Kaz Kazadi | When College Turns Pro

The playing field has changed in collegiate athletics, but Kaz Kazadi knows the keys to longevity. Get to know the Texas Christian University (TCU) Assistant Athletic Director of Football Human Performance, renowned for his ability to inspire athletes. Follow his roots from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to playing for the National Football League (NFL) Los Angeles Rams — later becoming a “roaming gladiator” in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and NFL Europe to secure tenure. As a leader in the weight room, strength and conditioning was a natural transition. He recalls choosing a graduate assistantship to embody his “long money” philosophy of purpose-driven education, networking, and positivity. Kazadi compares new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies to free agency and talent acquisition versus recruiting. Additionally, he drills decision-making and delayed gratification as players transition into adulthood. He concludes with advice for creating a coaching network and career vision.

Connect with Coach Kaz by email: kaz.kazadi@tcu.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

“Always chase the long money, the things that create longevity. Something that creates longevity is always going to be education, a purpose-driven life, networking with people of like mind, positive energy, being consistent, and being positive.” 8:00

“Adapt. Adapt and be positive. That's the first thing you need to do as a performance coach.” 24:00

“My staff is dear to my heart, man. They keep me alive. I think you're only going to be as good as the five people that you spend the most of your time with.” 28:25

“If you want to get into the field, then get into the field. If the NSCA is having their conference, if the NSCA is having their clinic, I'm going. I'm going to shake hands. I'm going to introduce myself. I'm going to have a digital resume. I'm going to do something to meet the people that I want to meet. And then I'm going to follow up on holidays. Then I'm going to follow up with emails, just the old school way.” 39:40

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:02.66] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast, Season 8, Episode 13.

[00:00:08.12] Always chase the long money, the things that create longevity. Something that creates longevity is always going to be education, a purpose-driven life, networking with people of like mind, positive energy, being consistent, being positive.

[00:00:27.30] 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.

[00:00:37.83] This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon, NSCA's Coaching and Sports Science program manager. And today's episode is about college football. We have Assistant Athletic Director for Football Human Performance at TCU, Kaz Kazadi, with us. Kaz, welcome, man.

[00:00:56.40] Man, it's great to be here, man. Excited about being on, man. Seen you around, bumped into you. So you finally get me on.

[00:01:03.36] [INTERPOSING VOICES]

[00:01:03.90] Yeah. You've been on my radar, man, and we're finally doing it. I appreciate that. And yeah, I'm always seeing you at events, man, so I definitely want to connect with you on just how you view getting out into the field, and making connections, and networking, and all those things, because I know that's really important to you.

[00:01:21.64] But we usually kick this episode off on the podcast with a little background on our guest. You have tons of experience in college football, a lot in that Dallas area, TCU, a little bit with the Cowboys. Take us through your journey, man. You've had a really interesting path.

[00:01:39.03] OK, so just a little bit about background. And the funny thing is, all of a sudden-- I don't know if it's like last guy on the boat gets tagged as the experienced guy. The last guy on the boat always looks like he has all this knowledge and wisdom when it's just like the last man standing type deal.

[00:01:57.13] And but I'm not originally from the United States. I'm from the DRC, Congo. So my family moved to the United States when I was about seven or eight years old by way of New York, and then by way of New York ended up in the Midwest. So in the Midwest, I remember a guy introducing me to American football. So my first introduction to American football was just playing flag football at the same time we were playing soccer, which, to me, the rest of the world is calling football. So that's what started off that conversation.

[00:02:26.92] And then I loved martial arts, and boxing, and all these other things that you could go to the Olympics for. My dream was to go to the Olympics as a heavyweight something, heavyweight martial artist or a heavyweight boxer. And so when I start dabbling in football, I think it was first KU, my freshman or sophomore year in high school, came around and said, the guy's a scholarship type player the older he gets. Then my head coach came to me and said, hey, just so you're aware, this is your measurables-- 6' 1", almost 200-some-odd pounds, da, da, da. You can play college, whatever.

[00:03:02.08] That stuff didn't really translate to my parents or translate to my father. By the time it translated, I'm a junior. And you start getting these offers and having these conversations around the nation. And watching people come to your house to recruit you, the language doesn't translate to a foreigner.

[00:03:19.90] What it sounds like is you're going to be a professional. Because they are going to pay for your education. They're going to pay for your room and board. They're going to pay for your food. So if you're not from the United States, all that means, you work for that school. And in some form, there's an exchange. You are a professional.

