Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #165: Kevin Wanichko-Saint Vincent College
Transcript
- 0:04Welcome to season 3 of gila politics connection podcast.
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- 0:40Here we go. Back once again, this week on
- 0:42the Gillis headaches, track and field connections podcast.
- 0:45I'm just so humbled to be your host Mike Cunningham.
- 0:47And and honestly, when I say that it is humbling, if you're
- 0:50listening right now, I just want to say thank you.
- 0:53We get hundreds, thousands of listeners.
- 0:57Just like you every day through this podcast and honestly,
- 1:00anybody who sits down and spends, you know, an hour or two
- 1:02Bausch, sometimes we're doing two hours here, it just amazes
- 1:06me and just so thankful. And really, what's awesome about
- 1:08it is you're here because of our We have amazing coaches from all
- 1:12around the world from around the country, and today is no
- 1:15different. So let's get to it, man.
- 1:17Let's hop into it. I'm so proud to have an
- 1:20introduce to you. The wise, the wonderful head
- 1:21coach at st. Vincent College in Pennsylvania,
- 1:24mr. Kevin would itch go, Kevin.
- 1:25How are you sir? I'm doing great.
- 1:27You know, thanks so much for having me.
- 1:29I'm a big fan, listen to the podcast, follow me on social
- 1:32media. So you know, every time someone
- 1:34says that which that's that's a little humble brag.
- 1:37A lot of people do say that I always have to ask them.
- 1:39So what has been if you're big Fan of the podcast.
- 1:41Tell us what has been your favorite one.
- 1:43So maybe someone who's listening, hasn't listened to
- 1:44your favorite one. They should go and listen to it.
- 1:47But, you know, the spot. I know.
- 1:48I love it. Kayla Morgan one from the oh
- 1:51yeah, yeah. Well I know doing something
- 1:54special there, the program. So, you know, being a distance
- 1:56guy like to follow programs like that 100% had, you know, an Alum
- 2:00from the program. I love that kind of stuff.
- 2:02I have a real soft spot for alums who coach at their alma
- 2:05mater. I mean, to me is that, you know,
- 2:07guy who did 10 years of coaching and worked at his alma mater, as
- 2:10When you coach at your alma mater, like how authentic is
- 2:13that when you go to recruit a kid and you tell how tell him
- 2:16how great your school is and it's like, you know, how great
- 2:17it is. I chose to go to school.
- 2:20It's a kid man, so so maybe that's your story will find out
- 2:23Kevin. Let's, let's get to it, man.
- 2:25This is one of those. I've said this before, maybe a
- 2:27hundred times now. These are the ones that I'm
- 2:30always super excited about. I've had, amazing guess, you
- 2:33know, we've had Beth Alfred Sullivan here a couple of weeks
- 2:35ago, Lonnie Green. And these are, those are guys
- 2:38and gals that I've known for a long time.
- 2:39Great. People you have kind of grown up
- 2:42through their story as a coach and now here at celtx, but then
- 2:45we have this subset of awesome coaches because there's so many
- 2:48of you which is great that I don't know anything about it all
- 2:51and Kevin golly you're one of those man.
- 2:53I don't know you besides some work, you know, we've done
- 2:56together here recently so I just I love these.
- 2:59These are just so funny because I get to learn from square one.
- 3:02And so let's start with square one.
- 3:04So Kevin is we look at your journey where does coaching
- 3:10Teaching is something that typically happens to us when
- 3:13we're an athlete, we get coached, but at some point in
- 3:16your life, it had to flip in your head that oh, wait a
- 3:19minute. Like, I could be a coach like
- 3:21that. Possibly could be a career for
- 3:23me or I could do that on the side.
- 3:25When does coaching change for you?
- 3:27Wouldn't that thought, kind of that light switch hits for you?
- 3:31I would say kind of hit me my senior year of college.
- 3:35I graduated from Saint Vincent. Yes, I was hoping I'd I honestly
- 3:39didn't know that. Awesome.
- 3:41You kind of know what they're, you know.
- 3:43Same Vincent is a very special piece of me.
- 3:46I had two wonderful coaches that really inspired me, you know,
- 3:52they were kind of father figures to me in my life and kind of
- 3:55guided me in a special way. So, you know, my senior year,
- 4:00they kind of, you know, all four years.
- 4:02They took me under their wing. But I think, you know, as a
- 4:04senior, you start to get that leadership stuff like that and
- 4:08taking more steps and, you know, I started to think more
- 4:10seriously. It's about it.
- 4:12I graduated and I actually volunteered the next year kind
- 4:14of helped out a little bit and you know it was during that time
- 4:16that I realized like this was kind of my calling and something
- 4:19I love to do now I won't let you get away with just saying these
- 4:22two great coaches were father figures and we shout them out
- 4:25man. They obviously deserve it who we
- 4:27talking about here? So dr.
- 4:30Andrew her, he was my cross-country coach.
- 4:32All four years. He, you know, he's kind of been,
- 4:37you know, my biggest Mentor he actually Lee just retired from
- 4:42Men's cross country, but firmly here.
- 4:44So this upcoming fall will be my first year coaching, the men's
- 4:47cross country which is you been, you know, a special program for
- 4:50me. Something I ran for and my other
- 4:52coach was Steve Schneider. He was my middle distance, coach
- 4:56for all track. He also, you know, changed my
- 5:01life more than I can ever say he was someone, you know, was more
- 5:05than a coach. He know during my coaching time,
- 5:10I would meet him every, you know, once a week we would have
- 5:12breakfast. Talk about things.
- 5:15We're kind of in a growth area at same concern right now, or
- 5:18we're looking to go from just being a cross-country, middle
- 5:21distance to grow into a full track team, so I kind of picked
- 5:26his brain a lot on that. He's actually I actually bring
- 5:30him back. It is January to help because he
- 5:34was a great High School coach before his time at st.
- 5:37Vincent. And unfortunately he actually
- 5:39passed away during the season so that was a little too hard loss
- 5:44for us but you know, he's truly in a better place.
- 5:47He was having some heart issues and stuff like that, but he he
- 5:51taught me a lot throughout the journey here.
- 5:53So help us understand that you're an undergrad.
- 5:56You have these two so they were there before.
- 5:59You they were affecting young people like you before you, what
- 6:02was it? So kind of a two-part question.
- 6:05How did they earn your trust, right?
- 6:08We talked a lot about athletes having to trust their coaches,
- 6:13but, you know, coaches have to trust the athletes as well, and
- 6:15that doesn't happen. Just because you have an emblem
- 6:18and a, your door title things as Coach Wright.
- 6:23Are you have a little thing on your desk or whatever?
- 6:24Your business card says coach, how did they they obviously had
- 6:27such an impact on your? Your face is telling me a lot
- 6:30here, you know that unfortunately if you're
- 6:33listening to podcast it's only audio.
- 6:34But in you can hear in his voice to but his face.
- 6:36You can see what these two gentlemen meant to you and then
- 6:40we'll get into it. But kind of sound like they
- 6:41changed the correction of, you know, the direction of your
- 6:44life. But what was how did they?
- 6:47Because this might be something for us to learn what was their
- 6:49actions thoughts words, Etc. That you like went beyond coach
- 6:58and athlete. Like oh, you know, this guy's
- 7:00these guys are father figures to me.
- 7:01They changed my life. I actually I want to be what
- 7:04they are. I want to be a coach because of
- 7:05them. What was it?
- 7:06How did they do that? I was more than an athlete to
- 7:11them that they looked at me, know, as a person, it wasn't
- 7:15about how fast I ran and stuff like that.
- 7:18It, you know, I will be the first one to tell you my early
- 7:22years, the same Vincent. I was not the best student and
- 7:25dr. Her who's, you know, the head of
- 7:27our economics Department, you know, big academic guy, you
- 7:31know, he he pushed me in ways that I needed to be push you
- 7:36know I didn't have that discipline.
- 7:38I came from high school were, you know, I never had to open a
- 7:41book study. I just kind of got through
- 7:43which, you know, a lot of people do.
- 7:44So I thought that was the same and it's not in college.
- 7:47So he, you know, he pushed me from from the academic side a
- 7:51little bit more than what I had been.
- 7:52And let me know that there was more than just running out there
- 7:56and you know running wasn't my only thing that mattered,
- 8:00there's more to it than that and Coach Snyder was just someone,
- 8:05you know, door was always open. You can walk in In and talk
- 8:08about anything, you know, it didn't have to be just running.
- 8:11It could be family, it could be no religion, whatever you want
- 8:15to talk about. He was there to talk about and
- 8:17you know, like I said that that Journey continued no, even after
- 8:19I graduated, I said met him once a week stuff like that.
- 8:23I think that's so important. You know, when I think about our
- 8:26lives, here's you as a sophomore, junior in college,
- 8:30so, you know, 19, 20 year-old, but if you think about your
- 8:33athletes today and even you right now, Kevin has a person me
- 8:36as a person. Yeah, there's kind of two
- 8:39columns in life. One is the individual.
