NSCA’s Coaching Podcast

Jason Loscalzo, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Chicago Bears National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from a college to NFL strength and conditioning coach. Topics under discussion include networking, diversifying your portfolio, and coaching philosophy. Find Jason Loscalzo on Twitter: @jason_loscalzo| Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“Because as a coach, you always have to think about your future, and you’ve got to be prepared. Because you never know in this business.” 3:00 “If you’re comfortable as a coach, you’re in some bad waters. That’s when I think you start getting complacent and things.” 3:32 “A squat is a squat. A clean is a clean. A snatch is a snatch. But it’s the delivery. It’s how you program it.” 4:18 “That was the biggest thing—the challenge, for me, of figuring out how to do it differently while doing the same thing, getting the same types of results.” 5:01 “But you buckle down, and you go to work. And you do it. You surround yourself with good people.” 18:18 “Give back, give back, give back. I think giving back is just being a good guy. Just be a good person.” 19:29 “We’re strength coaches, and we need to be diversified. And we need to figure out different ways to do things, and to reach different populations.” 21:06 “Coaching is something that’s personal. It’s a relationship. It’s how do you get people to do what you want them to do? How do you make them click? How do you make them tick? How do you make them buy in?” 22:00 “Just be you. Just be who you are. Don’t try and be something fake.” 36:42 “But at the same time, they need to know that you’re there for them. They need to know that you’re there to help them and their career.” 38:32 “They can give me a call, or drop me an email. Any time.” 39:57

Bill Parisi, Founder and CEO of the Parisi Speed School, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his rise from being a young athlete, training people out of the back of his van, and becoming the owner of a world renowned sports performance enterprise. Topics under discussion include how to sell yourself as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and advice for long-term career development. Contact Bill through email: bparisi@parisischool.com Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes “There’s two types of experience. There’s expensive experience, when you make mistakes on your own and you waste money. Then there’s inexpensive experience, by listening to podcasts like this.” 7:34 “I mean, we know this industry is limited with jobs. There’s so many pro jobs. There’s so many college jobs. High school jobs, they’re coming, but they’re not as available as college. So how do you monetize your sports performance expertise?” 9:17 “Because it really comes down to helping athletes build injury resiliency and helping athletes improve performance to reach their goals, and giving them a dream, right, helping them accomplish their dreams.” 9:42 “And if you’re dialed into the content, and you have this commitment to excellence, and you’re not just in the field, the strength and conditioning, you’re into the field.” 10:01 “So it’s knowing how to communicate your level of expertise and show value, right, and that you have value. But at the same time, not coming across cocky or arrogant. So it’s a fine line. It’s really knowing how to deliver that.” 10:50 “…you’ve got to own the information. And it’s got to be cutting edge. It’s got to be science based. And it’s got to be research based.” 11:40 “Some of the books I read over the years, right, one of the classics, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Dale Carnegie…” 12:22 “And those two things are simply develop trust and build relationships.” 14:54 “Your net worth is directly related to your network.” 17:13 “There’s a life cycle. People get burned out. You got to manage that, where are you emotionally? This takes a lot of energy to be a strength coach and to be a sports performance specialist.” 27:46 “You’ve got to be all in. You can’t just be in it. You got to be into it.” 31:24 “But really, through, yeah, it could be through Facebook. But really through email, you know, it would be best. It's BParisi@ParisiSchool.com. Through our website, I get them. I look through them. And that's best. But that will be the best.” 33:53

Eric McMahon, Assistant MLB Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Texas Rangers Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his path to becoming an assistant strength and conditioning coach in MLB. Topics under discussion include utilizing the NSCA in helping his career development, velocity-based training, and managing a wide range of player profiles in the MLB. Find Eric McMahon on Twitter: @EricMcMahonCSCS or @rangerstrength and on Instagram: @rangerstrength | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“I’m very thankful for the NSCA and my career.” 3:45 “Just by becoming a student member and following a career path. I feel like that’s how I got to where I’m at.” 4:08 “It doesn’t have to have a big name. You can get great experience anywhere.” 9:29 “When you’re in the minor leagues, it’s like a one man band. You got to kick the drum. You got to play the horn. You’re doing it all.” 13:38 “I remember having to ask a lot of good questions. Just learn the game more.” 22:33 “In every environment, you’re going to have guys that work really hard for you, some guys that don’t, some guys that frustrate you, and some guys you love working with on a daily basis.” 23:00 “But for me, it’s strength and conditioning. It always has been.” 23:42 “There’s just some mutual respect just like in any profession. These guys are professionals.” 24:52 “Utilizing technology in the weight room is really the logic next step for us to giving guys feedback tools to get more out of their training sessions.”    27:46 “Guys are dialed in on their technology. They’re dialed in on their phone, their Fortnite, and all their different gaming things. We can use that to our advantage as strength coaches.” 28:47 “We need to be the Jack of all trades. Guys come to us with a lot.” 33:28 “You need to continue to stay on the cutting edge” 34:09

