NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Episode 96: Emily Zaler

Emily Zaler, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the National Football League (NFL) Denver Broncos, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the benefits of being persistent and proactively seeking out opportunities in the field. Topics under discussion include working with professional athletes, facing adversity head on, and how no task is too small to show how you can add value to a program.

Find Emily on Instagram: @ezaler or Twitter: @EZaler | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

“I think that my experience as a college athlete has definitely helped shape me into the coach that I am today. Having two very different experiences at University of Oregon, and at University of Missouri, allowed me to see and develop what type of coach I wanted to become.” 4:57

“And I think that a lot of my skill set that came from working with general population, and came from managing training departments, and being able to work with different personalities, and build relationships, and build buy and with different types of people.” 22:45

“And so I think going with the mindset of no task is too small, whatever I can do to help and benefit our organization and benefit our athletes, I'm 100% willing to do.” 24:54

“I think the push towards technology is only going to continue to grow. And I feel like as far as the role of the coach in the future, I feel like if you're not well versed and you're not educated within that realm, that it's going to be a struggle.” 30:46

[00:00:00.63] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast, episode 96.

[00:00:04.74] So rather than thinking in that mindset, I saw it as an opportunity of what can I do that's proactive, can help me gain experience in a second professional sport and also can keep my skill set sharp regardless of whether it's temporary or if it could turn into a permanent type of role.

[00:00:23.13] 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.

[00:00:33.85] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon, and today we are joined by Emily Zeler, the assistant, strength and conditioning coach with the Denver Broncos. Emily, welcome.

[00:00:45.81] Thank you so much, Eric. Really excited to be on and looking forward to chatting with you today.

[00:00:52.41] Awesome just to kick things off, I want to give you the opportunity to share your story into the field How'd you get started? And excited to get to know you.

[00:01:02.01] Yeah, absolutely. So growing up, I've been an athlete my entire life and ended up playing soccer in college. I started at the University of Oregon. And during my freshman year at the University of Oregon, I realized, when I got there that I was the weakest person on my team in the weight room. And strength and conditioning was something that I struggled with immensely. And how I fell in love with it, I would say is an untraditional journey, where it wasn't always something that I excelled at.

[00:01:36.87] And I was required by my coaching staff, at University of Oregon, to actually go into the weight room for extra lifts with our strength coach, in addition to our team lifts that we had during the week. So it was through those extra sessions and through seeing myself make progress and seeing what I was doing in the weight room transfer onto the field and into my performance, that I started to fall in love with strength and conditioning.

[00:02:04.65] And from there, I ended up transferring to University of Missouri and was fortunate enough to have Dr. Bryan Mann, as my strength coach at Mizzou. And he took me under his wing. He was obviously an amazing person to have as a coach, as well as learn from. And working with Dr. Mann, definitely solidified this is what I want to do professionally. Just seeing what my experience was like with him, definitely confirmed in my mind that this is a path I can go down.

[00:02:40.11] And while I was at Mizzou I ended up having a career, ending knee injury with soccer. And it was through Dr. Mann, that he said, hey, I know you have an opportunity to stay at Mizzou and keep your scholarship as a team assistant, but if you're interested, I can connect you to an internship at athlete's performance before it became Exos at the original AP facility in Phoenix. Would you be interested in doing that?

[00:03:07.72] So I saw that as a great opportunity to get a jumpstart on my career, and this is back, not to age myself, but this is back in 2008, 2009 was my first internship at AP, at the original location in Tempe, Arizona. And from there that's how it started.

[00:03:26.85] That's awesome. That's awesome. In a way, it's very similar path to a lot of coaches that have an athletic background, and maybe have a setback, or an injury, or something, and that drives them to really start thinking about how they're going to progress into a career that still drives that passion for sports, athletics.

[00:03:57.36] And it really, it's always a little bit of a check when you have a setback as an athlete or as a coach of how much this field and how much working with athletes and being in an athletic environment really means to you. And so I think your experience really speaks to that. Really cool that you worked with Bryan Mann. He's obviously a huge part of our NSCA family, and he's presented it so many of our events.

