On this episode something a little different. As the 2024 season draws to a close I was doing a review and reflecting on some of the things the coaches I have interviewed over the last 4 years have said that have stayed with me afterwards. As I was scribbling them down, I thought I would turn it into a short podcast. And so here are my top 10 and a short description of why this resonated with me. For some of you, listening to these audio grabs might not be so surprising, but for me, coming from the corporate world, they challenged my thinking and, in some instances, altered my behavior. They are not in order of impact. I tried to rank them like that, but it was too hard. I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know how you feel about it and, if you are a regular listener, whether there is a sound bite or particular interview that resonated with you. I will gather these and do a listener version of this podcast format next season.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode focuses on Pep Guardiola, and I am joined for the discussion by Dr David Turner, who has been on the podcast many times before and is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge, UK.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please get in touch with us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Roy Masters. Roy is an Australian sports journalist and former rugby league football coach.He started life as a schoolteacher in the NSW countryside coaching school sides and by 1974 had been appointed as the Australian coach of the Australian School boys’ team. He then became coach of a youth team at the professional club Penrith Panthers before becoming the Head Coach of the Western Suburbs Magpies in 1978. He was a Head Coach for 10 years, and on three occasions, he was coach of the year and twice runner-up on Grand Final Day. He then walked away from Coaching and started life as a journalist. In 2012, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to sport and journalism. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Nicole Pratt. As a player, Nicole reached a career-high ranking of #35 and won 4 ITF singles titles. As a doubles player, she reached a doubles ranking high of No.18 (September 2001) and captured nine WTA doubles titles and nine ITF doubles titles. She then switched to coaching with the Australian Institute of Sport and worked with players and coaches transitioning onto the WTA tour. She has worked with a long list of players, including Daria Saville, Ashleigh Barty, and Casey Dellacqua, and is presently the Women’s Coach lead and National Teams coach at Tennis Australia.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode focuses on the athlete-coach relationship and how the quality of the coach-athlete relationship will influence measurable performance. I also found this fascinating through the lens of the corporate world and how relationships there can impact cohesion and results.  Professor Sophia Jowett, who teaches at Loughborough University, joins me for the discussion. Sophia is also a Psychologist, and her work focuses on interpersonal relationships in sports, particularly the impact of the athlete-coach partnership. Dr David Turner, who has been on the podcast many times before, is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge, UK.These are the links Professor Sohpia refers to:Empowering the athlete: The coach-athlete partnership - NCSEM-EM Working together for performance excellence | Tandem (tandemperformance.com) If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please get in touch with us at [email protected] or contact us through our website,thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Tarr is a Wheelchair Rugby Coach.As an athlete, he represented Great Britain in 3 Paralympic Games, 3 World Games, and 3 European Championships.Rob was part of the coaching team that won gold in Tokyo 2021, the head coach for the inaugural low-point World Championships, which won gold in 2022, and the gold-winning team at the Women’s Cup in 2023. These days, he is an assistant for the men's Wheelchair Rugby Team and works in Coach Development for World Wheelchair Rugby in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Central America. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Dean Smith. Dean Smith is an American Basketball coach who led the the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's team for 36 years. When he retired in 1997 he had 879 career victories, which was the NCAA Division I men's basketball record at that time. During his tenure as head coach, North Carolina won two national championships and appeared in 11 Final Fours.This is a posthmous interview and I used these books to create it.The Carolina Way: Leadership Lessons from a Life in CoachingIt's How You Play the Game: The 12 Leadership Principles of Dean Smith Dean Smith If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Vésteinn Hafsteinsson.Vesteinin is an Icelandic Olympic discuss thrower who is now considered the most successful discus coach in the history of the sport. He represented his native country at 4 summer Olympic games and five world championships. As a coach he has worked with World and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter and Olympic silver medalist Joachim B. Olsen and is currently coaching Daniel Ståhl and Simon Pettersson the gold and silver medalists at the Tokyo Olympics. In all his athletes have won 19 international championships medals including five medals from in the Olympic Games. Vesteinn sounds a lot like Arnsold Sw and as a result I was on my toes for this terriric interview with a coach who has a deep fuctiponal specialization.some of the key highlights were:His view that athletes are owned by society and so must be good role models.How he lays out the path to an Olympic medal requiring 70 training campes, 200 meets and 4000 training sessions.The role that speed and rhythm play in his training. And how describes how this must come together in the 1 second when someone throws a discuss.And The importance of happiness and calmness and how he helps his athletes find this so that they can perform at their best.