Ryan Poles is currently the General Manager of the Chicago Bears. Prior to that, he spent 13 years working with the Kansas City Chiefs and helping to build the Super Bowl Champion that they are today. He was heavily involved in the scouting and bringing on the players that you see dominating the NFL today. Ryan also played football at a very high level; he played offensive line for Boston College, and his quarterback at the time was Matt Ryan.
Read MoreCoach Sam Puryear is the Head Coach and the Director of Golf at Howard University. Coach has a ton of accolades: he’s produced one National Championship, he’s won the Big Ten Championship when he was at Michigan State, he coached at Stanford where he was an assistant coach, he’s gotten two coach of the year honors, he’s won a ton of awards, and coach is also an author of the book Diamonds in the Rough.
Read MoreRyan Lavarnway was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round in 2008 out of Yale University. Since making his Major League debut in 2011, Ryan has played in parts of 10 Major League Baseball seasons for eight different teams. He has also represented Israel in the Olympics and the World Baseball Classic. More recently Ryan has been building a brand off the field, starting with his podcast and website with more to come!
Read MoreLauren Fleshman is one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time. She also is a brand strategy advisory for Oiselle, which is a fitness apparel company for women. She was sponsored by Nike for many years, which she talks about at length in her book, Good for a Girl. She’s also the co-founder of Picky Bars, which is a natural food company. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Runner’s World, and many other places.
Read MoreClint Hurdle has been involved with professional baseball for a long time. He played in the league for 10 years, where he played for the Kansas City Royals, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Mets, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Clint was the manager of the Colorado Rockies form 2002-2009, where he helped them go to the World Series, and then he went to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he helped them go to 3 straight playoff appearances from 2013-2015. He was with the Pirates from 2011-2019.
Read MoreFor 25 years, Sherri Coale served as the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Oklahoma where she is the winningest women’s basketball coach in OU history. She built a powerhouse program in Norman that appeared in 19 straight NCAA tournaments and competed in three Final Fours. During her illustrious career at the University of Oklahoma, in addition to coaching the Sooners, Coale participated in USA Basketball as an assistant coach. She is an author, a master motivator, an engaging speaker, a gifted writer, and a keen observer of everyday life.
Read MoreBronco Mendenhall is one of the more interesting sports coaches I’ve interviewed on this podcast. What makes Bronco interesting is not that he was the Head Coach of Brigham Young University’s football program from 2005-2015, and not that he was the Head Coach of the University of Virginia’s football program form 2016-2021. What makes Bronco so interesting is that he intentionally walked away from the University of Virginia football program to take a year off.
Read MoreTara VanDerveer is an absolute legend in the world of basketball. She’s a hall-of-famer, she’s a 5X National Coach of the Year in College Basketball, she’s won 3 NCAA Division I titles, she’s been to 13 Final Fours, and she’s won a gold medal with USA Basketball. Her awards and accolades are up there with just about any college coach, and she’s the all-time leader in wins in women’s basketball.
Read MoreOlajuwon Ajanaku, the Founder of Eastside Golf grew up in East Atlanta. He gained a golf scholarship to Morehouse College and won a National Championship alongside his co-founder, Earl Cooper.
Earl Cooper is a PGA Professional and currently ranked as one of the best young teachers in America by Golf Digest. He has worked as the first African American golf professional at Detroit Golf Club and Wilmington Country Club.
Read MoreMarc Riccio is the CEO of USA Lacrosse, a nearly 400,000-member organization that serves as the governing body of the sport in the United States. Prior to joining USA Lacrosse, Marc was the Chief Commercial Officer for KlarisIP, a boutique intellectual property and media consultancy. Marc spent 17 seasons leading business operation and development for the New York Jets (NFL) and he worked for Hofstra University, leading marketing and development for intercollegiate athletics.
Read MoreMichael Lombardi is a former NFL General Manager, a 3X Super Bowl Champion, and somebody who thinks deeply about leadership. He has a daily newsletter with George Raveling called The Daily Coach which aims to be inspiration for people around leadership. Michael is also the author of Gridiron Genius.
Read MoreWill Gadd is a professional mountain sports athlete, speaker, guide, writer and TV guy. He shares the lessons he’s learned leading teams into high-risk environments through presentations on risk, resiliency, chaos and leadership.
Read MoreFran Fraschilla has been an ESPN college basketball analyst, the director of USA Basketball’s 3-on-3 National Team, and the head coach at St. John’s, along with other schools. Fran had lots of success in his coaching career, which he started from a very young age. Even though he’s often heard from listeners on TV, at his core he is a coach. Fran is somebody who’s become an expert when it comes to basketball, but he’s really someone who loves to learn. He thinks deeply about leadership, culture, and mindset.
Read MoreVal Ackerman was named the fifth Commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference on June 26, 2013. She previously served as an attorney and executive at the National Basketball Association, was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and is a past President of USA Basketball, which oversees the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic basketball program. She also served for two terms as the U.S. representative to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
Read MoreMike Neighbors is the Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas. He is a father of four (Abby 26, Alec 20, Bowen 2, Barrett 9 months), a husband to Jayci, and a coach to 277 former players. For the last 29 years he has been paid as a Coach, but if you ask his lifelong friends and family, they will tell you he has been doing it since he was 9. So, he has really been a Coach for the last 43 years.
Read MoreVernon Davis is a ridiculously accomplished player on the football field. He’s a 2-time pro-bowler who played 14 seasons in the National Football League. He was also a 2nd Team All-Pro in 2013, led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2009, he was an All-American in college, and he won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. However, this conversation is about everything else that Vernon is involved with.
Read MoreD’Qwell Jackson was a superstar at the University of Maryland. He had an amazing and illustrious career, winning all kinds of awards. He did such a good job there that he ended up being a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. He went on to have a 10+ year career in the NFL starting at linebacker. This conversation is going to be about a lot more than just executing as a football player.
Read MoreBuzz Williams is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas A&M University. I first learned about him as the head coach at Marquette, then he went over to Virginia Tech, where I first met him in person, and now he’s at Texas A&M. All along the way Buzz has had tremendous success on the basketball court. Buzz is someone who is constantly learning, constantly looking to grow, and then trying to pour all of himself into his student athletes, his family, his community, and the people he has great relationships with.
Read MoreScott Drew is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Baylor University. Coach Drew began his career at Baylor in 2003 when he took over a program that was decimated by tragedy, player departures, a depleted roster, and NCAA restrictions. Fast-forward to almost 20 years later, and Baylor has become a contender almost annually. They won a national championship, they are constantly at the top of the rankings, and in their conference, the Big 12, they are a perennial contender.
Read MoreNick Hill is the Head Football Coach at Southern Illinois University, where he also played football earlier in his life. Nick also played professional football. The crux and meat of our conversation today is about what he’s building at Southern Illinois.
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