[00:04:25.14] And I love talking with Dr. Mann on VBT and really cool that you had that experience of getting thrown into the fire with a high-level strength coach and then going to API and Phoenix, where you're from, I believe. And that's just really cool. Speak to your athletic experience, division 1 soccer player. How has being a college athlete helped you become a better coach?

[00:04:58.11] I think that my experience as a college athlete has definitely helped shape me into the coach that I am today. Having two very different experiences at University of Oregon, and at University of Missouri, allowed me to see and develop what type of coach I wanted to become. And I think, that having the relatability to the athletes that you're working with is huge, regardless of whether it's women soccer players, or NBA players, or NFL players, you've been in their shoes a little bit, just being an athlete in the past, whether it's professional collegiate doesn't matter.

[00:05:41.69] I think that there's that relatability factor where it can allow you to help build by it and also build relationships with your athletes. And I think that having that athletic experience, and knowing what it feels like yourself to have been in their shoes, so to speak, can actually help you empower them further as a coach.

[00:06:03.86] That's awesome. And you spoke to your different athletic experiences, but you've also had a lot of stops along the way in your coaching path. Speak to the value of seeking out opportunities. And I think in your case that meant traveling around the country quite a bit. Speak to the value of moving around and seeking out opportunities and how that has benefited you.

[00:06:28.11] Being willing to be mobile and seek out opportunities and not wait for things to fall into your lap has been a constant throughout my life, but especially throughout my career, over the last decade, a lot of moving around. A lot of taking risks per se, that some may not be willing to take. But I think if you have the capability to be mobile, for me I don't have a family. I'm pretty much can go wherever the right opportunity is. Is only to help set you up for success.

[00:07:04.38] And putting yourself out there, you never have anything to lose. So the worst case scenario, the answer is no. But if you don't ask the answer's always no anyway. So trying to create opportunities for yourself, there's really, it can only benefit you. There's really nothing. And if you reach out to someone you don't hear back, onto the next. So.

[00:07:33.21] That's awesome. I remember some advice I got early in my career from Dr. Margaret Jones, at Springfield College. And it was, there's going to be opportunities for you to get internships and experience if you're willing to go anywhere. And that really stuck with me. Coming out of a program that there were a lot of students going, and finding internships, and opportunities to gain experience.

[00:08:03.30] But I mean, I realized how competitive the field was. And that to forge ahead and really pursue the goals that I was trying to pursue, getting out there, and expanding your backyard to the entire country, or even globally at times, I think, it's a valuable message for coaches. So just getting to know you a little bit and hearing that brought me back a little bit on that area.

[00:08:40.62] Something that you didn't share yet on here, but I know when we pregamed for our podcast, you talked about your time with the New York Knicks. And you were getting established in the field, and you had a great opportunity working with the New York Knicks, the NBA team, and all of a sudden COVID hit, and things came to a screeching halt. How did you deal with that? It speaks to a little bit of the adversity that we face in the field, and you obviously landed on your feet with the Broncos here. But speak to that experience in that time.

[00:09:22.10] Absolutely. So when I originally got the opportunity with the Knicks, how that came about long story short, I had reached out to almost every single NBA team just blindly. I had zero connections, and reached out, introduced myself, made it clear that, hey my goal right now is to work in professional sports, whether that's the NBA or the NFL. And I was surprised. I didn't expect anything from those emails and I was surprised when I did hear back from the Knicks and was given that amazing opportunity and had a wonderful experience in New York. And like you said, our season suddenly came to an end.

[00:10:07.60] So last March the NBA season was suspended right when COVID hit. And from there, obviously, the Orlando NBA Bubble ended up happening. But there is a waiting period between mid-march, to about the end of May, where we really weren't sure, is there going to be a Bubble? Are all 30 NBA teams going to be included? Or is it only going to be some of the top organizations with the best records that are going to be going to Florida?

[00:10:38.80] So it turns out we weren't one of those teams that were invited into the Bubble. So for me that basically meant that we were done without unknown of when the next NBA season is even starting, what does that look like. And I ended up as well as many of our other employees being furloughed at the time because there really, we didn't really have anything going on. And so I completely understood that.