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony OcConnor is a rowing coach.As a rower he represented Ireland at 2 Olympics and won 5 medals at the World Championships in the men's lightweight pair.After retiring he took up coaching and now lives in New Zealand where he is also a school teacher. In 2021 he was appointed the coach for the New Zealand men's eight, which won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.As part of this, he also featured in a documentary called The Rowing Teacher. This interviee was recorded in May 2024, and the the gold medal team Tony talks about has disbanded and did not go on to compete in Paris 2024.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode focuses on the topic of Coaches as Educators. And I'm joined in the discussion by two great coaches. The first is Valorie Kondos Field. Ms. Val, as she is known, led the UCLA gymnastics team from 1991 to 2019, collecting seven National Championships along the way. She now leads the course "Transformative Coaching: Introduction to Philosophies of Coaching and Leadership" at UCLA. Kirk Walker, the Associate Head Coach of the UCLA Bruins softball team, has a career that started in 1984 and has contributed to six Women's College World Series championships. We cover a lot of ground in this podcast, and some of the highlights for me were: The alter-ego coaches can let their worst side come to the fore. This alter-ego is the person who thinks they have to have all the answers, is black and white on issues, and does not encourage discussion. Keeping this person in check requires you to focus on what success is, and that is Coach Woodens' success: the piece of mind that comes from knowing you did your best and grounding your team in fun. Using sport as a metaphor to educate people about life supersedes the importance of the X's and O's and wins or losses. Therefore, your role as an educator is your "major mission." Influencing people is perhaps the fundamental role of leadership, and when you do this, you are educating people. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you; please get in touch with us at [email protected] or contact us through our website, thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Tom Herman. Tom is An American Football coach. After graduating univsierity he began his coaching career in 1998 at Texas Lutheran as a receivers coach. He then took a position in 1999 at the University of Texas at Austin as a graduate assistant under the mentorship of Greg Davis. He then joined Texas State as the offensive coordinator in 2005.From there we went to Rice where he helped set up the program. Then in 2011, Urban Meyer selected Herman as his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Buckeyes. He was then hired by by Houston as its new head football coach in 2014, before joining power house Texas as Head Coach in 2016. Then in 2022 he was announced as the Florida Atlantic Owls head coach. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Fred Vergnoux. Fred is a swimming coach. He started his career as a coach in France with the club Racing Paris. He then headed over to the USA and took jobs working for people like Greg Troy to gain deeper knowledge if the sport. This would lead to him to eventally being appointed as the Head Coach for the City of Edinbourgh in Scotland in 2004, and then in 2008 the Head Coach of the Great Britain Olympics team. From there he moved to Spain and became the Spanish team head coach in 2010, and in 2022 was appointed the Head Coach of the Belgium swim team.His athletes’ accomplishments:8 World records11 European records3 Commonwealth records9 South American records6 Olympic medals22 World Championship medals38 European Championship medals The importance of surprising people in traiing , so that they can see how they are progressing through different activities that shake them out of their routine. The way he talks about athletes renting space in your head, and why its so important to take breaks and time away to keep yourself fresh and connected to your family. How the key to success is the relationship between the athlete and the coach.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode focuses on the coaches, who the Great Coaches we have interviewed, have called out for praise or recognition. And we put this episode together because we wanted to hear from you. If there is a coach who had had an impact on your life then we would like to hear from you. Grab your phone and send us a recording explaining who they are and what they did it that resonated with you and we will put them together into a listener episode. Send your audio to [email protected] And just before we go the podcast, this episode is dedicated to John Rea who recently passed away. John is the father of Caitie who works with us in the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Shaun Wane. Shaun is a former Rugby League player and now coach. He started coaching with his old club Wigan in 2003, leading the youth academy team to 7 Academy Grand Finals and 6 League Leaders’ Shields. Then in 2011 he became the clubs Head Coach and went on to win three Super League Grand Finals, a Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge. In 2020 he was then appointed as the England Rugby League team. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a player Greg Cannella was a High School All American, and a an All American while at Nassau Community College.After graduating he spent time as an Assistant at Stony Brook before becoming Head Coach at his alma mater the University of Massachusetts in 1993.Since then, he has gone to achieve eight NCAA Tournament berths, Eight New England Championships, 4 ECAC Championships, five New England Coach of the Year honors and was named National Coach of the Year in 2006, when he guided the Minutemen to the program's first NCAA Championship Game appearance.In 2019 he was inducted int the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a player Franco Smith represented South Africa as well as playing for clubs in South Africa, Italy, France and Wales. He started his professional coaching career in 2006 with the South African team the Cheetahs. Then in 2008 he became Head Coach of Benneton in Italy, guiding them to 2 National Championships, a Coppa Italia and a Supercup. In 2015 he became Head Coach of the Cheetahs and lead them to two Currie Cup titles in 2016 and 2019. In 2019 he was appointed Head Coach of the Italian National Team, and then in 2022 was appointed Coach of the Glasgow Warriors. In his first year with them team he led them a top-four URC finish as well as guiding them to their first European final.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, my firend Jonathan Cole and I are joined by owen Jordan who has just written a terrific new book called Wise Words: Thoughts and Beliefs of Great Coaches. And today we talk about some of the key things he has learned about coaching and leadership while putting the book together. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shaun Caven was born in Scotland and started coaching canoeing when he was 16 years old. He progressed until he was the coach of the national team in 1997.He then went on to lead the British Junior and Senior teams before moving to the USA in 2008 to lead the program at Oklahoma City University team. That team went on to win National Championships leading to him being appointed coach of the USA team at the 2009 World Championships.He then transitioned into coaching para-canoe and lead the USA team to 2016 Paralympics. In 2019 he moved to Australia and now leads the National Para-canoe team.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Lisa Alexander. Lisa was the coach of the Australian Netball team, known as the Diamonds, from 2011 to 2020.  During that time She oversaw gold medal successes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Netball World Cup, as well as silver medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019 Netball World Cup.We first interviewed Lisa in June 2020, soon after she had finished with the Diamonds. And since then, she has been a great supported of the podcast, encouraging us, offering feedback and introducing us to some other great coaches along the way. Recently however she started worked with Code sports interviewing some of the top netball countries in Australia as well as a recent deep dive with Eddie Jones. The interviews go a lot further and deeper than what you often get when coaches are interviewed about their teams and so we asked her to come back on to the podcast to talk about what she has learnt through that series of intervies.You can follow Lisa here:XInstagramLinkedInIf you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Andy Shay. Andy is a former Lacrosse player who started coaching as an assistant for four years under Greg Cannella at the University of Massachusetts where he helped the team win three New England titles. Then in 2003 he was named the Head Coach of Yale where he has gone on to lead the team to the 2018 NCAA Championship, five Ivy Tournament Titles and three regular-season Ivy League Championships. Under his leadership the team also regained the #1 National ranking for the first time since 1883.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Sjoerd Marijne. Sjoerd is a Dutch former field hockey player and now coach. As a player he twice won the Dutch National Championship and EuroHockey Club Champions Cup. He then transitioned into coaching, first with youth teams, eventually leading the Netherlands U21 women to the gold medal at the World Cup and the U21 men to a Bronze at the World cup. In 2015 he was appointed Head Coach for the Dutch Women, then in 2017 led the Indian Men to gold at the Asia Cup, before leading the Indian Women’s to their momentous 4th at the Tokyo Olympics. In 2021 he was voted 'best coach in the world of a women's team' by the international hockey association. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pat Summitt was an American basketball player who won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics and then transitioned into coaching leading the USA team to a Gold at the at the 1984 Olympics. However its as the coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012 that she is most famous. Over her career she amassed 1098 wins and led the team to 8 NCAA championships.She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of fame in 1999, was named the Naismith Basketball coach of the century in 2000and in 2012 was awarded the Presidential medal of freedom in 2012. After 38 years leading to Tennessee, she retired from coaching at the age of 59 due to a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. She would eventually pass away in 2016 at the age of 64. She is mentioned so frequently by the Basketball coaches that we interview that I have decided to learn more about her life and this led me to put together a posthumous interview with her based on her words. I used 3 books to create this discussion all of which she wrote.Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in PerspectiveReach for the Summit: The Definite Dozen System for Succeeding at Whatever You DoRaise the Roof: The Inspiring Inside Story of the Tennessee Lady Vols' Groundbreaking Season in Women's College Basketball This episode was fascinating to put together, Pats coaching style was, by her own admission, very challenging and but in the context of her background and the times in which she was coaching I can also understand why it was this way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Alf Galustian. Alf started his career playing for Wimbeldon in the UK. Knee injuries cut short his career and he transitioned into coaching. In 1984 he founded Coerver® Coaching, along with Chelsea great, Charlie Cooke. He has gone on to work as a Coach with 17 national federations including France,Brazil, England and Japan. As well as a coach instructor with over 50 top professional clubs including Bayern Munich , Manchester City, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Benfica, Roma, AC Milan,Newcastle United, Juventus and Arsenal.  If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nell Fortner is a former basketball player and now coach. As a player she went to the University of Texas and led them to the #1 National ranking and played for the USA. As a coach she has over 40 years of coaching experience at high school, college, pro and international level.The highlights of her career are a Big Ten champion (1997) and a SEC champion (2009). She also led the USA National Team to gold medals at the 1998 FIBA World Championship and 2000 Olympic Games.[7] and was named the 2000 USA Basketball Coach of the Year. She is preselty the Head Coach of Georgia Tech, If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is on the topic of Leadership Identity and we are joined for the discussion by Allister McCaw, Alistair is that rare person who excels across disciplines and industries. In addition to being an author who has sold over 300,000 books, his podcast ranks in the top 1% in the world, and for the last 25 years he has also consulted and worked with Olympic Gold Marriage, Grand Slam Champions, Fortune 500 companies, NCAA Colleges, and Professional sports teams. We love the interaction with the people around the world who listen, and so if you have any feedback or comments please let us know. And if their positive ones, then please let your friends know too! All the details on how to connect with us, are in the show notes or on our website, thegreatcoachespodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Al Scates. Al is  a former American volleyball player and volleyball coach. As a player, he was selected as a collegiate All American, and also represented the USA National Team. He transitioned into coaching in 1964, and went on to be the head coach of UCLA for 48 years. He went on to become the winningest volleyball coach in the history of the NCAA, securing 19 NCAA titles, which ties him for the most NCAA titles won by a coach in a single sport.Al was selected as the NCAA coach of the year in 1984, 1987 and 1993. His teams hold ten NCAA records, including most consecutive victories (48), most consecutive home wins (83) and most consecutive tournament wins (14). He was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1993.At 84 Al is still sharp and insightful, and with a positive an optimistic view of the world. In our interview some of the highlights for me wereThe training method he used that encouraged players to move up and down across capability groups that were separated by a blue curtain. And how this encouraged work ethic and produced an egalitarian approach to selection. The quotes he reads from the book by John Wooden that he influenced him so greatly as a young coach. In particular the four law of learning and the stories he tells about the winning teams he had across each of 5 consecutive decades.  This was a wonderful conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Bill Sweetenham. Bill is an Australian swimming coach, who first started training athletes in the 1970’s in the rural Australian town of Mount Isa. His coaching career progressed quickly and he coached at his first Olympian in 1976. His swimmers have delivered 27 Olympic and World Championship medals and have broken 9 world records. I first interviewed Bill in early 2022, and the discussion was a complete masterclass. He talked about meeting Nelson Mandela and the Great Boxing coach, Angelo Dundee. As well as sharing insights from his long and successful career. We stayed in contact after that interview, and Bill would occasionally add me to emails that he sent to friends containing his observations on sport and life. There was one particularly special one he shared which was a book he had written for his grandchildren after visiting Africa. I recently had the opportunity to visit the part of Australia where Bill lives and I asked him if he would be open to another