We have a great guest to kick off season 4 of Sideline Sessions. Dan O’Connor is Major League Video & Advance Information Assistant Coordinator with Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals. Before joining the Cardinals organization, he worked in a variety of baseball operations and player development roles with the New York Yankees in addition to a number of other positions in the game of baseball. We talk about: Dan’s journey through baseball Progression through roles and finding your f...
Jul 15, 2025•46 min
This is the final episode of Sideline Sessions season 3, also simulcast on The Authority . I speak with Matt Doherty, former head coach at Notre Dame, the University of North Carolina, Florida Atlantic, and SMU. As a starter on the 1982 National Championship team at UNC, with his teammate Michael Jordan, Matt began his leadership journey under the legendary Dean Smith. As a coach, he was the 2001 AP National Coach of the Year after leading UNC to the ACC regular season championship. After his co...
Feb 05, 2025•55 min
Next week, we'll have the final episode of Season 3. Today we're sharing a "Best Of" episode, one of our earliest conversations with Charlie Miller. This chat is packed with great insights. Charlie is a master basketball coach, author, and owner of ATTACK Basketball Academy in the Dallas, Texas area. As a player, he was a McDonald’s All-American and Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year at South Miami High School, played at Indiana University and in the Junior Olympics, and played professionally...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 8 min
This week Adam Sarancik returns to the show. Adam is a longtime baseball coach teams have consistently won championships at every youth league and high school level. In administration, he has served as league founder, board member and coaches’ and players’ clinic director. He is also owner of Elevate Sports Academy. Building on our previous discussion, we cover: Running a championship practice and who has a role to play Goals and determiners of a championship practice Selling players on the idea...
Jan 23, 2025•52 min
This week it’s a pleasure to be joined by Adam Sarancik, a longtime baseball coach and owner of Elevate Sports Academy. In baseball, Adam’s teams have consistently won championships at every youth league and high school level. In administration, he has served as league founder, board member and coaches’ and players’ clinic director. In this episode, we discuss: What are the reasons for sports participation? Why should coaches coach? The roles of a coach The Person-Athlete-Player Philosophy and w...
Jan 15, 2025•59 min
Matt Murawski has been coaching Little League baseball for over six years. Like many coaches he has been inspired by amazing coaching experiences and seeing poor coaching situations for kids. He is a big fan of the player-centered approach to coaching. In this episode, we discuss: What inspired Matt to become a coach The role of a youth coach Reviewing the youth sports landscape Player-centered coaching Putting a coaching philosophy into action Mental side of the game Recommended books: Every Mo...
Jan 08, 2025•43 min
Today I’m happy to bring you an episode about youth coaching with George Andriopoulos. George has coached basketball and flag football and serves as Commissioner of Basketball for the Police Activity League. In his day job, George is a distinguished leader renowned for his transformative impact across management consulting, pharmaceutical, and non-profit sectors. He founded the boutique consulting firm Launchpad Five One Six, "The Launchcast" podcast, and has expanded into a virtual leadership c...
Nov 20, 2024•44 min
Travis Reed is a professional basketball player who played 10 years overseas in countries such as Colombia, Poland, France, Belgium, Holland, Estonia, Germany, Australia and more. He was a League MVP in Holland 2004, Winning Finals MVP, League MVP in Estonia and also Baltic League MVP in 2006. Travis hosts a podcast targeted to athletes who are thinking about or about to embark on a journey overseas, as well as a Youtube show that showcases the journeys of athletes from around the sports world. ...
Nov 13, 2024•47 min
Claudio Reilsono is the General Manager and professional baseball scout with the Global Scouting Bureau and the head baseball Coach at Carnegie Mellon University. In this episode, we discuss: How Claudio entered coaching at age 18 His coaching philosophy developed over 40 years of experience His book Lead from the Heart Up, Not the Neck Up How scouting helps Claudio with coaching His focus areas for player development What makes a great baseball player? Advice to HS athletes who want to play in ...
Nov 06, 2024•51 min
Today’s guest Jennifer Gross is entering her 14th year as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of California - Davis. UC Davis is a special place for Coach Gross, as she was a point guard for the program from 1993-1997, before returning as an assistant coach in 2004. She led the Aggies to five straight Big West Conference regular season titles from 2017-2021. During her time as both an assistant and head coach, she’s helped the Aggies to three NCAA Division I Tournament berths and...