- 8:41So Kevin who you are, right? And then on the other column, is
- 8:45all these roles that you have, right?
- 8:48So, coach used to have the role of an athlete, maybe your
- 8:51spouse, your son, maybe you're a brother, maybe your father.
- 8:56These are all things. We gotta like to learn today.
- 9:00Maybe you're a little-league coach, you're a friend, a best
- 9:04friend. It says, all these different
- 9:06roles. And until we do, we're going to
- 9:10relationship. I think happens when we get away
- 9:12from the rolls and focus on the individual.
- 9:15And what you just described there is instead of just coach
- 9:17and athlete, which entails more than just barking out what the
- 9:21workout is for the day. It's encouragement and sternman,
- 9:25you know, I don't say punishment but you know correction right
- 9:29but what you're describing there with dr.
- 9:30Her and Steve Snyder is like okay sure that one of our roles
- 9:36is coach and athlete. But also its dr.
- 9:39Her and Kevin the student, which is another role by Kevin the
- 9:42person and Steve Schneider talking about everything from
- 9:45religion and relationships and family things like that.
- 9:48That's so important. I want to come back to that when
- 9:51we get back to your current role about how you enact that with
- 9:55your kids. Like the, is that something a
- 9:57focal point for you? So so put we'll put a pin in
- 9:59that and come back to that. So you graduate from st.
- 10:02Vincent were you, you mentioned dr.
- 10:04Her be an economics, major work. Economics, professor were unique
- 10:07and Alex major. What would you what were you
- 10:08thinking of before the coach bug gets you?
- 10:11What were you thinking about doing started as an econ major?
- 10:15Didn't end that way. Now I came in that way, I ended
- 10:21up switching to be a Comm major. There's a lot of that side that
- 10:26I liked, you know, but like I said, you know, early my years I
- 10:30just wasn't disciplined enough to be an econ major.
- 10:34So I switched no graduated with a call.
- 10:38Degree. What were you thinking with
- 10:40econ? What were you really want to be
- 10:41a? I would never major in economies
- 10:44on to do to become an economist. I don't know Economist.
- 10:47I don't you take, can you say it right?
- 10:49Yeah. So the reason I actually picked
- 10:50it was my uncle was a graduate of st.
- 10:53Vincent. And he was an econ major.
- 10:55Oh wow. It's been pretty successful in
- 10:56the business world and I was like, okay, they could be around
- 10:59that. I go, you know, right?
- 11:00Make pretty good money. Yeah.
- 11:02But want to make my life better than coaching.
- 11:05Yeah, you know, that's the early thoughts in your life as much.
- 11:07As much money as I can. And then whenever you get in the
- 11:10track world, you realize. It's not all about the money.
- 11:13It's about having a job he loved every day.
- 11:15Yeah, absolutely. So what.
- 11:18Okay, so you graduated from st. Vincent you end up going to
- 11:20communications degree. Not any cons.
- 11:22You're not going to be an economist, which I do.
- 11:25You know what an economist? I.
- 11:26Yeah, I I'll read an article on, you know, about anacondas.
- 11:29I don't really know what they do, but they probably do
- 11:31important stuff. So what do you do?
- 11:33Do you go to grad school? Do you volunteer, you get an
- 11:36assistant's job right off the bat?
- 11:37What? Video.
- 11:38So I went to grad school in a nearby School Cal you.
- 11:42I went to sports management there, you know, while I was
- 11:47taking classes there. Like I said, I volunteered here.
- 11:50Help train some of the guys stuff like that.
- 11:54Yes, I got that degree and then actually write, as I was getting
- 11:58ready to wrap it up, there was a job that opened up.
- 12:02It was for a sports information director, cross-country track
- 12:07and field coach. Not a combo.
- 12:08You see too often? Yeah, re world, where you have
- 12:11to wear multiple hats. You know, I kind of got pulled
- 12:15into that it was at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.
- 12:18It's about an hour from from where I was at so you know I
- 12:21applied and took the job. So that was my first coaching
- 12:24job, it was a lot of early morning and late nights with you
- 12:28know, topping Sports info on top of that.
- 12:30But that was a sacrifice had to make to in order to coach that's
- 12:33a sports information director like we fans and That your we
- 12:38get onto, you know, the SIDS about what articles they write
- 12:42for cross-country and track. And you know they didn't
- 12:44highlight this or they didn't say this or they did say that I
- 12:48hope you had like the world's best cross country and track
- 12:51releases since you were this ID. I mean, we obviously we had
- 12:55pretty good ones. Yeah.
- 12:57You get to see it from the perspective of like of an
- 12:59athlete and Coach like, okay, here's what we should be telling
- 13:01people and how we should tell the story a little bit easier.
- 13:04Tell a story when you're there in person.
- 13:06Sure. And you know it and you know
- 13:07the, you know, what the cross-country race and who was
- 13:10there in the course itself? Yeah, exactly.
- 13:13What did you did? You like being an SI d--?
- 13:15Or was it just an ends? Of means of like yeah, that's
- 13:18what is how I can coach. It's kind of a hard question to
- 13:22answer. Okay.
- 13:23So I do like I liked it but I like coaching more and in order
- 13:29to be effective you just can't do both sure.
- 13:32You know as division three level.
- 13:34You know you have to wear multiple hats.
- 13:35Sometimes that's just you know money saving.
- 13:40It was a difficult job like I said we would practice in the
- 13:42morning it was an hour commute from there was a lot more is I
- 13:44would be leaving at 4:45. I have to stab a volleyball game
- 13:48that night. And I wouldn't get out of the
- 13:50office until 10:00 that night, driving our home, get home at
- 13:5211:00, and then do it all again, the next day.
- 13:55So it was a lot of, you know, early morning late nights be
- 14:00know if I had to, you know, if I wasn't a coach, I could csid as
- 14:04being a profession. But luckily for me, I'm a
- 14:07coaching that deal. Well, how did it go?
- 14:11I mean, that's, you know, coaches, we talk about you're
- 14:14not a nine-to-five, right? There's weekends and meets,
- 14:17don't get over till 10:00 at night.
- 14:19Sometimes and travel Etc. As IDs are very similar right
- 14:23there, writing a lot of stuff and creating a lot of stuff
- 14:25during the day. And then they're going to, you
- 14:27know, depending on what sports, they cover volleyball matches at
- 14:29Night Football Games Etc. How did the coaching side Go?
- 14:34I mean that's the plus the commute on top of that, man.
- 14:36Oh that had to be pretty brutal. Yeah, you know like I said, it
- 14:40was my first coaching job. I feel like I learned a lot, you
- 14:44know, looking back at it, you know.
- 14:46Now there's probably a lot of things I did.
- 14:49Wrong. But you know, that was kind of
- 14:52to get my feet wet. I feel like, you know, I learned
- 14:54how to manage a team learned a little bit about recruiting, so,
- 14:58you know, really have never recruited before that.
- 15:01So it's kind of a learning experience and I was there for
- 15:04two years so I think I learned a lot in those two years and what
- 15:08were you doing at this time for coaching education?
- 15:10So you the only coach in that you know how to coach that.
- 15:13You have at this point is what dr.
- 15:16Her and Coach Snyder taught you and then you know, High School
- 15:19coach, Etc. But not really a fight.
- 15:22You know, you didn't major in coaching, which I think there is
- 15:25a major and coaching, but in a major and in track coaching.
- 15:27But so, what were you doing? Anything at this point for Coach
- 15:30Edge? Like, how are you coming up with
- 15:31workouts and what to do the kids and things like that?
- 15:33Yeah. So luckily, you know, I had no
- 15:35coach her on Koechner that I could go back pick their brain.
- 15:38They literally probably two of the most organized people, you
- 15:42know, coach her, at the end of every cross country.
- 15:44Season has a booklet and has every single workout race,
- 15:47everything in there with all the splits, We're kind of in that
- 15:51that's kind of, you know, propelled into my coaching that,
- 15:54you know, data the numbers, they're all there.
- 15:56You could give me stuff from the past 10 years that I kind of
- 15:59look at it and kind of build a program off of.
- 16:02So they were there kind of to God means those early years.
- 16:06Any coaching clinics or? Yeah, you know, like you would
- 16:11call up your in the Pennsylvania.
- 16:13I'm gonna be the southern guy that doesn't know how to blog
- 16:17about Pennsylvania, New York, she called Jack Daniels.
- 16:19I know he's in New York or Courtland or something like
- 16:21that, that may be a thousand miles from me for all I know,
- 16:23but I don't call him but I have the jack in his book, of course
- 16:25they exactly. Yep.
- 16:26And so resources on coaches need to have no, but I definitely had
- 16:30a few clinics up. We go to one like every
- 16:32December. I would usually go with coach.
- 16:35Ryder. He has to know we would you know
- 16:37there was a clinic so I did some online stuff.
- 16:40I got some certification stuff like that but was there ever in
- 16:43that? Just up to this point?
- 16:44It's kind of curious because I'm a huge coaching educate each and
- 16:48proponent was when I coached I was the certification.