[00:11:09.76] But I tried to use that adversity rather than thinking, hey, I finally made it to the professional level, which has been my dream since first interning at Athlete's Performance in 2008. So we're talking 12 years later, finally at the professional level and then it's over. So rather than thinking in that mindset, I saw it as an opportunity of what can I do that's proactive, can help me gain experience in a second professional sport, and also can keep my skill set sharp regardless of whether it's temporary or if it could turn into a permanent type of role?

[00:11:47.11] So knowing that NFL training camps were starting soon, so again, this is the end of May and training camps start in July, I figured that most teams already had their staff in place for camp and for the season. But that again, I had nothing to lose by reaching out. And rather than sitting there and dwelling on the situation, taking action, and trying to turn the adversity into an opportunity and make the best of a situation.

[00:12:16.82] And so utilizing the same strategy as I did with the NBA teams, I decided to contact every single NFL organization. And just reaching out, introducing myself, sharing. Hey, I just spent the season in the NBA, our season ended due to COVID, not really sure what training camp looks like at this point, but could I even be a volunteer, during training camp for six weeks to gain experience in a second professional sport, keep my skill set sharp?

[00:12:46.21] Everything I just explained, and I had no idea if I was going to hear back from any teams. But again figured I had nothing to lose. And if anything could at least create some relationships for the future with coaches throughout the league. And there is definitely a process behind that. We're just figuring out everyone's email addresses. I've got a lot of return to centers where I was a guessing game for a lot of them, to try to figure out their contact information, but ended up doing that. And didn't hear back from many on the first set of emails that I sent out.

[00:13:25.30] So I sent out every single team. And I ended up creating a spreadsheet to keep track of the days that I reached out, if I heard back, what their response was? So very dialed in systematic approach that ended up really paying off. So reached out a second time to every single coach about two weeks later, and just said, hey, I know COVID is going on, things are crazy, just wanted to follow up with you. And it was after that second round that I ended up hearing back for about 27 out of the 32 teams, which was-- I was shocked.

[00:14:01.60] I got that larger a response, and they weren't all hey, we're interested, but a lot of them were hey, we really appreciate the follow up, and even if we're fully staffed right now, we are going to keep your resume for the future, and let's connect, and just chat for a few minutes. So it gave me an opportunity to really build some relationships with few different coaches around the league, which I was excited just about that at the time.

[00:14:28.72] So during that time, when I was still figuring out what are the next few months look like, right? I learned about something called the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship, just through doing research about the NFL online, I came across it randomly. And it's a fantastic opportunity for coaches of minority or different diverse backgrounds to gain experience within the NFL during training camp.

[00:14:58.35] And on the website, it said it was for positional coaches. It's a nothing about strength and conditioning. And so I wondered am I eligible for this opportunity? Do I even qualify? So I contacted the NFL and headquarters, and they said, hey, we typically offer this to positional coaches, but absolutely strength coaches can qualify for this.

[00:15:24.42] And super excited to hear back from them, and sent my application in, and on the application you can list your top organizations that you're interested in. If given the fellowship, what would your top five teams be ideally? Where you'd want to go? And Denver was right up there at the top of the list. And having the opportunity to work with Coach Landow, and learn from him was something that I thought would be invaluable for my career.

[00:15:53.10] So after I applied and listed Broncos as the top team that I'd be interested in, reached out to coach Landow, this is now I think, a third time that I haven't heard back yet from him. I had reached out a third time and said, hey, just following up again. I know you still don't really know what's going on with COVID, and I just wanted to let you know that I applied for the fellowship. And immediately I got a response back saying, hey, let's jump on a call tomorrow. And long story short, that led to having that opportunity to spend training camp here in Denver, which turned into a full time position with the organization. So I'm extremely grateful for the entire Denver Broncos Organization for giving me that opportunity and just supporting diversity and inclusion.

[00:16:44.52] That's awesome. And I think it's important to highlight those types of opportunities for young coaches that listen to this podcast. There are so many opportunities out there, your story really speaks to the persistence that's necessary to establish yourself in this field. And just to-- and I love that you had a, I haven't made it yet mentality at every step, and you continued to work, you didn't just get to the professional level, and stop and get complacent. You continued to use the same process and be systematic about pursuing your career at all the different stages that you've been through. I think it's awesome. It's awesome to hear that.

