NSCA’s Coaching Podcast

Jim Davis, Director of the Good Athlete Project, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about developments in high school coaching, options for how to structure and fund a high school position, coaching for kindness, and the application of cognitive neuroscience to fitness and exercise.Jim Davis has studied at Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Knox College. He is the Founder of the Good Athlete Project, Director of the Illinois High School Powerlifting Association, and the Staff and Student Wellness Coordinator at New Trier High School. He presents internationally on human development in athletics; and his written work has appeared in The Harvard Crimson, American Football Monthly, and This is AFCA; and was recently recognized as one of the National Interscholastic Swim Coach Association’s (NISCA) Magazine’s Best of 2016.Find the Good Athlete Project on Twitter: @Coach4Kindness | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “Chase the work that you’re willing to do.” - 2:48“Under 1% of the [HS] athletic population will get money to go play... What we really try to instill in [our athletes] is that it’s not about the end game. We’re not doing this because there’s a pro contract sitting out there for you. We’re doing this because there are so many other life lessons to learn from this.” – 10:51“Promoting health and wellness in a community: that on its own is worthwhile.” – 11:23“There’s value in consistency. There’s value in showing up every day. You’ll see progress... In all of education, there’s probably no more clear demonstration of ‘you put in this much work and you’ll see something on the back end.’” – 11:49“You show up every day: you work, you improve. There are very few areas of life where you can see so cleanly how that works.” - 12:12“‘Sports gone wrong,’ that’s a headline every day. ‘Sports gone right,’ that doesn’t make headlines but it’s something we’re pretty heavily involved in.” - 15:07“We’re actually deliberately trying to coach for kindness.” – 14:21“I think exercise-induced neuro-enhancement... is what will change education for the better, once it is fully adopted and practitioners understand how to implement it. And I think it’s going to save physical education.” – 18:28On managing stress and competing demands: “When you are doing the thing that you are doing, do that thing.” – 28:52On changing culture: “If [one thing] strength and conditioning does is support people and make them more safe on the field, then we need to break down the barrier between female athletes and the weight room.” – 38:00“Open dialogue has to start from the top down. Otherwise what you do is... put the top on top and everyone else talks among themselves, and that can be a toxic environment.” – 41:23“The Good Athlete Project aims to help people realize their potential through athletics.” – 42:50“One of the biggest keys to leadership is listening.” – 46:30

Bryan Mann, from the University of Missouri, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the future of velocity-based training, work-life balance, and getting a PhD while being a full-time strength and conditioning coach.Bryan Mann, PhD, CSCS, RSCC*D, is an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy, Director of Performance Research for Intercollegiate Athletics, and Director of Research for the University of Missouri-Human Performance Institute. He has been involved in strength and conditioning since 1999. He has experience working with athletes at all levels, including many Olympians and professional athletes. Mann earned his Doctorate in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Missouri in 2011 with an emphasis in Sports Psychology and Fitness. Find Bryan on Twitter: @jbryanmann | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The better you are at something, the slower you can go and the heavier loads you can lift.” - 6:59“If we go where the research is leading us, we’re going to look at special exercises.” - 8:18“The effect of the feedback from velocity is so crucial.” - 8:29NSCA College Coaches Special Interest Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSCA.CollegeCoachesSIG/ - 16:40“If I heard an interview with somebody that said something I liked, or that I wanted to know more on, I called them up.” - 21:41“Shaking hands... it’s a lot different than using your thumbs on Twitter.” - 23:25“I thought I had something to contribute, so I had a responsibility to contribute.” - 30:31“I make people angry all the time, I'm good at that—that means nothing to me.” - 33:23“Sometimes people fail because they don’t really want it.” - 38:05“I’m a product of the people who have been around me.” - 40:13“If you claim yourself as an expert, you’re not. It just means you don’t know what you don’t know.” - 41:03