- 16:52Junkie back then we only had usatf side level 1 and several
- 16:55level twos and stuff. I didn't have these great like
- 16:58Altis and u.s. tfcc a, and they're just so much now, which
- 17:01is awesome in lots of care clinics and stuff.
- 17:05Was there ever when you done different clinics.
- 17:07And you've heard different people speak inside of education
- 17:10and at clinics and stuff. Has there ever been someone that
- 17:13said something that, like, click 3, like, wow, I've never thought
- 17:17about it like that. Like I need to look into that
- 17:19more was ever like anything like that.
- 17:22So let me think I went to, you know, the same clinic in New
- 17:25Jersey area for I think we want like five years.
- 17:28Heard. A lots of great speakers, Carl
- 17:32Lewis was there one year. No, probably the best speaker.
- 17:36I actually heard was Judd. Logan.
- 17:38Oh, yeah. Who's you know?
- 17:39Not even a distance guy. He's a throws, right?
- 17:42But his message, you know, really didn't pertain to, you
- 17:46know, the track and field. It was, you know how he
- 17:49approaches athletes. You know, he wanted to be like
- 17:51the light Giver, he just kind of, you know, give them that
- 17:54path and teach them away and, you know, that and, you know,
- 17:58that's kind of how my coaches were that's, you know, it
- 18:00related to me so. Well, his talk was just
- 18:03phenomenal in that sense. And you were able, this is going
- 18:06to sound terrible, but I know this happens.
- 18:08You were able to receive that message.
- 18:11Even as I mean, that's too pretty, you know, far on the
- 18:15Spectrum events groups for us, right?
- 18:17So throws and Jed. Logan is a God Rest, his soul
- 18:22just a hyper culture. We had him on the podcast and
- 18:25CEO of all about cultures, what we talked about because that's
- 18:28he just built an amazing culture at Ashland.
- 18:30And, you know, he's famous for these videos of their weight
- 18:32room and, you know, Bashan chairs, I don't see, I've never
- 18:37met distance coach, that would come close to that kind of
- 18:41intensity. Not talking about, you know,
- 18:44caring for athletes and things like that.
- 18:45But you were able to receive that.
- 18:47Even as a, I must say, even as a distance coach, that's a terror.
- 18:50Let's put you down, I'm so sorry.
- 18:51But over on this spectrum of more of, you know, methodical 10
- 18:54years, writing out, you know, those kind of things you were
- 18:57able to receive that and see like, oh wait a minute, that's
- 18:59what's important to me. I need to do more of that.
- 19:01Or what, how did they--how did it kind of hit you different?
- 19:04Yeah. No, I mean, Isn't easy Master.
- 19:06See like I said it didn't matter, you know event wise you
- 19:08know if it's throws distance. You know at the end of the day
- 19:12if you're going to be a good coach it's about the athletes.
- 19:16You know, I'm big and you know, the personal connection, you
- 19:19know, the athletes, you know, he you know, he's a big like you
- 19:21said, culture guy, athletes have to have buy-in, they have to
- 19:24trust you. If they don't trust you, you're
- 19:27not going to get the best out of them, and it's a two-way street,
- 19:30you know, you can't know to say you're the coach and the
- 19:33dictator. Yeah.
- 19:34I mean there's days where you Have to tell them what's going
- 19:35on, but there they got to be able to give you that feedback
- 19:38to and have some insight. You just described Parenthood
- 19:41to, right? You got to be, you know, you got
- 19:44to lay down the law with your kids sometimes.
- 19:46But boy, you've got to be the one that there is loving on them
- 19:49talking about their day, picking them up when they fall down.
- 19:52I mean you just described Parenthood.
- 19:54That's, that's a very great picture to coaching profession.
- 19:59Maybe I'll be ready for Parenthood when that when that
- 20:01day comes then so yeah, it don't rush, I got two of them.
- 20:04Yes, ma'am. Okay, that's awesome.
- 20:08I love that you got a chance to hear, Judd, Logan and in person
- 20:11because one of the best people that ever walked this Earth.
- 20:14So I'm just so humbled that we were able to have him early user
- 20:170, g Gil, connections podcast, one of the top first 30 to 40, I
- 20:23think guess we had. So, he took a chance on us when
- 20:26we when we were nothing the podcast World, okay?
- 20:29So two years at Chatham University.
- 20:33I don't want to say you're a 50/50.
- 20:35SI D coach because I know some weeks, you probably 90%.
- 20:38SI D, 10% coach, and vice versa, Etc.
- 20:41Are you hooked? Now, is this like, at this
- 20:43point? Are you like, yeah, I'm a coach,
- 20:45I'm just searching for the right program or programs at this
- 20:48point. I would say, yeah, I was pretty
- 20:52hooked. The first year was it was a
- 20:55struggle for me. I can tell you that because I
- 20:57came from, you know, st. Vincent, which is, you know, we
- 21:00were, you know, pretty pretty decent program.
- 21:03You know today? I mean during my time we so they
- 21:06were in a transition, my early years from NAIA to division.
- 21:09Three. So we were not eligible my first
- 21:12two years but my Junior and senior one.
- 21:14Our conference title, I think we went on a streak of winning
- 21:17seven, straight years. So it's been a pretty good
- 21:21program and I went to a program that was at the very bottom.
- 21:26So whenever you do that you know, it's it's a little bit
- 21:28different. It's not what you're used to but
- 21:31like I said, I learned a lot and I'm not one to ever give up on a
- 21:36task. So I just kept plugging along.
- 21:38Why not chat him to Chatham? Was previously an all-women's
- 21:41school and it was converting, so I actually recruited the first
- 21:45men's program to so interesting. Yeah, what that's I.
- 21:51I've never encountered that, you know, the transition from women
- 21:56to co-ed on the athletic side as you were going through that,
- 22:00what were some of the struggles with that you already admitted?
- 22:03And I want to dig in that to is about struggling as far as
- 22:05coaching, right? So I'd love to learn more about
- 22:08that as well, but you get this all-women's school.
- 22:11That now, is adding men and so there and men's sports, how did
- 22:14that that? I don't know.
- 22:16I don't know if that feels like that.
- 22:17Be super hard but I also You know, the sex is send me when it
- 22:20goes on. Was easy.
- 22:21Getting guys to come to a talker.
- 22:22You know, what was that transition?
- 22:26Like it was a difficult one. I want to say in our first year,
- 22:32I think we only had 31 guys, that came in and, you know, six
- 22:38of them are cross-country guys. And I think the rest of them
- 22:41were basketball players, so there wasn't many men at the
- 22:45school. So, you know, it was Building
- 22:49period. And you know, I think they're
- 22:50still to date. You know, playing catch up
- 22:53there. I think they're getting closer
- 22:55to a ratio that you would see but it took a while for it to
- 22:58kind of take off with the men there.
- 23:01And what you mentioned kind of struggle in that first year, you
- 23:05already expressed, you know, about coming from a successful
- 23:08program to rebuilding new kind of program, was it when you
- 23:12said, you know, it's not what you were used to, you know,
- 23:14you're used to either winning or being in the hunt for
- 23:17championships, was it the the lack of winning that, that was
- 23:22weighing on you, or what was the actual weigh in on you?
- 23:24What would it be? Yeah, you know, cross-country,
- 23:28you know, it's interact to it's a team sport but it's also kind
- 23:31of individualized, in a way to, you know, from a team component,
- 23:35you know, used to being competitive used to, you know,
- 23:38running in the beach big meats and, you know, be able to be in
- 23:41the front pack, we didn't have that.
- 23:44So I had to kind of learn to, you know, which you know I said
- 23:47it was a useful thing for me. Is to compare, you know, this
- 23:52Runner to this Runner to this Runner you know, just compare
- 23:54them to their self and see the progress in them because I know
- 23:59you're not the end of day if we're getting better, that's all
- 24:02we can do. You know, I can magically have,
- 24:04you know five you know 1718 Fly Girls show up and run for us but
- 24:10I can take what I have and make them a little bit better.
- 24:13That's what I was wondering. You know, it's funny with
- 24:16coaching because on one side of the coin will talk about the
- 24:19people. And, you know, it's Joey and
- 24:21John and Talus and Tina but then we talked about, well, we
- 24:26weren't winning so we, you know, it wasn't enjoyable and I know
- 24:29winning is a, you know, I'm not dismissing winning and saying
- 24:32it's superficial but to your point there, if Tina is going
- 24:35from 21-minute 5K to 2030. Hey man, you've done him.
- 24:40That's coaching right there, that's that.
- 24:41We're not all. To win and most of us, by the
- 24:43way, most of us are not going to win winning this hard.
- 24:47There's only one in every week a petition that we go to.
- 24:51So so it's always interesting, you know, when new coaches,
- 24:55especially are going into it because because because
- 24:57sometimes we get so excited about coaching and it's like, oh
- 24:59man, I'm gonna be so awesome. Like, I had great mentors.
- 25:02I was an okay athlete, like, oh, man, I'm gonna go take over the
- 25:05world and then you realize again, winning is hard.
