Latest / The Strength In Numbers Podcast / EP 9: Jason Martinez | Aligning with Your Head Coach and Owning Your Role

Transcript

EP 9: Jason Martinez | Aligning with Your Head Coach and Owning Your Role · The Strength In Numbers Podcast

• 0:00
  I, I love being told that I'm wrong because if you're telling
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  me I'm wrong, hoping to, I'm hoping and praying that you're
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  going to tell me how to do it right.
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  My number one goal is to not let stuff get up the chain that can
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  be handled at the bottom level. Build the relationships, build
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  the profile, build the program, in that order.
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  I've never had a guy go test out the draft and then come back to
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  college worse off. And they always had this sense
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  of like reality setting in. The mental advantage of like
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  enduring hard things to me is probably the biggest performance
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  enhancement that we can give these athletes.
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  It's almost like a Star Wars, right?
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  It's like, you know, you have the the, the Jedi and then you
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  have his apprentice and it's like, all right, well, now it's
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  time to be the big guy now. So it's like you're in that
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  chair, you know you how you going to handle it.
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  Welcome to the Strength in Numbers podcast.
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  I'm your host John Bloom, and today we've got Jason Martinez
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  on with us. Jason is just starting as the
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  men's basketball strength coach at West Virginia after a great
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  two years at the University of North Texas.
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  We dive into that transition, including what his main
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  objectives are for the summer. But we also talked about how to
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  have a great working relationship with your head
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  coach, determining what to change even when you've had a
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  lot of success and a whole lot more.
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  Enjoy the episode, Jason. I'm really grateful to have you
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  here. And you know, when we'll talk
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  about this more, but when you got announced as going to West
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  Virginia with the staff there, there's a there's a huge amounts
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  of support from coaches, players all over.
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  And I think that points to kind of the, the person and coach you
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  are and the way you impact really everyone, everyone around
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  you. So I know with this
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  conversation, I'm going to be impacted.
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  So I'm excited and I'm excited. I know you impact the listeners.
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  So again, I appreciate you being on here.
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  No, man, it's awesome to be here, dude, this is number two
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  or three for us having one of these conversations too.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah, man, I'm always excited, man.
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  And, you know, I think the coolest thing about all that is,
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  you know, people will always wonder why with the landscape
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  constantly changing and ours are what they are and whatever the
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  case may be. And people want to know why we
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  still do it or how we still do it.
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  And, you know, the, the outpouring of genuine
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  relationships that, you know, you've alluded to, I think that
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  is like the the pinnacle of why we do it.
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  You know, and it's like athletes, it's fellow strength
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  coaches, it's coaches we worked with and, you know, to build
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  these meaningful relationships to where we can all celebrate
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  one another. I think that's like really what
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  it is, man. That's why we continue to do it,
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  man. And, you know, I, I'm not as
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  great at the, the social media game as I used to be.
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  So, you know, I think that's something I got to get a little
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  bit better AT and being a little bit more present and showing my
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  support for other people too, man, because there's a lot of
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  really great people out there that are doing great things and
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  they deserve to be celebrated as well, man.
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  So all that to say this, man, I'm, I'm excited to be here.
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  I'm excited to chop it up with you again.
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  And, you know, I'm sure we'll get down some rabbit holes.
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  So, you know, if I get a little too far, you can just kind of
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  like blink twice or rub your head or something and we'll,
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  I'll take it as the cue to move on, man.
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  No, that's awesome. And you know, kind of within
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  that you touched on a couple points, but before we really get
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  into like, like who are you? You know, we talked a little bit
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  West Virginia, but who are you? And you talked about what keeps
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  you coaching, but what what actually drove you into coaching
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  in the first place? It was the same thing, man, just
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  just a lot of genuine people in my past and who who really took
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  the time and effort to invest in me.
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  And I think that's what it started out as is it was my Ave.
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  and my outlet to reach people and build relationships and, and
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  give back. And obviously the the more we're
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  in it, the more we continue to grow and learn that that
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  fascination and curiosity with training takes place.
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  And then you fall in love with that.
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  And then you, you see the results and you see, you know,
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  the fruits of your labor and their labor taking, you know,
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  taking into consideration. And it's, it's like captivating,
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  man. It's addicting, dude.
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  The, the nights where it's like, damn, like you're at home and,
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  you know, the kid gets to bed and you know, wifey's going to
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  bed and you're sitting there laying up all night and you're
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  like, dude, what do I do about number fives Patella tendonitis?
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  You know what I mean? It's like it's entertaining,
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  man. I tell people all the time,
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  dude. It's like if you get bored doing
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  this, I don't know what what you're into because every day is
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  different every day. So that's why I started it, man.
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  That's why I'm still in it going strong.
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  And that's why, you know, I see myself doing it for a long time,
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  you know, God willing. It's just I'm a people person
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  and I'm curious man. And that's, you know what Better
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  Business to be in. Yeah, I love it.
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  And you know, we talked, we've talked before, but part of your
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  path when you're at Wake Forest working with Ryan Horn, he was,
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  he was a huge mentor and huge influence on you.
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  And now you guys had it. You had a great season in North
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  Texas. Now going with the staff over to
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  West Virginia where Ryan Horn was now going to Indiana, right?
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  How cool is kind of that first, that full circle moment for you
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  to get in, to come in where he's believing it was.
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  The coolest thing I probably experienced so far, Yeah.
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  And the reason why man is like those full circle moments are
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  super rare and I don't know how many people actually get to
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  experience them over the lifetime of a career.
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  And all that is for me is man, it's just validation.
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  Like if you handle your business the right way, you stay about
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  the right things. You treat people with respect
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  and honesty and hold people accountable.
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  Like all these things that we talk about doing on a day-to-day
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  basis. And don't get me wrong, man,
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  like some days are hard and some days you do feel like you hit a
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  bump in the road or a dead end. And it's like, dude, if you just
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  stay true to the stuff that actually matters, like life
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  happens, you know? And like that whole situation
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  where like he moves on and I, I'm in the office right now,
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  man. And it's like, I turn on this
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  work computer that I have and like, it's my name as an icon.
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  And then it's his name underneath it as an icon.
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  I, I contacted IT to see how I can remove his name because I
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  was like, enough, isn't, you know what I mean?
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  But now it's every day, dude. Every time I sign out to this
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  computer, man, it's a, it's a reminder that like, that's it,
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  dude. Like I wouldn't be here without
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  him, you know, and, and I try to emulate everything I do after
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  him. And, you know, I just think that
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  highly of him as a person, as a, as, as a professional, as a
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  practitioner. And it's like now it's like, OK,
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  the cool, here's the cool part, right?
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  So it's like, all right, you know, it's the old, like, it's
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  almost like Star Wars, right? It's like, you know, you have
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  the the the Jedi and then you have his apprentice and it's
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  like, all right, well, now it's time to be the big guy now.
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  So it's like you're in that chair, You know, you how you
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  going to handle it, right. And so to me, man, it's, it's a
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  it's a wild experience, but it's such a blessing, man.
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  And a quick side note too, is, and you know, I'm sure your
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  listeners will, will understand this and I'm sure you'll
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  understand this too, man. Every time I meet somebody here
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  for the first time, I always preface it with like, yeah, you
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  know, you know, Reinhorn. Oh, yeah, yeah, of course.
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  It's like, yeah, that guy was like the best man of my wedding,
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  you know, because I try to get a headache because like, you know
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  how it is, man. Like people always have
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  something to say. Oh, the last guy did this the
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  last. So I get ahead of all that
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  stuff, man. I just let people know, like,
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  hey, man, before good, bad or indifferent, just know when you
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  walk down this road, I'm going to preface it with that's my
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  guy, you know, and they did a great job here.
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  There's nothing negative. But you know, I'm just, I, I
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  laugh at it sometimes because sometimes I'll forget I told
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  somebody and they're like, dude, I know, I know, that's your man.
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  I got it, you know. That's funny.
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  Now. Now as we we talk about that
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  transition and more so the X's and O's of it.
