Cole Hergott | Coaching, Program Building, and Mentorship in Canada

Former collegiate hockey athlete Cole Hergott thrived in the offseason, but it took a setback to accelerate his path in strength and conditioning. After losing his spot on the team, he channeled his work ethic into interning with Trinity Western University. Years later, he returned to his alma mater as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Only 25 at the time, Hergott recounts the unique challenge of coaching athletes who were older or previous classmates. Leading over 300 athletes as the sole full-time strength and conditioning coach, he quickly learned to “write all your plans in pencil,” while building trust, optimizing logistics, and adapting through COVID-19 disruptions. Hergott emphasizes mentorship and encourages coaches to lean on those who navigated similar challenges. As part of the NSCA British Columbia Advisory Board, he encourages listeners to share their practical insights at local events. Hergott’s journey underscores the value of continual growth and embracing uncertainty.

Connect with Cole via email at cole.hergott@twu.ca | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs  | Join the NSCA Canadian Community on LinkedIn!

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“I think for young coaches starting out, a lot of it is, yeah, just being willing to make mistakes, being willing to adapt, and to continue to grow and learn. Call people, text people, send emails, ask questions. We talked about mentors. Lean on your mentors because they've been there. They've made the mistakes. I've made the mistakes and I continue to make mistakes every day, but I think that's how you learn and grow.” 11:05

“Strength and conditioning is not something that we're just going to figure out and somebody's going to have all the answers. As I talked about before, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And so it's important to learn from a bunch of people who maybe think differently than you so that you can continue to get good results.” 11:30

“I'd say if you're somebody who's looking to speak, find something that you're good at, something that you are passionate about, that you like to speak about, that you're good at. And then don't be afraid to reach out to your advisory board…” 16:15

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[00:00:02.60] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast, season 9, episode 2.
[00:00:08.24] So I think for young coaches starting out, a lot of it is, yeah, just being willing to make mistakes, being willing to adapt, and to continue to grow and learn. Call people, text people, send emails, ask questions. We talked about mentors. Lean on your mentors because they've been there. They've made the mistakes. I've made the mistakes, and I continue to make mistakes every day. But I think that's how you learn and grow.
[00:00:33.08] Strength and conditioning is not something that we're just going to figure out and somebody's going to have all the answers. As I talked about before, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And so I think it's important to learn from a bunch of people who maybe think differently than you so that you can continue to get good results.
[00:00:52.55] This is the NSCA's Coaching Podcast, where we talk to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know, but probably didn't learn in school. There's strength and conditioning, and then there's everything else.
[00:01:03.14] This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast season 9. I'm Eric McMahon, the NSCA Coaching and Sports Science program manager. Today we have an episode from Canada with a coach who has a strong passion for the coaching profession. Cole Hergott is the head strength and conditioning coach at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, where he's also a graduate from. So let's get to know Cole and how he got into the profession. Cole, thanks for being on, man.
[00:01:29.32] Hey. Thanks, Eric. It's a huge pleasure to be on.
[00:01:31.88] Yeah. You are part of the advisory board for our British Columbia chapter of the NSCA, got to know you that way. But I want to get to know how you got into the profession. I don't know a ton of strength and conditioning coaches from just up North in Canada, even though I grew up pretty close to the border, but Western Canada especially. So what sparked your interest in strength and conditioning?
[00:01:57.94] Absolutely. So your typical story, I played sports growing up. And for me, I found that the offseason was where I shone the most. I wasn't the most talented kid, but I love to work hard, and I love to get better. Ice hockey was my chosen thing. I was going to go to the NHL until I obviously did not.
[00:02:18.83] But that passion for working hard led me down, looking into, well, how do you get faster? How do you get stronger? And I really enjoyed learning what NHL players did when they trained. And so when I was choosing, when I graduated high school, I played junior hockey for a year. And then, when hockey started to stagnate for me a little bit, I decided to pursue academics.
[00:02:46.94] So I'm originally from Saskatchewan. And I came out to British Columbia to Langley, BC, which is just outside Vancouver, to attend Trinity Western University, to play on the men's hockey team, and to pursue a degree in human kinetics, or kinesiology. And that's where I met my first strength and conditioning coach, Andrew Heming.