- 25:08There's a lot of things that go into it, so, is interesting, the
- 25:11mental side of it for you as As a, you know, you really a rookie
- 25:13coach at this point. Yeah.
- 25:16Now it's it takes some, some adjustment for sure.
- 25:19Yeah. When you were struggling with
- 25:22coaching and I might be over playing when you said you were
- 25:25struggling. At that point, I'm kind of in my
- 25:27head thinking like you're like, oh maybe this isn't what I
- 25:29should be doing. Maybe I should be either guess
- 25:31ID full-time or find another job, Etc.
- 25:33And I got a communications degree.
- 25:34I can find a lot of jobs. Who did you reach out to anybody
- 25:39during that time? I breakfast coach Snyder, coach
- 25:43Snyder. He is he's still there in the
- 25:47kind of, you know, talk to me off it, you know.
- 25:48Yeah. He was during his time, he was
- 25:52in a gym teacher throughout, you know, coach high school track,
- 25:56most of his time. He arrived at Saint Vincent the
- 25:59year before I got there. So he was there in 2007 would
- 26:03have been his first year at st. Vincent.
- 26:06So ya know, he knew what coaching could bring to the
- 26:09table, so And not trying to distill the legacy of what,
- 26:13coach Snyder meant to you and to those around you because, you
- 26:18know, how he affects, you affects others, right?
- 26:21So, not to distill it down to like a cliche quote, but was
- 26:24there ever like a, the best advice he ever gave you?
- 26:27There was a one-liner where there was an attitude
- 26:29adjustment, what was there ever? An see, you reckon your brain
- 26:33thinking of like because he probably had so many but was
- 26:35like one that you're like, oh my gosh, Schneider, you man.
- 26:37You nailed me. Thank you, man.
- 26:39There was, there's so many. Um, I don't know if I can just
- 26:42pull one here. Oh good.
- 26:48Yeah, I don't lie. Don't know if I can just pull
- 26:53water, that's there. It's so many along the way, you
- 26:56know, it was the, you know, the life lessons throughout our
- 27:00cross country season, you know, whenever we had, you know, his
- 27:06no little funeral get-together thing here, you know, we talked
- 27:10a little bit and Coach her mangino.
- 27:12He ran the program for so long. And then Coach Snyder came from
- 27:15a high school program to him. And he asked, you know, early on
- 27:18if he could read, you know, a paper to the team and it's
- 27:22called lessons from geese and it's just, you know, a little
- 27:26poem and you know, coach her all he said, you know, like these
- 27:29guys aren't going to listen to your reading.
- 27:30It's, you know, a bunch of college guys stuff like that.
- 27:33And it was one of those most immuno, impactful things you
- 27:37would hear every year, and you kind of look forward to it.
- 27:39You know, it's, you know, talking about you The geese fly
- 27:41in a V formation to help each other out how they trade-off
- 27:44that, you know, kind of corresponds with cross-country
- 27:46racing and right. All right.
- 27:47I never you know, when we're doing hard workouts and we see
- 27:49the geese flying above us, you know, it gives you a little more
- 27:51juice. What that's really awesome.
- 27:55We're going to look into that lessons from geese, right?
- 27:57Yeah, yeah. Okay.
- 27:58I can, I can I have a copy? I'll send it to you after they
- 28:00all do that. Please please, please.
- 28:01Yeah, we have geese right outside of our building.
- 28:04Let me tell you what. I don't like their lessons at
- 28:06all. Yeah, we don't we don't like
- 28:08them on a cross-country trip sometimes.
- 28:11All right, so two years at Chatham University.
- 28:13Where do we go next? And why?
- 28:15Yeah, so st. Vincent was, you know, a split
- 28:18job then it was a men's program went women's program and the
- 28:21women's Coach retired. So that kind of opened up an
- 28:25opportunity for me to come back. It was kind of a no-brainer for
- 28:28me, it's where I wanted to be. So I came back, I took the
- 28:32woman's job in 2015. So I was with men's
- 28:37cross-country indoor track outdoor track on the women's
- 28:40side and then holes it 2019. I took over Men's Track for
- 28:47indoor and outdoor. So I became the head of all
- 28:49track. And like I said, this upcoming
- 28:51fall, I'll take over men's cross country as well.
- 28:53So, I've conned a evolved over the years here, the take over
- 28:57more responsibility. So, how many years help me with
- 28:59timeline between when you graduated and came back as the
- 29:03with? Yeah.
- 29:04So, Is it? 2015 grad and then I came back
- 29:08at our 2012 Grand, I came back 2015.
- 29:10So there's about a three year window there.
- 29:12So we're not many kids. That would have been on the team
- 29:16with you. We're still there.
- 29:18No. There wasn't many there.
- 29:19Yeah. So more of the wrinkle to the
- 29:22story. There is so I met my wife here.
- 29:24She also ran cross country in elementary teacher during the
- 29:27day, but she's also an assistant on my staff.
- 29:31She did wrong with some of those girls in the earlier years.
- 29:35You know that first year of coaching whenever you know shoot
- 29:38she was on the staff and round some of the girls have made a
- 29:40little bit difficult. But yeah.
- 29:42Yeah. And so you said it was a
- 29:44no-brainer. And again, I've ever told you
- 29:48you're my heart for alums that work at their home honor but
- 29:51it's not a no-brainer for everybody, right?
- 29:53Some people want to get away from what undergrad was.
- 29:56Whether it was a good or bad experience.
- 29:58What was it? That was a no-brainer for you.
- 30:03You know I say st. Vincent is home for me, you
- 30:06know, I, you know, I talked about my coaches but even the
- 30:08whole Community, it changed me as a person without going into
- 30:13it too much. And I came from kind of a rough
- 30:16childhood broken home. I didn't have those figures that
- 30:19I needed, that's why st. Vincent, you know, meant a lot
- 30:21of people embraced, me changed my perspective on the life.
- 30:25You know. I say, you know, the three most
- 30:27influential people in my life were coach her, coach Snyder.
- 30:31My wife, all three were involved at st.
- 30:34Vincent's, that's kind of why, you know, every day, when I'm
- 30:37coming back on campus to work, it's, you know, truly the
- 30:39greatest place I could be, yeah, I can relate to that same.
- 30:43As far as the upbringing and during my undergrad in undergrad
- 30:46coaching at Troy, our head coach, they are Bob Lambert is
- 30:50now passed away. Same right.
- 30:52Like just changed my I gave me something that I'd been may be
- 30:55searching for my whole life in regards to a father figure
- 30:59didn't judge. Just love me.
- 31:01You know allowed me to do what I loved coaching track and field
- 31:04and yeah that makes a lot of sense.
- 31:05So you know we talked about kids maybe in the future so you know
- 31:09Troy University were Bob Lambert was my son's name is Troy.
- 31:13So when you if you have a boy you got to name them Saint.
- 31:17I mean Vincent Vincent Vincent do don't you say yeah?
- 31:21We'll see about that so you not Troy Alabama?
- 31:24Of course? Yes.
- 31:26So that's where I'm currently pursuing.
- 31:27My PhD from, is that right? I knew there was something
- 31:31Special about you Kevin, you know, Troy alums whether it's
- 31:35undergrad, grad or PhD, their different, their leaders, their
- 31:40the top of their class that is amazing.
- 31:42What are you getting your PhD in sports management, man?
- 31:46Yeah, I would the I stopped it undergrad because I can't even
- 31:49spell PhD. That is amazing.
- 31:51Is that right? Yep.
- 31:52And that's, that's dr. Hers doing there a little bit
- 31:55and, you know, my wife to people that have kind of, like, I said,
- 31:57push me along the way, maybe still have more st.
- 32:00Vincent started. A Sports Management program.
- 32:02So I'm trying to get my PhD so I can become a professor to, oh,
- 32:06wow. You know, you will be when you
- 32:08get your PhD in a very unique alumni of Troy University.
- 32:13So maybe the most famous is me, but then we have DeMarcus Ware,
- 32:18okay? Yeah, o co manyara played for
- 32:21the Giants. Right?
- 32:23Little known fact. Good friend of mine.
- 32:25Justin Gatlin. You know Justin by name.
- 32:28Yeah he got his undergrad degree.
- 32:30He. At Troy University, I've been
- 32:34petitioning to change our hundred-meter world record.
- 32:37I'm sorry. 100 meter School record to Justin's PR.
- 32:39I figure he's an Alum that you just it should just count.
- 32:42They're not going to go for it but whatever.
- 32:44And now you that's an illustrious and Charles Oliver,
- 32:48by the way coach. Oh I know you listen to me.
- 32:51They're great Alum, that's awesome.
- 32:52And I love that, that's the best.
- 32:55I'm like my whole day is made now because I know another Troy
- 32:58student in future Alum. So Let's talk about st.
- 33:02Vincent's. You've been there now?
- 33:03Which they say, 2015. Yes, this is your seven here.
- 33:07Seven in Crazy, your seven right in his in regards to coming off
- 33:11a 20 and 21. So, talk to me about st.