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  So as you're going there and you're going with the staff from
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  UNT, how has that maybe been different from you than, you
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  know, other jobs you've gone to where you're coming in to a
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  staff that's maybe already been there or a staff that's coming
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  in, but you haven't been with them and in kind of that level
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  of continuity that you've already had?
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  From a staffing side, it's huge because you get to, you know,
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  what's immediately impact and you can survey the land through
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  that lens, right? And I think that's been the
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  biggest thing that's helped me with this transition as opposed
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  to some of the other ones I've made in the past.
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  Joining a new staff is like, dude, the first thing I did when
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  I looked in the weight room was I checked to see if there was
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  air bikes and Versa climbers and treadmills, you know what I
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  mean? Because I know that that's
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  important into how we train and how we train prepares these guys
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  to play for the system in which we play.
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  So those things have been super helpful.
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  A couple different challenges that I've faced this time
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  around. It's just a bigger platform in
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  terms of like, dude, there's a lot of people involved, man.
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  It's, it's a, a great university that has tremendous resources
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  and you know, there's a lot of hands in the pot.
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  So it's like navigating that, like, excuse me, who do I go to
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  for our supplements? Who do I go to for IT stuff?
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  Who do I go to for the media stuff?
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  Who do I go to for this, for that, for the gear.
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  Like there's a lot of helping hands, man, and there's a lot of
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  new relationships that you have to form.
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  Whereas the sum of the smaller places I've transitioned into
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  and smaller speaking relatively, not impactfully, I should say
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  that man. Like it's, it's usually a
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  smaller circle, like you have your coaching staff, you have
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  your support staff, and we all do different things.
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  We all wear different hats and we all get the job done
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  together. And so here it's like trying to
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  find out the right way to go about doing things in terms of
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  who's responsible for what. Where do we go to for this
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  resource? Is there, you know what I mean?
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  You're dealing with it everywhere.
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  But even here too, it's like, OK, like who caters our meals?
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  You know, it's like, well, there's a contract for that
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  here, you know what I mean? Use this company.
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  And, and so we're learning all that stuff has been different,
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  but in terms of like my day-to-day stuff and how we do
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  things from a training standpoint, like this transition
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  has been been awesome, man. Because it's family, dude.
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  It really is. Like this coaching staff got
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  here 3 weeks before I got here and the first thing I did when I
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  stepped foot on campus was I saw him and we all gave each other a
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  big hug and we started chopping it up and laughing and picking
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  on one another. And like, there's a recruit here
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  to the left of me and I didn't even introduce myself to him,
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  you know what I mean? Like I totally accidentally like
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  disregarded him on accident because it was like, you know
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  what I mean? It's like you spend every day
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  together in season and it's like you go a couple weeks without
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  seeing them. Like you feel like you missed
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  out on a lifetime. You know, it's a family deal,
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  man. It's what it is.
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  And that's why I love these guys, why I love this staff
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  because you know, who they are is what they preach, man.
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  And it's not a situation where they want to talk about family
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  and being there for one another. But when it comes down to it,
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  like there's a fall back, that's not the case, man.
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  And these guys, what they say they are about, they are about
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  and that's why we're going to be successful here, man.
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  Because I think even the guys that that are coming in, they'll
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  feel it too. They'll feel loved, they'll feel
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  challenged, they'll feel capable and confident.
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  And that's some of the stuff that, you know, it comes from
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  the top and that's how we feel as a staff.
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  And so these guys will respond to that too.
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  Man yeah, you know you know one thing I've seen it kind of like
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  you're talking about between like, you know smaller schools,
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  but it's mid major to then, you know our five level the Staffs
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  can get bigger and bigger. Like you're saying, you know
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  there can be more you know hands in the pot right there.
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  You know boosters might have you know there's more money there,
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  more people involved. How as things do get bigger and
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  money gets amplified, how how do you not lose as a staff the
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  essence of what got y'all there as things do scale to that
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  level. I.
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  Mean in terms of the money stuff and all that.
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  I don't, it's not me in terms of my role.
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  Like, that's why I love what we do too, is because it's so
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  simplistic in a sense of like, we can stay honest, you know?
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  But I think the great ones do adapt, man.
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  They adapt and they realize like that certain things do have to
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  change. Like when you do have more
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  resources, like you use them, you know, and it doesn't
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  necessarily have to change everything, but it can change a
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  few things. And I think that there's an in
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  between. There's a middle ground.
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  I can't, you can't be so married to the way that you know what we
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  this is how we always did it. This is what got us here.
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  Like it's a different level, man.
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  It's a different stage and it's a different way of doing things.
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  And like, yeah, there is going to be some, some negotiation
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  with like, hey, we used to do it this way, but we can do it this
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  way now, you know? But I think as long as you keep
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  everything rooted in the foundational principles that
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  keep things moving, you can't go wrong, man.
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  And like, you know, I alluded to and I won't go down that rabbit
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  hole again. But like the family feeling, the
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  family atmosphere, the the accountability, the the honesty
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  and not being afraid to tell somebody the truth and, and just
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  thinking to a servitude heart, like just being there to serve
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  others and not just like from a staff standpoint, but even like
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  preaching it to our guys, like, you know, do things for others
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  and serve your teammates and be selfless at times.
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  Like that's, that's what keeps you going, man.
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  And that's how you navigate through these changes is like,
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  you just got to lean on those pillars, man.
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  Like we say it all the time. It was, it was all the way
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  everywhere you would turn. You've been to the facility,
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  man. You saw it, dude.
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  Like believe, serve, compete. Every room you walk in, it's on
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  the walls. And it's only a matter of time
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  before you see it around here too, man.
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  And it's exactly what we cling to.
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  And, and you know, how you go about doing that might be
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  different. You might have to mold it a
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  different way or, you know, modify it here and there.
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  But like, at the very root of it, like that's what we stand
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  for, man believe serving and competing.
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  Yeah, that's great. And when we zoom into just kind
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  of your direct role right for, for the summer as you step, as
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  you, as you bring in this new team with the same staff, a
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  different place, like what, what are your biggest goals or, or
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  biggest rocks that you want to accomplish and take care of
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  during the summer period going into the the 1st fall semester?
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  I think the biggest one is obviously like you got to go
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  through an assessment period, dude.
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  We got a whole new team. Two of our guys from North Texas
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  are coming over. So I have a pretty good
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  understanding where they're at, where they can grow, develop to
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  help them on the basketball court, but also as people.
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  But when you have like a brand new team and it's everywhere,
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  man. And it's like you do have to be
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  super, super clean and concise on your assessment process and
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  you have to waste no time doing it.
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  But also making sure that those are are driving decision making.
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  And I think that's what my biggest goal here is like, take
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  what we've done, assess what we can do right, and then use those
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  tools to waste no time and getting these guys ready to
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  play. And you know, that doesn't, that
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  doesn't always necessarily mean like, hey, like this is how we
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  trained last year. This is how we should train this
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  year. And but it also doesn't always
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  mean like, hey, we're in a different spot now.
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  We should try, we should change the way we train.
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  Like it's just finding the medium of the two.
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  And I believe that that really is just by going through those
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  assessment processes and, you know, see how these guys
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  respond, like even you can neglect it.
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  Like some of these guys are coming from places that we came
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  from. So like understanding that the
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  pressure is different, yeah, like you are getting paid.
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  So like that does bring a certain amount of pressure.
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  And like how do you navigate that from a, from a motivational
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  standpoint? How do you, how do you navigate
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  that from a, from a mental health standpoint?
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  Right. Like, and I think ultimately
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  keeping those relationships strong and getting to know these
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  guys who they are as people is, is what I want to knock off
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  right away. Build the relationships, build
• 15:29
  the profile, build the program, in that order.
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  Relationship first, build it trust.
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  Then you build a profile, whether it's our force plates or
• 15:39
  our previous screenings, our health screenings, we build that
• 15:42
  profile out and then we build the program and then we just do
• 15:46
  it all over again. How did he respond to this?
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  Like what relationship piece am I missing here?
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  What are we doing here? And then assess it again.
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  And then you build another program and you just rinse and
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  repeat, rinse and repeat. So kind of long worded answer,
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  but three three-step part man and I live and die by it.
