Available 5/01/26
On this episode of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, we sit down with strength and conditioning coach Stephen Antley to discuss his journey from college athlete to coach. Stephen shares valuable insights on building strong relationships with athletes, developing a culture that drives performance, and navigating the challenges of the profession. From lessons learned through adversity to practical strategies for engaging athletes, this conversation highlights what it takes to succeed in strength and conditioning.
Key Takeaways
- Strong relationships are the foundation of effective coaching
- Culture is built through consistency, trust, and daily habits
- Failure plays a key role in long-term growth and development
- Networking and mentorship are essential for career progression
- Resilience is critical when facing challenges in the coaching field
Quote
“Failure is part of the process to succeed.” — Stephen Antley
Stephen Antley:
there’s no one clear path for everybody, right? Like for some, some strength coaches, they may have been, you know, athlete, intern, GA, assistant, maybe director. Like they may just have like a straight,
clear path, right? Everybody’s a little bit different. Okay, so I mean, my path is different. I think you can’t try to compare your career somebody else’s as well, right? Because you also don’t know what that person may have endured, right? You don’t know what kind of stuff they went through. You don’t know where they originally started out and then what they end up switching to and what led them straight to condition. Everybody’s got a different story. So you can’t compare yourself to somebody else’s successes, right?
Samson:
What’s going on Sampson Strength Coach collective listeners on today’s episode we have strength and conditioning coach Stephen Antley. Stephen, thank you so much for coming on man.
Stephen Antley:
Hey, thank you for having me. Excited to be here.
Samson:
Of course dude, are you a Steve, do you go by Steve? Are you a Steve guy?
Stephen Antley:
⁓ Never been called Steve never been called Steve. ⁓ Honestly, I just get called like coach aunt it’s just antley for short so just ant I’ve been called big ant I’ve been called fire ant I’ve been called all kinds of stuff
Samson:
What’s the nicknames you usually go with?
All right.
Well, I like fire and I think I’m going to stick with fire and for the rest of the episode. So that’s giving me. right, man. Well, first of all, I appreciate you coming on. It’s really good to connect with you. I’m excited to hear more about your story and your experiences. So can you kind of just break your history through your strength and conditioning down for me? And then what you’re currently up to.
Stephen Antley:
Yeah, absolutely. So I’m originally from South Carolina, currently living in Texas right now. But I think kind of like how most training coaches started out was originally a college athlete. Always had dreams of going to play in professional, but that was just not in the cards for me. Originally started out as a nursing major, went to North Greenville University, a little Division two school. Originally started out as a nursing major, quickly decided,
do not want to be changing bedpans, that’s not for me, switched to physical therapy, and I was like, all right, this is kind of close to what I want to be doing, but it’s not like 100%, like I just didn’t feel 100 % right. And then my former director at North Greenville, he actually left and took an assistant job at Furman. And when he left, I mentioned to him about, hey, if there’s ever opportunity for internship, I would love to have the opportunity for it.
And I just remember going to my senior year, he reached out to me about, hey, would you want to join the internship? And I was like, hey, yeah, sure, absolutely, I would love to. And I had done some service hours ⁓ in our strength and condition department, working with the football program and women’s across at North Greenville, but not like ⁓ a full, full-time internship. So interviewed for it, ⁓ got the internship.
did that my whole second semester of my senior year. And then after the internship, I graduated. But the day before I graduated, Coach Andre Bernardi, who was the director at the time at Furman, he comes to me, he goes, hey, we have a fellowship position open if you would, know, I mean, obviously I had to work for it, but if you would like to have it, hey, you’re more than welcome to. So I accepted it the day before graduation, which was exciting.
and then started out there was at Furman for about a little over a year. Kind of, it’s tried to assist with as many sports as I could. tried to get as much exposure as I could. And then left Furman was the name, the head strength, the addition coach at Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina. there for about two and a half years and was the head of the department, but also the only person in the department. So, you know, ⁓ was in charge of all sports.
I it was over 15, 17 sports over there. And then somehow along the line, ended up meeting my current girlfriend, who’s originally from Dallas, Texas. That’s kind of how the connection started. And then I always had this dream when I was kind of getting started in the strength condition where I was like, know, Texas is like the Mecca of sports. So it would be so cool one day to like, to be out there, be in charge of a department, something like that.
Made the move out here ⁓ at first though, switched to personal training for a time, just to kind of get my toes wet in in the Texas soil, if you will. And then loved personal training, but, and it did teach me a lot as a coach as well, as far as like communication skills, individualizing program and that sort of stuff. But I just, I had that itch. just really missed ⁓ being able to work with.
sports teams and being able to develop the culture, develop them from a performance standpoint. So Left Person Training currently work with Performance Course, which is a company out here in the Texas region. And we work with high schools in the area and train their athletic teams. So that’s my part-time job. And as far as a full-time job, I’m currently working in the corporate world right now, just hoping to
to get my foot in the door somewhere for a full-time position.
Samson:
Man, I love the story and I appreciate you ⁓ detailing everything for me. I like your Goldilocks story a little bit, where you go to nursing major, it’s not right, physical therapy is a little bit better, and then you find strength and conditioning and it’s just right. What was that process like? What was it like when you finally found strength and conditioning and knew that this was going to be it for you?
Stephen Antley:
Mm-mm.