- 33:13Vincent, tell us, little bit more about the program for those
- 33:16of us who just don't know anything.
- 33:17It is di 3 we're in Pennsylvania.
- 33:20Yeah, D3. We're in the presence Athletic
- 33:22Conference. You know, like I said we've kind
- 33:25of been rich in, you know, men's cross country tradition.
- 33:28You know, it's kind of where it's actually been our most
- 33:30successful. You on campus, as far as
- 33:33Conference titles, bunch of individual Champions had a few,
- 33:38you know, National qualifiers along the way, all Americans.
- 33:42So, you know, the program has done pretty well in that sense
- 33:45on the men's side, from middle distance to distance.
- 33:49You know, I'm slowly trying to get the women's program up to
- 33:52that speed. You know, you talked about
- 33:55covid, kind of thrown a little bit of wrench and some things
- 33:57there. That's a, that's a big wrench.
- 33:59No little wrench yeah. No, little Definitely an impact.
- 34:03Like I said, I learned a lot. And I feel like over this last
- 34:13year, was probably my biggest growth year as far as learning,
- 34:16right? So, you know, recruiting is a
- 34:21difficult thing and I feel like past year I've started to get it
- 34:25a little bit you know I know what what we have.
- 34:28I can say well we have to offer to st.
- 34:30Vincent's so special to me. How do you portray that message
- 34:33to know to a potential recruit? So, you know, I'm very excited
- 34:38for what our future is looking like we have a good class coming
- 34:40in and you know, we have a current team that's already kind
- 34:44of ready to go. So it's going to be an exciting
- 34:45future for us. How many students and what's
- 34:48kind of the yes, our most popular Majors.
- 34:52Yeah. So we're let me think we're
- 34:53right around 1600 undergrad. As far as Majors business is
- 34:59strong in our school. Our signs, there's a kind of
- 35:03second to none in our area, we were really great in scientists,
- 35:08you know, especially people trying to go to med school,
- 35:09stuff like that. We've been very successful on
- 35:11both our men and women's cross country team in that area.
- 35:14I should probably say education to her.
- 35:17My wife would be upset with me. Our education program is very
- 35:21good. We've had some people, you know,
- 35:22out of our program come from there to so-and-so, back to the
- 35:26coaching side, the 3-ton. Take that pain, we talked about.
- 35:30So what's it like, Like, you talked about, I believe, let's
- 35:33make correct me if I'm wrong. Coach, her doctor, her coach,
- 35:36the women cross-country said, no.
- 35:39He was only on the men who you're taking over.
- 35:42It was a coach Snyder know. So his name was Tom Harvard.
- 35:46He would. It was a complete kind of split
- 35:49of program. Yeah so he so Tom didn't coach
- 35:52you though. He did not know God.
- 35:54Okay, so I was, I was curious about, you know, you said he was
- 35:57a longtime coach of the women's cross country program.
- 35:59Now you're going to be taken over and is like, oh well,
- 36:00what's that like Taken over someone.
- 36:02Okay with it was Tom who. Yeah.
- 36:04Who started the program? Who was also someone.
- 36:06That was here for, you know, decades.
- 36:07Yeah, we're and he was the first coach of the program and kind of
- 36:10ran until then, gotcha, gotcha. So, let's focus on if it's okay.
- 36:15And you, you know, you you run the show here.
- 36:18Meaning, if you don't wanna talk about it, you just tell me to
- 36:19move on, and I'll move right on. You mentioned, your wife, you
- 36:22met your wife there at st. Vincent.
- 36:25And she's now a tell you see, an elementary school teacher, third
- 36:28grade. Yeah, tell her she's probably
- 36:30listening. God bless you.
- 36:31You know, I've got a going into 6th and third grade I think
- 36:36she's not a third-grade, it's terrible.
- 36:37I don't know what buried my kids are in, but we just I mean now
- 36:40that when you have kids and you actually have to interact with
- 36:42teachers as a parent, not just as when you were a kid you see
- 36:46what they go through. What they do on a daily basis?
- 36:48The love that they pour in the kids your wife God bless her.
- 36:53We need more people and seriously we need more teachers.
- 36:57Were we have a shortage? But God bless you and what you
- 36:59do as a teacher and all you teachers Teachers that are
- 37:01listening because it is an unbelievable job.
- 37:05You're amazing, it's tough. You don't get thanked enough.
- 37:08So just thank you. So thank you, Kevin to your wife
- 37:11as well for that. So what's it like you said,
- 37:13she's on staff. Now I'm always curious and we've
- 37:16had, you know, a few married couples on staff on the podcast
- 37:20before I'm always curious about that separation of work in life.
- 37:24You know, when I come home, my wife, Amy will ask me well how
- 37:28was work and I almost always give a very cursory It's like I
- 37:31was good and move on because if it was a tough day you know, I
- 37:35don't want to relive it by telling her, you know it, maybe
- 37:39that's just bad. I kind of internalized it I just
- 37:41keep an internal right, what's it like?
- 37:43Working with someone on your staff as far as you know, with
- 37:47is she on your staffers you volunteer on your staff because
- 37:50that's sometimes she's on the staff yet.
- 37:52Perfect. Okay before time how do you you
- 37:56go home and the same person that you you guys struggled together
- 38:00at practice that One day, you're the same people coming home and
- 38:03cook a dinner for each other and do in life.
- 38:05How do you? I must ask you this way.
- 38:08How do you separate it? If you even do separate it, I
- 38:11don't think we do separate it. You know, I would say when we're
- 38:15at home, we know we talked about running, you know, it's an
- 38:18important part of our life. Like we said, we don't try to
- 38:22get to to up and down on, you know, what's going good and
- 38:25what's going, you know, bad in the program, it's more about the
- 38:28people that's kind of our biggest As you know, we try to
- 38:32be here for athletes. We were fortunate enough that we
- 38:36live, you know, five minutes from campus.
- 38:38So if someone needs something kind of get up to campus, you
- 38:41know, there's been, you know, multiple those calls stuff like
- 38:43that, you know, at the end of the day, we're both doing it
- 38:46because, you know, one, we'd love seeing Vincent into, you
- 38:50know, running was a very important part of us while we
- 38:53were here. We want to, you know, give that
- 38:55to our athletes as well. And you mentioned running is
- 38:58still an important part of your life.
- 39:00And it's not just in Coaching you are you still running?
- 39:04Trying to trying to? Yeah well before he record
- 39:07actually you're just talking about.
- 39:08We have commiserated with our Achilles tendons now because I'm
- 39:12getting close to having surgery. My man here.
- 39:15You tore your achille. That's a whole different
- 39:17ballgame before you get to that. So tell me about your running
- 39:20now you what do you do on the track?
- 39:22Donate hundreds or what are you doing?
- 39:24No I'm probably you know going out just two or three days a
- 39:27week just you know 56 miles here.
- 39:31I need to get a little bit better.
- 39:32I'd like to, you know, once the team gets back on campus here
- 39:35I'll probably run a little bit more at them and then I'll get
- 39:37my mileage up but you know, hopefully I can get back in that
- 39:4045. 50 mile range here. Soon and distance guys.
- 39:43It's a different breed man. Yeah right.
- 39:47You're running has caused you a little bit to be kind of an
- 39:51Internet Star as well. Sources, tell me by the way,
- 39:55he's my source, so it's no secret here, talk to us about
- 39:58that. How you became internet famous
- 40:00if you will. Yeah, so I ran the Boston
- 40:04Marathon crazy 2019. Okay.
- 40:08Um, I, you know, didn't have the race that I wanted.
- 40:13Had some Surly struggles mouth three had a calf cramp kind of
- 40:16you know kind of roughed it through about 10 miles and as
- 40:19well as on the day I had, I kind of figured you know where he's
- 40:21going to finish today. You know, I turn, you know, on
- 40:25Boylston Street and, you know, I, you know, see the finished in
- 40:27sight, see a guy kind of just staggering a little bit, you
- 40:31know, and that's, you know, kind of typical in a marathon.
- 40:33You know people's legs might be given out but he was a little
- 40:35bit were? Yeah.
- 40:36I can imagine what I would be looking like at that point.
- 40:39Sure. Yeah.
- 40:40But he was a little bit worse than that and I could kind of
- 40:42see it. So I kind of went over to check
- 40:44on him and he just you kind of tell you know, when that Runner
- 40:46he just wasn't there. So I started to help him, you
- 40:49know, maybe 50 yards later, another guy helped him, we held
- 40:52him across the finish line. And, and, you know, of course,
- 40:54they got captured on TV on all, you know, social media.
- 41:00So, you know, I, you know, get back to my, I didn't have
- 41:04anything on me and get back to, you know, our Airbnb and my
- 41:07phones. They're not have, you know, 80
- 41:09or 90 messages of people seeing me on TV.
- 41:12So from, so it was a little bit crazy for me at that time.