Oct 30, 2024•49 min
Welcome to “opening day” here for Season 3 of Sideline Sessions! I’m thrilled to start the season with a great guest, Damon Lembi. Damon is a two-time bestselling author, the host of The Learn-It-All Podcast, and CEO of Learnit – a live learning platform that has upskilled over 2 million people. He also was a Division-I college baseball player who was drafted to play professionally and draws from this experience to bring an athlete’s perspective to leadership. Damon is passionate about helping y...
Oct 16, 2024•49 min
In the Season 2 finale, I speak with Aaron Makelky. Aaron has served as a head high school football coach for 12 seasons in Wyoming, assistant for 4 seasons, and has also coached wrestling, basketball, and track. He is currently consulting with sports teams and elite individuals who want to learn mindset and mental conditioning skills. Our conversation covers: How to determine the culture you want to set and how that’s evolved for Aaron during his career Who helps to build the culture? How to de...
Jul 25, 2024•44 min
My guest today is Lee-Anne Gilchrist. Lee-Anne is currently the CEO of the Golf Performance Center & Academy, in Ridgefield, Connecticut working with young people from all over the world to nurture intrinsic motivation and unlock human potential. We discuss: How to introduce kids to golf Good motivators for golfers The opportunities available to young golfers What parents should be prepared for if they’re getting kids into golf Resources for parents and coaches The biggest challenges to juni...
Jul 18, 2024•38 min
Taylor Cook is a retired professional hockey player with over 25+ years of international experience. She currently works as a mental performance coach serving athletes and sports coaches. We discuss: How Taylor’s experience as an athlete serves her as a coach — and understanding the limits The education and training that contributes to her coaching Personalization of coaching Building blocks of mental performance Mental skills that are beneficial in hockey What makes a hockey player successful? ...
Jul 11, 2024•41 min
Adolfo Gómez Sánchez has dedicated over three decades to studying and modeling what drives optimal performance. Adolfo was a competitive athlete and is a performance mentor to professional athletes on the ATP and WTA tours, C-Suite executives of large multinational corporations, and performance artists such as Grammy nominated singers and opera stars. Our conversation covers: The Optimal Performance Formula What makes a tennis athlete great How Adolfo approaches his work with tennis athletes Gro...
Jul 06, 2024•49 min
This week, we're sharing a "Best Of" episode, going back to the series premiere with the amazing Dr. Jen Welter. In 2015, Jen became the first female coach in NFL history when she coached linebackers for the Arizona Cardinals. She was also the first woman to play a contact position in men’s professional football when she signed as a running back with the Texas Revolution, a professional indoor football team. Jen also had a distinguished career in women’s professional football, as a 2x World Cham...
Jun 27, 2024•46 min
Jason Payne has coached the Varsity Boys Basketball team in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada for the past 24 seasons. He also works with teams and athletes as a Mental Performance Coach. It was a pleasure to speak with Jason about the following and more: How Jason got into coaching and why he almost quit in 2018, nearly 20 years into his career What he learned about avoiding burnout Advice for new coaches The most important things any coach can do Connecting with today’s student-athletes The pillar...
Jun 20, 2024•53 min
Connor Gettemy is the Director of Sports Performance at Flagler College and Owner of Gett Strong Performance, both located in St. Augustine, Florida. At Flagler, whose sports teams compete at NCAA Division-II, Connor oversees a sports performance department that services over 400 athletes. Under his direction, Flagler has produced 169 All-Conference selections, 22 All-Americans, and a number of professional athletes in a variety of sports. We cover: How Connor decided to get into this work and w...
Jun 13, 2024•54 min
Mike Jarvis is a well-known name to fans of college basketball. In his long career at the high school and NCAA Division-I levels, he coached future professionals, including Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing, won hundreds of games, and developed a number of future leaders. He coached first at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where his players included Ewing, and in NCAA Division-I at Boston University, George Washington, St. John’s, and Florida Atlantic. His teams made 9 NCAA tournaments, including a...
Jun 10, 2024•46 min
Troy Bassham has been a mental performance coach, teaching mental management fulltime since 2004. He works with athletes of all ages and levels, from high school to professional. He has authored two books "Attainment, the 12 Elements of Elite Performance" and "Fore the Mind, the Mental Program for Golf" and is the mental coach for Crown Golf Academy. Our conversation covers: How Troy became a mental performance coach Why the mental game is vital to success in sport Do athletes train correctly in...