interview, where we could discuss some of the ideas he had shared in those emails with me. Todays podcast is that conversation recorded in June 2024. We cover mental health, team collaboration and the value of volunteering. Bill was very open and introspective as he was in the throws of finishing a book called ignorance screams whilst wisdom listens. It was agreat experience for me to spend this time with Bill and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did, If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Barry Dancer. Barry Dancer is a is a former Australian field hockey player and coach of Australian men's national field hockey team. As a player he competed in 48 international matches for Australia between 1973 and 1979. he was a member of the men's hockey team that won a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He began coaching late in his career as a player eventually going on to lead the Great Britain men’s team at the 2000 Olympics. In 2001 he was then appointed the Head Coach of the Australian men’s team and led them to 2 Commonwealth Games gold, 2 Champions Trophies and an Olympic Gold in 2004 and Bronze in 2008.Barry is a coach with a deep well of wisdom, built from many years of success and failures. The highlight so our interview were: How he challenges himself each day with the questions: what have I done today to improve the way that I or my people do things? The learnings he has on managing workload and obsession as a coach and finding a balance that allows you to maintain your energy. And The way he talks about the idea of Belonging and he uses it to remind people of the privilege of being part of something that has a long history, and a bright future. And how this became a motivating factor not something that weighed people down. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is on the topic of Mindset as a superpower, and we are joined for the discussion by Allister McCaw, Alistair is that rare person who excels across disciplines and industries. In addition to being an author who has sold over 300,000 books, his podcast ranks in the top 1% in the world, and for the last 25 years he has also consulted and worked with Olympic Gold Marriage, Grand Slam Champions, Fortune 500 companies, NCAA Colleges, and Professional sports teams. He has a new book out called Mindset is Your Superpower and today we delve into it.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Shane Beamer. Shane is an American Football Coach. He started as a coach in 2000 after finishing as player with Virginia Tech. He then held positions with the University of Tennessee, Mississippi State, the University of Georgia and then University of Oklahoma where they won 3 Big 12 Championships. He was then appointed head Coach for the University of South Carolina In 2020. IN his first year he won the Duke's Mayo Bowl and is the first South Carolina coach to back-to-back games against top 10 teams. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of having a Billion Dollar Mind And my good friend and co-host Jonathan Cole who is himself an Executive Coach are joined by the great tennis coach Rick Macci, who has worked with players like Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova Andy Roddick, and Jennifer Capriati. He is also a 7 times USPTA national coach of the year and in 2010 was inducted into the USPTA Hall of Fame. and If you have seen the move King Richard his character was played by Jon Bernthal. And Dr. Nivedita Jerath, a Harvard-educated neurologist, who together have written a book called A Billion Dollar Mind that addresses the core issues behind negative thought patterns, and helps reshape your mindset with neuroscience-backed techniques and proven strategies.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gail Goestenkors is a former All American player and Coach. At just 29 years of age she was appointed as Head Coach of the Duke Womens program and led them for 15 seasons including 4 final fours and 2 national runners up. She was the ACC coach of the year on 7 occasions, and on 3 occasions led the team to undefeated regular seasons. She has also led the University of Texas and been a Coach on the USA Women's team.Her teams have gone on to win five ACC tournament championships and eight ACC regular season titles. Gail also holds the ACC record for fewest games required to achieve 300 wins (387 games). In 2007 she was the Associated Press National Coach of the Year (2007) and in 2006  USA If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jess Thirlby is a former England netballer and now coach. As a player she represented England in youth teams all the way to the senior team. She began coaching England National Youth teams while still a player and then retired at 26 to take up coaching full time. She went on to lead Bath to 3 super league titles and in 2019 was appointed England Head Coach. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Alan McConnel. Alan is a former Australian Rules Football and now coach.In 1996 he was appointed as the coach of the Fitzroy Football club for the final 8 games in their 113 year history before they were merged with the team who were then known as the Brisbane Bears.After Fitzroy he joined Geelong under Mark Thompson and was then appointed Head Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport leading Australian best male youth.From there he moved to the newly formed GWS Giants as the Director of Football. Then in 2017 he was appointed the senior coach of the Giants' AFL Women's side becoming the first person to coach both a Men's and Women’s side at the highest level.At present he is a member of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) High Performance Coach Development team where he mentors and supports some of the nations best emerging and elite high-performance coaches.In 2022 he was awarded the Neale Daniher Lifetime Achievement Award, which is awarded to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the game over a 'footy' lifetime.