[00:03:35.84] So we had Coach Dave Rader who was from the University of Tulsa. He came to my house, and he sat down on the ground, and he sat at our table, and he ate fufu. And he ate it with the goat meat, and he ate it with his hands, just like my mother had prepared it. And he had a great interaction with my parents.

[00:03:55.52] And that's where we decided we were going because it was close enough to where I could get back and forth from home, and they could come watch me play without having to fly to Florida or wherever and all that stuff. So played at Tulsa, ended up being one of the semi award candidate for the Butkus Award, and then got drafted by Coach Dick Vermeil my senior year. So got drafted by the Rams in the sixth round, played two years with the St. Louis Rams.

[00:04:22.61] And my second year is a whirlwind of action. Because the first year, we go 0 and 8 in the football division. And we go 0 and 8, and we lose to everybody twice. The second year, the guys came in with and the guys that were on that team, they all free agents. And they all hit the road and go to other teams.

[00:04:44.93] And that's when Kurt Warner comes in. And nobody knows who this guy is. He was stocking shelves at a grocery store. And so it was like, it wasn't a big deal that he was there, but he had this quick release and all that stuff.

[00:04:57.86] Well, I tear a bicep, and now you're on injured reserve. And to get your 401(k) for the NFL and get your retirement, you had to qualify, and that was by playing three years. So now, it just turns into barbarian. You're trying to get your third year.

[00:05:11.63] So I ended up going up north to Montreal, playing in the CFL, signing a two-year contract. The Raiders bought the contract out. I come back.

[00:05:19.42] And the whole time my third year, I'm hopping around trying to find a home in the NFL. I'm going from the Raiders to the Kansas City Chiefs. I end up with the Chiefs and then go to the World League, come back to the Kansas City Chiefs, end up making the roster. There. Now, you got your third year. You got your 401(k) set.

[00:05:37.14] Now, you got to figure out what you want to do. Do you want to sign one-year contracts and two-year contracts and just basically be like a Roman gladiator just trying to get on every team to make the 53-man roster? Because they're only going to keep six, seven linebackers. If you're going to be the special team linebacker, that counts against the linebacker corps. So you're going against numbers.

[00:05:56.58] So after that, I retired after five years professional. So three in the NFL, one in the World League, one in the CFL. And everything in the World League and the CFL, the coaches in those divisions, they gave me the keys to the weight room. And they would say, we heard you love to train. You're in charge of the weight room. And that wasn't something I was asking them to do. They would just do a background.

[00:06:18.93] And loved to train because I was managing stress. And you know, you just want to work out. You want to stay in shape. It was nothing about just wanting to be a strength coach. It was just something that was natural, something that made me feel good and managed all the other outside noise.

[00:06:32.90] And so they gave me the keys to the weight room. And so from getting the keys to the weight room to retiring, I went to work at Sprint for 364 days. On 365 days, I called my former college strength coach, and I said, I think you're right. I should get back into athletics and try to see if it's just something that's natural, something that gives me something that feels like a purpose.

[00:06:59.68] And he said, all right, well, we got GA game for you. You'll make $600 a month. And we'll get going.

[00:07:06.66] Anyway, I get up to the University of Missouri. By then, transitions had hit. My former strength coach had moved on to the Raiders. And Pat Ivey was the head strength coach at the University of Missouri. And he was coming from the University of Tulsa.

[00:07:21.34] So Pat offered me two-- he said, I've got two questions for you. I can either hire you as a GA, you'll make $600 a month or-- and teach you how to be a director. If I do this, you'll learn how to be a director. You'll make $600 a month.

[00:07:35.37] Or I can hire you as a full timer, and you'll end up being the Black guy in the weight room that's supposed to help me connect with the young Black athletes. And you'll make $55,000, but you won't have your master's. He said, what's your decision going to be?

[00:07:50.36] Between me and him, we always called that decision long money. Always chase the long money, the things that create longevity. Something that creates longevity is always going to be education, a purpose-driven life, networking with people of like mind, positive energy, being consistent, and being positive. So I chose the GA, so $600 a month.

[00:08:15.60] 10 months later, I'm getting my master's in Human and Health Performance from the University of Missouri. 11 months later, Coach Dick Vermeil, after drafting me, is hiring me to work with the Kansas City Chiefs as an assistant strength coach. So I work with the Chiefs for two years.

