A short message meant to encourage, inspire, and serve as a call to action, Thursday Fire is posted weekly. This is the 97th Thursday Fire, written on July 22nd, 2021 . To request a Thursday Fire in print and for business inquiries, please email brogers@tblcoaching.com . The mission of TBL Coaching is to build an army of Disciplined Leaders who are present with and positively impact their relationships and their community. Thanks for helping us build the army!...
Jul 22, 2021•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alan Stein Jr. is an experienced keynote speaker and author who has spent more than 15 years working with the highest performing basketball players on the planet including Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Kobe Bryant. Outside of the sports world, Alan has worked with many large businesses including American Express, Pepsi, and Starbucks. A performance coach with a passion for helping others change behaviors, Alan is the host of the Raise Your Game Podcast which follows up his well-known book Raise...
Jul 01, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Underground Huddle is a virtual group meeting between all TBL clients and other select guests that occurs two times per year and features a guest speaker. TBL’s 3rd Underground Huddle and the first of 2021 featured Kevin Eastman, who was a head and assistant college basketball coach for over 20 years, and an NBA assistant coach and executive from 2004 – 2016 with the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 2008, Coach Eastman became an NBA Champion when his Celtics defeated Kobe Brya...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Inspired by a magazine article on a flight headed home, Rebecca Powers founded Impact Austin in 2003. A collective giving organization with a simple and inspirational concept – bringing women and their financial resources together to make a profound impact in their region – Impact Austin has given $7.5M to grant recipients and currently has 400 members that each put $1,000 into a grant pool annually. A believer in the simplicity of success, Powers’ first book titled “Trust Your Cape” will be ava...
May 08, 2021•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast When asked about the importance of accountability, University of South Carolina Head Football Coach Shane Beamer says that it’s “so huge and we just need to be relentless about it. You can’t pick and choose. I think the minute you say something is important and the minute you put something on a wall that something is going to be important in our program…the minute you let that slide and you don’t make it important, it’s over. We’ve been relentless about that in holding guys accountable. It’s why...
Apr 07, 2021•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Former head basketball coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Rob Ehsan was fired right after the Conference-USA Tournament was cancelled in March 2020. One of the youngest head coaches in Division 1, Coach Ehsan faced one of his largest fears early in his career on that Friday the 13th. A time in which most undisciplined leaders would pack it in and get comfortable on the benches of mediocrity, Coach Ehsan realized that there is, in fact, resurrection after death. Rob Ehsan – the h...
Jan 29, 2021•45 min•Ep 29•Transcript available on Metacast The Underground Huddle is a virtual group meeting between all TBL clients and other select guests that occurs two times per year and features a guest speaker. The second Underground Huddle of 2020 (Dec. 11th) hosted 43 attendees including 29 individuals involved in TBL’s One-on-One and Group Performance Coaching programs. The guest speaker for UH #2 was Jesse Grapes, President of Benedictine Schools of Richmond. Mr. Grapes committed to serve in the United States Marine Corps the day after 9/11. ...
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast The incoming freshmen each year for the Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA) Division 1 Men’s Basketball team must “reconfigure their relationship with pain” according to the program’s Director of Sports Performance, Daniel Roose. A self-proclaimed “Off-Season Guy,” Coach Roose spent 2009-2019 as the head strength and conditioning coach under Shaka Smart at both VCU and the University of Texas. During his first stint at VCU from 2009-2015, Roose was a cornerstone to the Rams’ defensiv...
Dec 04, 2020•52 min•Ep 27•Transcript available on Metacast Randolph-Macon College head football coach Pedro Arruza arrived in Ashland, VA in 2004 for his first head coaching job and hasn't looked back since. Since his hiring, Coach Arruza has led the Yellow Jackets to three Old Dominion Athletic Conference championships and has been named the conference Coach of the Year each of those three championship seasons. In 2019, Randolph-Macon won 9 games for the third time in four seasons and completed a decade in which they won more games than any other team ...
Nov 19, 2020•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mike Clark is the head football coach at Bridgewater College, a Division III program located right outside of Harrisonburg, VA. Currently in his 26th season as head coach of the Eagles, Coach Clark has won 6 conference championships, 164 games, and made an appearance in the 2001 National Championship game. Coach Clark’s teams have won 10 or more games in six different seasons and have gone undefeated in the regular season multiple times. In his 26 years as head coach, Bridgewater has posted 15 w...
