Joe Towne (@MeJoeTowne) is an actor, producer, writer and performance coach and mentor for numerous athletes, actors, broadcast professionals and more. His professional journey has taken him from coast to coast and across the Atlantic. He graduated with a BA in Theater from The University of Southern California and interned at 20th Century Fox. Joe then headed back east, where he pursued a career in theater and embarked on a 30-year journey that took him to the UK and back. Along the way, he stu...
Jan 21, 2022•58 min•Ep. 256
Joe Towne (@MeJoeTowne) is an actor, producer, writer and performance coach and mentor for numerous athletes, actors, broadcast professionals and more. His professional journey has taken him from coast to coast and across the Atlantic. He graduated with a BA in Theater from The University of Southern California and interned at 20th Century Fox. Joe then headed back east, where he pursued a career in theater and embarked on a 30-year journey that took him to the UK and back. Along the way, he stu...
Jan 21, 2022•58 min•Ep. 256
Jack Leggett is currently the head coach of the Team USA 18U National Team baseball coach, and is best known as the former head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015. While at Clemson his teams made 21 NCAA appearances, 9 Super Regional appearances, and 6 trips to the College World Series. Leggett also served as head coach for five years at the University of Vermont and nine years at Western Carolina University before arriving at Clemson. His career record as a head coach was 1,332–770 w...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 255
2021 was a tough year for all of us. 2022 is not starting out any easier. So many coaches have told us that they feel exhausted, at wits end, burned out, frustrated, and more. That's why Jerry Lynch and I decided to kick off 2022 with one of our Fireside Chats and to discuss avoiding burnout, finding balance, and not just resetting but re-firing in 2022. If you are new to our podcast, Dr. Jerry Lynch is our sometime co-host and Founder of Way of Champions. He is the author of 14 books and one of...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 254
Dr. Kristen Dieffenbach (@DrDCoachScience) is an associate professor of Athletic Coaching Education, director of the Center for Applied Coaching and Sport Science at West Virginia University and president of the United States Center for Coaching Excellence. She is an Association of Applied Sport Psychology certified consultant, public relations and outreach head on the AASP e-board and president of the United States Center for Coaching Excellence. Dieffenbach is a professional coach with a categ...
Dec 31, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 253
Nate Baldwin (@NBaldwin75) has nearly 20 years of recreational sports industry experience as an entrepreneur, program administrator, and advocate for inclusive, high quality sport experiences. Nate's diverse career has spanned from the creation and management of a successful adult recreation organization in Denver, CO, to the revitalization of the Appleton (WI) Parks & Recreation youth sports program, and as a client consultant in technology deployment and program management with registratio...
Dec 24, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 252
Nick Buonocore started The Reformed Sports Project to provide a platform for coaches and athletes from the highest levels to share their perspective and experiences with parents and kids. What started as a a few interviews and some social media posts with quotes from these athletes and parents has turned into a movement, a podcast, and a social media giant. Nick uses his experiences as a former NCAA National Champion baseball player, his adventures coaching and parenting his own children, and hi...
Dec 17, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 251
Rob Gray (@ShakeyWaits) is a professor at Arizona State University who has been conducting research on and teaching courses related to perceptual-motor skill for over 25 years. He is also author of the incredible new book How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach and Practice Sports Skills . He received his MS and PhD from York University in Canada with a focus on the visual control of movement. An important aspect of his work has been applying basic theory to address real-world cha...
Dec 10, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 250
Raymond Atteveld is a retired professional soccer player, enjoying a long career at stops such as Everton, West Ham and Bristol City in the UK, along with Haarlem, Vitesse and FC Groningen in Holland. He began his coaching journey as an assistant coach at ADO Den Haag, and has since enjoyed head coaching roles in Holland, Cyprus and Israel. He has also spent time as an Academy Director, Technical Director and Performance Director at various clubs, and has been influenced by mentors such as Johan...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 249
This week we welcome back Stuart Armstrong (@stu_arm) to the podcast. Stuart is the Head of Coaching for Sport England and the host of one of our favorite podcasts, The Talent Equation., He spends his days helping to elevate the coaching profession, develop educational pathways for grassroots coaches, and so much more. This is his third solo visit to the podcast (Episodes 16 and 113). Prior to Sport England, he was the Player Development Manager for the Rugby Football Union. He is one of the wor...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 248
Tom Statham and Tony Whelan have a combined 60 plus years coaching and leading the young players in Manchester United's Academy. Tony started out there as a schoolboy, eventually signing professional terms and playing for Man United, Manchester City, and in the US in the old NASL. He has been at United since 1990 in a coaching capacity, Head of Academy Coaching, and currently in an advisory role. With experience working under managers from Sir Matt Busby to Sir Alex Ferguson, Tony is deeply root...