Ron McKeefery, Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about how he got started with the Iron Game Chalk Talk, his involvement with the NSCA, the value in attending and putting on events, the future of the profession, decision paralysis, and creating culture in the weight room.Ron McKeefery, MA, CSCS,*D is the Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE and has been working as a strength and conditioning coach at the professional and collegiate level for over 20 years. McKeefery was named the Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2016, and has had the privilege of working with over 80 players that have gone on to play in the National Football League (NFL). In addition to a successful coaching career, McKeefery is also the best-selling author of “CEO Strength Coach.”Find Ron on Twitter: @rmckeefery | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “I’ve gotten so much more out of it than I could ever give to anybody.” 3:19“I went to [my first] conference and literally talked to one person.” 5:40“There’s a big difference between Coach Mac and Ron McKeefery. They’re two totally different people.” 6:03“You don’t have the time to build really meaningful relationships in your own life, you’re so focused on your athletes’ lives.” 8:16“Going to conferences and events and participating is a way to surround yourself with like-minded people.” 8:35“Fortunately we have lots of different people who are doing some great things, that are putting on events, that you should be able to get to something.” 12:20“I think the biggest challenge in our profession is making it so strength coaches retire being strength coaches.” 13:21“We need to find ways to grow our profession.” 15:01“We should be focused on getting a strength coach in every high school.” 16:19“We need to be creating a degree in strength and conditioning specifically.” 17:07“I want to be called ‘Coach.’ That’s something that really resonates with me.” 21:27“The biggest thing that strength coaches can bring to sports medicine is that accountability—they have the ability to hold the athlete more accountable.” 28:03“We have complex problems so we try to provide complex solutions... the challenge is to think of the simplest way to correct a problem.” 32:19“Your athletes are never going to love the weight room as much as you do. You just have to provide the framework for an accountable program and make sure you enforce that consistently.” 35:30“If we can coach coaches, I don’t think there’s any higher calling than that.” 37:44“As a leader, you need to have a giving heart.” 38:21The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings on Authenticity, Connection and Courage, by Brene Brown. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Vulnerability-Teachings-Authenticity-Connection/dp/1604078588. 47:45

Clayton Kuklick, coaching researcher at the University of Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about what it truly means to be a master coach. Topics under discussion include motor learning, practice design, mentorship in coaching, and coaching standards.Clayton Kuklick, PhD, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Master of Arts in Sport Coaching program in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. His research interests revolve around coaching development and improving athletic performance. His focus and passion is on developing ways to help coaches enrich their current coaching approaches with the intent to enhance their athlete’s performance on and off the field.Clayton can be reached at clayton.kuklick@du.edu. Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The master coaches that I have great respect for, the diversity of their knowledge is absolutely amazing.” 6:35“Getting good mentors and connecting with coaches that possess different forms of knowledge in a diverse range of areas is really important.” 8:50“There are so many little ingredients that matter.” 12:55Strength Training and Coordination: An Integrative Approach, by Frans Bosch (https://www.amazon.com/Strength-training-coordination-integrative-2015-10-01/dp/B01N2GIXEC to find it on Amazon) 13:46“I constantly reflect on my previous experiences and where I fit in there. It’s not one person or one thing. It’s a multitude of people, a network.” 16:13“I can have this informal network... I’m still constantly calling coaches to bounce coaching ideas and problem-solve together.” 16:25“There should be a standard for where we are going.” 22:13“If this is your value system, then how do you demonstrate it? What are the behaviors that go with that?” 22:53“If you look at my teaching philosophy compared to my coaching philosophy... they are exactly the same.” 25:58“Implement strategies to help people develop.” 27:39“We’re trying to help coaches win more games and improve their athlete outcomes by connecting research to their professional practice.” 30:43“Coaches look for the magic sauce... it might be coaching education.” 30:56“We get stuck in our previous experiences sometimes, and we’re socialized to do certain things.” 31:40

Megan Young, Performance Coach at Auburn University, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the data revolution and combining science and coaching to validate the “coaching eye.” They also discuss the importance of your professional network, building a strong performance team, and the need to unify the profession.Megan Young, PhD, CSCS, RSCC, is a Performance Coach at Auburn University and does all performance training for the women’s soccer team there. She has presented multiple times for national organizations on a variety of topics, is a reviewer for The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and is on the Conference Committee for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).Follow Megan on Twitter: @coachmega | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes"If you have a good relationship going into trying to create something, it's a lot smoother when everyone is communicating in the same language and is on the same page." - 3:38"I wanted to know without a doubt that when I have numbers in front of me, is the dataset I'm working with valid, is it reliable? Am I collecting good data?" - 7:07"Everything always goes back to people and relationships, whether we are talking coaching or life." - 9:30"The more you can understand people, the more you understand a situation." - 10:06"I never had a bad day in terms of what my outlook was, and that was surely because of my support circle... When you have really strong people in your circle ... you can handle stuff." - 22:19"You talk about a saturated field and market ... there are plenty of people standing in line to take that $30,000 entry-level job. Why is it still $30,000? Our value with a Master's Degree, experience, certification, whatever that may be, it has to be a higher minimum." - 25:10"You have to find value outside of your job. And don't feel ashamed for it." - 29:58"You're not winning as a strength coach by having the most hours in the weight room. You're losing." - 30:04