Well, so I didn’t fully decide till I was a senior in college. That’s when like the fully kind of hit me. And I remember ⁓ my former director who he actually just got, he was named the director of Furman at Furman University sometime last year, but his name is Joe Novotosky. And, you know, just, I remember we were on the way to play West Georgia. Hey, we’re on the way.
play with short over on the bus. I’m sitting there and like I’d been thinking I’m like, you know, I just don’t know if physical therapy is like fully for me, you know, like I worked a part time job at a physical therapy clinic and I found that only I have my best experiences when I was working with athletes. So I’m like, it could be something to it. Just praying. I’m like, you know, hey, just whatever opportunity that you want me to have just like just let it be known. You know, I know you work his way out. And I remember on the way to West Georgia and that’s when
I get a text from coach Nova and he was like, Hey, tell me about his internship. And I’m like, huh? You know, I’ve been, I’ve been praying. wonder if this is the opportunity that he’s talking about. So I said, sure. We’d love to have the opportunity. He goes, okay, Hey, just, you know, text me your resume whenever you get back and then we’ll go from there. I didn’t have a resume at the time. So I was like, yeah, I’m on the way. Like I’m looking at YouTube videos on how to make a resume. Cause I’m like, I, I hadn’t made one before. Um, so
Once I I started the internship, I remember like first day I was like, all right, I feel like I feel very strongly like this is it. This is what this is what God’s calling me to be. like most people don’t love getting up early in the morning. But for me, waking up four o’clock in the morning and do something that you love. I mean, I’ll take that any given day.
Samson:
Yeah, you can’t beat that at all. mean, seriously, again, you know, that’s the part where exactly what you mentioned too, like kind of what was missing with personal training. When we have recruits come in here, I just tell them all the time, like, you know, it’s cool. I get to wear a t-shirt and shorts and watch free basketball and lift whenever I want. Like, that’s not why I do the job, right? I like helping, you know, young men develop and young women and hopefully, you know, be leaders and be knowledgeable on how to be fit for the rest of their lives and all the good stuff that comes with it. You know, that’s the stuff that’s exciting about.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm. Right.
Samson:
You mentioned starting off within the high school level and kind of developing a program there. What was that experience like? What were the challenges you faced of kind of just developing this program and like you said, instilling the culture of what you want the weight room to look like for you.
Stephen Antley:
Absolutely.
Yeah, so when I first got Northwestern, I believe I may have been the fifth guy in five years, something like that. So there was quite a bit of turnover. ⁓ So when I first got there, the main sport that worked in the weight room was football program. Right. And with Northwestern, we had a four block schedule. So first period, second period, third period was kind like your planning period, which was was honestly kind of clutch sometimes. But then fourth period.
You had each semester was different. So in the fall you had mostly like your women’s sports, like the women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer, that kind of stuff. And the spring you had baseball and men’s soccer in that fourth block, but football took up two blocks. So football was really your only team that was training year round or training at all. So I told them when I first got there, I’m like, look, I don’t want to just work with football. I want to work with every sport that will want to work with me. And I started out like at the beginning of the summer,
So didn’t have the best opportunity to like meet with some of the coaches beforehand. But I still remember to this day, I emailed every every coach that I could find their email to. I’m like, hey, you know, I’m the new strength ignition coach. want to work with every team possible. I’m opening up some summer hours for our women’s sports and men’s sports. And that first week I had eight girls show up in total eight girls. And then the summer that I left, we were averaging, I think, like close to 50 or 60.
Right, and that happened over the span of two and a half years. So start out there and my biggest thing when I got there, I tried to meet with every coach possible. I tried to meet face to face. Like at the time I only had their email, but I wanted to meet with them face to face, right? Because the only way for me to create real buy-in from them is to show like, hey, I want to be able to work with y’all. What can I do to help you? Right, and it all starts with a sport coach.
You know, if the sports coach doesn’t believe in you, he’s not going to have his athletes in there in weight room. Right. And at the end of the day, I started out by saying, hey, look, I’m not in charge of your sport. I’m not the head coach. I’m not trying to be the head coach of your sport. I’m merely trying to be the assistant for you. I’m trying to be the best name assistant I can for you as well. And I also want to share that, we the same common goal, right? I want our athletes to get better. I want you to win. I want you to win. Right. And that, but I’ll,
At the end of the day, if I only taught an athlete how to squat, how to hinge, how to clean, if I only taught you like just how to be stronger, if I, then I did a terrible job. If I didn’t teach you anything about culture development, about character development, how to persevere and push through things, how to, how to succeed, how to handle failure, then I didn’t do my job as a coach.
Samson:
No, I love it. I’m sure, well, actually, I don’t know. That’s my next question for you. I was about to say I’m sure, but I don’t know because I want to know about what was the reception from the coaches? Obviously, they didn’t have that experience in the past where somebody’s trying to work with every single one of the teams. How do the coaches receive that? And then did you have any pushback at first? And did that relationship grow? What was that experience like?
Stephen Antley:
⁓ at first there was a little bit of pushback from some coaches only because, ⁓ they hadn’t really had anybody work with their sports before, unless it was like during the class period, like we, like I talked about. ⁓ so at, at, for the most part though, most cuts are like, yeah, sure. If you want to, if you want to help, like we’re more than happy to help. Someone were just excited that I was like, Hey, like I want to work with you. Like they weren’t coming to that. I wasn’t, they were coming to me. I wasn’t sorry.