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  And you know, you brought up a really good point about, you
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  know, maybe some kids are transformed from, you know, mid
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  major up to that big level where there's more money, there's more
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  pressure, there's more focus and attention on everything they're
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  doing and just managing kind of that that mental aspect of it.
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  Do you feel like in your role as a strength coach, you can really
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  play a pivotal part in that where you know, kind of
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  somewhere like before, even on the NI own transit portal was
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  like, OK, the strength coach, we don't determine playing time.
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  So there can be kind of a unique aspect to their relationship
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  that sometimes athletes come to US versus the people that turn
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  playing time. And then now it's like we don't
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  determine who gets the money or you know who, you know, all that
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  stuff. So do you think in your role you
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  can you can play a different role compared to maybe some of
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  the other stuff that are determining who gets what money,
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  who gets playing time? Yeah.
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  And that's probably the best part about our job is that
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  things are very objectively driven.
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  And at the end of the day, like you are looking out for their
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  best well-being scenario, whether that's mentally,
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  physically or professionally, whatever the case may be, like
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  you are looking out for their best because it doesn't change.
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  It doesn't change either way, right?
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  For example, like you can build, you can sit here and write a
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  program and you can write the same program for everybody and
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  you might reach 80% of them, right?
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  No harm, no foul. But it's up to you whether or
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  not you want to continue to challenge yourself and challenge
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  them and continue to build that out because it's going to take
• 17:34
  more work. It takes more effort, but that's
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  how you have to do it, you know what I mean?
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  So you can't play a, a really unique role in that.
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  And like obviously, like you alluded to too, man, it's like
• 17:43
  it really helps the relationship piece because like we can have
• 17:45
  those real conversations, man. Like you can tell me what you're
• 17:48
  going through, you know, but I will say this man, a credit to
• 17:51
  these these guys that I work with here, man.
• 17:54
  And this staff, like do they, they just build a really great
• 17:57
  environment that allows these guys to have a voice.
• 18:00
  And, and I think everybody plays a unique role in that.
• 18:04
  You know, coach's voice holds a lot of weight.
• 18:07
  Our assistant coach's voice, they hold a lot of weight.
• 18:10
  You know, same thing with us in this area, in our athletic
• 18:14
  trainer and our PT, Like they all hold a lot of weight, but
• 18:17
  the weight is different in terms of different people have
• 18:20
  different conversations and different people handle
• 18:23
  different situations differently.
• 18:25
  Yeah, yeah. Kind of a weird way to say, but
• 18:27
  that's what it is, man. I think our role here, man, is
• 18:30
  like, not a lot has changed. The only thing that's really
• 18:33
  changed in this whole landscape, it's just the amount of time we
• 18:36
  get to spend with them, but the amount of time we do spend with
• 18:39
  them hasn't changed. It's still all about the same
• 18:42
  stuff. And I think that is really
• 18:44
  refreshing to a lot of people. Yeah.
• 18:46
  And that was the last time we talked.
• 18:48
  We talked a lot about how you partner with the head coaches
• 18:51
  you work with and and I thought that was there's a ton of value
• 18:54
  in there. So we maybe dig into like, like
• 18:56
  as you think about how you approach partner with your head
• 18:59
  coach, like how are you thinking about that?
• 19:01
  But then also, you know, I think last time you really emphasized
• 19:05
  the need to not have an ego when it comes to our role and how
• 19:09
  we're partnering with them to run the program.
• 19:12
  So maybe digging into those two aspects of of how you're, how
• 19:15
  you're, you're working with those head coaches to be the
• 19:17
  best for the program and not having an ego, you know, based
• 19:21
  off what they're saying, what they're doing or how they want
• 19:23
  you to play a role in the program.
• 19:24
  Yeah, my, my number one goal is to not let stuff get up the
• 19:30
  chain that can be handled at the bottom level, right?
• 19:34
  And what that does, man, it just creates this level of trust that
• 19:38
  like, no matter what's going on with all the hectic, hecticness
• 19:42
  of the season, that things are getting handled down here.
• 19:46
  And they and, and coaches and assistant coaches can spend
• 19:49
  their time and effort doing the stuff that they need to be doing
• 19:53
  right. And so that to me has been a
• 19:55
  really strong tool in building some of these relationships is
• 20:00
  like, dude, I, I can always keep an open line of communication.
• 20:03
  I'll never hide anything from you.
• 20:05
  However, when I do when I do. Tell you what's going on, it's
• 20:09
  coming from a place of like, hey, I just want to let you know
• 20:12
  that this is what's going on and this was handled or positive and
• 20:16
  negative, right? Like it's not always like hey,
• 20:18
  man, so and so is not doing what they're supposed to do, man,
• 20:21
  like I'm going to handle it. Bah Bah, Bah Bah like no, like
• 20:24
  it's a lot. Sometimes it's positive, a lot
• 20:25
  of times positive, like hey coach, like in passing, like I
• 20:28
  just want to let you know that like these guys are great.
• 20:30
  Like they do everything we ask them to, they take care of their
• 20:33
  space. The locker room is clean.
• 20:35
  I check it all the time and they throw away their trash and
• 20:39
  they're respectful in public. And when we bring in the, the
• 20:41
  chef for the cooking class, like she was telling us how great
• 20:44
  they, you know what I mean? Like you, you just, you have to
• 20:47
  be communitive on both ends, right?
• 20:49
  And that's where that whole ego part comes.
• 20:51
  Because honestly, like there, there are times where it's like,
• 20:54
  dude, like, I do need you to step in and I do need you to say
• 20:57
  something because I'm telling them and you know, he's hearing
• 21:00
  me, but he's not feeling, you know what I mean?
• 21:03
  And that takes a lot of humility do, because those sometimes can
• 21:05
  become uncomfortable conversations because it's like,
• 21:09
  then the whole piece of like, well, are you, are you capable
• 21:11
  of doing what you, what you're asking to do?
• 21:13
  You know, are you capable of getting these guys to do what
• 21:16
  they have to do? And it's like, yes, I'm capable.
• 21:17
  But you know, like we were just talking about before, man, like
• 21:20
  different coaches voices, whole different weight, you know, and
• 21:24
  it's, it's here's a perfect example.
• 21:26
  And this is how I like to explain it, man, because I was
• 21:28
  just talking about this with someone the other day.
• 21:30
  I think when these guys go test the draft waters, I think that's
• 21:34
  like the coolest thing ever because I've never had a guy go
• 21:39
  test out the draft and then come back to college worse off,
• 21:43
  right? And they always had this sense
• 21:45
  of like reality setting in of like, oh, I do like, you know,
• 21:49
  coach when I was working out with, I don't know, Portland,
• 21:52
  like they told me that, you know, I do need to work on my
• 21:56
  body a little bit. And, you know, I need to I need
• 21:58
  to have a routine. They said something about me,
• 22:00
  like making sure that like every time before I work out, like I
• 22:03
  know what I'm doing, I'm going to phone roll, I'm doing this,
• 22:05
  whatever. Can we sit down and like
• 22:07
  navigate what that looks like? And then for a split second, I'm
• 22:10
  sitting there like, dude, I literally been telling you this
• 22:14
  for the past four or five months, right?
• 22:17
  Yeah, need a different voice. Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 22:20
  And it's like, it's just a different voice, man.
• 22:22
  And it's it's, it's funny because it always is like, OK,
• 22:25
  yeah. You know, the the part of me
• 22:27
  that's that wants to be like, dude, are you serious, bro?
• 22:30
  Like I told you, that takes a back seat.
• 22:32
  And it's like, hey, man, like I would love to do that, you know,
• 22:35
  what else did they say, you know, or whatever, Right.
• 22:38
  And the same is true with like coaches, man.
• 22:40
  It's like, dude, I could be down here telling somebody something
• 22:43
  till they're, till I'm blue in the face.
• 22:45
  And you know, it takes 1 little conversation or side note from
• 22:48
  coach and you know, it, it, it changes the route and vice
• 22:51
  versa, man. You know, we, we have that power
• 22:53
  of our role to like, coach could be out there yelling at them,
• 22:57
  telling them like, you need to do this.