[00:03:05.76] And I realized that, wow, this can actually be a profession. You can actually just tell people to squat and sprint and they'll do it. This is awesome. So I learned a lot from him as an athlete. And then I started to intern in the weight room as an undergrad intern.
[00:03:20.70] And at the end of my first year with my year-end meeting with my hockey coach, the program at the time was just starting up and it was growing. And so he was like, hey, we're recruiting over you pretty much, and there probably won't be a spot for you. But we noticed that you take your strength, and conditioning, and nutrition stuff pretty seriously. Why don't you be an intern and help that way?
[00:03:43.29] So I left that meeting pretty upset. But after thinking about it and praying about it with my family a lot, I realized that this was maybe God opening up another door for me. And so I stepped in, and here I am six years later, or sorry, more than that. Sorry, 10 years later, pretty much. That was when I was a freshman.
[00:04:02.95] But ever since then, I interned at Trinity under Andrew Heming, and then under Andrew Evans once Andrew Heming stepped down. And then when I graduated, I went to the University of British Columbia and pursued my master's degree in coaching science. And then this job at Trinity opened up at the end of my first year, so when I was halfway through my master's degree.
[00:04:25.90] So I wasn't planning on getting a head position then, but this is where I eventually wanted to end up. And so I threw my name in the hat and they picked me. And so my first year was filled with, I had just gotten married the year before. I was completing my master's degree, and I was starting a head strength coach position.
[00:04:42.94] And then that spring was the spring of 2020, so when COVID hit. So that first year was one to remember, or forget, depending on how you look at it. But then, yeah, five years later, here I am in year six, still doing the best I can, still trying to make the world a better place one day at a time through engaging with athletes. So it's been a whirlwind, but it's been a ton of fun.
[00:05:08.63] So early exposure to a strength and conditioning coach really opened up that pathway for you. And I'd say a lot of coaches, probably they either have a strength and conditioning coach and realize, hey, this is a profession. I could pursue this, or they don't have a strength and conditioning coach.
[00:05:24.68] And they learn it's a profession, and then realize, hey, I could have probably done this a little better, or there's another path, or some professionals out there that I'd like to gravitate that way and be part of that. It sounds like that mentorship or that model really helped put you on your path. Who are some of the other big influences on you as a professional, or mentors?
[00:05:52.28] Yeah. So Andrew Heming, my first strength coach, for sure was my first main mentor. When I was at UBC getting my master's degree, the head strength coach there, Joe McCullum, had a huge impact on me, especially from weight room management, and culture, and just getting stuff done. Obviously now I compete against him, but he still is a friend and a close mentor.
[00:06:16.29] People from afar, Mike Boyle was actually a huge influence on me. My brother bought me Functional Training for Athletes, or whatever his first book was.
[00:06:26.83] Yeah, Functional Training for Sport.
[00:06:29.23] Yeah, there. So he bought me that book before I knew who Mike Boyle was. And I was like, OK, well, I'll just read this. And after that, I was like, wow, this is really interesting. And so I've been following Mike's stuff for a long time.
[00:06:42.12] Johnny Parker's been somebody who I lean on quite a bit. So I find that as a young coach, I've tried to find older coaches to be my mentors, people that are in it, who have done it for a long time, and have had good results. But I've connected myself quite well around Canada, especially in the youth sports setting, so that's the Canadian University setting, and just trying to network, just try to connect with everybody.
[00:07:08.54] Because everybody's doing it differently. There's no one way to skin a cat. And so I want to make sure that I'm doing the best I can to learn. But for sure, the biggest would be Andrew Heming, Joe McCullum, and then just from afar, Mike Boyle has had a huge impact.
[00:07:21.47] No, that's great. And we all have mentors. We all have people we look up to in the profession. What's interesting is you started getting into how you networked out within Canada. And as a college strength coach in a country we don't typically associate with college athletics, even though it is a thing, do you feel like you had a different path to navigate than maybe what you hear on the state side, maybe a unique perspective being a Canadian?
[00:07:53.99] Yeah, I'd say it's a little bit different, the Canadian, the American college or university setting, for sure. Up here in Canada, it's a lot smaller. I know probably 90% of the strength coaches that work in universities in Canada, whereas in the States, that would be a very big number of coaches.