Probably gonna edit that part out, but.
Samson:
That’s good, we can do that, there’s no problem.
Stephen Antley:
I was going to them wanting to help, not the other way around. Right? And like they, they saw that energy from me and also told him, look, I’m not a football coach. I’m not a, a football’s performance course. I’m a training condition coach. Right? So I’m, here to help you guys. That’s what, that’s what my job is. What I love to do. ⁓ and then it took, it did take like a couple, it took a little bit of time to, you know, get, to get full buyer from some coaches. It is first started out with you.
Hey, we’re only gonna come in once a week. All right, well, if that’s the only time you’re gonna give me, gonna make the most of it. Then it would go to two, then it would go to three. But one of the quickest ways that I found for me getting by from the coaches, like show up to practice and go to games. mean, the first time I went to a women’s soccer game, the head coach comes up to me like, as they’re doing their pregame warmups. And I’m like, all right, I’m gonna go. I’m gonna go support them. I’m gonna go help shag balls or whatever it is I need to do to help.
And the coach came up to me and goes, hey, you’re the first strength coach they’ve had to like come and watch a game in a while. He goes, I’m not going to speak for them. He’s like, I definitely appreciate it. I know they definitely do as well. And just something as simple as that. Like if you go to practice, you show that, Hey, like I want to be a part of your program. I want to help you guys out. They’re going to be okay. All right, we’ll give this guy a chance. We’ll see what we we’ll see what he can do. And then especially once they start seeing the results that they’re looking forward to, they’re like, all right, okay, we’re, we’re bought in.
Samson:
No doubt. And I’ve had a similar experience too. I I’ve told the story a couple of times before, but just coming to App State, they didn’t have a strength coach who came to practice before. ⁓ And then it was funny because I don’t know if I’ve detailed this specific athlete before, but we had a guard who ⁓ was one of our best players. He’s all time winning his player in App State history. And he’s always had kind of a complicated relationship with the weight room. Like I’ll never forget my first day, ⁓ I kind of took everybody through some lifts and everything. And then our athletic trainer came up and was like,
Hey, how’s how was Don doing? You know, and I was like, Don was great. I never had problem with him at all. You know, like, and she was like, really? Like I get, know, OK, you know, and so then it started going to practices. And I even remember the head coach being like my birthday is in September. It was kind of right around the time that I got there and he was like, hey man, it’s your birthday. You don’t have to be here late for practice and everything. I was like, do you miss practice on your birthday? And he was like, no, you know, it’s like so then we’re good, right? You know, I’m going to be here and this is kind of the deal. But then with that one specific player to like.
it works out because it helps you build relationships with people who’ve been kind of closed off to this area before. Because, you know, he saw that I cared enough to go to practices and go to his games and help him warm up specifically before things. And then all of sudden, you know, one of the first things he said to me when I got here was like, I don’t squat. And I was like, all right, man, sure. You know, we’ll figure out why, you know. And then by the time we hit his second year ⁓ of me working with him, he’s like, okay, I think I’m ready to learn how to squat now. And I was like, all right, good.
you know, right? But it makes a difference. So I’m sure you had similar experiences too.
Stephen Antley:
Beth.
I mean, yeah, you do. mean, and no matter what coaching profession that you go into, you’re going to find some coaches that they’ve done a certain thing for a while and, you know, maybe it’s because that’s what they’re comfortable with. But I mean, I had a coach one time he’s like, I don’t want our kids doing any sort of like Olympic lifts. I’m like, okay, can I just ask like why? He goes, I think it’s just too dangerous. And so then I was like, okay, well, I mean, I.
personally love to program lifts. make sure that when I do program lifts, like I teach it in a proper progression or your way, right? We’re not maxing out on day one. was like, but if you’re very against it, like that’s fine. I will find other ways around it. Right? So that way it’s like, it’s like you’re working as a team and like, that’s what I wanted them to know is like, Hey, I’m here to work with you, not against you. Right? So, I mean, I had a baseball coach as well. He’s like, I don’t want our guys who need sort of overhead pressing. And I was like,
Okay, gotcha. So I try to find different alternatives. You know, just because I want to help the athletes as much as they can, but also want to like keep ⁓ a peace of mind with our head coaches as well.
Samson:
Yeah, you know, and you mentioned it too, right? Like we both want to win, you know, like I’ve never had a team lose and I’ve been like, yes, you know, I want to win just as bad as you do, you know, so we’re here and I hate losing. I’m sure you do too. Like, you know, we’re both working towards a common goal. Yeah.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm.
⁓ my gosh.
I losing. I think I
hate losing more than I love winning at this point, truthfully.
Samson:
Well, and that’s what our head coach says all the time too. He says, I don’t need a bunch of guys who love winning. I need a bunch of guys who hate losing more than they love winning. Because that’s how you end up winning a lot more, which is very true. How about with the athletes specifically? How did you see the kind of buy-in process work? Obviously you mentioned with the peer numbers, you’ve had about five girls show up for the first week of open hours. And then by the time you left the program, you’re about 50 to 60. So more than 10 times what you originally had.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
What was that buy-in process like with the athletes? What were some of the success stories too? I like hearing about happy things.