• 22:59
  And like in the heat of the moment, they get frustrated and
• 23:01
  they, they're ready to write it off and da da da.
• 23:03
  And like, you know, we've had, we have those opportunities too,
• 23:06
  man. Like walk over, walk over to
• 23:08
  him, put your arm around them. It's like, you know, coaches,
• 23:11
  this is what he's telling you, man.
• 23:12
  OK, breathe. I understand.
• 23:14
  But look, he's right. And this is what he's trying to
• 23:17
  tell you, you know, and not so many words, but like, this is
• 23:20
  what it is, right? And I think all those different
• 23:22
  pieces creates this, this continuity between coaching
• 23:26
  staff and support staff. And that's and that's how you
• 23:28
  build a strong relationship, you know, with these coaches, man.
• 23:32
  Like if they can trust you, if they know that that their voice
• 23:35
  is echoed through you in the weight room.
• 23:38
  And these guys don't come in here and look for a place to,
• 23:41
  you know, for lack of a better term.
• 23:42
  And I apologize, but bitch and complain.
• 23:45
  But rather this is a place where they can come and it is an
• 23:48
  outlet for them because it is different.
• 23:50
  They're not being evaluated in terms of like performance on a
• 23:53
  basketball court. And that's refreshing to them.
• 23:55
  And and so this is a place where it is an outlet for a lot of
• 23:59
  guys, but it's not for them to come in and complain.
• 24:01
  It's for them to change, change the route in which they're
• 24:04
  working. You know, I mean, that's how you
• 24:06
  just, you know, you get to know each other, dude.
• 24:08
  Like just stay curious. Like you see somebody's, you
• 24:11
  know, be observant just like we are with the guys.
• 24:13
  Like I, I like to be super observant with coaches too, man.
• 24:16
  Like sit back and watch. Like what do they do for
• 24:18
  pregame? You, how do they respond to
• 24:20
  this? What are they doing this time?
• 24:22
  Like where do they do they leave every day for lunch?
• 24:24
  Like, you know what I mean? And just sit sitting back and
• 24:27
  being observant for those guys too.
• 24:28
  And, and learning how to navigate certain conversations
• 24:31
  based on those observations. You know, like if you know that
• 24:33
  your coach leaves every day at 1:00 to go get lunch, bringing a
• 24:37
  situation to his his desk at 12:30, probably not a good idea,
• 24:43
  right? I don't know about you, but when
• 24:44
  I'm hungry or whatever, like getting there, like probably
• 24:48
  either going to write it off or respond hangrily, you know what
• 24:52
  I mean? Maybe that that is a 2:00
• 24:54
  conversation, you know, And so just being observant, man.
• 24:58
  And you know, it's no different than with the guys.
• 25:00
  It's no different than with your family.
• 25:02
  It's no different than when you're out at a restaurant.
• 25:05
  Like just watching how people move and, and people react to
• 25:09
  certain things. Like that's how you can navigate
• 25:11
  certain situations. And I love where you went and I
• 25:14
  love the example of the going through the draft process
• 25:17
  because I think I think it's definitely a skill to learn how
• 25:21
  to use examples of, you know, let's say what you know, that
• 25:26
  the people they're looking up to, whether it's NBA players or
• 25:28
  what these NBA Staffs or even these other top programs or top
• 25:32
  players are doing and saying and be able to use that to get
• 25:37
  across what you want to communicate.
• 25:39
  Whereas it, you know, it could be like you said, like, like,
• 25:41
  oh, like I've been saying that the whole time and just try and
• 25:43
  make it about you. But if you drop that ego and
• 25:45
  it's like, let me just use what these other people are doing to
• 25:48
  get the point of crash. Like it doesn't, it doesn't
• 25:50
  matter if it comes from me. It just matters if they do it or
• 25:52
  not. That's it.
• 25:53
  It gets done, man. And dude, I'll be honest, dude,
• 25:55
  like a lot of times you just end up learning, you know?
• 25:57
  OK, well, what were some of the other guys doing?
• 26:00
  You know, they said you needed a routine.
• 26:02
  Like what did you see? Oh, well, they were using the
• 26:04
  TRX, man. Like, that's pretty cool.
• 26:06
  Well, do you like that? What were they doing with the
• 26:08
  TR? You know what I mean?
• 26:09
  Like, And so you just stay, like I said, man, my one of my mottos
• 26:12
  nowadays, dude, in terms of like professionally is just stay
• 26:16
  curious. I just try to stay curious on
• 26:18
  everything. Yeah, because it helps me self
• 26:21
  guide my learning and development.
• 26:23
  Yeah. So you know, a good, good
• 26:25
  transition from there as you talk about being curious and
• 26:27
  yourself development, what are the things that are showing
• 26:30
  right now that through this transition you're like, hey,
• 26:32
  like I need to I need to develop this right now.
• 26:35
  And you're trying to intentionally invest in
• 26:37
  developing for yourself through through what you see maybe as a
• 26:41
  need for yourself right now. I'm.
• 26:42
  Trying to navigate the ability to buy things like, if we're
• 26:47
  being honest, man, like this is probably the first time in this
• 26:51
  note. It's absolutely no knock on
• 26:53
  anywhere else I've been because they all hold such a special
• 26:56
  spot in my heart. But this is the first time in my
• 26:58
  career where like I've actually sat down and had a conversation
• 27:02
  of like, hey, man, what do you need?
• 27:04
  You know, And that's a powerful question because you don't want
• 27:07
  to be the guy that's like, I don't know, or you know what I
• 27:12
  mean, or like nothing because there is a reality to you saying
• 27:16
  nothing. And they're like, all right,
• 27:17
  Jason's all set down there. Let's move on and let's never
• 27:19
  ask again, right? But you, you know, those
• 27:21
  conversations that have to be handled delicately.
• 27:23
  And those are some of the things that I'm trying to learn and
• 27:25
  grow through now is like, what do I need?
• 27:28
  What's out there? You know, but like, we can get
• 27:31
  things done with kettle bells, dumbbells, barbells, whatever.
• 27:34
  We got it, right. I mentioned the air bikes.
• 27:37
  We bought a couple of those Versa climbers.
• 27:40
  We like using those. They're part of what we do.
• 27:42
  The guys rally around it. Awesome.
• 27:44
  Those are easy, right? But when it's like, OK, what
• 27:47
  else do you need, you know, And then you have to evaluate like,
• 27:50
  OK, what what benefits us from a training standpoint, what can be
• 27:54
  immediately impactful, what's out there that that helps
• 27:58
  accomplish that goal? And then what is like a
• 28:01
  necessity? And then what is just like that
• 28:03
  would be pretty cool to use here and there, you know, so learning
• 28:07
  A, what's out there, B, if we're being honest, like what do, what
• 28:11
  do we actually, what are we actually missing?
• 28:14
  And see, like how, how does our training fit within this room in
• 28:18
  space? And then having the
• 28:20
  responsibility, and you can even call it accountability of like
• 28:24
  not just buying stuff to buy stuff, you know, having that
• 28:28
  self-control too, because we're strength coaches, we're nerdy or
• 28:33
  meatheads were a little bit of both at the same time.
• 28:36
  Like we do like cool new toys, you know what I mean?
• 28:38
  Like we like to play around with them.
• 28:40
  Most of the time it's for our own training.
• 28:42
  And then we just find a way to implement it with the guys.
• 28:44
  But other than that, like there's, there's a
• 28:47
  responsibility piece to that too, man, because there isn't
• 28:50
  there is a price check on everything.
• 28:51
  And when you do spend that money, chances are you might be
• 28:55
  taking it away from something else, you know, And so just
• 28:59
  trying to stay conscious of those couple things, man has
• 29:01
  been, has been where my my growth in the past couple weeks
• 29:04
  has been. For sure.
• 29:05
  And there's definitely that balance of like you're saying
• 29:07
  like you don't want to say no, like I don't need anything.
• 29:10
  And then now your budget's zero for the the the coming years
• 29:14
  versus like ask for way too much and then them, you know, be
• 29:18
  taken aback. Below is like finally, OK, I
• 29:20
  want to ask for enough where I can get a budget and keep that
• 29:22
  going, but but not not ask for too much or too little.