- 41:18Wow. I mean, so people this, it was
- 41:21one of those that, like, you know, the feel-good moment that
- 41:23blew up. Yeah, I know you can say that
- 41:26and, you know, kind of like I said during the interview
- 41:29process, you know, I wasn't doing it for any of that, you
- 41:34know. I'm just trying to help a fellow
- 41:35to run World stuff like that, you know, because I, you know,
- 41:38if I was in the situation, I hope someone would have done the
- 41:40same for me. Yeah.
- 41:42So, so I love that. That was the story.
- 41:45I couldn't hear what the actual story was, because I'm terrible.
- 41:48But this, so because this is what helps us lead to things
- 41:52that may have value for listeners, right?
- 41:54So let's have this conversation. Station Kevin and we see this, I
- 41:57don't want to see the slot that we see this at times
- 42:00specifically, in distance, cross country and distance races.
- 42:06And what I mean by this is we see an athlete struggling during
- 42:09a race. Now, you were doing it in the
- 42:12Boston Marathon, you weren't in the elite group actually, I
- 42:16didn't ask you where, you know, Lie group I wasn't.
- 42:20You know, with the elite group I was in.
- 42:22I was in the first phase behind them.
- 42:23That's a lie to me. But you weren't you weren't in
- 42:25the, you know, the guys that are running to 10 like trying to get
- 42:28a paycheck off of it right now. It's not good.
- 42:31So I'm going to call it at fear of upsetting you and offending.
- 42:34You kid. I'm going to call it.
- 42:36You were in a recreational spot especially because you said you
- 42:39weren't you were struggling. So you are PR in that day.
- 42:42I'll now, right? And you help someone that to me
- 42:44is different. That is humanitarian that's
- 42:48while you were in a race. That's to me is I'm jogging what
- 42:52a great scenario. Me jogging not ever going to
- 42:54happen by the way. But we're jogging in our
- 42:56neighborhood and we see someone struggling, and we would go up
- 42:58to help like that would be automatic, like, it would be, if
- 43:02you didn't do it. I'd look at you, like, why
- 43:03didn't they help? What's wrong with this person?
- 43:05Right, I'm talking about, we're in a cross-country.
- 43:08Me, it's the state meet. We're at the 2-mile at the state
- 43:12meet, and you're coming down the homestretch.
- 43:14Whether you're in first second third.
- 43:17Yeah, first thing, let's put for a second there because I've seen
- 43:18this happen, I've read about this happening in an athlete
- 43:22struggle and they stopped to help the athlete up.
- 43:25Up to help finish just good or bad.
- 43:28And I was just over there and then we'll add two.
- 43:31Is that good or bad? I think it's good.
- 43:35You know, I think, you know you talk about, you see it more in
- 43:37distance races because you know, because there are hundreds of
- 43:40little too quick and there was anybody stop for some who busted
- 43:43a hammy in the hundred. Yeah, but but we've seen a one
- 43:46of the most famous. This was an athlete, but one of
- 43:48the more famous ones was the Great Britain quarter mile ER in
- 43:52the 96 Olympics, where his dad came down Help that and that is
- 43:56also different that was Dad, right?
- 43:57But certainly no those competitors stopped and if they
- 44:00would have stopped to help him. Say I'm on the side that it's
- 44:04not good because I'm gonna meet. I'm a mean Grinch.
- 44:07No heart guy, I guess. So.
- 44:09Why is it good? Yeah, no I think it's different.
- 44:11If you know you're in that top three like but we've seen that
- 44:16we have seen and you know what, to those People's Credit that is
- 44:19some of the highest character you can have and Sir, agreed.
- 44:24And I think I think that's part of the sport wherein you know
- 44:27like I say track and field and cross country is I mean the
- 44:31greatest sport non-biased. Sorry.
- 44:33So many great people you know. Yeah I care and maybe that is
- 44:38the difference because I would always equate that let's use a
- 44:42football example, the receiver falls down the defensive back
- 44:48ain't picking them up now. That's part I don't care if the
- 44:51guys injured or not like it's like good, he's down, he's not
- 44:54able to make a play. You know, saying, and so, I
- 44:56always wonder what that example of will choose the two miles in
- 45:01his bowl upon a kid cost themselves and their team a
- 45:04place because they stopped to help someone on one hand, I'm
- 45:07with you. It's like man character that
- 45:10person that kid cares more about the her kid, then their own
- 45:14cells, come on. And then once you try to teach
- 45:17everyday plead, so on that I'm like, check, that's awesome.
- 45:22Another hand. I'm like, yeah, this is
- 45:23Athletics. This is competition.
- 45:25Ian so I struggle with it. Maybe I'm not 100% on the other
- 45:28side but I struggle with that be in the praise because I'd rather
- 45:31the praise be kid, runs the Twins and their runs a fast time
- 45:35or their tea, helps her team in the championship etcetera but it
- 45:38becomes this like I'm gonna tear you guys are going to send me
- 45:42hate tweets I just know it because it's like Kumbaya like,
- 45:45oh it's okay. As long as we all participate in
- 45:48a job, I think you're onto something there, you know, it's
- 45:51kind of kind of that participation trophy type thing.
- 45:54It's, you know, Your date still competition.
- 45:57You're okay to tell, don't BBS on me.
- 45:59Kevin, if you think I'm wrong, you tell me it's okay to
- 46:01challenge me. It's all right.
- 46:02Well, I see published this, I promise, I see I see both sides
- 46:05that are and that's why I try to see both sides to everything.
- 46:08Well this guy is going to be a politician, one day.
- 46:13I was really good. Kevin, that was good.
- 46:15No, I was just curious because I love what you did and I love
- 46:20that what you did and the Boston Marathon did blow up, not
- 46:24because it was for you. You or any accolades for you
- 46:26although you did get some and I'm that's awesome.
- 46:29You should because that's the kind of things we should lift
- 46:32up. We should lift up humans helping
- 46:34other humans, right? Because right now you turn on
- 46:36the news and it's humans doing bad things, the other humans,
- 46:39right? So I love that man.
- 46:40I'm glad that you that they was caught on camera and I'm glad
- 46:43that people recognized it. And, and I'm okay with you being
- 46:46embarrassed a little bit about it because it shows your
- 46:49humility, but I think it's a good thing man.
- 46:51Really, and it shows your character by the way.
- 46:54Thanks I appreciate it. Yeah, so what do you got
- 46:56excited? What's got you excited about
- 46:58seeing Vincent, man? We're we just finished up 2022
- 47:02when this is published World Champ.
- 47:03Still be going on. Has to be.
- 47:05I think so World. Champs is going on right now
- 47:08where your eyes are focused towards 2023 cross-country.
- 47:11The new women's cross-country class and teams under your
- 47:14direction which what's got you excited?
- 47:18I think just the you know the overall hold direction of our
- 47:20program where we're going you know going to try to hopefully
- 47:23you know put another good recruiting class together.
- 47:27Everything's looking pretty good early in the summer that getting
- 47:29some good contact. I'm excited for this fall, do
- 47:33for the cross country season. I think our guys are going to
- 47:35have pretty special team, our women are very young, but I
- 47:40think they're going to be able to do something that we haven't
- 47:42done in a while. No, I'm super excited.
- 47:47Take that and then we'll kind of springboard and track and see
- 47:49where out with that from the Trackside.
- 47:52You know, like I talked about we're trying to grow the
- 47:54program, right? Talk about that had a handful
- 47:56of, you know, just sprinters jumpers throwers that are on
- 47:59campus. You know, we're trying to start
- 48:02looking at recruiting people onto our campus for those events
- 48:05instead of just picking off campus.
- 48:07So yeah, we're actually in the process of hiring a full-time
- 48:10assistant, and jumps. That's kind of, you know, been a
- 48:15little bit the summer. It's not been the greatest.
- 48:17This process to date. We've had a few people back out
- 48:22stuff like that. So we had to reopen the search,
- 48:24so open the right person to come along.
- 48:27So talk to us as much as you can because when we start talking
- 48:29about personnel and Human Resources, you obviously,
- 48:32there's some things we just can't publicly state but more of
- 48:35is as the head coach? Is this your first time hiring?
- 48:38Yeah, this will be my first hire.
- 48:40Yeah, that fascinates me. Right?
- 48:41Because again this is something you didn't learn in college.
- 48:44Probably didn't discuss with Coach her.
- 48:47And Coach Snyder out of all the amazing conversations you
- 48:50probably didn't talk about how do you hire someone?
- 48:51How do you fire someone right now?
- 48:53What you're a bright guy when you find problems you go and
- 48:58figure out how to make solutions for them.
- 49:01So this is a problem meaning you've never hired before.
- 49:04What are you doing? Like there's plenty of people in
- 49:07your seat right now. Their first time head, coach has
- 49:09their first time able to hire an assistant coach for their
- 49:12program. It probably was pretty easy to
- 49:14hire your wife. Like I know where I trust her.
- 49:16Don't bring her on but now, You've got these strangers, you
- 49:19know, sitting in resumes that stuff.
- 49:21What have you done to learn about interview techniques
- 49:26resume analysis? What what what have you done to
- 49:29help you choose the right individual for the program?
- 49:33You know, I kind of assemble the staff within our department and
- 49:38they've kind of sat on the interview process with me.