Stephen Antley:
Oh yeah, so with the athletes too, I think for me, one thing that I struggled with at first when I first got Northwestern was like, I had just gotten there like right before the summer started. So like, that’s a pivotal point in for a football player like that, that summer condition, that summer training setting up for preseason, like that’s pivotal, right? And I think we started out with like close to 120 guys. So I’m like, all right, whoo, these are a lot of guys. I tried to learn.
all those guys named as quick as I could. So I was the one doing a daily attendance. I’m like, wanted to learn these guys as quick as I can. If you just get to know their name first and like acknowledge like, I’m actually a person like I’m actually, know you by your name. You talk to them as they come into the locker room, talk to them as come in the weight room, give them a compliment, that kind of stuff. I’m like, okay, Hey, probably ain’t that bad. Right. But then also, like I said before, again, it starts with the head coach. If you get, if the head coach has bought into you and you, and they can see that relationship,
They’re going to see that trust as well because at first if especially if you’re brand new, they’re only going to trust people that they know. They know the head coach. They trust the head coach. All right. So if the head coach has that relationship with me, okay, we can probably trust him a little bit. But then it just like, like I said, we’re going to practice and go with games, like celebrate with them. They don’t, they don’t come to school or join sports because they want to be in the weight room. Right? Like they join baseball because they want to play baseball. They join football because I want to play football. So
If you going out there and like celebrating with them, like seeing all the little victories that they do, like they’re going to they’re going to see that commitment as well. And they’re going to, you know, share that commitment back to you ⁓ again. Now, the hardest challenge I want to say was probably getting most of our female athletes to buy in at first. Right. Because you have the stereotype that women think, you know, if I work out, I’m going to get big and go look mainly. No, you’re not going to look mainly right. Like
Your body is completely different biologically. It’s completely different. But I will say though, if for female athletes, once they’re bought into you, they will run through a brick wall. They will run through a brick wall. Like it doesn’t matter. Like some of the, some of my favorite teams, I say favorite team, some teams that loved coming to the weight room the most ended up being our female athletes. Didn’t matter if it was cross country track softball was one of the most bought in ones women’s soccer.
Like when I have girls coming in the weight room just to say hey to me before school starts, that makes me feel good because I’m like, right, they’re fully bought into this program.
Samson:
No doubt. I mean, again, like you say, you know, if you can get them bought in, get them excited about it, they’ll see the results too. And, know, the results will speak for themselves. They can obviously, ⁓ you know, be higher level athletes just because of it. I always crack up with the, you know, when I speak with, ⁓ it’s typically our freshmen that come in, I like the volleyball team or women’s golf. And they’re like, I’m worried about being big and bulky and everything like that. And it’s just like, well, you know, ⁓ if that happened to every female, whoever lifted weights, you know, they’d be beating Mr. Olympia every single year. So I think you’ll be all right.
Right? You know, so it’s just a funny little ⁓ side bit that people still got to deal with all the time. I’m still around, but you mentioned, you know, specifically with athletes and the culture development piece, like You don’t want to just teach them sets and reps. You don’t want to just teach them, ⁓ you know, how to do specific lifts and squat and deadlift, whatever you want to teach them about handling adversity and being a competitor. What are the things that you do to help drive those lessons home?
Stephen Antley:
So I’m also big and like, I’m not the kind of guy that’s gonna stand up and give like a motivational quote every day. But one thing that we did at Furman that I actually loved doing was we would, especially like a lot of John Gruden quotes and stuff. So I’ll talk about it, like say the quote at the beginning of the workout and then at the end I’m gonna harp on it. I’m gonna explain the quote, explain how it translates to what we’re doing. So that was one thing.
⁓
I was also about to say.
Samson:
No, you’re We can always edit this however you need to. So you just get your train of thought and you keep rolling.
Stephen Antley:
⁓ what was the question again?
Samson:
⁓ Helping athletes deal with adversity, helping athletes learn about competing, different things like that.
Stephen Antley:
All right. So another thing that athletes love to do, they love to compete. Right. So if I can bring some sort of competition into the weight room, whether it’s at the end of the workout, doing a chin up competition, a push up competition, if I can just have that competitive nature in the weight room, they’re going to want to succeed. They’re going to want to push themselves to. Right. And one thing I did with football and I never told the guys that did this on purpose, but I did, I tried to, we had a sign racks.
And I tried to do it based on like, you know, their height strength, that kind of stuff to be somewhat close. But I also tried to pair up somebody like of your, ⁓ that you’d be facing in practice, right? So I tried to pair up an office alignment with a defense line. I tried to pair up a receiver with a DB because especially like around spring ball season when they’re competing all the time and like they’re only against each other, they’re going to want to compete with each other a little bit. And, something else that
we did a firm and that I implemented with Northwestern was accountability teams. So I would have like our team captains or groups, they would draft a team, right? And then you would get points for your team based on performance. If you got good grades, if you showed up for study hall, if you just did all this little extra stuff, you would get points, right? And something just as simple as that.
It just takes a little bit of effort each week to just like tally up, keep up with everything. Just to say, Hey, like this team is working harder than you. What do you, how are you going to respond to it? Right. And honestly, you need to have some competitions in there that they’re going to fail. They’re going to fail at something. So they have to be comfortable with failing as well. Cause if you have a, if you have a program that they, all they do is succeed, succeed. But when that first failure comes around and they haven’t been, they’ve never experienced it before.