[00:08:32.04] Transitions come, and transition on, I move to the Florida. I work at the University of South Florida with Jim Leavitt and Ronnie McKeefrey for a year, from South Florida to the San Francisco 49ers, and Johnny Parker, and Dwayne Carlyle. So from those guys, I end up in Waco. And I'm in Waco with Coach Briles. And we're 10 years in Waco almost, nine years in Waco. From there, I end up with the Dallas Cowboys and Coach Woicik So I'm working with--

[00:09:07.84] [INAUDIBLE]

[00:09:09.00] Yeah. Working with Woicik as an intern and just helping out around the weight room from Coach Woicik and [INAUDIBLE], and Kendall Smith, and all those guys. I get a position at Arkansas State. I'm the director at Arkansas State, from Arkansas State to SMU for four years, SMU four years. Then I end up-- this is my third year at TCU. So you look up, you accumulate all these years, and it looks like you had this great, wonderful plan.

[00:09:37.44] I love how you tell that story, man. It was really from coming to the US and being exposed to big college athletics from an outside perspective. And what's really interesting-- it comes through. You've built an immense coaching tree, just people that you've connected with along the way. You really, like you mentioned, you found your purpose through athletics.

[00:10:05.51] And one thing-- you mentioned you had a five-year pro career. But sounded like that was a pretty long five years. You were really pushing to do that. And then to hear your professional success within strength and conditioning after that, do you feel like that prepared you?

[00:10:24.24] You had to make some tough decisions. Do I sign with this team? Do I-- free agency, whatever it may be, you're trying to get that third year in the NFL. Do you think that helped you make that decision to really invest in your education? Because $55k versus $600 a month, that's a big, big difference when you're first getting started.

[00:10:42.72] Absolutely. You're so spot on. Because I think being in the NFL, let's say you would sit there talking to an agent, and your agent's talking to the general manager. That general manager is looking at the needs that they have.

[00:10:57.55] And everything was based off salary cap and who could fit in the salary cap, how much they had over, and who they were trying to pull. How much of that was going to the quarterback? How much was going to the left tackle? And how much was going to the D line and to the corners?

[00:11:11.23] I mean, those are going to be the high-dollar guys. Linebackers do a lot of the dirty work. So it was always, what's going to put you in the best position for your future?

[00:11:22.69] So you could make a decision and get an immediate gratification because you picked a short-term contract. Or you could pick a decision and a team that multiplied your years, and you could get more retirement money, and more annuities, and things like that. So once you started thinking about retirement annuities and started thinking about 401(k)s and all these other things and 503s and 529s and all these other things that go into your older man life, I think you start making decisions based on that. So now, when you look at, let me transition to thinking like that to college football now. And it's like, it's the same thing. It's all free agency. It's all talent acquisition.

[00:12:06.57] I think college football five years ago was recruiting. I don't think that that's really a real word anymore. You know? You're talking about acquiring talent, developing talent, maintaining talent, retaining talent. Those are different words than recruiting, because there's a transfer portal and there's multiple transfer opportunities. And there's NIO, which is signing bonuses and all these other things. You need to look at it like free agency, because that's exactly what it is. You can't convince me it's not free agency, because that doesn't make any sense.

[00:12:40.75] You can't convince me this is amateurism, because that doesn't make any sense. Now, everything I'm saying is my opinion. I'm not speaking for the university. I'm not speaking for any coaches. I'm speaking for what I see. This is [INAUDIBLE].

[00:12:52.33] And it's completely fair too, to your perspective. I mean, you coming over from Africa and the way you explained it, you were being brought in as a professional to play football at that school and get that scholarship. And so maybe this NIL, maybe this concept isn't new. It's just more a reframing or we're thinking about it in a different way. I mean, TCU, big program, has had a lot of success. And I've heard you coach, man. You got some fire. You got some intensity with the guys. And you're always letting the guys some really impactful messages. I think a lot comes from your experience, just you're passionate about where they are now, where they're going to end up, their future. How do you feel like your experience, maybe the struggles, the challenges along the way, pours into the message that you carry to your athletes?

[00:13:52.54] I think, if you take a look at any industry, I don't think the most talented person in that industry is still there. I don't think you have any industry, whether it's sports alone, look at Major League Baseball, NBA, look at USA Track, whatever. I think the most talented person in that industry has made some type of pivotal mistake. So the pivotal mistake could have been breaking the law at some party. The pivotal mistake could have been his interaction with a former girlfriend or her former boyfriend. Something got physical.

[00:14:31.83] Maybe they had substance abuse issues. Or maybe something, a mental breakdown, collapse, or some type of a hard time dealing with thoughts and anxiety, whatever it is. And these are just examples. It's not so politically correct the way I'm saying it. But what I'm saying is, there was something in life that came across, and it didn't get managed in the best way. And so that person's not in that industry anymore. And then if you look at the bottom tier, those guys didn't qualify for that industry.