- 49:40So it's just not, you know, my brain looking at these people.
- 49:43Yeah, interesting. I actually have our Sports info
- 49:45guy as one of them on there because you No.
- 49:48I mean he deals with a lot of coaches so like he's gonna be
- 49:49able to tell it, you know, I put my wife on their one because the
- 49:53person has failed to kind of work with both of us but she's
- 49:55usually a pretty good gauge of character.
- 49:59And luckily for me, our CFO was a sprinter / football player in
- 50:05college so he kind of gets the sprinting World a little bit,
- 50:08right? He's been sitting on some of the
- 50:09interviews to. So kind of got a good panel
- 50:12together, just trying to find, you know, the right person for
- 50:16us. I think.
- 50:17That is a really important lesson right there, instead of
- 50:20trying to do it on your own, you know who you want, you'll know
- 50:24who you feel in your gut to trust it cetera.
- 50:28Hey, you know what, I need some counsel here and I think that's
- 50:30that's a huge huge lesson there when you're doing these
- 50:35interviews and eat and even before that when you're
- 50:37reviewing who to do, maybe, I don't know if you do a first
- 50:40stage phone interview, or whatever, video interview, how
- 50:43much of it is. Are you asking about the X's and
- 50:46O's. So what is Your philosophy of
- 50:48coaching sprinters and jumpers and how much of it is maybe
- 50:52something else like character or communication leadership and
- 50:57maybe I'm missing something else.
- 50:58What what are you looking for as an assistant coach?
- 51:02Yeah, so the early you know, process has, you know, I look
- 51:04at, you know, all the kind of resumes and I do I've been doing
- 51:07kind of the first rounds kind of myself.
- 51:10I spend doing those through zoom in like I said the biggest
- 51:13things for me is one you know, can I work with this person?
- 51:15Because you let me share an office with Going to see him all
- 51:18the time to or they a good character person, you know,
- 51:22where they going to kind of fit the mold of Saint Vincent and be
- 51:25right for our student-athletes because I, you know, like I
- 51:27said, that's kind of the key of our program is they have to fit
- 51:30in here next, you know, I kind of value recruiting and I'm not
- 51:37saying they have to have ton of recruiting experience.
- 51:39It, can they go out and talk to, you know, high school kid, and
- 51:41get them interested because like I said, we're trying to grow a
- 51:44program here. And, you know, in order for them
- 51:47to be able to coach Ouch people, they're going to need to have
- 51:48people here. And like you said, coaching is,
- 51:51you know, probably forth on that list for me.
- 51:54And, you know, some people might think that's crazy but like you
- 51:56said, there's so many resources out there.
- 51:59As long as they're willing, there's a way you can learn.
- 52:02All right. All right.
- 52:04That's interesting because, you know, we kind of instinctively
- 52:07and I don't know that, it's necessarily the right instinct
- 52:10is oh yeah. Got to be the best coach in the
- 52:12world. It's like, well, you know, first
- 52:14of all, Define that. But how do you Be the best coach
- 52:18in the world, but you can't talk to your SSID, your CFO parents
- 52:22of recruits. Recruits Etc.
- 52:24High School coaches, Etc. So how are you sussing now?
- 52:28Because when you go in for an interview, we should be going in
- 52:33as ourselves like good and bad flaws and Perfections, right?
- 52:38Because if I come to you, Kevin to interview for your position
- 52:41and I'm not myself and you hire me.
- 52:45Well, you mentally going to find out who Myself really is and
- 52:48that might not become ascetic, right?
- 52:50But if I go and interview and I am who I am and you say, you
- 52:53know what, my I just I don't think it'd be a good fit, like
- 52:56that's a good thing. Like people think that is a bad
- 52:58things, like all you got rejected like oh no, thank
- 53:00goodness. You didn't go into a situation
- 53:02where you would have been miserable as well both of you
- 53:04both parties. So but but unfortunately,
- 53:07typically we go into interviews with the perfect.
- 53:12What's the word I'm looking for? Trying to be perfect?
- 53:14Trying to two things, one, how do I be?
- 53:17Again, Define that into how do I, what is Kevin one?
- 53:22How do how do I figure out what Kevin wants?
- 53:23And I'll act like that. So I can get the job and then
- 53:25now we'll figure it out. So how do you suspect you know,
- 53:29interview candidate versus Joe or who you know, Sally, whoever
- 53:34you're actually interview the person.
- 53:35How do you assess that out? No.
- 53:40I mean, you just kind of got to get the best read, you can.
- 53:43And, like I said, we, so, we actually, like, we went through
- 53:45the whole process, one time, the first guy, we were kind of
- 53:48interested in. He went back to his alma mater.
- 53:51I can't be disappointed with that.
- 53:52You know what I mean? Right, right.
- 53:54You know, I was happy for like, like, don't you cry?
- 53:57Don't you kind of low-key like that?
- 53:58Like yeah. Like, oh man, I picked the right
- 54:00person like, oh, this person would go back down.
- 54:02Of course. That's Captain I want, right?
- 54:04Yeah. I feel like it would have been
- 54:05an amazing fit but like, you know, I don't fault him.
- 54:10And the other person just didn't feel comfortable enough that
- 54:13they could do the recruiting side and like they openly told
- 54:16me that. And that's why they did it in
- 54:18like for my standpoint. You know, I was going to offer
- 54:21that person but they told me they did couldn't do it.
- 54:23So, you know, a long story kind of worked out probably for us,
- 54:25doesn't know as I say, hold on. We gotta dive in for this little
- 54:28bit as much as we can because that that's a win for for you.
- 54:33And that person you said that one of the top three things that
- 54:37you're looking for was recruiting Because Cuz I love
- 54:40how you said you like, if someone's going to Coachman
- 54:41Turtles, they need to recruit a team because when you got them,
- 54:43right. So, that's a top-three thing for
- 54:46you that person easily and maybe in a lot of cases that person
- 54:52would have said, oh yeah, yeah, I can recruit.
- 54:55Yeah, I'll get it done and inside there like not only do I
- 54:58not know how to really recruit but I also don't like it.
- 55:01Yeah, if you would have hired that person, they would have
- 55:05been miserable, you would have been miserable, and it would
- 55:08have ended a year. Two, three years down in five
- 55:11years down the, who knows how long it lasted and just like,
- 55:13oh, man, what a mistake. I really wanted that person to
- 55:16recruit and they just, they just wouldn't do it.
- 55:19And that person was like, what a mustachioed?
- 55:20It never worked for Kevin because, you know what?
- 55:22He was hammering on recruiting. And he knows, I'm not that good
- 55:24at it and it's like, well, you guys weren't honest with each
- 55:27other, you know, during the recruiting.
- 55:28So I think it's a huge win for both of you.
- 55:32Like seriously, that's, that's huge.
- 55:34No, I think, you know, in the end all be all is probably a
- 55:38good thing. No, we originally had a July 1,
- 55:40start date our new physical year or we're past that don't have a
- 55:44higher. Yeah, I started to think, you
- 55:45know, I kind of went to panic mode their little bit as a coach
- 55:47you know I got to get in here and then the more I thought
- 55:50about it, like I don't really need a track coach and probably
- 55:53till like September, I can handle a cross-country stuff
- 55:55myself. That's not worried.
- 55:57I just got to get someone in here and get ready for the track
- 55:58season. So you know, that's why we
- 56:01decided, you know, let's reopen this process if we get any more
- 56:04good applicants and kind of go from there.
- 56:07So, there are certainly people listening right now, that Are
- 56:10doing this. They're applying to st.
- 56:12Vincent's. They're applying to all the
- 56:15other job openings that are out there right now.
- 56:18What have you as you've gone through.
- 56:19So now you've done several of these.
- 56:21If you're like me certain questions you like there.
- 56:27We're going to ask this question during the process, right?
- 56:30Because it because you now have data like a hundred.
- 56:31Other people have answered this question.
- 56:33And I now, you know, from working with them, or not
- 56:35working with them, know what I'm looking for without giving away
- 56:39Secrets, what order are. So, someone, who's preparing,
- 56:43like what our interview questions that you are, your
- 56:45must must must ask questions. So that someone who's listen
- 56:48right now goes? Oh, I better know those when I
- 56:50go to interview for x and y z University.
- 56:53Yeah. So I mean, you know, like I said
- 56:55I the person that we're going to hire Very important are
- 56:57recruiting process, you know, like I'm not expecting them to
- 57:00everything but they're going to have to handle, you know, the
- 57:02track and field side a good bit, I'm going to be there assist as
- 57:04much like can't. So that's kind of where I drive
- 57:06my question from as you know what kind of you know recruiting
- 57:09strategy do you bring in? How are you going to attract
- 57:11recruits to st. Vincent because you know we feel
- 57:14once we can get them on campus. We stand a pretty good chance.
- 57:17We have something to offer but it's how do we get them on
- 57:19campus? You know my wife kind of always
- 57:22ask the question as you know we're just a distance program
- 57:25right now. You know what?
- 57:26Are in track season, we're right around 40 people.