They may get a little shell-shocked. So you you have to I’m not saying you got like break them off with a competition But you have to have them used to failure and sometimes that’s doing competition.
another thing too is like, I would also tell them like areas of my life where like I failed, right? So like I would get a little bit of my own testimony and say, hey, look, I failed in this part before too. These are some, these are some things that helped me to progress through that. Right. Another thing too is I was involved with our FCA program as well. And we would have these monthly meetings. Well, in the month of September, I believe it’s, I believe that’s like, ⁓ mental health awareness month.
So I knew we had athletes that were dealing with dealing with mental health because I had some previously come up to me like, coach, I’m not doing okay. So I was like, all right, as a college athlete, I dealt with lot of mental health issues. I went to therapy for it. So I was like, all right, I’m going to do something uncomfortable. I’m going to get up in front of everybody. I’m going to speak at our FCA program. And I’m going to talk about how me as a, as a coach, I dealt with these issues as an athlete, just like you. And this is what helped me overcome that.
Alright, so sometimes just being vulnerable with them too, they’re like, okay, he’s not talking to us like he’s a coach, he’s talking to us like a human being. He’s talking to us like he actually cares, right? I would tell them like, look, I failed in these ways, I was maybe injured in high school or injured in college, this is how I dealt with it, this is how I overcame it, this is how I proceeded through.
Samson:
I love you bringing that up and I appreciate that last part about being vulnerable too, because to be honest, it’s something I kind of struggle with my teams. ⁓ I’m kind of the coach where I want to develop good relationships, I’m a personal, I’m not a super personable guy maybe, or I would describe it as I’m a little bit closed off, right? Like I don’t talk a lot about my experiences or different things like that unless they directly ask me those.
But you you bring up a great point because those times I have been open or I have talked about failures in the past of my athletes There’s been a great reception to it, right? Because then again, you’re not going up there trying to be this infallible guy who does everything right? You know, you’re a human being too and they appreciate seeing those things Yeah
Stephen Antley:
Yes, sir. And
then last thing with culture development, biggest thing that I harped on with our athletes was caring about the little details and everything like the way we set the weight room, the way it broke down, the way we cleaned up, the way we did each and every movement, the way we did the warm up. Because to me, caring about the little details is going to make you make the difference between you being a good athlete and being a great athlete. But that applies to more than just athletics, right? If you care about little details, it’s going to
apply to school, it’s gonna apply to you as an adult, it’s gonna apply to relationships, you have to care about the little details. It’s the biggest thing that separates people, I’m telling you.
Samson:
Did you have any pushback on the little details piece when it first started?
Stephen Antley:
man at first I mean especially like with the weight room we were a big you know plates up logos up Dumbbells facing a certain way benches being a certain way like especially the warm-up being a certain way and At first I was like, all right, you know, I’ve been on this for about two weeks now these guys They’re not just quite getting it, but you just have to keep consistent stay consistent with it, right? Keep chopping wood keep carrying on eventually they’re gonna buy into it right and then
Another thing too, you want them to care about little details, talk to them about how little details make or break them in their sport.
Right? Whether it’s a certain play, if I’m running back, I’m like, hey, so it’s run through the A gap or B gap? A gap. Okay. Why not B gap? ⁓ because, you know, this is what the play is. Okay. That’s a little detail, a little detail, but it makes the difference. Right? Same thing applies to the weight room. Same thing applies to life.
Samson:
Yeah, no doubt. mean, it’s just some of the work, you know, on top of that, too, you got to be on top of your own stuff with the little details. You got to be the guy because then I’ve had it before where we do a lot of conversations about little details and the athletes will try to catch me on other things, too, right? And so I think it makes me better as a coach when I focus on those things because I know I’ve got to be on top of my own stuff, too. Yeah. Well, you know, you obviously mentioned that you’re working part-time position right now, going around and coaching different high school athletes and then
Stephen Antley:
Absolutely.
Samson:
I appreciate you opening it up about working a separate full-time job. This is not related to the field. Like I was excited for this episode because I knew a little bit about your background. And I think right now this seems to me to be the most challenging year for people to find positions in strength and conditioning. ⁓ You know, just from different experiences, from coaches that I know who have been let go due to head coaching changes, whatever it may be to.
our GAs who are trying to find first time positions and then to your case where you move specifically to a specific location and then trying to find positions within there. What are some of the challenges you faced in this process of trying to find a position in Texas and how have you been able to try to overcome those?
Stephen Antley:
Yeah, so the the biggest struggle so far for anybody is ever considering to go into the high school route. Look into doing alternative certifications as far as like teaching credentials. If you’re in college and you’re considering like, maybe maybe one day I want to go into in the high school route, it probably wouldn’t help you to have a it probably wouldn’t hurt you to have a education minor as well, because I mean, like, yes, we’re strength coaches. Yes, we are.