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of 2 great soccer coaches Jose Mourihno and Arsene Wenger, and its led byDr  David Turner David at Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge in the UK. We unpack the background of both coaches and how it shaped who their style, critical incidents in their careers and the key lessons that come out of their journeys. We have had Dr David on before and he always brings an interviewing perspective to the aer ans science of elite level coaching. And to that end, listen out for his thoughts on hubris syndrome towards the end of the podcast. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrej Lemanis is a former professional basketball player and now coach.As a player he won the Australian National championship with the South East Melbourne Magic in 1992. He then transitioned into coaching holding various assistant roles until he was appointed head coach of the New Zealand Breakers in 2005. That team would ultimately go on to win 3 consecutive Championships, helping Andrej to be appointed to as the Australian Men’s coach in 2013. He would go on to take the Australian team from a world ranking of 11 to 3, its highest ever and go to become the winningest national coach ever. He is presently the coach of Altria Chiba in the Japan league. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s Episode is on the topic of Chasing Influence. And I am joined for the discussion by my friend Murray Noble who is the President of the Melbourne Baseball club and Dr Troy Urdhal who has just written a terrific book called Chasing Influence. The books is half story and half reflection on his learning as an educator and coach, with a deep-rooted passion for inspiring positive change in the lives of others. Troy has a doctorate in Educational Leadership and boasts over two decades of experience in leadership and coaching in the U.S. Troy's details are:Substack: www.chasing-influence.comX: @TroyUrdahlX: @chaseinfluenceemail: [email protected] If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Great Coach on this episode is Glenn Pocknall Glenn is a cricket coach with over 20 years experience at the elite level. He started coaching in 2002, learning through coaching youth representative teams. He eventually joined the Wellington Firebirds in the New Zealand National league as an Assistant coach. He then went to England, Ireland and the Netherlands to gather international experience and in eventually returned to New Zealand and became the Wellington Head Coach. In that role he led the team to win all 3 domestic titles, Ford Trophy (50over) in 2019, Plunket Shield (four day) in 2020 and back-to-back Super Smash (t20) titles in 2020 and 2021. In 2021 he was given his first chance to lead the New Zealand National team in a T20 series. Glenn has a deep commitment to self development and the craft of coaching and in this gem of an interviewsome of the key highlights were:The story of how he wrote a 10 year vision for himself that led him from being a factory worker to eventually coaching the NZ cricket team.The way he uses routines and imagery to help combat negative self talk with athletes.And The answer he gives around tryng not to give feedback but instead just to listen, and why this is difficult as the leader but can also be so powerful.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode focuses on the topic of Legendary Coaches and I am joined for the discussion by Dr David Turner at Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge in the UK, and Valorie Kondos Field, universally known as Ms Val. Both have been on the podcast before Dr David in his role as a leading academic on coaching and Ms Val as a Great Coach. Ms Val led the t UCLA gymnastics team from 1991 to 2019, collecting the seven national Championships along the way and she now leads the course “Transformative Coaching. Introduction to Philosophies of Coaching and Leadership” at UCLA. I have been looking forward to getting Dr David and Ms Val together for a long time now to talk about the Great Coaches they lecture on in their programs and today is a master class in what they have learnt on their teaching journeys. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Matt Busby was the Head Coach or as they say in Soccer, Manager, for Manchester United from 1945 until 1969.He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup which he did in 1968. As a player he won the FA cup with Manchester City and as Manager, won it twice. He also won the League title on 5 occasions. But as you will hear in this podcast, it’s not necessarily the titles that make him a Great Coach.It’s the way he helped Manchester rebuild after the second world war. And then, the way he and his team responded to the tragic events of 1958. When the team were traveling home from a European Cup match when their plane crashed on the runway. In total 23 people died, including 8 Manchester United payers, while 2 other players were injured so badly they never played again.Matt Busby died in 1994, and in this episode, I am going to create a posthumous