[00:15:05.62] The guys that are in the industry are guys that can manage the stresses of life. So the things that happen to you, so if you can manage how much you drink at a party, if you can manage how many parties you go to, if you can manage when to say no and you understand all the little hurdles and things that are lying before you. I think you look up, and it looks to the outside world that you also are talented, when really you've made decisions and been surrounded by people that have helped you not trip yourself up. You know? I think when you look at Michael Jordan, you're like, OK, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player to ever play. I don't think he is. I think he was the one that didn't get caught up, that was left standing.

[00:15:56.40] No, I mean, we've all heard those stories of people that are exceptional talents that don't make it or don't last. I remember--

[00:16:06.84] Just think about it for a second. All these young athletes, what keeps them from getting onto the field? It's the same problem for every young boy and every young girl. And that's what they are. They're not young adults yet. We say that stuff to try to make them feel like they're growing. They're not growing. They're just big. There's no bills in their name. Their parents are paying their cell phones. They're not paying their rent. They are not grown. They're not paying anything towards their retirement. They have no understanding of mortgages or car loans. Don't lie to these guys.

[00:16:36.52] Yeah.

[00:16:36.79] They're big kids that are transitioning into adulthood. They're transitioning. So they don't understand that after all that training, after all that time spent at practice, the decisions that you make when you're on your own are going to have a major impact on whether you play or not.

[00:16:59.75] No, I love that, man. Talent plays, character stays. And--

[00:17:03.30] There you go. Right, exactly.

[00:17:04.25] Yeah. You're preaching. But it's the good values and the things you're doing off the field and how that impacts your performance and longevity on the field. On this--

[00:17:16.88] But think about how much time is wasted when you do that. So you spend all this time with this young athlete. And you spend all this time coaching them. And when you say time wasted, I'm not talking about from my side. You're talking about from their side, because they really did work hard for you. There's nothing worse, as a performance coach, in my opinion, than someone that spent so much time developing you physically.

[00:17:38.01] Yeah.

[00:17:38.40] So all of a sudden, your character doesn't match up with your physical strength. Psychologically, the way you think doesn't match up with your physical strength. The ability to think right should be the first thing we're always coaching. Thinking right is the skill.

[00:17:55.29] So NIL, increase attention, notoriety for a lot of these athletes. There's always been a little bit. But now it's on a whole other level. 18, 23, 24 years old, do you think today's college kids, like you're saying, college athletes, not quite that full adulthood yet, do you think they're ready for this?

[00:18:17.97] It's not them. It's not them that's ready or not. It's going to be their family and the people they hire that are helping them interpret and break down the processes in this and look at contracts and look at what's really happening. Are those people ready? Because there needs to be a concern for the kid that's at the school. I think parents and agents that don't understand delayed gratification are going to hop around from school to school for initial signing bonuses.

[00:18:55.57] Now, because you have this initial contract, you have to remember, when you take a look at that contract, Eric, if I sign you to a NIL deal and it's $1 million deal, read the language in the contract. Is it $1 million deal for the football season? Or is it $1 million deal for the year? Because if you don't read it correctly, it's going to look like $1 million deal for the year. And if you look at $1 million deal for the football season, let's say you show up on campus in June for summer training, that's June, July, August, September, and you start counting the months. By the time you look up, it's a five month contract, six months contract at max. That's not the milk.

[00:19:42.44] Yeah. Yeah, I mean, this is stuff we talk about at the professional level or when I'm around at some of the professional NFL strength and conditioning coach meetings. But typically, most college strength and conditioning coaches may not see it on the level that you see it at a place like TCU. You have a lot of guys that want-- they want to follow in your footsteps. Go to the NFL. It's a--

[00:20:07.91] And I love it. I think that's awesome. I think it's awesome, because it stretches you as a coach. It stretches you as an advisor. It stretches you as an individual that's working with these people. And professionally, you need to be elite. You can't not be able to have these conversations in this billion dollar industry with all these personalities and all these peoples pulling at that young athlete. You need to be elite. You can't not be able to manage all these different personalities.