Nov 19, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 247
Alan Stein Jr. (@AlanSteinJr) is a world-renowned coach, speaker author and a father of three aspiring young athletes. He spent 15+ years working the highest performing basketball players on the planet, from Kevin Durant to Kobe Bryant, and now teaches audiences how to utilize the same strategies in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level. His first book Raise Your Game was a bestseller, and his new book (with co-author Rich Czeslawski) The Sideline: A Survival Guide f...
Nov 12, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 246
David Epstein (@DaviidEpstein) is the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , and of the New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance . He has master's degrees in environmental science and journalism and has worked as an investigative reporter for ProPublica and a senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He is also one of the smartest and most fascinating people to talk to when it comes to ideas about nature vs nurture...
Nov 05, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 245
Trevor Ragan is one of my favorite people to speak with. He is the Founder of The Learner Lab (formerly Train Ugly) and host of the Learner Lab Podcast, two of the best resources for all things mindset, performance, and of course, learning and how to get better at getting better. I am most excited about his new book Learner , which he is currently releasing FOR FREE in audiobook form, four chapters at a time, on the Learner Lab Podcast. The book talks explores so many topics that will make you a...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 244
Great cultures abound as examples of sporting success. The key is to build your own, using the success clues left by others as your guide. One such culture is the great FC Barcelona teams under Pep Guardiola. In this episode, originally aired in October 2018, author and professor Damien Hughes discusses his book The Barcelona Way and outlines the clues left by Barcelona and other great sports cultures in terms of identifying behavioral values, finding your cultural architects and eliminating you...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 243
Coach Jerome Gumbs is a former collegiate and professional basketball player and the founder of Empower Me Academy ( www.empowermeacademy.net ). Founded in 2013, Empower ME Academy provides a holistic training experience. Student-Athletes develop better basketball skills — and in addition, improve their attitude, commitment, and discipline. The goal is for their Student-Athletes to become well-rounded leaders and adults, successful on the court and in life. As Coach Gumbs like to say, 'Everythin...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 242
Ben Sherwood, founder and CEO of MOJO, and has coached his sons for the last 12 years in four sports. During that time, he also served as president of the Disney ABC Television Group and president of ABC News. Like many recreational coaches, he noticed that there were few if any resources to help the busy parent coach as he or she travelled from work to the practice field. So, he founded MOJO (@yougotmojo). Today we speak about the founding of the company, the need to help our recreational coach...
Oct 08, 2021•54 min•Ep. 241
Anson Dorrance loves competition, and has spent decades understanding and creating relentless competitors in his teams. As the University of North Carolina Women's Soccer Coach, he has won over 1000 games, 21 NCAA Championships, and also led the US Women's National Team to the 1991 World Cup Championship. He has published 3 books ( Vision of a Champion, The Man Watching , and Training Soccer Champions ) and has a wonderful podcast where he interviews the best of the best: Vision of a Champion Po...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 240
Oliver Gage is the Director of Football at the Canadian Premier League and has a growing reputation for basing his footballing philosophy on a successful evidence-based approach to the sport and player development. Previously Head of Performance at the University of Virginia and Head of Performance Analysis and Technical Recruitment at Houston Dynamo, Oliver joined the Canadian Premier League as Head of On-Field Performance and Recruitment in 2019 before becoming Director of Football a year late...
Sep 24, 2021•57 min•Ep. 239
James Clear (@JamesClear) is the international #1 bestselling author of Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones . Since its release in 2018, the book has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and become mandatory reading for athletes, business leaders, and everyday people trying to change their life for the better. I first met James at a speaking engagement in 2015, immediately subscribed to his blog, and was so thrilled to receive an advanced copy of the bo...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 238
Matthias Lochmann is a sport scientist in the field of training and coaching, a sports physician and a UEFA A licensed coach. Since 2008, he has been working as a professor at the Department of Sports Science and Sport at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Nuremberg. There, he is the head of the Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine. His current project is the reinvention of German youth soccer through introducing Funino as the games model for 9 and under kids. Funino is the brainchild of t...