[00:17:31.83] And so you've spoken a lot about stops along the way, and the applied weight room and coaching experience that you've had. Speak to your academic preparation, and what are the key areas for young coaches getting into the field to really focus on maybe. And maybe this has changed a little bit from 10, 15 years ago, with a number of different education programs that exist today.

[00:18:05.35] Yeah. Within our field there's, like you mentioned, today there are so many education opportunities that weren't there 10 years ago when I was coming out of undergrad. So the path I took, completed my undergraduate degree in exercise science and ended up graduating from ASU. After transferring there to spend time at Athlete's Performance, and completed that, and then, believe it or not, I actually took a slight detour, and started working with general population unexpectedly immediately out of undergrad, and had a lot of success with that, but came to a realization a few years ago, this is great, but this isn't the long term goal, and this isn't really what I want to be doing.

[00:18:53.12] So a few years ago I put a plan together, of hey, how can I shift this back in the direction of where I see myself long term, and what that ultimate goal is? So at the time, a handful of years ago, I didn't have my CSCS, I didn't have my Master's degree. And I knew that if I wanted to work at a professional level that I needed those things, right?

[00:19:16.42] And decided to go back to school, complete my Master's at Concordia of Chicago in Applied Exercise Science Strength and Conditioning, and then obviously, I became certified through the NSCA as a Certified Strength and Conditioning specialist. And at the time, after working with general population for a few years, I knew that I needed to humble myself a little bit and gain experience as an intern again.

[00:19:46.57] If I wanted to go down this path, I knew I needed more recent and relevant experience working with athletes, then say, hey, in 2008, 2010, I was at Athlete's Performance, and since I had worked on and off with athletes. But I knew I needed more relevant experience.

[00:20:07.48] So I was in San Diego at the time, and I reached out to every University in San Diego just saying, hey, can I volunteer my time while still keeping my other full time position I had, which was running training departments for a few different facilities within California. And managing and running a training department was great, but again, not what I wanted to be doing long term.

[00:20:34.07] So I started volunteering at UC, San Diego, which was an awesome experience, and allowed me to gain more relevant, more recent experience prior to having the opportunity with the Knicks, which led to this current opportunity. But getting my foot back in that water, and being willing to go in and volunteer my time, and I had opportunity to work with Lauren Green, and Myles Cooper at UCSD, and Dr. Mark Kritz, they're all fantastic, and supported me and elevated me. And that's how I got back into working with the athletic population again and getting back on track towards this goal of working at the professional level.

[00:21:26.57] So as far as going back to education, that was all part of that plan that I put together a few years ago, was hey, I know I need to get my Master's within the field, I know obviously I need to get my CSCS, and I know I need to get more recent experience after being away and working with general population for a few years.

[00:21:50.62] So you navigate a general population personal training, you got experience in the private sector, you got experience with college sports, now you work at the professional level. Maybe what's something that's different than you expected working with pro athletes? Do you have anything that maybe surprised you when you got to the NBA with the Knicks, or started with the staff on the Broncos?

[00:22:22.96] I think coming from my athletic background and having that experience that athletes performance back in the day, I definitely help the transition into the professional setting. And I wouldn't say, necessarily surprising to me, but I think surprising to most people listening, is that professional athletes are people, and they're just everyday people.

[00:22:44.92] And I think that a lot of my skill set that came from working with general population, and came from managing training departments, and being able to work with different personalities, and build relationships, and build buy and with different types of people. I think all of those things have helped prepare me for the opportunity to work in pro sports. Because like I said, they're everyday people, and it's about relationships and people first in coaching. So I truly believe that. And I think that people on the outside might be surprised by that, to know that, hey, these are regular guys. it doesn't really change that much from the collegiate or whatever other setting that you're in.

[00:23:32.88] So you have an awesome staff, obviously with Lauren Corrie, and all the guys with Denver. And we've talked about your path into the field, your ambition. And I think, like many coaches, we aspire to be head strength and conditioning coaches at some point in our career. But I want to ask you, in your current role, as an assistant strength coach, how do you create value in that position to benefit the training staff as a whole and the organization?