discussion with him based on his words as read by a voice actor. I used 3 books to create this discussion, 2 of which he wrote.Sir Matt Busby by Patrick BarclaySoccer At The Top: My Life in Football by Matt BusbyMatt Busby My Story as told to David R. JackThis episode was challenging to put together, but it was also fascinating given the present state of his beloved Manchester United in 2024 season and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Todays episode is on Emotional Control And I am joined for the discussion by 3 Dr’s. Dr. Michael Mantell who among many things has been the Chief Psychologist for San Diego’s Children’s Hospital and the San Diego Police Department, as well as working with elite athletes.Website:https://drmichaelmantell.com/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaelmantellFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/drmichaelmantell/Email:[email protected] Dr. Darin Davidson, an Orthopedic surgeon who also coaches professionals in high demand, high pressure environments.Website:www.darindavidson.comLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/darin-davidson-md-mhsc-frcsc-1478a974Email:[email protected] And Dr. Brendan Meany a sport and performance psychology, whose work focuses on optimizing individual and group performanceWebsite:UpDocYoga.comLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-meany-edd-54a99393/Email:[email protected] Together they are known as the performance doctors and pool their talents to help teams and individuals improve their emotional control. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Linn Dunn is an American basketball coach.She coached for 25 seasons at the college level, winning 447 games and going to the NCAA championships on 7 occasions. She then went on to be first coach and GM of the Seattle Storm in the WNBA, bringing superstars Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird into the team. In 2009 she was then appointed head coach of the Indiana Fever, and in 2012 that team go on to win the WNBA championship.She has also coached at the Olympics and World Championships with the USA women's team. Has been named coach of the year on 4 occasions and is a member of seven different athletic halls of fame.At 74 years of age she has now returned to the Indiana Fever as the GM.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast we explore the Leadership traits that we have found from analyzing the transcripts of the 200+ Great Coaches we have interviewed. If you would like to test your leadership against theres you can take our free, anonymous diagnostic here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/survey-intro/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ante Milicic is an Australian soccer Coach and former professional player. As a player he represented Australia and won National Championships and was the first player to score a hat-trick in the A-League. After retiring he moved in to coaching straight away with becoming player/coach for Sydney United in 2009. At the same time he became an Assistant coach for the Australian U20 team. From there he was an assistant coach to Ange P at the 2014 WC in Brazil and the 2015 victorious Asian Cup as well as assistant to Bert Van Marjwick at the 2018 WC in Russia. In 2019 he was appointed as the Australian Womens National Coach and led them to the Round of 16 at the World Cup. In 2020 he was then named as the inaugural Head Coach for the new National league Mens team Macarthur.Some of the key highlights areHow he talks about his first task when taking over the Matilda’s was to ask all the staff to present their role and responsibilities to him. And how this brought a level of calmness to the group.How his time coaching both men and women at the elite level has taught him about the importance of taking time with players as individuals and helping them prepare through either technical or emotional information.How the feeling that he didn’t do enough with the talent he had as a player now shapes the way he works with helping people develop mental strength.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Bohannon is an American Football coach. He started as an Assistant with Gardner-Webb in 1996, and then over the next 17 seasons progressed through roles with Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech. In 2014 he started as the inaugural Head Coach for Kennesaw State. That team has gone on to become the the best five-year start-up program in college football history. Along the way he has won 3 Big South Coach of the Year, the AFCE Coach of the Year as well as leading the team to two Big South Conference championships. Some of the key highlights are: How he describes mental toughness as the ability to execute a simple task regardless of circumstance. And the way he strctures the teams culture around effort, attitude toughness to help re-enforce this. The story he tells about starting up the team from scratch and taking it to be the most successful 5 year startup program in college football history.How the number one thing the great coaches have is the leadership ability to take a group of people from different places and backgrounds and get them to buy in to a common goal and vision.