• 29:25
  Yeah, dude. And, and full transparency, man,
• 29:27
  like, like it's a really weird conversation to have and it's a
• 29:30
  hard one at times because you don't want to come off as
• 29:32
  ungrateful because especially in a place like this, dude, there's
• 29:35
  a lot of pride here. Like there is dude.
• 29:38
  And they've done a fantastic job with these facilities, man.
• 29:41
  They're awesome and they're filled with great things that a
• 29:44
  lot of really important people sacrifice time, effort and money
• 29:49
  to build and put in here. And so you don't want to come in
• 29:52
  here and just be like, hey, like we need all this shit going or I
• 29:58
  need all new stuff, whatever, right?
• 30:01
  And so like, it's just an interesting conversation because
• 30:04
  you don't want to see it say like all these things and like,
• 30:06
  feel like, you know, you are being ungrateful because there,
• 30:10
  there is plenty here. Like I said, man, there's plenty
• 30:12
  here to get the job done at a super high level, but that
• 30:15
  doesn't always mean that there is everything to get it done the
• 30:19
  best way possible, you know? And so those are some of the
• 30:22
  things that are like growth. They're growth factors, man.
• 30:24
  Like having those different conversations, dude.
• 30:26
  Like how can you sit in a room and appease two different
• 30:29
  parties? A Party A being us and actually
• 30:33
  understanding what we do need and party B being the people who
• 30:36
  spend the money. Spend the money?
• 30:38
  No, but like I said man, it's it just if you attack it with
• 30:42
  humility, you can't go wrong. Yeah.
• 30:44
  Now I think I'm glad you brought up kind of that as the thing
• 30:47
  you're working on, because I think, you know, as we talked
• 30:49
  about moving up levels, like that's one of the things there's
• 30:51
  a lot of different skills that maybe aren't seen on the outside
• 30:55
  that you kind of have to learn how to do to actually make the
• 30:58
  main part of your job work the way you need to.
• 31:00
  And I think that's one thing I've seen from Darby a lot where
• 31:03
  he's he's been at work for a long time and he's so good at
• 31:06
  all of the surrounding skills that then allows him to do his
• 31:09
  job as a strength coach so well. So I think it's cool you bring
• 31:11
  that up because, you know, I was listening to someone where it's
• 31:14
  like, you know, some, some people see like these traits of
• 31:17
  things and it's really these bundles of skills underneath it.
• 31:20
  So it's like to do your job at West Virginia at the highest
• 31:24
  level for the strange missioning piece, you need to have these
• 31:26
  bundles of skills that support that maybe in in very different
• 31:31
  ways. Yeah, that's it, man.
• 31:33
  It's and you know, I'll be honest with you too, man.
• 31:36
  Like sometimes it's learning stuff that's here that I have no
• 31:39
  idea what it is, right? Like, dude, I've got pieces of
• 31:43
  equipment here. And if you ask anybody on on the
• 31:45
  coaching staff, they'll they'll laugh and they'll tell you too.
• 31:48
  Like, dude, my first time walking through this wave room,
• 31:50
  I was like, what's that? Or they would be like, what's
• 31:52
  that? And I'm like, I don't know.
• 31:54
  No, like, you know what I mean? Like what does this thing do?
• 31:57
  I was like, I don't know, but we'll figure it out, you know,
• 31:59
  So it, it's what it is, man. Like, I'm confident that me, you
• 32:06
  and a lot of other professionals could walk into a grass field
• 32:09
  with dumbbells and I don't even know, just space and and do the
• 32:15
  job and do it at a high level, you know, But there is a level
• 32:20
  of responsibility you have to take two of like staying current
• 32:23
  and understanding. Like the the direction not only
• 32:28
  where college is going, but like the NBA and where these guys
• 32:32
  aspire to go is, is heading as well.
• 32:34
  Like connects on is a great, great example.
• 32:37
  You know, like have have we won a lot of games without connects
• 32:41
  on? And by we, I'm just saying in
• 32:42
  general basketball, right, Yeah, a lot of people for a long time
• 32:46
  won a lot of games without connects on it just is what it
• 32:49
  is. But that doesn't mean that
• 32:50
  connection is not super valuable.
• 32:52
  It is gives you a lot of great information.
• 32:54
  It gives you a lot of great insight.
• 32:56
  It can help you do things more efficiently and more effectively
• 32:59
  and better, right. And so, like, can the job get
• 33:02
  done? Yes.
• 33:03
  But can it be done better? And if that answer is yes, like
• 33:06
  you better know what else is out there, you know what I mean?
• 33:09
  And you better know what that looks like and how to implement
• 33:11
  it, you know, and that's just, this is a growth piece, man.
• 33:15
  Yeah, no. And and as you talk about that
• 33:18
  aspect even beyond just like technology or equipment,
• 33:21
  whatever, but even when things are good, like how we can still
• 33:24
  improve it. What's your process at the end
• 33:26
  of a season, you know, whether it was a tough season or you
• 33:30
  know, like this last one for you guys, successful season, How are
• 33:33
  you still evaluating how do we get better for the next season
• 33:36
  even if we were really good? It's an awesome question man.
• 33:39
  And the first, the first way I want to answer that is simple.
• 33:42
  We just have a a lot of conversations, me with coach, me
• 33:45
  with assistant coaches, me with dietitians, me with a TS, me
• 33:49
  with the guys. And you just ask what did you
• 33:51
  like, what could we have done different?
• 33:53
  Where should we improve? And then you make actionable
• 33:56
  decisions based on those conversations.
• 33:59
  The second piece to that man is like, I'll tell you this, we
• 34:03
  were super fortunate last year to be healthy, right?
• 34:08
  And obviously that's something you want to replicate, right?
• 34:11
  But when you go back and you try to like peel back the layers on
• 34:14
  how you got there, it's kind of hard to do, if we're being
• 34:18
  honest. Like the train I'll give you,
• 34:20
  we'll keep going back a little bit further, man.
• 34:22
  Like full transparency, the year prior to last year, we had a
• 34:25
  couple of injuries, like impactful ones, right?
• 34:28
  And at that time, like, I didn't let it deter the training
• 34:32
  terribly, right? Like you make tweaks here and
• 34:34
  there based on what you're seeing, like, as anybody would
• 34:37
  like you're a practitioner. Like when something arises, you,
• 34:40
  you dissect it, dissect it. And then you evaluate like,
• 34:43
  where was my, where did I miss a step or did I miss a step or how
• 34:48
  did this happen, Right. And then you you move on from
• 34:50
  there. But from that previous year to
• 34:52
  last year, the training didn't change tremendously, right?
• 34:57
  The only thing that changed was the outcome, right?
• 35:00
  So the outcome changed and the training didn't take this huge
• 35:04
  left turn or right turn right. You sit there and you ask
• 35:08
  yourself, like, what do we do this year then?
• 35:10
  You know what I mean? Like, do we do you know what I
• 35:12
  mean? And it's like those hard
• 35:13
  conversations you have to have with yourself, man.
• 35:15
  And I think foundationally you do the things that you truly
• 35:18
  believe to work and then you just constantly try to stay
• 35:21
  ahead of it, right? And like, so back, back to what
• 35:24
  we were just talking about not too long ago, man, like having
• 35:26
  those like assessment processes are huge because you do have to
• 35:30
  assess in real time. You do have to make decisions in
• 35:33
  real time because there might be a situation where like it's just
• 35:37
  not being as, it's not as effective as you thought it
• 35:40
  would be, right. And so those, those different,
• 35:43
  those different layers of thinking, it's, it's a, it's,
• 35:47
  it's complex, but simple because the results are complex.
• 35:51
  But the, the way we train is, is, is relatively simple in
• 35:54
  terms of like, hey, like we, we have this, this assessment tells
• 35:58
  us that you are lacking this. And then we attack it, we
• 36:01
  reassess, you know what I mean? And then we go from there.
• 36:04
  So it's like, it doesn't, it doesn't, the result doesn't
• 36:07
  change the process. And so like, that gets you into
• 36:10
  the whole like cliche saying of like being process driven, but
• 36:14
  it's true, you know, it's true, man.