Jun 04, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Coach Kurt Hines has been coaching football for more than 25 years. He is currently Head Coach at Coronado High School in California. We discuss: How Kurt got into coaching Differences in coaching on the east coast vs. west coast His core coaching philosophy How he turned it around when he was feeling overwhelmed When he learned from his mentors Lessons learned the hard way Approach to building a coaching staff Balancing individual goals and the team The hardest thing about being a coach Questio...
May 27, 2024•59 min
Krissy Webb is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Student ACES, a 501c3 with the mission to create Champions. Through Student ACES, Krissy has positively impacted over 50,000 high school student-athletes and has taught them leadership skills, values, and character education to be successful men and women in the classroom, the athletic fields and in their communities. Krissy coaches both 12U softball and flag football. We discuss: What it means to be a student-athlete The mission of Creatin...
May 21, 2024•54 min
Robert Castillo is a Certified Mental Performance Coach (CMPC) with the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. He has over 15 years of experience working with elite military service members, MLB, NBA, and MLS players and coaches, college athletes, and business executives, bringing to the table not only years of knowledge in research-based mental performance but also over a decade of experience in improving people's quality of life. We discuss: How Robert got into mental performance coaching an...
May 14, 2024•56 min
Today we're excited to bring you an episode from The Learning Bridge , a BE Podcast Network show hosted by Richard Gerver, one of the world’s leading thinkers on human potential, leadership, and organizational transformation. In this conversation, Richard speaks with Dwain Chambers. Having come from an abusive and challenging home, Dwain discovered a talent for athletics and became the fastest teenager in the world. He is the only man in the world to have broken 10 seconds in the 100-meter sprin...
May 11, 2024•52 min
Heather Sumlin is owner of Sumlin Solutions, a company specializing in helping women reach their potential in sport, competition, and in life. Heather is a Master Level Mental Management Certified Coach trained personally by the Founder of Mental Management, Olympic Champion Lanny Bassham. We discuss: What is Mental Management? Why the mental game is vital to success in sport Having control of your mind when under pressure How parents can get started supporting their child with the mental game o...
May 07, 2024•49 min
Welcome back, Sideline Sessions listeners (and a hearty welcome to our new listeners!) for the start of season two. I’m excited to bring you more conversations with a variety of coaches, performance experts, and influential stakeholders from across the sporting landscape. Today’s guest is Jared Zeidman, a basketball coach with 15 years’ experience in college athletics who authored the new book Nail the Recruiting Process . This conversation touches on Jared’s direct experience plus his conversat...
Apr 28, 2024•54 min
Thank you to all of you who have joined us for Season 1 of Sideline Sessions, and a special welcome to our new listeners! I wanted to share a short message about what to expect next on the show, along with an opportunity to support our next season with your ideas and recommendations. Listen to this short episode for: A preview of what's upcoming on the show A request for your feedback and ideas to make the show better An opportunity to recommend guests for Season 2 To connect and share your idea...
Feb 25, 2024•4 min
Evan Unrau joined PeacePlayers United States in 2020 as the Director of their Los Angeles chapter. Prior to this role, she served as the Manager of Youth Basketball for the LA Clippers (NBA); was an assistant coach at Stanford, the University of Southern California, and UC-Santa Barbara; and was an Honorable Mention All-America as a player at the University of Missouri. We discussed the transformative power of sport for individuals and communities, including: Evan’s belief that sports saved her ...
Feb 18, 2024•32 min
Brooke Knight is head coach of the Corvallis Knights of the West Coast Baseball League, a summer wood bat league for collegiate players, as well as CEO of Knight Financial Home Loans. Brooke is the most successful manager in West Coast League history, having skippered the Knights to 10 championships in his 15-year tenure at the helm, including the last seven consecutive titles. He has been coach of the year 8 times. Brooke also managed the Perth Heat of the Australian Baseball League — a winter ...
Feb 11, 2024•54 min
After helping his oldest son land at an NCAA Division-III college football program, today’s guest Jeff Howell uses his knowledge of the college sports recruitment process to help other student-athletes and their families navigate the process. The landscape can be complex and hard-to-understand, so it’s quite valuable to hear from Jeff. Our conversation covers: How Jeff developed his knowledge of the recruitment process and what he learned Differences across different sports When to begin researc...
Feb 05, 2024•46 min