We’re teaching them, we’re not like sitting in a classroom, but you’re still teaching them. Right, so it probably would not hurt you to have like that in your back pocket because it will help you apply to your coaching philosophy and how you coach and help people. But before I moved out here, I tried to find every email, every Instagram possible, everybody on LinkedIn possible, and I just started reaching out. Just trying to just.
build those connections as quick and as early as you can, but then be consistent with it. Don’t just reach out to one guy one time and then just be like, all right, well, you know, that didn’t really lead nowhere. Keep it up. don’t be scared to to shoot somebody email. If they got a phone number, like office phone number, don’t be scared to leave a voicemail. Like, don’t be scared to do that. Especially in this career, like we talked about this before, there’s a lot more applicants than there are jobs.
Right? So you gotta also be willing to separate yourself a little bit. send that DM, send that email. I think I sent out, I think close to 15 emails this morning alone, just because I’m still looking for those opportunities. Right? But especially if you ever look into high school, most schools are gonna have, as you have a teacher certification of some degree. Private schools, may not have to, right? Cause that’s kind of like up to them. ⁓
But I mean, when I first moved out here, like I was being interviewed for a college job and made to the final final round of the interview, thought I did great. And then sure enough, positions frozen against there’s nothing you can do about it. But I’m like, all right, it just didn’t happen. I got to move on. I was still going to keep contact with that coach. Right. In case anything ever happens. But you just got to move on. You got to try to think like, all right, what’s the next opportunity and just keep just keep searching, just keep digging.
⁓ Don’t be scared to also if you do make that connection go to schools like try to try to go to in-person visit if you can like I’ve been to several high schools in this area just to meet face-to-face with that coach just to try to talk some shop Build that relationship with them every coach that I ever went to to see I brought them energy drink Yes, I’m like, you know, they’re gonna remember that but like okay. All right, they’re gonna remember that and then you know if they if there is opportunity somewhere
Let me reach out and be like, Hey, you heard about this opportunity. Didn’t know if you would like to look into that. but you just have to keep up with it. I mean, I’m, not going to stop. haven’t had opportunity yet. I wouldn’t have gotten connected with performance course. Had I not reached out to a coach, I reached out to a coach. He said, Hey, we don’t have any position at this time. There’s this company called performance course, reach out to this guy and then see what you could do. So we sat to him and then show enough. Now I’m working, working with that company right now.
So it doesn’t hurt to just reach out and try and just build that connection.
Samson:
Yeah, and one of the things I really like that you’re saying about the networking piece is where people kind of fall off for me a little bit, right, is the following up, you know, besides just the initial email and the initial call, right, whatever it may be.
people who I’ve built the best connections with are the ones who have continued to call and continue to reach out. Right. And like, you know, honestly, you know, self admittedly, maybe this is a podcast of me just admitting my faults, right. But I’m not very good at reaching out to people, right. Like, you know, I’ll reach out, but I’m not the one who, you know, consistently calls and everything. And so if somebody’s trying to stay connected with me, I’ll always pick up the call. You know, I just may not reach out as much as possible. And I think that’s where
you know, some people kind of get tripped up a little bit, right? Is they’ll think like, well, Connor hasn’t called me since we did that, you know, so maybe he doesn’t want to talk to me again. It’s like, no, a lot of coaches are like that and a lot of coaches are busy, you know? So if you just reach out to them again, if you follow up, it can lead to a lot of really positive things.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely. And I mean, I’m sure you’re you’re where you may have this same exact thing too. But like I can send an email out. You probably get close to 50, maybe 100 emails a day. Right. So sometimes they didn’t reach out because they just did not see it. Maybe they’re just not as active on social media as you are. Sometimes you got to keep keep reaching out. Don’t be scared to go to clinics, too. Like I’ll go to clinic and I will try to talk to everybody there. Everybody. I actually met up with a coach that we went to a clinic.
I reset, I emailed him, didn’t hear back, but then we’re at the clinic and he just comes up to me and goes, Hey, I remember your face from somewhere. think you emailed me a week ago. He goes, I just completely forgot to get back to you. Like that’s completely on my, he’s completely my fault. Right. But he wouldn’t have came up and talked to me. How’d I not, you know, reset to him before. Right. So sometimes for most people, it’s just easier to get in front of somebody’s face and just try to their relationship that way. But
It’s got to start somewhere. It’s got to start with a DM. It’s got to start with that email. If you have their phone number, start with that call, start with that text. But then like you said, keep following up with it. You’ve got to keep trying to maintain that contact because you never know where it could lead.
Samson:
Well, and then I mean, even this podcast is a miniature success story of it, right? Cause you sent me a DM on Instagram. I may not have ever even met you, you know? And then, you sent me something and then obviously it’s like, well, you seem like a great coach. Let’s get you on the show. When it’s worked out well for both of us, cause I get a great guest and I get to meet you and it’s just something that works out positively. Right. And so again, like you’re saying, just being consistent and reaching out, it almost always leads to positive things down the road.
Okay, I’m curious, what energy drink do you bring with you when you go out to visit a coach?
Stephen Antley:
Man, it’s not gonna be ghosts, it’s gonna be bang. So they’re gonna be a ghost. You can’t ever go wrong with a white monster though. That’s like a very, that’s a very, that’s an OG. You can’t ever go wrong with it, but yeah, really, really whatever store. If I go into a QT, they have like the best options. So it kind of just like, whatever speaking to me, if whatever I get, I normally get to like grab for that coach as well. Cause I mean,
Samson:
Yep, it’s a call.
Yep.