• 36:16
  It's, it's a, it's a unique situation to be in.
• 36:19
  And it's, it's a fortunate 1 because like, you know, we can't
• 36:23
  sit here and tell each other this either.
• 36:25
  Like, dude, if you don't think luck is involved at all, like
• 36:28
  there's a level of luck that's involved with the two men, like
• 36:31
  in terms of performance, in terms of injury mitigation, like
• 36:35
  there is a level of like you do have to get a little bit lucky,
• 36:37
  man. Because we've seen it like
• 36:39
  there's a lot of great coaches out there that get the injury
• 36:42
  bug and it's like, dude, I think they trained the heck out of
• 36:45
  these guys and girls, you know what I mean?
• 36:47
  Like, I don't know if I would have done anything different,
• 36:49
  you know? And so there's a, there's a
• 36:52
  level of, of, of trust in like the process that that comes into
• 36:57
  it as well. Yeah, yeah.
• 36:58
  And I think there can definitely be like an emotional polar
• 37:02
  reaction to want to make decisions based on big picture
• 37:05
  results. But again, like you're saying,
• 37:07
  like there's so many different variables that go into whether
• 37:10
  it's wins or losses or injuries or other things that it's like
• 37:14
  changing this one piece like this, this piece could be great,
• 37:17
  but all these other pieces are messing up.
• 37:18
  We don't need to change this piece.
• 37:19
  If if the assessments and the other things that we're doing
• 37:22
  are saying, OK, this is this piece is good.
• 37:24
  And, and evaluating that, that thing for not just the end
• 37:28
  result, right, Because that end result is going to be all over
• 37:30
  the place. So if we're going to decide off
• 37:32
  of that, our training is just going to go up and down all over
• 37:35
  the place too. So we, we have to, you got to
• 37:37
  peel that back beyond just the external things of, of how we're
• 37:40
  going to do it. Yeah, man, I'll tell you this
• 37:42
  dude, I'm a, I'm a sole believer that if you make training hard,
• 37:47
  they'll be OK. Like as long as you can make
• 37:50
  training hard. And it's never usually and
• 37:55
  overtrain, I don't even want to call overtraining.
• 37:57
  Like usually the training isn't too hard that causes problems.
• 38:00
  It's usually like a lack of like recovery from it in my personal
• 38:03
  opinion. Right.
• 38:04
  So like as long as you are you are efficiently planning your
• 38:09
  training and you make training hard, they'll be OK.
• 38:13
  They will for two different reasons.
• 38:15
  A. They'll be able to withstand
• 38:17
  stress. But B, the mental advantage of
• 38:19
  like enduring hard things to me is probably the biggest
• 38:24
  performance enhancement that we can give these athletes.
• 38:27
  Man, it's like things get hard. You're not always going to feel
• 38:29
  good. Like when you come in during the
• 38:31
  summer time and we get you on Monday, you're going to show up
• 38:34
  on Tuesday, You know what I mean?
• 38:36
  And you're not going to feel as good as you did after the
• 38:39
  weekend. But guess what we're going to do
• 38:40
  on Tuesday? Get you again, you know what I
• 38:42
  mean? But you got Wednesday, but when
• 38:44
  you come back Thursday get you again, you know, and there's a
• 38:48
  level of like ownership to that of like, dude, like I'm getting
• 38:52
  my ass kicked. I love that dude.
• 38:54
  I had AI had a young man in here today and he's here early and
• 38:57
  he's been trained. And the, and the unfortunate
• 38:59
  thing for him is that it's me, him and one other guy.
• 39:03
  So it's like, dude, he's getting, they're getting it all,
• 39:06
  bro. They're getting the business.
• 39:07
  You know what I mean? He said something to me today.
• 39:10
  He was like, I'm getting my ass kicked, dude.
• 39:13
  I said, yeah, he's like, Yup. But I'm going to be all right.
• 39:16
  And I said, I know you're going to be all right, man, you know,
• 39:19
  But that level of like, dude, you, you feel it, you understand
• 39:22
  it, you digest it. And then you make a decision.
• 39:26
  You'll be all right or you're not going to be all right.
• 39:28
  That's up to you, You know what I mean?
• 39:30
  But that's from a training standpoint, man.
• 39:32
  Like, you know, we can sit here and talk XS and OS and we can
• 39:34
  dive into what that looks like exactly.
• 39:36
  And I'd love to if you want, if you wanted to.
• 39:38
  But at the end of the day, dude, like make it hard and make it
• 39:44
  make it something that they can they can succeed at.
• 39:49
  You can't make it hard enough to where they're failing all the
• 39:51
  time. And I'm not even talking in
• 39:53
  terms of like Rep failure. I'm talking in terms of like
• 39:56
  digesting the training. Make it hard.
• 39:59
  Let them digest it, let them adapt.
• 40:01
  And then? You know, help them see, you
• 40:03
  know, a lot of the times, a lot of those adaptations, they speak
• 40:07
  for themselves. But, you know, let them know.
• 40:09
  Hey, man, you remember when you first got here?
• 40:11
  Yeah. You know, the Met Ball warm up?
• 40:12
  We do. Yeah.
• 40:13
  Man, that used to kick my ass. How do you feel right now?
• 40:16
  Honestly, I feel pretty good. OK.
• 40:17
  Gotten better, you know what I mean?
• 40:19
  Yeah, no, that's great. As as we talked about reflecting
• 40:23
  on on seasons and and training there, let's look at a a moment
• 40:27
  that's a whole lot, a whole lot bigger than any of that, right.
• 40:29
  You just recently had a kid, right?
• 40:31
  So how, how has that changed the dynamic of of being a coach for
• 40:36
  you have having a kid now? It's made me love differently.
• 40:39
  It has, man, and it's made me become super accepting because I
• 40:45
  think I started to view everything through the lens of
• 40:48
  like how I would respond. You know, you get you get caught
• 40:52
  daydreaming, right? So like I have a son, right?
• 40:54
  And sometimes I'll sit there and think like man, like what if he
• 40:57
  doesn't like sports, you know, and it's like, what if he
• 41:01
  doesn't like sports at all and he likes Legos or he likes to
• 41:03
  build stuff for cars or whatever.
• 41:05
  And like, you know, I don't know if I could relate to him if he,
• 41:08
  you know, I don't know anything about Minecraft.
• 41:10
  I don't know, whatever the case may be, right?
• 41:12
  And you start playing through these silly scenarios and
• 41:15
  they're in your head. And the the result you land on
• 41:18
  is I'm going to love them no matter what.
• 41:21
  And I'll find a way to relate, right?
• 41:23
  And I think that mindset has like really bled into everything
• 41:28
  that I do in terms of how I react with coaches, in terms of
• 41:30
  how I react, react with administration and especially
• 41:34
  with the athletes. It's like, dude, like, what if
• 41:36
  this young man comes in and he doesn't like training?
• 41:39
  It's a real possibility. Might not tell you to your face,
• 41:42
  you know, but you can feel it like, OK, how do we find a way
• 41:46
  to relate? And where can you meet him in
• 41:48
  the middle? You know, how do we get the job
• 41:50
  done? What does he like, how do we
• 41:52
  strike these chords? And like, where, where will our
• 41:54
  relationship be founded on? You know, and then like, I just
• 41:58
  think that ultimately, like when you have kids and not everybody
• 42:01
  needs kids. And I, I never thought I needed
• 42:03
  one to understand this concept, but like it, it helps take it to
• 42:07
  another level. Like you just treat people
• 42:09
  different, man, like these young men and women are somebody's
• 42:12
  kids, you know, and you care for him because you know that if my
• 42:16
  son was training with you at your facility, like I know, I
• 42:21
  know you would, you'd push him, you would challenge him.
• 42:24
  And then when he broke, you pick him up, put the pieces together
• 42:27
  and then you do it again, you know, but he would, he would
• 42:30
  never feel neglected. He would never feel alone.
• 42:33
  He would never feel degraded. He would he would appreciate it.
• 42:37
  And those are the things that like that.
• 42:39
  It just takes that perception to a whole nother level having a
• 42:43
  kid, man. So those are those are some
• 42:45
  really awesome life changes that I've been going through.