[00:20:44.24] Well, I mean, I think you just said it. Strength and conditioning occurs within an industry, within a massive sports industry that is moving quickly right now. We're touching on a lot of this NIL and contracts and things that we rarely talk about here on a strength and conditioning podcast. And I think it's really good to peel that back a little bit, because this is a new-- this is a whole new world we're in, everything from social media to athletes coming out of high school with agents already looking at, I mean, maybe some level taking their education for granted and just already thinking the football program's all I need to worry about. This is, I mean, it's a really interesting time for college football. There's just so much going on.

[00:21:38.86] It's always been a business. I think it's always been a business. But don't know if it's always been done out in the open in broad daylight, if that-- I don't want to be speculatory, and I don't want to be negative. This is just--

[00:21:52.64] That's fair, yeah.

[00:21:53.57] Like, if you take a look, the rumor was, Emmitt Smith made more in college than he made in the league now. And people say that stuff. People talk about Eric Dickerson and how he got to SMU. Now, all this stuff has been happening. We know that. But now, I think it's just not happening behind the scenes. It's happening in broad daylight. And that's fine, because these guys are talented individuals. And I'm talking about the female, the women's basketball players too. I'm talking about the women's tracksters.

[00:22:25.47] They're all talented. They deserve to monetize their ability. I don't think there's anything wrong with NIL. I don't think there's anything wrong with professionalism. I don't think there's anything wrong with the transition of what's happening in college athletics. There is something wrong if people like me are not educated enough to understand the inner workings of the underworld. So if I'm going to work with these individuals, and I'm going to be the performance coach, then I need to educate myself in professionalism. What goes into talent acquisition? What goes into maintaining health and all these things? Now your quarterback is not just a college quarterback. He's Aaron Rodgers. And you got to keep him healthy. And you got to find a way to develop these guys in the weight room. But all of a sudden, availability is absolutely the best ability, so they can make it to their second contract.

[00:23:30.37] So you're a strength and conditioning coach. You play a bigger role, obviously. We're talking about this. How can coaches that are listening to this episode help their institutions? Athletes are stepping up. They're figuring out how to take advantage of the new policies and rules that allow them to make some income during college. But as a strength coach, how do we help our institutions understand this better? What do you think our role is in that?

[00:24:01.14] Adapt. Adapt and be positive. That's the first thing you need to do as a performance coach. You need to say, OK, the game, the playing field has changed. Me complaining about it does absolutely nothing. So if I'm spending time saying, NIL is messing up my ability to train athletes, I shouldn't be in the industry anymore. Because this thing is here, and it's a blanket thing. So if it's here, and you're complaining about athletes monetizing their talents, you're being a neanderthal. That's like somebody saying I don't use cell phones, and I don't use technology. It's here now. Why would you refuse technology now that it's here?

[00:24:43.61] So because of the transition, you have to adapt the way you interact. If you're a performance coach in this industry right now, you need to find a mentor in the NFL, a mentor in big college programs, and someone that can translate some of the questions that you have and how to interact with what's happening. Because if you're looking at it as a problem, how are you going to create longevity for your career if you're going to work, and you resent a major component of what's happening in the industry? You can't have resentment for what's happening. It's all transitioning.

[00:25:21.38] So why are you upset if it's transitioning? So the first thing you got to do is adapt. The second thing is be positive. The third thing is get educated. And now it's like, OK, what am I missing out on when it comes to working with a professional athlete? Because that's what they are now. And professional athletes, if they sign the right deal, they're trying to create leverage. Who has leverage? You got to figure that out.

[00:25:46.79] So once these guys become employees at a university, take a look now. Once they become employees, you're talking about hiring, firing, terminating contracts. You're talking about human resource issues. Salaries, you're talking about retirement. You're talking about taxation. There's a whole bunch of things. They're 18, 19 years old, and they're going to be employees of the university. So if they're employees and you're interacting with them, what language should you use if you're talking to an employee? Because if that employee goes to human resources and says, hey, I don't like the way this person is interacting at my job, you haven't adapted.

[00:26:34.29] You just said that. And it reminds me so often that, in the weight room, we have a certain language. We have a certain culture, that if HR walked in, maybe we're not so sure that's exactly what we wanted them to hear.

[00:26:48.66] Yeah, and I'm the first guy that has that problem.

[00:26:52.05] So I mean, that's a big thing in our field. And I think everybody listening knows exactly what we're talking about here, that from every-- we have a good time in the weight room. We push guys in the weight room. I mean, there's definitely language that wouldn't carry over to the office cubicle, if you know what I'm saying. And so it's something that, whether that's good or bad, I think your point is, we're here now. We got to take this forward.