[00:08:14.99] There just isn't the same amount of jobs here. So from the challenges, or from getting to this position, it's kind of the same. A lot of it comes from who you know. So I did my undergrad here at Trinity. So when I applied here, I wasn't some unknown kid. They knew who I was and what they were getting.
[00:08:35.81] I didn't do education in the States. I didn't apply for jobs in the States, so I'm not 100% certain on how that works. But I know it's a little more cut throat as far as there's a lot more jobs. There's a lot more coaches, and so people get hired and fired a little bit more, especially on the football side of things.
[00:08:52.23] Whereas here in Canada, there typically isn't a football strength coach with universities, it's usually, for example, Joe McCullum is the head strength coach at UBC. And he covers their football team as well as other sports teams. So even if the football coach got fired, chances are he would keep his job because he's covering more than just football.
[00:09:11.65] So I think from a challenges side, we're spread a little more thin here in Canada. So for example, I am the only paid staff member on the S and C side, or full-time staff member, I should say. And so I'm covering all of our athletes.
[00:09:27.91] Whereas on the States, you might have, one or two people covering the Olympic side, and then more people covering the football side. But I think there's just not as much money in the Canadian sports system, especially the university side. And so there's less jobs. There's less people for those jobs and it just filters down that way.
[00:09:49.21] You were a young coach taking over a program at a really critical time during COVID, so obviously learning a lot. Starting to pull out of that now, what are some of the lessons that you could share, maybe with a young coach, or a coach taking over a program as a first-time leader?
[00:10:09.70] Absolutely. The biggest things that I learned in that first year, regardless of it being COVID, were write all your plans in pencil. As much as we want to talk about periodization and make sure that everything is down to a science and to a T, that first year, I didn't know what I didn't know. And so every day was a learning experience, and learning to adapt, and grow, and ask for forgiveness from the athletes as I was figuring things out.
[00:10:36.50] And at that time, I would have been, I think, 25. So we had a number of athletes that were actually older than me. And as I just completed my undergrad, when I came back, most of the athletes I was sitting in class with just two years prior. And so while that helped from a relationship side, if they knew who I was, it was hard for me on a professional side because a lot of them didn't see me as a professional. Because it was like, well, we were just studying together. Now you're going to tell me what to do?
[00:11:05.31] So I think for young coaches starting out, a lot of it is, yeah, just being willing to make mistakes, being willing to adapt, and to continue to grow and learn. Call people, text people, send emails, ask questions. We talked about mentors. Lean on your mentors because they've been there. They've made the mistakes. I've made the mistakes and I continue to make mistakes every day, but I think that's how you learn and grow.
[00:11:30.12] Strength and conditioning is not something that we're just going to figure out and somebody's going to have all the answers. As I talked about before, there's more than one way to skin a cat. And so it's important to learn from a bunch of people who maybe think differently than you so that you can continue to get good results.
[00:11:47.50] And if you found something that gets good results, awesome. You don't need to change it. You don't need to go with the new thing all the time as long as you are continuing to serve your athletes or your clients the best you can. But again, being adaptable because every day is going to be different.
[00:12:02.38] People have different moods. Coaches have different thoughts on how they should run practice. And so maybe today's practice was a little bit harder. And you were anticipating being able to smoke them in the weight room but you can't do that now. And so writing everything in pencil, and being able and willing to adapt, I think, is the biggest thing.
[00:12:21.14] That's awesome. Great advice. And I think we all resonate with that, is that we have to be very dynamic as professionals because our environments are very dynamic, and the people we work with. It's not always the same thing we do every day as coaches. And athletes aren't going to come in in the same moods, the same attitudes, feeling ready to go we always hope they are.
[00:12:44.73] But realistically, someone on the team or someone showing up for that session is going to need a little extra push or whatever it is, so we got to be there for them. You're involved with the NSCA up in BC. What are some of the things you guys have going on at the provincial level?
[00:12:59.27] Absolutely. So yeah, I'm on the BC advisory board for the NSCA, and I think I've been doing that for, oh, a few years now. I can't even remember. But what we do, every year we put on a clinic, aside from the COVID year and stuff. So usually it's in the springtime. I think it was in May this last year, where, yeah, we have speakers from-- we'll have a few local speakers.