Stephen Antley:
That’s the quickest way to a strength coaches heart right there is just bring him a can of caffeine. And I mean, they’re like, hey, you pretty nice guy. I like it.
Samson:
Yeah, if you came and visited me and you brought me a ghost, I’d be like, this guy’s all right. We can keep hanging out. So what’s your favorite ghost flavor?
Stephen Antley:
Yeah, oh man it’s They don’t I don’t I don’t know if they still have it out cuz I haven’t found in a while but It was the straw bingo margarita. That was a good one I think it was a seasonal flavor, but you can’t ever go wrong with a tropical mango orange creamsicle I’m a big fan of the sour patch. It’s our page kids as well. Those are pretty good But I mean again if you really just don’t know what to get them you can’t ever go wrong with it
Samson:
Yes.
Stephen Antley:
White Monster, I mean, it’s it’s the OG for a reason.
Samson:
Look, and we’re getting even better advice on the what to bring with you to the visits. I love it. We’ve actually as a quick story, ⁓ the gas station right down the road for me has got ⁓ a deal where they’ve got two ghosts for $3. So I’ve been in like three times a day, you know, and they, mean, it goes until May 5th. So I literally see me all the time. I’ve developed a relationship with the cashiers, you know, and everything. And they’re like, you’re back again. I’m like, yeah, hell yeah. I’m back again. Cause I’m trying to get as many as possible. My wife is sick of it.
Stephen Antley:
Heh.
⁓ man.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
because the entire first row of our fridge is all just ghost and then it started to stack up in the garage too. But I mean, hey, we’re saving money in the long run. That’s why I try to tell her.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm.
Exactly, like that’s that’s boy math. That is boy America that’s a good one
Samson:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, boy math. We’re flipping the tables on girl math right there. It’s good. It’s boy math right there. Well, you know, you also bring up, know, stay motivated, right? And just you’ve got to keep moving on. And that process looks a lot different for everybody else, right? You know, for from person to person, it’s a lot different. Like I know for myself, like I’ve got to be in my feelings for a day, you know, and then I’m like, all right, I’m good to get up and I’m good to move on. Like when you face adversity, like you mentioned with applying for the
Stephen Antley:
Yes, sir.
Samson:
university job and then you hit a freeze, right? Where you’re not able to get the position. When you’ve hit those moments where you have to kind of keep moving on, what keeps you motivated? What keeps you pushing forward?
Stephen Antley:
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ve definitely had times, I even here recently where I’m like, you know, like I will get my feelings. I’ll kind of get down. I’m like, man, like I just, I just don’t understand what’s going on. But like, I always got to remind myself, I’m like, you know, God called me to do this for a reason. And there’s no one clear path for everybody, right? Like for some, some strength coaches, they may have been, you know, athlete, intern, GA, assistant, maybe director. Like they may just have like a straight,
clear path, right? Everybody’s a little bit different. Okay, so I mean, my path is different. I think you can’t try to compare your career somebody else’s as well, right? Because you also don’t know what that person may have endured, right? You don’t know what kind of stuff they went through. You don’t know where they originally started out and then what they end up switching to and what led them straight to condition. Everybody’s got a different story. So you can’t compare yourself to somebody else’s successes, right?
But for me is like, I just know this is what I’m passionate about. If you’re truly passionate about something like you claim to, you’re gonna find a way, right? And it may take you a couple of months, it may take you a year, but you’re gonna find a way. But then just don’t make excuses for yourself either. Like ask yourself, are you really doing everything that you can at this opportunity? Are you sending out those emails? Are you doing those on-site visits? Are you doing everything possible?
Samson:
Well, you mentioned a really good point and you bring up, you know, essentially the theme of comparison is a thief of joy, right? But you kind of put an extra piece to it, which I really like, which is you never know what other people have gone through, right? And it may seem on the outside, like it’s a really easy process.
for people to initially view it. On face level, it seems like, they got that job because they know somebody or they’re related to this person. And there’s actually a specific case I can think of where I’ve had people say to me, well, that guy got that job because his uncle works here and that’s the reason he’s got it. And then I met with him and I know him and I got to see him coach. And I’m like, this guy’s the man. He’s a really good coach. He made a guy’s foot in the door because of his uncle, but he’s the one making the most of his opportunities.
Stephen Antley:
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
He’s trying to make a name for himself outside of his uncle, right? And so, you know, I know those cases and I appreciate you bringing that up because I think it’s a really healthy mindset and it gets people out of the, ⁓ you know, negative mindset of like, you know, they didn’t, they don’t deserve this, right? You know, like what’s, what do you to say if somebody really truly deserves something or not? And then it can kind of just make you really negative. And I feel like that negativity stacks on top of each other. So I appreciate you bringing that up because obviously with your situation, right? Like you’ve got to be able to stay positive and
If you take out any negative thoughts or times you’ve been in your feelings on other people, it’s not gonna, you know, beget more positivity, right? It’s just gonna be get more negativity. And then the process isn’t fun for anybody.
Stephen Antley:
I mean, kind of going back to like, you know, I met with I met with one strength coach out here. He started out as a volunteer. He started he was a volunteer. He was like similar situation to me, like just moved to the area. But he was like, all right, well, I’m looking for any chance that I can. Right. He started out as a volunteer. He wasn’t getting paid to do it. Keep in mind this guy, he already did an internship. I believe he did a grass ship as well.