[00:27:20.38] I liked your message about, yeah, we have to adapt, but be positive. Our role is to take this forward. Our universities are trying to figure this out. And don't be the one holding the University back by showing frustration that's not really necessary at that time when everybody's really trying to figure this out. You mentioned the calendar a little bit when we were talking on the contract stuff. Really, college football is year around now. You have, school ends, high school ends, those players report. You got athletes during the summer. Training camp happens, pre-season goes through. Then you got offseason workouts, spring ball. It never really ends.

[00:28:06.53] There's a lot of strength coaches getting into this profession that say, hey, I want to go work at the top level of college football. What is that commitment? What is the commitment of you and your staff? What does the day look like? I know it's a grind. Take us through that.

[00:28:24.16] I'll say right now, my staff is dear to my heart, man. They keep me alive. I think you're only going to be as good as the five people that you spend the most of your time with. And I know people have talked like that. But I love the way that they think for themselves and as creative as they are. I lean on my staff heavily. I think being surrounded by a staff that thinks for themselves adds to longevity and adds to your continuing to be creative, continuing to be educated, and giving people room to give you their opinion, room to be genuine. Now, with that being said, because we spend so much time together, that's a family away from your family.

[00:29:13.49] I, at this point in my career, I cannot be around anyone I don't want to be around. So I don't do that. And I hate using the word I. But because you're asking me about our staff, the number one thing is, I mean, can I stand being around you? So there. If I can be around you, now we can go, because now we got a little positive interactions. Now, after that, are you intelligent? Can you communicate? Can you adjust? How creative are you?

[00:29:54.27] And you have all these little intangibles. And it's like, you have to be smart. You have to. Now, from that, how much experience can you give to me? How much experience can you pour back into the culture? I'm blessed enough to be teamed up with Chris Dawson, who has 29 years of coaching experience in the profession as a director. And at the same time, if you look at my other assistants, they're accumulating their experience. So when they tell me they see something or they think something, I take it as true.

[00:30:29.40] I don't take it as though this guy's giving me an emotional opinion. So we're here so early, the training session for the football team starts at 5:50 AM. That's when they're getting their vitamins. That's when they're taking their carbohydrates to get ready to get to the field and perform. That's when the preactivity preparation is starting. So by 6:00, we're rolling. Now, all the conversations about what we're going to do that day have already happened the day before, the week before, the month before, the semester before. They've already happened.

[00:31:06.23] So we're not doing anything random. Now, you still got to get in early enough to make sure that you've gotten yourself in their right mind state to be a positive to the culture. You've got to impact the culture positively. You can't be out there upset about an interaction you had with your girlfriend or an interaction you had at home, because that doesn't matter. That's your life that's outside. This is their life. Your college experience is over as a coach. Their college experience is happening. And you have to pour into their experience.

[00:31:36.55] If you find yourself saying the word I, if you find yourself looking through your own biases and looking through your own lenses when you're working with the athletes, I think you can get tripped up. It has to be about their experience, not your experience. It has to be about the culture. It has to be about uplifting the organization and the institution and doing what multiplies and what moves everything forward. Now, it's hard to get into that mind state if you haven't done the education and time before, all that stuff before. So yeah, we're here early. Yeah, we're grinding. But we've already set a very good foundation through meetings, constant conversations and communications, and experiences from the past. So because of that, you can predict how well the day is going to go. You can predict, today is going to be tough. You can predict a bounce back.

[00:32:36.95] I mean, on this theme of really selfless coaching, and I think we can all connect with that, because we're passionate about the benefit and the impact we have on our athletes. But going back on some of the financial things that we have and maybe just-- you have a family. A lot of coaches, as when you're first getting started, committing 60, 80 hours a week to a team is not as difficult as in your 30s, 40s, and beyond. How should coaches approach, maybe, those stages where you do have some competing factors. But you got to show up. You got to show up for your athletes and compartmentalize. Like, what's your approach there?

[00:33:22.89] I think you got to understand, this is going to sound cryptic, I'm not trying to be cryptic. It's just a fact. You're going to be an older man and an older woman for a longer amount of time than you're going to be a young man or a younger woman. So you have to have the ability to have a vision. Vision is not a function of the eyes. That's sight. That's different. But you have to be able to look into the future and be able to say, what do I want from myself? OK, now, by using this vision, because vision can pass through time, it can pass through walls, objects, because it sees ahead.