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, my co-presenter the gold medal winning coach Hugh McCutcheon and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with the American Football coach Mike Bloomgren. Mike started his career in 2000 as a graduate assistant and the the University of Alabama..He then held various assistant roles before starting at the New York Jets in 2007. From there he moved to Stanford under David Shaw where he was part of the coaching staff that won the Pac 12 championship in 2012, 2013 and 2015.In 2017 he was appointed head coach of Rice University. Mike has terrific energy and some of the highlights of our interview were: His belief that optimism and pessimism are infectious when you are the leader, and they spread more rapidly from the head down than any other direction.The structured way he goes about building connection across the 107 players and 50 staff and their families, and the role this plays in building a sense of care across the team.His philosophy which he describes as Intellectual Brutality, and the role this plays in unlocking the decision making power of the athletes.If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I are joined by Kevin Eastman.Kevin is an American Basketball coach.He started coaching in 1978 progressing through assistant roles to become the Head coach of Belmont Abbey College. He then went on to lead the lead Washington State University and then the University of North Carolina Wilmington.In 2003 he was Nike’s Basketball National Director of Skills and through that role met Doc Rivers who invited him to become an Assistant with the Boston Celtics. That team went on to win the 2008 NBA championship. These days Kevin is an in demand public speaker and the author of the terrific book: Why the Best Are the Best: 25 Powerful Words That Impact, Inspire, and Define Champions  Some of the key highlights are: How he believes that the most important question great teams challenge themselves with is, what are you willing to sacrifice for this group? And how sacrifice is not just about what you give up, but rather what you choose to do for someone else. The acronym TIPS he uses to illustrate what all Teams whether in the sporting or corporate world need to do to be at their best. T stands for Truth which is the most important element, next is Intentional which he expands to describe as, what we do intentionally to fulfil our purpose, P stands for Preparation and S for Standards. The way he talks about the concept of Ubuntu which is an African word that embraces 2 key ideas, People are people because of other people and second tenet is, I can only be all I can be if you are all you can be. And the way this idea formed the foundations of the connections within the team.You can learn more about Thriving Teams at https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-teams/ If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with Shane Mcleod.Shane is a former New Zealand hockey player and now coach. He transitioned into coaching while still playing, and coached teams in Europe before becoming the Belgium Women’s team coach in 2002. In 2007 he moved back to New Zealand and led the Men's team at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He then moved back to Belgium winning 2 National titles before becoming the Men's National team coach in 2015, and took them from a world ranking of 15 to #1. Along the way they won silver at the 2016 Olympics, the 2017 and 2019 European Championship, the 2019 and 2020 FIH Pro League. As well as gold at the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup, and the 2020 Olympic Games Some of the key highlights are:How the feedback he was given as a player, which was that the selectors thought he liked the idea of playing for New Zealand more than you actually wanted to play for New Zealand, has gone on to to inform the way he gives feedback now in a way that doesn’t deter someone from wanting to be better.The processes they have in place to encourage the athletes to develop their self-leadership. The exercise he used to get the players themselves to select the team, and he used this to identify the strengths of each individual and the players within the team who were the glue that kept the group connected.To find out more about Thriving Teams visit https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-teams/If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with Ben Darwin.Ben is a former Australian Rugby Union player who represented his country 28 times. He retired at the age of 27 after a neck injury and moved in to coaching before co-founding Gain Line Analytics, a company that has uses empirical analysis to understand the way professional sports teams work and succeed with each other.It is one of the more fascinating interviews we have had on the podcast because of the challenging views he has on the traditional drivers of success.Some of the key highlights are:The idea that small groups can be highly effective and the example he gives from military and history to show that it is the cohesion of your team, not the size of the talent pool you pull from that is key to success.His description of cohesion as understanding between the component parts of a team. And that this understanding is much more predictive of outcomes than the individual skill.And How effective cultures have normative behaviors that are established over time, are harder to change and can be learnt more easily across the components of the team.If you would like to know about more Thriving Teams or use the diagnostic we have created to understand how close to Thriving your teams is you can check out our tools here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/thriving-teams/If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at [email protected] or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.