[00:13:23.33] I spoke at one of them the one year. We try to get at least one or two big-time speakers to come in and make it worth the local people's while. So it's not like, well, I see Cole all the time, and that kind of thing. But other than that, we're just trying to help the profession.
[00:13:38.42] We're just trying to make sure that there's networking opportunities for coaches. And obviously the best way to do that, personally, is in person, is at a conference. You hear a speaker, and then you go to lunch and you're chatting with five other coaches about what that coach said, or how they apply that kind of thing.
[00:13:53.15] So we do a conference every year, as well as the Northwest. We're part of the Northwest Regional for the NSCA. And so that circulates where they host one. So actually the Northwest Regional was in BC this past summer. And I actually spoke at that event as well, so that was a pretty big opportunity for me. But yeah, just trying to provide resources for coaches, trying to advocate for the profession, and make sure that we're all trying to get better.
[00:14:19.37] You're a great person to speak to this and I get this question often. For a coach, a professional who wants to get involved with speaking and presenting at the NSCA, what's that pathway for you, just the provincial program all the way up to the national level?
[00:14:36.68] Yeah. So from a speaking standpoint, so I've been on the advisory board for a number of years. And I know the president of the BC side and the Northwest side quite well. And so a lot of it comes down to, again, as I spoke to you before, who you know.
[00:14:53.39] So if you're not a big time strength coach that has been doing it for 30 years, and has a million followers, and all that stuff, a lot of it is just showing that you have value to provide to the profession and coming up with something that you're good at. So for myself, being the lone staff member, 300-plus athletes in a small space, that's something that not everybody maybe relates to. But there's knowledge that I can provide from, whether it's weight room logistics, or programming for that kind of stuff, that is pretty unique.
[00:15:29.87] And so that's what I've spoke about the past two times, was chatting with our president about, hey, I think this is something that would be a good idea, and submitting my ideas to them, and just finding something, again, that's a little bit different. Not that you can't speak about VBT or squat technique, because that stuff's important, but something that everybody can resonate with. So everybody's been in a situation where they haven't had the equipment, or hopefully they've been in a situation like that where they haven't had the equipment, they haven't had the right tech.
[00:16:01.13] And so how do you get that done? Or you had a plan to go outside and now it's snowing or raining. Well, what do you do for your sprint work? And so that's what I've tried to provide in my presentations is just value that way.
[00:16:13.00] So I'd say if you're somebody who's looking to speak, find something that you're good at, something that you are passionate about, that you like to speak about, that you're good at. And then don't be afraid to reach out to your advisory board, like myself if you're in BC, or your president, and just get the conversation going. I was actually turned down a couple times before they accepted my ideas.
[00:16:34.93] And so it's not given. It's not, oh, hey, I know that person so they'll let me speak. You have to be somebody that is qualified and provides value. But it doesn't hurt to start the conversation.
[00:16:46.59] No, I like that. And we have an application process through our speaker portal at the NSCA. I always encourage people not just to apply for the big events, but look at the state provincial level. Because that's really the starting point. I'm a baseball guy, so I always say it's like our minor league system to get topics in the queue, to get some speaking experience before you get up there on a national stage, if that's what you aspire to do.
[00:17:15.69] On the other side, it's really valuable to have connections in your region, in your state, in your province. So the process of, OK, I'll apply online, but I'm also going to reach out to you, Cole, or I'm going to reach out to other members of the board and just say, hey, here's a topic that's unique to my training scenario that I think I can add value to your event. And one, two times going through that process, you're probably going to get picked at some point to share that. And then you just prepare, and get ready, and have your slides ready to go.
[00:17:48.57] And we're always looking for professional level content at the NSCA from coaches. I think that's been one of the big challenges is that, for many years, it was very much researchers sharing research, which we need. But we're a generation now of coaches that has years and years of experience out in the field. And so I think it's that balance.
[00:18:12.89] So one thing we're doing, or one thing we did this year at the NSCA Coaches Conference was have hands-on sessions in every single block of the conference. First time we'd done that. We'd had a lot of hands-on content in the past, but we'd never filled the lineup with hands-on content. That's something to really make that connection back to the hands-on, practical applications element that we need as coaches.