Roger Marandino, Director of Research at Catapult, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his experiences as a strength coach at the youth, collegiate, and National Football League (NFL) level. Topics under discussion include the struggles he faced as a young coach, his advice for making a big impact on a small budget, interviewing skills, and the new opportunities arising in the strength and conditioning profession. Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes “But I remember getting my first NSCA journal and I just said, you know, hey, I could really do this as a profession. This is something that I'm really into. And that spark was just lit in me to find out information.” 2:14 “So it just prolonged it and prolonged it, which ultimately, when I look back on it, was probably a good thing because-- I know this sounds a little bit bizarre because nowadays it just seems that most people are just chasing jobs.” 9:39 “…what do I want to do for the next 20 years of my life? And not to give advice, but you find out if you're a worker bee or you're not. Are you going to enjoy retirement or are you not? And I think that I don't know that I would ever want to stop working. I enjoy working. We all complain, but really, I found that out about myself.” 13:41 “And the one thing you find out really, really quickly with S&Cs is that they speak a lot of languages. You know, they speak training room, they speak parent, they speak player, they speak football coach, basketball coach.” 16:21 “You're in charge of that room. You're responsible for the safety of the players, student athletes. You start an exercise physical preparation program to get better, not worse. So you really have to understand everything that you're exposing the players to.” 19:02 “And it sounds cautious and it sounds corny, but safety leads to technique. Technique leads to success and strength, in my opinion.” 20:50 “It's fantastic. Your resume got you here. I don't want to talk about your resume anymore. What are you going to do when you have to get this person to do this and they don't want to do it? What are you going to do when you have a lot of success and you start feeling good about yourself?” 25:25 “There can be no ego in weightlifting. There can be no ego in training.” 28:24 “You're going to have to care about the people, the athletes, like you said, protecting their health. But they're going to have to know that you care about their best interests.” 28:32 “And if you don't know the answer, you have to be able to say, I don't know the answer, but I'm going to try and find it.” 28:45 “So that was such a valuable lesson that I learned from those guys, and having my house in order at home is really what's made us so much stronger as a family.” 34:48 “So I think sports science as it's viewed should be geared around safety, the protection of the players. You know, everywhere we go, especially when we get in front of ADs, they talk about welfare, student athlete welfare, return to play and how you quantify those variables.” 45:11 “Roger.Marindino@catapultsports.com” 53:33

Mike Caro, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Emory and Henry College and chairperson of the College Coaches Special Interest Group, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about his journey from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) athlete to head strength and conditioning coach, with limited resources, but an eagerness to succeed. Topics under discussion include internship experiences, interviewing for jobs, and special interest groups. Find Mike Caro on Twitter: @CoachMikeCaro | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfieldShow Notes“Today was good, let’s make tomorrow better.” 8:25 “I want to spend more, I want to devote more of my life to helping people improve themselves.” 15:28 “I really want to give athletes the opportunities that I was never afforded.” 16:11 “Interview like you already got the job, if you want it.” 21:19