Sep 12, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 237
Dr. Cassidy Preston (@CassidyPreston) is a mental performance coach and the founder of Consistent Elite Performance. He was a high level hockey player as a youth, played 5 years of university hockey, and five years of OHL major junior level before transitioning into coaching AAA Hockey. His own struggles as a player, especially when it came to the inner game, led him to get his PhD in Sports and Performance Psychology at York University, working under Dr. Joe Baker. Today he consults with elite ...
Sep 05, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 236
What do the Collingwood Magpies, the New Zealand All Blacks, Barcelona Football Club and the New York Yankees have in common? They're all members of author Sam Walker's list of the 16 greatest sports teams ever. It's not the talent, the coach, or the strategy that made these teams great – it was the Captain. Syd Coventry, Richie McCaw, Yogi Berra, and Carlos Puyol led these teams to eternal greatness, and what made them great captains is not what you think… Sam Walker is The Wall Street Journal'...
Aug 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 235
Is the way we coach based upon the latest science, research, and best practices of how children learn? Or is it based upon how we were coached growing up? In this fantastic interview, Dr. Richard Bailey (@DrDickB), Head of Research at ICSSPE, separates fact from fiction and discusses some of the common mistakes that he sees coaches of all levels making around the world. He sheds light on what is missing in the coaching profession and the prevailing myths that cause us to approach athletic coachi...
Aug 22, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 234
Dr. Jean Côté (@JeanCote46) is professor and Director in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen's University at Kingston (Canada). His research interests are in the areas of children in sport, coaching, positive youth development, and sport expertise. Dr. Côté has published more than 130 papers on a variety of sport psychology and coaching topics and 50 book chapters. His work is among the most widely cited in academic papers in this area. He has delivered over 50 keynote addresse...
Aug 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 233
When we talk about being a champion, not too many people in professional sport can claim to understand what it takes to get to the top of the game like Wes Brown. Brown loved taekwondo and playing pickup games in the park as a kid, and didn't join his first soccer team until the age of 10. But from there he blossomed, joining Manchester United at age 12, turning pro at age 16, and eventually winning 2 Champions League titles (1999, 2008) 5 English Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, 2 League Cups ...
Aug 08, 2021•55 min•Ep. 232
This week I have the pleasure of interviewing my podcast co-host Dr. Jerry Lynch as he releases his 14th book The Competitive Buddha: How to Up Your Game in Sports, Leadership and Life. When Jerry first told me about this book about a year ago I was so curious about the title and how he would weave the principles of Buddhism with leadership, culture building and competitive sport. He did it ever so well, so good in fact that Steve Kerr signed on to write the forward. In our chat today, we discus...
Aug 01, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 231
We are so excited to welcome back Martin Rooney (@MartinRooney1) to the show to talk about his brand new book High Ten: An Inspiring Story About Building a Great Team Culture . Martin is a good friend of the show, last joining us on episode 157. He is one of the most highly respected coaches out there working today. He has been a speed coach for the NY Giants and Jets of the NFL, and trained UFC fighters, Olympians, Navy Seals and Army Rangers. He has also built an amazing business Training for ...
Jul 25, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 230
Rasmus Ankersen (@RasmusAnkersen) is an internationally known author, speaker, and film producer and one of the worlds leading experts on talent identification and development. He is also the co-director of football for Brentford FC of the English Premier League and Chairman of Champions League club FC Midtjylland of the Danish Super League. His 2012 book The Goldmine Effect is an incredible read and was one of the books that inspired me at the beginning of my Changing the Game Project journey, ...
Jul 21, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 229
Daniel Coyle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, The Culture Code, The Little Book of Talent, The Secret Race (co-authored with Tyler Hamilton) , Hardball: A Season in Projects , and other books. Winner (with Hamilton) of the 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize, he is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine, and works as a special advisor to the Cleveland Indians. Coyle lives in Cleveland, Ohio during the school year and in Homer, Alaska, during the summer...
Jul 11, 2021•58 min•Ep. 228
