there and knowing how to balance your work and your life
51:47
together with, with whoever your partner is will be a major,
51:52
major decision within, not within within your, your career,
51:57
whether it is in collegiate strength conditioning or whether
51:59
it is in the private sector, like how you want to run your
52:01
business. It's like, I obviously have no
52:04
experience with that, but I imagine there's, there's some,
52:07
some things that have to go on that involve a conversation with
52:11
you and your partner there. But like, that's, that, that is
52:14
something I've realized. It's like your, your value
52:18
system gets better and it also like that changes a little bit.
52:22
And like I had an intern that was married and they're, they're
52:25
going crazy left and right trying to find jobs.
52:27
It's like, have you, have you talked to your wife about this?
52:30
Like, like I'm just telling, telling you right now, that's
52:33
not going to be a fun conversation if that's a place
52:35
that they don't want to go. So you have some different like
52:37
I was blessed where at the time, during a lot of my job changes,
52:41
I was single up until the last maybe two or three, But like
52:43
making sure they're all on board and you guys have kind of like a
52:46
clear vision for what what you want your lives to look like.
52:51
I mean, it's, it's a hard conversation, but it's got to be
52:53
had or else like you might have a couple of really frustrating
52:57
times. So that and I mean, I mean, I
53:00
was happy I get to get I get on this because I dropped the ball.
53:04
Sending you the the the write up for the Strength of Numbers
53:07
books. Apologizing to you there.
53:09
You're good, but I think, you know, as you talk about your
53:12
first point with making right, you're not making decisions for
53:15
just you as you know, I I think that is that is that is so
53:18
great. I'm fine.
53:19
You know, I think we're both about about two years of
53:21
marriage now, right? Did y'all just have your second
53:23
second? Yes, we did, right?
53:25
Yep, two years. Mine, mine in a week and yeah,
53:28
it's like every conversation now.
53:30
Like that's what it is. It's not just about the career,
53:33
the steps of the pay. It's like where what do like
53:35
again, like you talked about saying we, we, we in those
53:38
interviews, the same thing here now.
53:39
It's got to be a partnership and a mutual decision and there's
53:42
going to be give and take on both ends with that.
53:44
But definitely can't just go make unilateral decisions there.
53:49
This is I think this has been so good.
53:51
I think some, you know, the stuff with developing interns
53:53
and interview process and how we finished here, like some of it's
53:56
not always talked about as much, but I think I mean, all of that
53:59
impacts our careers and the careers of people around us on
54:02
on such a huge basis. So I think it's been so cool to
54:05
hear really, really tactical things there, Phil, How, how can
54:09
people maybe learn more from you or, or see what you're doing
54:12
and, and then connect with you? Yeah, yeah, shoot me an e-mail
54:16
DM handwritten note. I mean, I'll shoot if John, if
54:20
you if you want to put a put my number in the show notes or
54:23
something, just hit me with a text.
54:25
We can set up a time to hop on a call social media at coach Phil
54:29
under score K state. I think on X it's under score
54:32
KSU. But no, I mean, I'm I'm an open
54:35
book. I was really, really fortunate.
54:37
I had a lot of people, not just the mentors that I've mentioned
54:41
during this podcast or presentation, but like just when
54:45
I needed answers to something, they, they picked up the phone
54:48
and I'm trying to give that back.
54:50
That's one of the main reasons why I've stayed in college.
54:52
Strength conditioning is to continue to make the people that
54:55
gave me the time of day really, really proud and do what's best
54:58
for these athletes. But yeah, any anyway, really.
55:02
Social media text, call, e-mail, Handwritten letter.
55:06
Yeah, just don't be lazy, right? You have to come with some
55:09
specific. Yeah, yeah.
55:10
Something specific will be a great start.
55:12
And then we could branch out, we could branch off from there,
55:14
but. Yeah, awesome.
55:15
Well, yeah, this wasn't great. I appreciate you, Phil.
55:17
No problem, John.