Patrick McHenry, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, CO, and member of the NSCA Board of Directors, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about high school strength and conditioning and his growth in the NSCA from a volunteer to an NSCA Board Member. Connect with Patrick on Twitter: @strengthcentral and Instagram: @ptmchenry | Find Scott on Instagram: @coachcaulfield and Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes“What is the need for strength in your sport?” 7:22 “I’m a part of everybody’s team.” 10:43 “Read everything. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree. You read it, understand it, and build from there.” 19:03 “In every other country, the most important coach is with the youngest athlete.” 21:22 “I’m the foundation. I’m the base of the house. If I build that base correctly, they can put anything they want on that base, but that’s a solid structure they’re working with.” 22:52 “NSCA long-term athletic development page on Facebook.” 38:30 “We don’t develop tactics. We don’t develop strategies. We don’t develop skills. We are the strength and conditioning. We are the movement specialists. We are developing the speed, the agility, the technique.” 40:30   “As a strength coach, I need to know how the body moves, and then how do I develop all of that. The sport coach is going to teach them how to use it.” 41:42

Tex McQuilkin, Director of Training and Education at Power Athlete, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about McQuilkin’s work at Power Athlete, his athletic background, and his start into strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include Power Athlete’s education program, McQuilkin’s experiences working with athletes, and his graduate assistant position. Follow Tex on Instagram: @McQuilkin |Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Episode transcriptShow Notes “How do you start to see movement and coaching, and direct it specifically towards their sport?”      14:10 “I’m a land guy, I had to basically get into the pool and learn how to swim to help communicate with these swimmers” 14:20 “We need to know that you know what you’re doing”       17:56 “If you want to do this, you do what you need to do”        19:35 “People that love coaching don’t think about it that way”   21:28 “Don’t complain if you’re not doing anything about it”      23:11 “We are teaching the fundamentals of the fundamentals”   24:30 “You have to learn the sport … It makes you a better coach”         34:35

Caitlin Quinn, Director of Performance for Toyota Racing Development, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about her start in the field of strength and conditioning with internships, her time at Florida State University as a graduate assistant and strength and conditioning coach, and her new position at Toyota Racing Development. Topics under discussion include internships, graduate assistant positions, not letting people define you as a coach, and the athletes she works with at Toyota Racing Development. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Email: cquinn8544@gmail.com Twitter and Instagram: Thequinn44Show Notes “It was very early that I learned the value of constructive criticism” … “You need that feedback”      6:44 “If it’s not comfortable in that box… You got to find a way to figure out how to make it yours, so you can be your authentic self and not who someone else wants you to be.”  14:25 “I’m going to make mistakes, and own them and move on”           16:33

Hunter Schurrer, contracted Human Performance Specialist for Fort Lewis, Washington 1st Special Forces Group talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about Schurrer’s experience working with collegiate athletes, his mentors at the beginning of his strength and conditioning career, and his transition from Division 1 athletics to tactical strength and conditioning. Topics under discussion include coaching colligate athletes, transitioning to the tactical setting, and training special forces groups.  Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield hschurrer@gmail.comShow Notes “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” 7:33 “It’s much bigger than ‘Ok, we have to get ready for this game on Saturday.’” 10:46 “We are here for you, and start to just let the training speak for itself.” 17:45 “We’re going on rucks and overnight stuff with them because we want to feel and understand what they’re going through.” 18:08 “[As strength coaches] we try and be extensions without over-stepping our bounds of other people on the staff so we can give each other a heads up so we’re all working towards that one common goal.” 27:11 “It’s like anything else, you gotta get involved.” 41:34

Dr. Brian Shilling, Chair of the Kinesiology & Nutrition Sciences at UNLV and former President of NSCA Foundation, and Dr. Andy Galpin, Professor in the Center for Sport Performance in charge of the Biochemistry and Molecular Exercise Physiology Lab  at  California State University, Fullerton talk to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the University programs that they work for, their involvement in research, and the and process of grants for strength and conditioning coaches. Follow Andy Galpin on Twitter: @DrAndyGalpin | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield Brian.schilling@unlv.edu https://www.nsca.com/about-us/nsca-foundation/ agalpin@fullerton.eduShow Notes “People were very open and welcoming to the new guys.”  10:50 “The people that you meet those first couple conferences. I met Mark Stephenson as one of the first guys I met and we’re still friends to this day.”  12:54 “It’s [NSCA] a great origination to build relationships with because people are approachable.”           13:06 “You can impact those younger kids and it’s career changing.”       16:33 “You need to quantify the things you’re talking about. You can’t just say this is important show me why it’s important and how important it really is.”          22:00 “Thoughts disentangle when they pass thought the lips and the fingertips.” 22:30