[00:33:58.84] It says, OK, if I'm 25 now, when I look at myself in my 30s, what do I want for myself? When I look at myself in my 35s, in my 40s, in my 45s, what do I want for myself? If I want a family, then I need to start preparing my career for a family and my coaching style for a family. If I don't want a family, OK, then I'm just going to be a renegade. And I'm going to take any random job at any school at any time. And I'm going to work with any psycho coach that's out there that'll have me. And I'm going to work these hours that are ridiculous. I'm going to beat myself down, because I don't see a future for myself. But if I see a future for myself, I'm going to be very systematic, very meticulous about who do I network with and how I interact in public and what's on my social media.

[00:34:56.91] And I love it, man. I love it. You're getting deep on me, 'cos. I like it.

[00:35:01.87] Hey, I'm saying, let's stay deep. We're in the deep end, man. It's like that to me. That's what we all have the ability to do is see into the future and say, what do I want for myself? And then now, once you ask yourself that question, just don't deviate. Just don't change your mind. I think you can have both. I think you can have a family and still work at a really high level. Now, can you be good at both? Now you got to figure out, OK, when do I want to be bad at one and bad at the other?

[00:35:28.86] And I'm being serious. I'll give you an example. My son has a recruiting trip that's coming up. But as the director, I have recruiting still. So how do you organize your calendar so you can recruit and then still be there for your son so he can do recruiting? So I mean, it's something you got to think about. And it's something you have to have a conversation about. And you'll have some coaches that are like, I'm paying you. I expect you to be here. Well, guess what? I'm glad I know that.

[00:36:01.25] Yeah. No, I liked how you said, prepare your career to have a family. Or prepare for whatever your vision or whatever your plan is. Prepare your career through choices and planning, for whatever that vision is, or where you see yourself. I think that's a really-- I mean, that's something I think for coaches to chew on is, OK, I'm here now. How do I make the best of this situation to get me where I want to be in the future or when something happens. I mean, we all know how this field goes, man. It's like--

[00:36:37.17] Yeah, but it's like, when something happens, I think you have to accept that things are going to happen in transition to something that's always going to happen. Change is a constant. So to complain about change or be frustrated by change, OK, get over it. Give yourself 24 hours. Give yourself a week or however long it takes to get over the change. Get over the change. But if you stay in that mindset and act like, OK, something happened to you, and you take it personally, it clouds your vision. Now you can't make wise decisions, because you're acting like this is something uncommon. And change is common. It's a constant. It's going to happen.

[00:37:10.42] So if you know it's a constant, it's going to happen. Guess what? You can predict your response to change. You can say, OK, if I am not here, what am I going to do? Am I qualified to call Eric at the NSCA and see if maybe he has a wingman position? I don't know. Am I qualified to say, hey, you know what? I'm going to fall into high school. I'm going to fall into military. I'm going to do something to continue my career. I'm going back to school to get my PhD.

[00:37:40.33] What do you do when you have an opportunity during that transition? Because all transition is an opportunity. Are you going to spend more time with your family? Are you going to spend more time with your kids? Because it's not bad. It's just part of the game. So if it's part of the game, what's your plan when it happens? What's your sustainability retainability plan for when transition happens? Because it's a guarantee that you're not going to be at that school forever.

[00:38:04.65] Yeah. No, I really love the depth we're talking about this. And I think it, for anyone who's gone through big job transitions or moved from place to place, I think this really connects. And it's important. You have to have a plan. But you might get hit hard by a transition or a change in this field. And it's something that, that's when your character is going to show. It's the same things we're preaching to our players or our athletes. Hey, give yourself 24 hours. Give yourself a week. Do whatever you need to do to get back in the saddle. You're going to be OK here.

[00:38:38.92] And then go back on your education. What you've done to invest in your education, your preparation. And I want to transition to that. So investing in education, we started the episode with that. A lot of young coaches out there, people getting into the profession. I'm always seeing you at the events. Is that something you encourage coaches to go do and network? How would you get into the field today?

[00:39:06.32] I'm going to say it like, this is going to sound like a riddle. If you're not networking, you're not working. If you're not out there learning and educating yourself and constantly staying involved, then you're not going to work. Sooner or later, you will need to make a phone call. And it's not who you know. It's who knows you. So if they don't know you and someone can't vouch for you, then you are planning on not transitioning well.

[00:39:39.50] If you want to get into the field, then get into the field. If the NSCA is having their conference, if the NSCA is having their clinic, I'm going. I'm going to shake hands. I'm going to introduce myself. I'm going to have a digital resume. I'm going to do something to meet the people that I want to meet. And then I'm going to follow up on holidays. Then I'm going to follow up with emails, just the old school way.