[00:24:07.30] As an assistant, I think you can create value in numerous ways. And first and foremost is being a team player, and being willing to do anything that's asked, or just going above and beyond in general, regardless of what that task is. Going in with the mindset of no task is too small, regardless of whether that's coaching, whether that's cleaning, whether that's getting coffee, whatever it is.

[00:24:34.45] Being willing to do everything at your absolute best, and with a smile on your face. And just showing that you're a team player and however you can help serve the organization, and help improve the team's performance. What you can do to help your athletes succeed is what you're going to do. And so I think going with the mindset of no task is too small, whatever I can do to help and benefit our organization and benefit our athletes, I'm 100% willing to do.

[00:25:05.97] That's awesome. So let's go back. You aspired to work with Lauren, and you sought out that opportunity, you were well versed in the field, and really did your research about who are some of the top coaches that you could get experience from? Who have been some of your major influences that maybe you haven't talked about yet?

[00:25:32.78] Yes. So throughout the years I've definitely had a lot of great mentors. I've mentioned a lot of them already. And working with Loren, again, has been just a fantastic experience, as well as a wonderful learning opportunity that I know will help me for future roles. But aside from Loren Bar Malik, who was the director of strength conditioning for the New York Knicks while I was there, has been a huge role model and mentor of mine and the first person that gave me the opportunity to get my foot in the door at the professional level.

[00:26:09.37] So I'll definitely be forever grateful for him, and just learn so much throughout my first season in the professional setting, that I think is definitely, even though it's a different sport, has transferred over and prepared me for the opportunity that I have today within the NFL. So Bar in New York, and then Shimon, in New York, he was our other assistant and performance analyst, he's fantastic to learn from. So those two, and just during that time in New York were super influential.

[00:26:45.17] And then there's people that throughout the years there's been so many that to go through all of them, but I feel very fortunate to have worked with some of the people that have had the opportunity to work with and learn from.

[00:27:02.31] It's really important to network in this field and to grow that web of contacts and people that when you know, and you know their influence in the field, and you can read or just follow them, but also there's a lot of value to reaching out and making contact. And your experience really, really does speak to that. I want to ask you about the difference from maybe when you first got into the field, and today with regard to technology, especially working at the professional level. And just the number of resources that are currently available, and how you maximize those in your training environment.

[00:27:47.72] Yeah. Great question. So back in the day, like you mentioned, there really wasn't that much technology, and sports science quote, unquote, "wasn't really a thing." Going back to 2008, when I was still an undergrad and really starting to gain experience as an intern, I remember at Mizzou, Dr. Mann being ahead of the game, as always, we had, I remember, vaguely, like some polar heart rate monitors we used to wear when we were training, but I had no idea what was going on at the back and what was being monitored at the time as a student athlete. I just knew, hey, we're going to wear these. OK.

[00:28:30.32] But now to see the direction that the field is heading within sports science is amazing. And during my experience at UCSD, and working with and learning from Lauren Green, who does a fantastic job at UCSD, and at the time he was running the sports science for the university, I learned a lot from him. And then going into the NBA, we used Kinexon within the NBA and then now currently utilizing Catapult for a data at practice with the guys.

[00:29:12.92] So it's really as you know, obviously, extremely a beneficial tool that I'm excited about and excited that more and more people within the field are understanding how to utilize that data to improve the performance of our athletes.

[00:29:31.41] It's funny, and I think, we were laughing about it. It's like we talk about even 10, 12 years ago as you said, it dates us. And it's so far back, but a lot has happened, whereas the science has been there.

[00:29:50.81] Technology has made it so accessible in that period of time. And so we as coaches have had to learn a lot with regard to technology, data integrations, athlete management systems, things that were concepts. And some teams were way ahead of the curve back 10, 15 years ago. But this is very prevalent across the board with sports.

[00:30:20.57] I want to ask you a projection question. Where do you see this push towards technology and performance going? and how does that change or impact the role of the coach in the future?