• 42:49
  And you know, I think the coolest part is like seeing, you
• 42:53
  know, like it, you do get to see these guys in a different light,
• 42:56
  man. If you want to see these big
• 42:58
  muscle tough guys act soft, bring your kid around, dude.
• 43:02
  Bring them around, man. And you start seeing them in a
• 43:04
  whole different light, bro. Like, dude, I we had the best
• 43:07
  team man. And you know, they were super
• 43:09
  understanding. Like when I had to miss a game
• 43:12
  because I shouldn't say it like that, man.
• 43:14
  And if my wife ever hears I had to miss a game, she'll, she'll
• 43:17
  sink in like she'll never let me live it down.
• 43:20
  I I missed the game for the birth of my son, right?
• 43:23
  And we were watching on the computer and you know the guy,
• 43:26
  we go out, we win the game on the road, whatever.
• 43:28
  As soon as the game ends and I know where these guys are,
• 43:31
  they're in the locker room, whatever BS and that of that.
• 43:34
  Did I get like 30 text messages? Like, is he here yet?
• 43:37
  Like is, is, is baby mellow with us?
• 43:40
  Like did he get to see us win Da da da, like whatever, Like, and
• 43:44
  then, you know, Fast forward to a couple months later bringing
• 43:47
  him in, he's in the weight room. These guys are all like goo goo
• 43:51
  Gaga and and stuff. It's it's cool, man.
• 43:54
  It's a, it's an interesting situation, man.
• 43:56
  It, it's like I said, you get to see him in a whole different
• 43:59
  light and it brings a big smile to my face because I know that a
• 44:04
  lot of those guys, man, it's like they're going to be great
• 44:05
  fathers. You know, they're great humans.
• 44:07
  They're going to be great fathers.
• 44:08
  And it's like, that's what you want.
• 44:10
  Performance aside, like basketball aside, all that stuff
• 44:14
  aside training aside, like you just hope these guys have like
• 44:17
  meaningful, fulfilling lives, you know, and whether that's
• 44:20
  kids for some of them or not, like whatever, but like to see
• 44:23
  them like express those, those feelings and gratitude for like
• 44:28
  life and infancy. It's cool, man, it's cool.
• 44:31
  Yeah, no, that's so cool. I'm, I'm so pumped for you.
• 44:34
  And, and as you talked about that, that even like brought a
• 44:36
  thought to my mind. It's like, is the way we're
• 44:39
  coaching, developing and growing the athletes that we're around?
• 44:44
  Are we are we building them into people that we want to be around
• 44:47
  our kids and impacting our kids that are growing up?
• 44:51
  And I think that just brings a whole new level of
• 44:53
  responsibility and accountability to the way we're
• 44:56
  coaching. And then making it not just
• 44:57
  about the sport, but like, how are we, how are we building
• 45:00
  these people that are going to in a way build our kids?
• 45:03
  Yeah. Yeah, man, we lead by example.
• 45:05
  That's what I I mean, that's what I try to do every day is
• 45:08
  like, dude, love these guys how you want them to love somebody
• 45:12
  else, Teach them, you know, a lot of these guys are great.
• 45:15
  And by guys, I mean these, these young individuals, they're great
• 45:18
  people, guys, girls. Like there's been fewer people
• 45:22
  where I'm like then there I could probably count it on like
• 45:26
  3 fingers where I'm just like, you know, a large, I've been
• 45:29
  blessed to come across a lot of really great young individuals,
• 45:32
  man. And you know, you just, you love
• 45:35
  them up how you would want them to love up somebody else.
• 45:38
  And and that's just that the the bottom line dude is like you
• 45:41
  lead, you do you lead it by example.
• 45:43
  That's awesome. Well, it's been great so far.
• 45:44
  I've got, I've got three kind of questions I like to ask at the
• 45:47
  end of end of the podcast and and we talked a little bit in
• 45:51
  the first one. We talked a little bit about how
• 45:53
  you're staying curious and kind of seeing these areas that you
• 45:56
  want to develop and and for this one, like when you do see that
• 46:00
  there's a skill set you need to improve, how are you trying to
• 46:04
  close that gap? I reach out to people that I
• 46:07
  think are extraordinary in that area.
• 46:10
  And that's just from for, for how I learned.
• 46:13
  I'm a very conversational person because it takes me a couple
• 46:17
  times to get something. So like, I'm going to ask a ton
• 46:20
  of questions, you know, so I like having a sounding board for
• 46:23
  some of that stuff. You know, I mean, I'll, I'll
• 46:26
  research, I'll read. It's, it's, it's not as
• 46:29
  fulfilling for me just because of, of how I operate as a
• 46:32
  person, but I will, I'll do it. And then, you know, I think
• 46:35
  ultimately, like you don't know what you don't know.
• 46:38
  So you just got to keep asking questions that are, you know, do
• 46:41
  I, do I know how to handle this, this situation was to arise or,
• 46:46
  you know, what, if this, how do I handle this?
• 46:49
  If this happens, right. And it's like, sometimes I try
• 46:51
  not to get too far ahead of myself because like you can kind
• 46:54
  of become randomized too, if you try to get ahead of everything.
• 46:57
  So being present, it's just another one man.
• 46:59
  Like if we get to that bridge, we'll cross it.
• 47:01
  If we don't, we won't, you know, And if we do get there, I'm
• 47:06
  going to call somebody who I think can, can help me navigate
• 47:09
  that situation and then learn from it.
• 47:11
  Now, now second question kind of going along the lines of write
• 47:15
  the books, strengthen numbers in this podcast, strengthen numbers
• 47:17
  and all of us have as coaches have had people that have
• 47:20
  mentored us and help us get here.
• 47:22
  So who are, who are some of the, the biggest, you know, people
• 47:25
  that have impacted or experiences that you've had that
• 47:28
  have impacted your coaching journey?
• 47:30
  People are probably sick about hearing about it, but I'm going
• 47:32
  to talk about it anyway. Obviously, being with Coach Horn
• 47:34
  was, I call him Coach Horn and that was weird.
• 47:37
  I don't think I've called him Coach Horn since my first day
• 47:39
  interning for him. But being with being with Horn
• 47:41
  was, was was by far the most impactful situation that I was
• 47:45
  blessed to be a part of just because of how high level of a
• 47:49
  human he is. And he functions on all
• 47:51
  cylinders at all times, almost like annoyingly so, because even
• 47:54
  he doesn't realized like, you know what I mean?
• 47:56
  Like he's lost me. So it's like, hold on a second.
• 48:00
  He's like, what do you what do you mean?
• 48:02
  Like heck it up about 35 minutes, dude, let's try this
• 48:04
  over. But that and dude, my family, I
• 48:11
  think that's been the biggest, biggest challenge that has
• 48:14
  taught me the most. Have a bass, have a kid during
• 48:18
  basketball season, have a kid during basketball season and
• 48:21
  then come back and tell me that like you're a different person
• 48:24
  because it's it's the most challenging slash, rewarding
• 48:29
  slash like learning curve like you'll ever have, you know, from
• 48:33
  not sleeping to trying to justify why, like, yes, I do
• 48:37
  have to go to work today. You know what I mean?
• 48:39
  Like, but like, you know, do you really, yes, I do just
• 48:43
  navigating those certain things, man.
• 48:45
  And then I'm super, you know, so I'm super grateful for my time
• 48:48
  interning with like different Olympic sports because I don't
• 48:52
  think I give them enough credit for a lot of the stuff I've
• 48:55
  learned that I still use today, whether that's speed drills,
• 49:00
  conditioning, Olympic lifts, different Olympic variations,
• 49:04
  even just like navigating different personalities from
• 49:07
  like a, from a cultural standpoint.
• 49:09
  Like, dude, I had such a great experience at Clemson at Penn
• 49:13
  State, Manhattan College, like working with these dudes at
• 49:17
  Linenwood. Dude, I worked with women's
• 49:19
  hockey at Linenwood. Awesome group, completely
• 49:21
  different than anything I'd ever experienced, right?