[00:40:11.62] And then guess what? If I'm in town, even if I have a little time, I'm going to pull up and just watch them train, if I want to get into the field. If you don't want to get into the field, then just don't go meet anybody. Don't go meet anybody, and you won't get into the field. Pick up your cell phone, send a text to a coach, say Coach, can I swing by just to watch?

[00:40:35.95] I love to double down on this and say, students today have a lot of advantage in terms of, they can pull you up on LinkedIn. They can pull you up on the TC website and read your bio and say, oh, he's got a master's degree. He did this. I should follow in those footsteps or build some themes around what's going to get me from here to there. And a lot of times, your email's even there. So they can reach out and contact you. That was a lot harder to do 15, 20 years ago, where maybe there just weren't as many resources.

[00:41:09.43] I remember reading in the back of journals, and I'd read people's bios, because those were the only strength coaches I had access to until I got into the profession. I think it's a great time to get into the field, because you can really find someone that aligns with your values and your principles and your goals and maybe doing what you see yourself doing that may or may not be football. There's so many things. We have strength coaches at Red Bull, at UFC, all over the place doing some really cool things now that we probably didn't even know we could-- Cirque Du Soleil. We didn't even know we could be a strength coach and doing some of that stuff. I think that's really, really cool, man. And I think it's an exciting time to be getting into the profession.

[00:41:56.70] Yeah, and you're right. Like Jamie Wynn at UNLV right now, she was the first person to tell me she was strength coaching the Cirque Du Soleil people. And I was blown away. I'm like, what? And she was like, yeah, I'm a strength coach for Cirque De Soleil. And some of the guys that have been on my staff are working for military. Other guys are working for high school. So it's like, there's so many opportunities to pour into young people's lives, because it pours back into yours, right? Because now you're working-- you feel as though you're fulfilling your purpose and you're surrounding yourself with youth. And you're surrounding yourself with that curiosity that keeps you young, because you're pouring back into yourself by pouring into somebody else.

[00:42:34.51] So if you want to get into the profession, I think that there's plenty of opportunities. Now, at what level can you get in? I think that's on how much you can take when it comes to what you're presented. You're not going to be able to get in at an NFL level for your first job. And if that's how you're thinking, I think that's a little immature and a little selfish to think about. And we might not be ready. I think you get in, get educated, and then just make sure that you can ride a wave and that you can hang glide with the turbulence of change and those type of things. And you'll find yourself where you want to be.

[00:43:10.30] Yeah. On that, this isn't a sugar-coated episode. I think we're talking a lot of real values, a lot of real lessons here that coaches know or they learn to understand as they're in this profession. And I really appreciate your thought and wisdom on this and just another layer that we can get into on this podcast. So really appreciate it, man.

[00:43:33.81] Man, shoot, I'm telling you right now, anytime. I should be a regular on your podcast. What do you think?

[00:43:39.42] I like it, man.

[00:43:40.27] Let's do this. What's happening?

[00:43:41.47] [INTERPOSING VOICES]

[00:43:41.71] Maybe we'll co-host something, get a little panel going. I like it.

[00:43:45.49] Yeah.

[00:43:46.14] Hey, for anyone listening, they heard you. They're going to want to connect. What's the best way for them to do that?

[00:43:52.12] Oh man, the best way to connect is just send the email, say what's up. Say what's up, I'm going to text you back. And if I don't follow back up, man, hit me again. And if we're out in the world and we're out in the street or something, say what's up, man. Just be a regular person and just talk. Don't sit there and think I'm too highly of myself to have an interaction.

[00:44:11.27] Sounds good, man. We're going to put that email in the show notes. So some people will be reaching out. Thanks again. Thanks to all our listeners, being with us. Some really interesting topics today. Sports are changing. And coaches, we need to adapt and change with it. Also, a special thanks to Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

[00:44:31.82] Yeah, and into Sorinex, just so we say, RIP to Pop Sorin. And much respect to Bert, to the family. I know they're going through a tough thing right now, but much love to those guys. And I know Pops was really proud of watching his son grow that company.

[00:44:49.04] Yes, sir. We love Sorinex. We love the Sorin family. And yeah, thoughts and prayers from the NSCA out to those guys.

[00:44:57.56] Hey, guys, it's Dr. Brian Mann coming at you from Texas A&M University. Hey, this is a call to arms. If you feel like there's something that needs to be done, something that needs to be changed, this is your call to go ahead and sign up for the volunteer opportunities within the SIGs, the different committees, or just to get involved in your local chapter. Please go to the website for more details.

[00:45:22.04] 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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