[00:30:35.08] I think the push towards technology is only going to continue to grow. And I feel like as far as the role of the coach in the future, I feel like if you're not well versed and you're not educated within that realm, that it's going to be a struggle. And I know there's a new certification through the NSCA to help prepare coaches for more of the sport science side of things, which I think is fantastic that you guys have put that together, and I think will be almost a necessity for a lot of coaches moving forward as the field continues to progress.

[00:31:15.20] I think and that's it is an important topic. And one of the things that gets cloudy at times, is well, technology has put sports science on the forefront. There's such a need for that process, that integrative process that, or the high performance team, or building a sports science team, and at the professional level when you have a lot of resources, that's an environment where we can speak to that a little bit.

[00:31:47.29] And so just for our audience, just a little bit of a teaser for the upcoming certification that's scheduled to launch mid-year, we have the textbook essentials of sports science coming out at the end of February. And this is truly it's going to be an advanced level of certification.

[00:32:07.38] And we've spoken a lot today to the value of strength coaches, but this is going to be an advancement on that. It's going to empower strength coaches to take on new roles, advanced level roles, senior level roles, director level roles in the future. And that's really the spirit of that certification. It does include technology, but it is not just strength and conditioning plus technology equals sports science, it is way more in depth than that and we are very passionate about that at the NSCA.

[00:32:42.76] But just as a message to our coaching core audience out there, you guys are the heart and soul of this organization, and I firmly believe that it's going to empower coaches in the future. And so on this podcast, when we talk to Emily, coaches like yourself, I think it's really important that-- this is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Coaches are so valuable.

[00:33:10.75] And the coaching skill set extends beyond strength and conditioning job titles. And your experience really does showcase that. You worked as a personal trainer, you worked in a variety of different environments. I want to ask you about some of the other skills that are required for strength coaches that may be out of the Strength and Conditioning and Sports Science Curriculum.

[00:33:44.98] Yeah. I think, like you mentioned, a lot of young coaches out there, I feel like-- thank you-- if I don't get a job immediately in the collegiate or professional setting, then I'm going to give up, or I'm going to change career paths, as to everyone wants those jobs, that's too hard. I don't want to just work at a gym, in general pop. And I think the more well-rounded that you can be in your experience as a young coach, that can only help you develop those skills outside of actual coaching. That will translate to success in the future.

[00:34:21.80] So I do feel like for me having experience in the private sector, the collegiate setting, and the professional setting, have helped me become well-rounded as an individual, as well as being able to transfer some of those skills into the professional sports world. So I think developing the quote "the soft skills" are definitely critical, especially if you do want to coach at the professional level.

[00:34:54.05] That's awesome. And these soft skills aren't exclusive to our field. I think sometimes we feel very siloed as strength coaches, and we're in the weight room and the front office and all these other professionals have their space. But communication is universal. Leadership is universal. And coaches are truly impactful.

[00:35:22.16] Emily, it's been awesome getting to know you. I want to give you the opportunity to share your contact information with our listeners today. How can they get in touch with you?

[00:35:32.73] The best way to get in touch with me is through email or social media. So social media for Twitter and Instagram, my handle is EZeler. So E-Z-E-L-E-R. And they can also shoot me an email at emilyzeler@gmail.com. And I do try to get back to everyone who reaches out, and I think being in their shoes, and reaching out blindly to coaches myself. I am truly appreciative every time someone took the time to respond to me. So that's definitely a commitment I've made to myself. Is that I'm going to get back to anyone who reaches out looking for advice or support.

[00:36:18.53] Awesome. Well, thanks so much for being on today. Really, really appreciate it.

[00:36:23.78] Thanks so much for having me on. It's been awesome.

[00:36:27.99] Yeah. Emily Zeler, assistant Strength and Conditioning coach at the NFL Denver Broncos, thanks for being with us. And to our listeners, we appreciate all of you tuning in today. Thank you also to our sponsors, Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support. From the NSCA, thank you for listening to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. We serve you the coaching community. So follow, subscribe, and download for future episodes.

[00:36:55.51] We look forward to connecting with you again soon, and hope you'll join us at an upcoming NSCA event, or in one of our special interest groups. For more information, go to NSCA.com.

[00:37:07.48] 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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