[00:18:40.13] And so that's something that, as we dig deep and try to find a little bit more support for the profession within our own events, that's just something we did. But I do encourage our listeners, if you're thinking of putting in a topic for presenting, think about putting in a hands-on topic. You're a coach every day. You're out there presenting to your group, sharing with your groups every day. That might be a sweet spot for you.
[00:19:07.72] If you've never been in front of a room delivering a lecture or a big presentation, that could be a milestone to check through on your way to be able to do some of those bigger talks. So I think it's a good point. And the state provincial level is really great place to start, so I'm glad you got me off on that topic, Cole. I appreciate that.
[00:19:32.39] My pleasure. And just to touch on that really briefly, too, the hands-on stuff is where a lot of conferences, as you mentioned, are going. And I hope they continue that way. Because most of the conversations I have with coaches, whether it's on the phone or after a conference, it's not about the sets and reps. It's, OK, well, how do you actually apply what we just learned? And so how do you do the research? How do you do that stuff? So I think that's an awesome thing that the NSCA is doing.
[00:19:56.66] Awesome. Yeah. I appreciate all you're doing up there. And maybe the voice of Canada in the strength and conditioning field isn't heard enough, so we wanted to make sure you were able to come on. You reached out to be on the podcast and represent the BC chapter up there and everything that you're doing. I think it's really cool.
[00:20:18.74] You're still a young coach. You still have a lot of career left, but you have a really strong passion for how you got into this profession making some good professional decisions and where this field is taking you. If you got your crystal ball out and could see strength and conditioning as a whole, but especially in Canada, where do you think we're going as a field?
[00:20:43.15] Well, that is a great question. I would say, well, hopefully we're growing. And I know a lot of what we're planning for, even up here in Canada, is trying to tailor our undergrad education to more strength and conditioning side. So especially with the NSCA, and the CASC certifications, and all those things, I think there's going to be a push to having kids, or undergrad students, specialize in strength and conditioning a little bit more.
[00:21:11.61] Because I find a lot of the education, it's great. It's great, science-based stuff. But then if you haven't done internships, if you haven't done any practical stuff, then it's really tough, A, to get a job, but B, to stick in that job because you've never really been in front of people.
[00:21:26.26] So I'm hoping, and I would use my crystal ball to say that I think there's going to be a bigger push to having internships, or to have that built into the undergrad education, especially up here in Canada, because it isn't a huge thing yet, so that when kids do graduate at 21, 22, 23, that they've had two, three, four years of experience in a varsity weight room, in a local private setting, whatever their heart desires, and so that they're actually ready for that job, instead of getting the job when you're 23, 24, and then trying to get the experience. So that's where I would hope it's going. And especially up here in Canada, I think there's going to be a bigger push for that.
[00:22:07.59] No, that's great. So we learned a lot about strength and conditioning in Canada today, your background being a college coach up there, a little bit about the NSCA and where we are internationally. But maybe an area of the international field that we don't talk about enough is strength and conditioning in Canada, so really appreciate you doing that. And for any of our listeners that want to reach out and talk to you, what's the best way for them to do that?
[00:22:35.98] Absolutely. So the best way would probably be via email. I use my email like text messaging. So my email is Cole.Hergott, so C-O-L-E, dot, H-E-R-G-O-T-T, at TWU, so like Trinity Western University, TWU.ca, so Cole.Hergott@TWU.ca. And I'm more than happy to set up a phone call, a Zoom call, whatever it might be. I can talk about this stuff forever. So I'm more than happy to answer any questions or just help troubleshoot any coach that needs some help.
[00:23:11.04] Perfect. Thanks, Cole. We appreciate you and all of our guests and listeners on the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Also, a big thanks to Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.
[00:23:21.64] I'm Ian Jeffreys, the NSCA president. You've just listened to an episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Hopefully it's generated some interest in strength and conditioning and the NSCA. If it has, get involved. Go onto the NSCA website, see what opportunities are available. And I hope to see you at one of our events, where you can be the next leadership generation of the NSCA.
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[00:23:49.38] This was the NSCA's Coaching Podcast. The National Strength and Conditioning Association was founded in 1978 by strength and conditioning coaches to share information, resources, and help advance the profession. Serving coaches for over 40 years, the NSCA is the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

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