Nov 06, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast A 5-time conference champion, Hampden-Sydney College (Farmville, VA) head football coach Marty Favret says that the championships are great but what’s really important is that he has attended 32 weddings of his former players. A leader who strongly believes that having a sense of humor and relationships with your teammates and players are critical keys to building a winning culture, Coach Favret has led the Tigers to 131 wins since his arrival in 2000. In the three years prior to his hiring, the...
Oct 29, 2020•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Six-time National Coach of the Year Glenn Caruso is the head football coach at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and says that in order for one to perform at a high level, they must have the ability to recalculate…and do so quickly. Since his hiring in 2008 at St. Thomas, the Tommies have won 126 football games and have made two trips to the Division III National Championship game. According to the St. Thomas athletics website, “Caruso accomplished something unheard of in college footbal...
Oct 29, 2020•36 min•Ep 23•Transcript available on Metacast Recognized by many as the world’s premier sports psychologist, Dr. Bob Rotella joins The Bottom Line Podcast for a fire conversation about attitude, passion, and grit. Dr. Rotella helps coaches and athletes in golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, and more and advises business leaders at large companies including Ford and Coca-Cola. In golf, he has coached over 70 Major Champions and as recently as this year he worked with the Miami Heat in the offseason who, as of the date of this recor...
Sep 18, 2020•27 min•Ep 22•Transcript available on Metacast Assistant Basketball Coach at Boise State University R-Jay Barsh “loves, serves, and cares about his players. He is filled with passion, experience, knowledge and purpose to help his team be the best they can be” according to bestselling author and renowned motivational speaker Jon Gordon, one R-Jay’s mentors and friends. Only 37 years old, Coach Barsh played on or coached multiple championship teams at different levels including high school, community college, Division III, and the NAIA before ...
Aug 28, 2020•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Past guest on the TBL Podcast Coach Kevin Sutton of the University of Rhode Island basketball program (TBL 024: Pro vs. Professional) hosts a weekly Master Zoom Class he calls "Living Trophies." These virtual sessions are attended by 25-50 sports coaches, administrators, and leaders across the country. In this particular class, TBL Coaching Founder Ben Rogers was asked to present. According to Coach Sutton, “Living Trophies are those people who allow you to impact their lives. They listen and le...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Markel Corporation has an incredible history in regards to its growth, the way it has adjusted to the market over time, and of course the incredible legacy of leadership in and outside of the Markel family including current Vice Chairman of the Board Tony Markel, who joins The Bottom Line Podcast. According to “The Markel Style,” a book that goes into detail about the growth of the company starting all the way back in 1917 when Sam Markel started his first insurance company, Markel was worth $35...
Aug 05, 2020•38 min•Ep 19•Transcript available on Metacast Florida State Associate Head Basketball Coach Stan Jones is the longest tenured assistant coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference and his wisdom proves that. Having spent the past 18 seasons at Florida State under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton (previously with Hamilton at the University of Miami and with the Washington Wizards), Coach Jones’ college teams have only experienced two losing seasons in 24 years. Each year, the FSU basketball team comes up with a theme, with the most recent being “Our T...
Jul 20, 2020•41 min•Ep 18•Transcript available on Metacast Associate Head Basketball Coach at the University of Virginia Jason Williford has been in the basketball coaching business for 20 years with 12 of them spent at UVA, where he was also a 4-year player. His entire time as a coach at UVA has been with 2x AP National Coach of the Year Tony Bennett who, with the help of Coach Willy, led the Cavaliers to a National Championship victory in 2019. UVA basketball is often labeled as having a “boring” style of play: not a lot of offense, not a lot of flash...
Jul 09, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast When asked what he brings to the table as a coach, 33-year coaching veteran and current University of Rhode Island assistant basketball coach Kevin Sutton describes himself as a "high-level professional." With an impressive overall coaching record of 475-115 dating back to the late '80s, Coach Sutton has coached over 150 college scholarship recipients and 8 players that have gone on to play in the NBA. Despite his impressive track record as a coach, the end result does not excite Coach Sutton. T...
Jun 26, 2020•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Current head football coach at William Fleming High School (Roanoke, VA) Jamar Lovelace is one of the youngest head coaches in the state of Virginia. At 32 years old, he has spent time as a Defensive Coordinator and Strength Coach at Brookville, Monticello, and EC Glass high schools before ultimately earning his first head coaching position two years ago at William Fleming. Coach Lovelace is no stranger to "Tough Love" as he holds firm on his non-negotiables to his players: be in place, be on ti...