J. Aggabao, former Assistant Strength Coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL), talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about coaching in the NFL. Topics under discussion include getting a foot in the door in the NFL, what happens when your head coach gets let go, and misconceptions about being an NFL strength coach.J. Aggabao spent four seasons as the Assistant Strength Coach for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He interned as a Strength Coach at Washington State University prior to attending graduate school at Illinois State University.Show Notes~Show Notes~"My path for getting to the NFL was to reach out to several different NFL coaches. I heard back from 1 ... I was able to get my foot in the door as an intern." 2:05"Being certified through the NSCA is definitely important. Having a certification of that caliber is necessary." 2:57"Communication skills and understanding the sport psyche of these millennial athletes is very important." 3:16"When they select the head coach, that coach will be able to determine who his head strength and conditioning coach will be. Whether they have someone in mind already that they've worked with ... or if they give me a chance to interview." 5:39"Everybody thinks it's a glorified job, that you don't work the long collegiate hours -- that's one of the myths." 7:00"My first year as an intern [in the NFL], I made less than I did as a GA in college." 7:30"Be the best wherever you are ... While you are in your lane, make sure you are doing everything to the best of your ability." 11:58"You have to be open to adaptability and change, but within your core philosophy." 17:05Find J. on Twitter: @jaggabao | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfield

Lance Walker, Global Director of Performance at Michael Johnson Performance (MJP), talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about being unselfish in your work, developing your people skills in order to be a better coach, and mapping out your professional path.Lance Walker, PT, CSCS, is the Global Director of Performance at MJP in McKinney, TX. He directs global operations for the company in the United States, China, and England, and is also responsible for ensuring product development and implementation for MJP licensed facilities. Walker served three seasons as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Dallas Cowboys National Football League (NFL) team. He has an extensive background in strength and conditioning and sports medicine at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Prior to joining the Dallas Cowboys, Walker held performance trainer positions at the University of Oklahoma, where he worked directly with athletes across many sports.Show Notes“It's selfishness, I think, that limits us. And also maybe ego.” 2:15“Make sure you dedicate a piece of your development the rest of your life to your emotional intelligence - your people skills, your ability to be empathetic, your ability to seek first to understand.” 13:00"Know humans. Know about human interaction. Know about how to respond to people and how they respond to you." 13:30“So many folks lack a system of arranging information ... I wish I could go back and set up that arrangement system first.” 14:03“It’s starting to be multi-disciplinary where everybody is coming together, getting on the same page. The youth stuff is exciting, the physio space, they're starting to see the CSCS as a real differentiator for them in their practices, and still being able to pull the applied people into those rooms.” 18:05“The people part of this business is so important, that’s why that becomes a thing of networks. It’s because they know that the people part of this business, if you don't have that right, none of the other stuff is going to matter.” 20:59“I set up a yearly sort of professional development program to get to what I want to be someday and those stepwise things, that strategic plan we talked about ... you have to do that. You have to have a strategic plan: objectives, strategies, KPIs, tactics to use, metrics of monitoring all along the way to get there, or you're just hoping.” 22:55“It was honesty from colleagues ... but it had to me be me pulling them aside and saying, ‘Look, will you be brutally honest with me and tell me what I'm missing. Where are my blind spots?’ ... The epiphany moment was to ask the question.” 25:44“I’m on a path. I have a good idea where I want that path to go, but knowing exactly where that path is ... I don’t know.” 32:42

Show NotesTim Pelot, CSCS, has spent time in the collegiate, professional, and private settings. He is currently a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Pelot has been involved with the USOC for nine years in the following sports: bobsled, skeleton, luge, alpine ski, aerial ski, freestyle ski, canoe, kayak, freestyle and Greco wrestling, indoor volleyball, track cycling, judo, speed skating short track, water polo, beach volleyball, swimming, and boxing. In his tenure with the USOC, he has helped support the attainment of 20 major international gold medals, two World Cup titles, two World Championship titles, three Olympic bronze medals, one Olympic silver medal, and three Olympic gold medals.

Matt Shaw, CSCS, RSCC is in his fifth year working at the University of Denver. He was promoted to Director of Sports Performance in August 2016, where he oversees the development of men’s ice hockey, men’s soccer, and men’s and women’s golf. Additionally, he works and consults with athletes from the National Hockey League (NHL), American Hockey League (AHL), and Major League Soccer (MLS). Prior to the University of Denver, Shaw was an Assistant Coach at Boston University and completed internships at the University of South Carolina, Harvard University, Boston University, and for Mike Boyle. Shaw is the recipient of the 2016 National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award.Show Notes

Brendon Huttmann, CSCS,*D, RSCC*D, the Sports Science Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about the role of the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist® (CSCS®) in MLB.The 2017 season will be Brendon Huttmann’s second as the Sports Science Coordinator for Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. Previously, he served as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Major League Strength and Conditioning Coach for four seasons and spent four years in the same capacity with the Los Angeles Dodgers team. He worked five seasons in the Cleveland Indians organization as a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator and also worked as a Minor League Strength Coach in the Colorado Rockies organization in 2002 and with the Kansas City Royals organization in 2001. Huttmann is a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he worked with the baseball team. Find Brendon on Twitter: @09_bhuttShow Notes