• 49:24
  But like super beneficial and and super jam packed with
• 49:28
  experiential, experiential knowledge that like you just you
• 49:32
  don't get every day. So I, I do think that I do need
• 49:35
  to do a better job of like giving credit to those
• 49:38
  experiences too, man, because I've been training basketball
• 49:40
  for a long time, but training is training.
• 49:43
  And like, if you really want to talk about like the nuances of
• 49:45
  training, like go work with the high level track and field team,
• 49:48
  that's that's high level training.
• 49:51
  No, that's awesome. Third question.
• 49:53
  So this one, if you need to take a second, it's it's not always
• 49:57
  the easiest to to come out with right at right after ask.
• 50:00
  But what have I not asked you about today?
• 50:02
  That's really important that we do talk about it.
• 50:05
  Is a tough question. I think as a profession, we do
• 50:08
  need to continue to have harder conversations about training.
• 50:13
  I think that we're still all trying to learn and a lot of
• 50:17
  Times Now, and it's not, this isn't a youth thing.
• 50:20
  I took it more as like, how would you want to have, what
• 50:24
  conversations would you like to have more of with different
• 50:27
  coaches? That's what I took.
• 50:28
  That question is right. And I think right now we all
• 50:32
  understand like, yes, it is good to talk about relationships and
• 50:36
  it's because that's what it is, right?
• 50:37
  But we cannot do so at the expense of like just not talking
• 50:41
  about training. I want to talk, I want to know
• 50:44
  like nuances and deep dives into like warm ups and power
• 50:50
  development and conditioning and rehabilitation and all that
• 50:55
  stuff, dude. Because dude, officially I'm,
• 50:59
  I'm, I'm on an island most of the time.
• 51:03
  I'm fortunate enough to have been around really great, like
• 51:06
  women's basketball strength coaches as I am fortunate enough
• 51:09
  to be around here. But like you miss out because
• 51:11
  like dude, like we do get lost in the basketball stuff.
• 51:14
  We do like the the athletes are a certain way, the culture is a
• 51:19
  certain way the schedule reflects one another.
• 51:22
  Like you miss out on stuff in terms of like new or different,
• 51:27
  right. And so to answer your question,
• 51:29
  man, like I think as as a community, when we, when we do
• 51:33
  talk, like we need to be a little bit, myself included,
• 51:36
  more open on just being like humbly transparent about what we
• 51:40
  know what we're doing and what we don't know and what we need
• 51:43
  to do and what that looks like from a training standpoint, man,
• 51:46
  I think ultimately all that all's that can do is better the
• 51:50
  profession. Yeah, yeah.
• 51:52
  I mean, number one, we got to, we got to be able to deliver a
• 51:55
  good training product first and foremost.
• 51:58
  I think so. I think I won't go on this
• 52:00
  rampage. I think so many people are so
• 52:02
  afraid of being called wrong. And it's like, dude, I, I love
• 52:09
  being told that I'm wrong because if you're telling me I'm
• 52:13
  wrong, hoping to, I'm hoping and praying that you're going to
• 52:16
  tell me how to do it right. You know what I mean?
• 52:19
  Like that's what I want. It's like, dude, like I know
• 52:21
  there's certain things I'm really good at and there's
• 52:23
  certain things that I'm not great at, you know?
• 52:25
  And so even if you talk to like some of the NBA guys, like I
• 52:29
  think that's the most intriguing part about the NBA stuff is
• 52:32
  like, dude, like they're all super transparent about like how
• 52:35
  cohesive that is and like how many high level professionals
• 52:39
  there are around on a day-to-day basis.
• 52:42
  You know, they're around PTS, ATS, all sorts of different 4
• 52:46
  Staffs. And there's, there's, there's
• 52:48
  four of them, five of them, right?
• 52:50
  And like, they're all super high level.
• 52:51
  We have that capability as well. I think we just need to have
• 52:56
  those conversations. Call somebody up, tell me what
• 52:58
  you're doing or hey man, like I'm going to tell you everything
• 53:01
  I'm doing. Tell me what you like, tell me
• 53:03
  what you hate. Tell me what I can do better.
• 53:06
  I just don't have those kind of conversations anymore.
• 53:08
  Maybe that's me, I don't know. Well, I think it's easy, like
• 53:12
  you're saying, especially like in basketball, you know,
• 53:14
  especially you know, it's about it's like you're in your own
• 53:16
  facility, you're away from everyone else, you're away from
• 53:19
  football Olympic, like it's just you or it's just you and the,
• 53:22
  you know, women's basketball strained coach.
• 53:24
  And it's just you can't just have those office conversations
• 53:28
  with with the other people there, you know, every day.
• 53:29
  But hey, like, what do you think of this?
• 53:31
  You know, what are you doing there?
• 53:32
  Like you don't have the daily conversations all the time
• 53:35
  anymore. Yeah, and there's an
• 53:36
  accountability piece to it too, man.
• 53:37
  Like if I sat here and told you that, like, well, you know, I
• 53:41
  tried and you know, nobody, you know, I got to take ownership in
• 53:44
  that too. Dude.
• 53:45
  I've been at North Texas, everywhere I've been, dude, like
• 53:48
  the Olympic Staffs, the football Staffs have been awesome.
• 53:52
  Open door, right? Like even here, dude, I, I
• 53:54
  before I got on this with you, I was over in the Olympic weight
• 53:57
  room just chopping it up, you know, so that that availability
• 54:01
  is there. I've got to do a better job of
• 54:03
  making that time, you know, especially when this thing gets
• 54:07
  rolling. It's like, yeah, dude, yeah.
• 54:09
  Go over there, sit down, talk, ask hard questions.
• 54:12
  So I'm going to take ownership in that too, man.
• 54:14
  It's not, it's not a just like weed as in like when I say we, I
• 54:18
  mean us, you, you know what I mean?
• 54:20
  It's like, Nah, it's like we I got to be better too, man.
• 54:22
  But these conversations we do have, they are important, man.
• 54:26
  And and I don't want to take that away from it.
• 54:28
  Like I'm not saying that it's like it's a waste of time.
• 54:31
  Like when I call a coach and we talk about family and life and
• 54:35
  that stuff isn't it's powerful, man.
• 54:36
  It is. I also want to have the other
• 54:38
  conversations too. Yeah, No, no, that's great.
• 54:41
  That's a good that's a great way to end this man.
• 54:44
  This has been a great talk, Jason.
• 54:46
  I'm super excited one for for you being there and what you
• 54:48
  guys are going to be able to do there and just everything that's
• 54:51
  happening for you. I think I think it is again,
• 54:54
  because of the impact and the intentionality you've had as a
• 54:59
  coach and a human. You know, people listen to this
• 55:02
  and they wanted to either get in touch with you or just kind of
• 55:04
  learn more from you. Where can they find you more
• 55:07
  out? I'm on Instagram, Twitter, I can
• 55:10
  get my phone number if you want. It don't bother me man.
• 55:13
  Whatever dude. I'm an open book man.
• 55:15
  I love talking to people. If you ask my wife, she'll
• 55:17
  probably tell you I talk too much and I'm on the phone
• 55:20
  talking to people a little too much.
• 55:22
  That's a conversation for a different day.
• 55:23
  But no, man, I, I hope that people do actually reach out and
• 55:27
  we can, we can train in, we can talk lace and here I go.
• 55:31
  Right. So like I just went on that
• 55:32
  whole rant about talking about training.
• 55:34
  Nah, Nah, Nah, I'm going to tell people like, come, come talk to
• 55:36
  me about whatever man. Like, but I do mean it, man.
• 55:39
  It's not, it's not a situation where it's like, I don't want to
• 55:42
  talk to you about this anymore. Like I'm, I'm open man, DM me,
• 55:46
  Instagram me. Shoot, you can put my little
• 55:47
  phone number in a bio. It doesn't matter all.
• 55:50
  Right, so reach out to him and and give him give him your
• 55:53
  program so you can talk training he can see what y'all doing
• 55:56
  better or and give you some input.
• 55:58
  So go both ways there. Awesome, Jason, I appreciate.
• 56:01
  You being on here appreciate you having me man.
• 56:03
  It's always a blast dude.