Jun 18, 2020•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Underground Huddle is a virtual group meeting between all TBL clients and other guests that occurs two times per year and features a guest speaker. The first ever Underground Huddle played host to 22 attendees including 12 clients of TBL Coaching, LLC. The guest speaker for UH #1 was Deane Cheatham III. A family-first man, Deane has held many leadership positions in his professional career. Deane has been an owner of Hometown Realty – the largest & highest-producing locally owned firm in...
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast Larry Blunt is a veteran in the basketball coaching business with experience at the Prep, College, and Professional levels. Having moved all over from the East Coast to Canada and now in the Midwest as an assistant at Division 1 Drake University, Coach "LB" has worked with many staffs and players. During his time at Orangeville Prep in Canada, LB recruited and developed Jamal Murray and Thon Maker, the number 7 and 10 overall picks in the 2016 NBA draft. When asked what kind of legacy he'd like ...
May 28, 2020•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast NBA Champion Kevin Eastman joins The Bottom Line Podcast to talk about his book “Why The Best Are The Best: 25 Powerful Words That Impact, Inspire, and Define Champions” where he pulls lessons learned from interactions with well-known coaches and players over his impressive tenure as a basketball player, coach, and executive in the NCAA and NBA. Coach Eastman is in the University of Richmond Basketball Hall of Fame and won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008 as an assistant coach to Doc...
May 22, 2020•37 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Virginia Commonwealth University Head Basketball Coach Mike Rhoades says that his whole team can "E.A.T." together when they act on the core values of Enthusiasm, Appreciation, and Toughness. Rhoades, who has been the head coach at Randolph-Macon College (Ashland, VA), Rice University (Houston, TX), and now VCU (Richmond, VA), grew up in Pennsylvania and played college basketball at Division III Lebanon Valley. There, he won a national championship, was named the national player of the year, and...
Apr 22, 2020•44 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast University of Richmond Head Football Coach Russ Huesman feels good about his team going into the 2020 season, citing that he has players that are true leaders. “It’s easy for you to go get an extra lift in,” he says, but the true leaders – “they start to grab one, grab two, grab three, and bring people along…the guys doing that are turning into really good leaders.” A Division 1 football coaching veteran, Coach Huesman learned from some of the best including former Richmond Head Coach Dave Claws...
Mar 14, 2020•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Leadership, Service, Growth" is the three-legged stool according to Dr. Chris Howard, current President of Robert Morris University. Dr. Howard was a Texas high school football state champion, an Academic All-American running back at the Air Force Academy, served in the Air Force, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, has an MBA from Harvard, has been a VP at the University of Oklahoma, the President at Hampden-Sydney College, and is currently on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. List...
Apr 18, 2019•59 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast "The Next Mission" features a conversation with Jesse Grapes, current Headmaster at Benedictine College Preparatory in Goochland, VA. The shared responsibility of the BCP faculty, staff, alumni, and students is to form "Cadets as Christian men of conscience, discipline, and achievement". Before becoming an educator, Mr. Grapes served our country and earned the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as an infantry platoon commander in the United States Marine Corps.
Feb 08, 2019•44 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast "The Pack Mentality" features a conversation with a 40-year educator & coach, Dave Savino. After spending 20 seasons coaching at one high school, he took a hiatus for seven years when his daughter was born. After returning to the sport he loves in 2014, Coach Savino led his new high school baseball team to a championship in only his second year as their head coach. When asked what is the one thing he would tell a first year coach he needs to establish in season one, Coach Savino talked about...
Nov 16, 2018•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Developing a Sense of Sacrifice" features a conversation with a teaching & coaching legend, Kenny Lewis. Currently in his 32nd year as an educator, Coach Lewis not only has impacted thousands of his students' lives but his players as well. A 2x baseball state champion at the high school level, Coach Lewis says that the way student-athletes are able to develop a sense of sacrifice growing up playing sports makes them formidable competitors in the business world. Listen more to pull from the ...
Oct 21, 2018•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast "Hard. Smart. Together." features a conversation with a 3x state champion high school baseball coach, Charlie Dragum. Recently retired, Coach Dragum took over a program in its very first year of existence and led it to become a perennial powerhouse. Listen to hear more about Coach Dragum's "non-negotiables" and his 3 keys to leading: teaching, collaborating, and delegating.
Aug 16, 2018•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