- 57:29We want to, you know, we're looking to double that.
- 57:31We're we're 80 90 kits and you know those are going to be
- 57:34Sprint's jumps hurdles, you know how do you envision, you know,
- 57:38you merging, you know that group of people with our group of
- 57:41people and keeping our tradition and stuff the same So I love it.
- 57:47That's awesome. Because what you just described
- 57:48right there that's culture? Yeah.
- 57:50All right. You have a current culture.
- 57:53You're adapting and growing that culture as your program changes
- 57:57in much like Judd, Logan would have taught us about culture.
- 58:00You can either let the kids drive that and maybe off the
- 58:03cliff. Because we talked about 18, 19
- 58:04year-old kids, it's not their responsibility to know culture.
- 58:07At that point, it's the staffs responsibility.
- 58:10You have to lead leaders lead and you have to leave.
- 58:12Yeah and we you know, we have great Ins and, you know, you
- 58:15know, once we, you know, get the program going bigger, there will
- 58:17be a New Traditions but it's, you know, continuing those same
- 58:20ones build in the culture, you know, that the coach, her
- 58:23establishing our men's program for so long.
- 58:24I guess. Have we've been so successful in
- 58:26Cross Country? It's kind of my job and, you
- 58:28know, my right to him is to keep that ship going here.
- 58:31Yeah you got a lot to look up to there.
- 58:35I love it. Kevin man I'm so thankful.
- 58:38You know again one you're early in your journey so I knew there
- 58:43would be like this, you know? This one can be a 23 Hour
- 58:46podcast today, right? Because you're so early in your
- 58:48journey, but what's awesome about it.
- 58:50First of all again just such a heart for all alums who go to
- 58:53their alma mater. So I just love that but to I
- 58:55love even this early in your career, how much you're really
- 58:59affecting change. I mean it's one thing to be in a
- 59:02an established program as an assistant coach and learning
- 59:05from others that have done it for you.
- 59:07You know you have done that and your hands are in the muck.
- 59:11You're you know you're growing at st.
- 59:12Visit at st. Vincent as a Program, you're
- 59:15growing as a staff, which has to mean, if the track program is
- 59:19growing, that means the athletic department is growing which
- 59:21means the school is probably growing as well.
- 59:23So you're getting your PhD. You want to teach in the sports
- 59:27management school, I mean, it's amazing.
- 59:29What, it's awesome. As you know, I always think of
- 59:31people's lives and Journeys as a book because the book has
- 59:34chapters and maybe has sections of chapters, right?
- 59:38I don't know that we're past chapter 2 in your journey here,
- 59:41my friend. And that's a compliment that the
- 59:44the Lori is continue to be written.
- 59:46I can't, I can't imagine, I can't wait.
- 59:48I'm so excited to see what chapter 10 and chapter 20 and 30
- 59:52is going to look like for you and your wife in your program,
- 59:56which you have obviously such a huge huge heart, for ya know.
- 1:00:00I'm like I said, I'm excited. We'll see what the book has two
- 1:00:03right here. Moving forward.
- 1:00:05Yeah, here's the fun thing. We started talking about this in
- 1:00:07the past few weeks, on the podcast is, you know sit down
- 1:00:11with your wife and write out what you think.
- 1:00:14Ten years from now, so 2032. What's it going to look like?
- 1:00:17I'll be the head coach at st. Vincent, and will already have
- 1:00:20this many trophies and I'll be a professor and you know, maybe
- 1:00:24we'll have a family blah blah and then open it in 2032 in
- 1:00:30realize how you know? It's it's usually under gold
- 1:00:36meaning, you know, all we're going to.
- 1:00:37We're gonna win three titles and Bubba, blind psycho when you
- 1:00:40open 2032 is like, oh man, we 17.
- 1:00:42And we also had, you know, National trophy We had a little
- 1:00:45more element, it's just amazing. The plans that you think you
- 1:00:47have, and then what reality hits you with in successful, people
- 1:00:52to have a lot of success more than they think sometimes.
- 1:00:54So I can't wait, man. It's going to be exciting to see
- 1:00:57you continue to grow your such a growth phase, man.
- 1:01:00I love it. That's exciting.
- 1:01:02Yeah, now it's it's exciting times.
- 1:01:04So awesome, man. Well Kevin, thank you so much
- 1:01:08for your journey. I love that we got into some
- 1:01:11topics that we really haven't hit lately on the podcast.
- 1:01:14You know? I Of a real passion for the
- 1:01:16person who's doing the job. The person who's the coach, the
- 1:01:19person who's the head coach of all the other things that they
- 1:01:21do, you know, there's lots of as we've talked before, you know,
- 1:01:24we don't talk about X's and O's on here cause there's a lot of
- 1:01:26amazing podcast out there that talk about how to coach a
- 1:01:29distance, Runner better and it would be just a laughable
- 1:01:33conversation for you and I to have about how to coach distance
- 1:01:36Runner because I know nothing. I don't even like, you know, you
- 1:01:39guys don't want to go on for long runs and 10, 12 miles, I
- 1:01:41don't like driving 1012 miles, man.
- 1:01:43So Stuff is for you Birdseye me. But I love that we got to talk
- 1:01:48about hiring staff because that is a, there are so many people
- 1:01:53in your spot right now. They're hiring for the first
- 1:01:55time and no one has ever told them.
- 1:01:57No one has ever taught them, they've never even thought of
- 1:02:00it. Wait a minute, I have to make
- 1:02:02decisions on people in those people affect my program which
- 1:02:07means they affect my athletes and until you do it, sometimes
- 1:02:11you just don't know. So I love your candor about, you
- 1:02:14know, The process that you're going through, I think you mean,
- 1:02:17what a big lesson that you gave their about, hey, don't do it on
- 1:02:22your own, get a council. Get some others that have done
- 1:02:25it, get some others that have passion for your program as
- 1:02:27well, and listen to their feedback, right?
- 1:02:29Because they'll see things and hear things differently.
- 1:02:31So, I love that, man. I was a huge lesson, so much
- 1:02:34value that you brought here today on the podcast.
- 1:02:37Now like I said, you know, thanks for having me trying to,
- 1:02:41you know, offer I can help don't want to help the the track world
- 1:02:44because that's what it's about. Out, you know, as we said, and
- 1:02:46some podcasting us kind of nice thing about track coaches,
- 1:02:49they're always there to kind of help each other out.
- 1:02:51Thank goodness, because they're the greatest people in the world
- 1:02:54and you're one of them giving me again, thank you so much for
- 1:02:56being here today. You know, one of the most
- 1:02:58valuable things you'll ever give me as your time.
- 1:03:00And so I'm just so, so grateful for you today and and we're
- 1:03:04publishing this on my birthday. So it's July 25th and you're
- 1:03:07listening to this, you know, you might hit me up on Twitter.
- 1:03:09We'll see, I don't know. I'm not a big birthday, guys.
- 1:03:12I won't be offended, but we'll see.
- 1:03:13We'll see what I won't see me. Do it on my birthday is doing
- 1:03:16any kind of Boston Marathon. Any kind of thing like that,
- 1:03:18man, that's not happened. You can have that, are you
- 1:03:21running? Like, is this a normal thing?
- 1:03:22Like you run, You're Gonna Run next year and all this stuff or
- 1:03:24what's I won't be running Boston?
- 1:03:28Hopefully, the ideal, I'm looking at a Pittsburgh marathon
- 1:03:30in May, that's kind of my target date to maybe get to a back to a
- 1:03:33long race again. I love it.
- 1:03:35Oh that's right. Cause you're coming off the
- 1:03:36Achilles to. Yeah, that's true.
- 1:03:38Okay, well you have fun with that my friend and again, thank
- 1:03:41you so much for being here today and thank you for being here,
- 1:03:43listening. And just so humbled and
- 1:03:46appreciated that you spend time with us and listening to Kevin
- 1:03:48story. If this is your first time
- 1:03:49listening and you like Kevin story, you like listening and
- 1:03:52learning uplifting and honoring, the people who choose to be
- 1:03:55track coaches in this world. Go back and look at our backlog,
- 1:03:58man. We've got a huge library of just
- 1:04:00amazing people on the high school college, professional
- 1:04:03level. It's really, I think it's
- 1:04:06amazing cause they're amazing people.
- 1:04:07So maybe go check it out and find the one you like otherwise
- 1:04:10check us out. Next week, we'll be back and
- 1:04:12bring you another amazing coach in this awesome world.
- 1:04:14Have a great day. Thanks Mike what an incredible
- 1:04:24journey coach has been on so awesome to hear their story in
- 1:04:27their own words, tremendous proof of the positive effects
- 1:04:30coaches make on a daily basis. Help us spread the word of this.
- 1:04:33Great journey by sharing on your favorite social, media channel.
- 1:04:36And don't forget to take a minute to rate and review the
- 1:04:38podcast. You just might get a shout out
- 1:04:40on a future episode, that's it for today.
- 1:04:43Join us next week, when we'll connect you with another amazing
- 1:04:46country.