And he, I think he was working like private sector. I can’t remember off the of my head, but then when he moved out here, similar situation, know, tough finding jobs, he started out, he’s like, all right, I’m gonna, I’m a volunteer. I’m gonna make a name for myself. And eventually it got to where the school saw him and say, hey, this guy brings a lot of value to this school. We just try to bring him on full time. And then he ended up getting a full time job that way. So I mean, don’t ever think that you’re too good or too big.
to start over or do the little things like I talked about. So, even me, I’m part time in the morning. I don’t have to wake up at four o’clock in the morning, but I get to because I have an opportunity to do something that I love every day and pursue what I’m passionate about. Some people don’t have that opportunity. So you best believe I’m gonna take advantage of it.
Samson:
I love it. How’s your experience been? I’m curious. Obviously, ⁓ let me ask this first. I need to get on with proper train of thought today. Let me get with this first. With working with this part-time position, do you work with the same schools day in and day out or is it something different where you ⁓ work with multiple different schools?
Stephen Antley:
So right now, because of my situation with having my other job as well, ⁓ I’m at the same school, which I do love, because I get to see the same athletes every time I get to kind of build that relationship with them. ⁓ So I do that currently. And now for the summertime, I may be getting moved to a different school to kind of be like their lead, like their site coordinator, I think. So I’m trying to see what kind of opportunities I can do with that.
I prefer it that way too, just being able to work with the same kids every day because if I’m just a random guy that they, if they never seen me before, but they got to listen to me and lead them through a workout, I’m like, all right, you know, he’s just like another guy coming through the system, right? But if they can see me, they can build that relationship with me. Again, they’re more likely to like actually buy in and commit to what I’m doing or what I’m trying as well.
Samson:
Yeah, no doubt. How’s that relationship process been any different, you know, with not being at the school full time? Have you had any more challenges with that or has it been relatively the same?
Stephen Antley:
No, not really, but I think it’s also just like what you what you make of it. Like I could just show up and just be like standing in the corner with my whistle and just like do whatever. I try to go up and talk to them when they come in the door. I’m yelling good morning. I’m just trying to get them excited because not every high school kid wants to wake up at six o’clock in the morning to go look way to six thirty. They want to sleep in or maybe they were up all night playing games or maybe there’s going through something like mentally.
Maybe they had a bad day yesterday. The boyfriend, girlfriend broke up with him, whatever. So I want to start their day off with on a positive note. I want to talk to them. I to see how they’re doing. If they had a club volleyball or a basketball tournament, I’m asking how it went. Ask them, you know, where are you at? How you, how you feeling? How’s your body feeling? Just get to know them. I mean, I’m only with them for like maybe an hour, 15 hour, 20 max in the morning, but I’m going to maximize that as best I possibly can.
Samson:
That’s fantastic, man. I love it. And again, that’s just how you get the most out of the job, right? And that’s how it’s the most fun is when you maximize it and develop these relationships where you can get the most fun out of it possible. I’ve got one final question for you. I always end with a fun question. What’s your favorite part about Texas? I’ve obviously moved to Texas, you know, and lived there for a while before. There’s some great stuff with it, but you said it’s always been kind of your dream a little bit. You know, what’s been your favorite part about Texas?
Stephen Antley:
Oof. So athletic wise, know, the sports out here, I mean, it’s truly like a different out here. Like I came from a big high school in South Carolina, like worked at a big high school in South Carolina, but a big high school in South Carolina is like a 3A, 4A out here in Texas. Like the schools out here are massive. The money that they put into athletics is massive. There’s a school up the road, Denton Geyer High School, they just opened up their 120 yard indoor
football practice area and I’m like, holy crap. Like there are colleges that will never be able to have this. Right? like the, it, everything’s bigger in Texas. Like I’m just going to say that. but non-athletic wise, the barbecue, holy crap, man, the bar. I’ve spent way too much money on barbecue, but I don’t regret it one bit because a barbecue out here is absolutely amazing.
Samson:
Well, it’s incredible. I, you know, I know living in North Carolina, I’m from, you know, New York originally and then lived in Pennsylvania for a while. And they’re always like, how’s the North Carolina barbecue? I’m like, I’m not worried about it. If I’m being honest, cause the Texas barbecue is a lot better. So it’s absolutely fantastic. Texas tech. Yep. Yep. Over there in Lubbock. So it’s a little bit different than Dallas, but still a great spot to live for sure.
Stephen Antley:
You were at a Texas Tech, weren’t you? You were at Texas Tech? That’s right.
⁓ Mm-hmm.
yeah, I mean, you can’t complain, man. I don’t think I’ve gotten tired of barbecue yet, and I hope I never do.
Samson:
Yeah, I don’t think you will. If it’s Texas barbecue, I’d struggle to see how you would. So, well, Steven, I appreciate you, man. Thank you so much for coming on the show and letting us get to know your story a little bit better. And, you know, as a personal note, thank you for kind of opening my eyes to some stuff that I can improve within my own coaching too. That’s kind of why I love doing this podcast and getting to meet with other coaches, because it kind of reinvigorates me every time I do these episodes and helps me hopefully be a better coach.
⁓ If somebody wants to reach out to you, network with you, or follow you, what would be the best way to do that?
Stephen Antley:
Yes, sir. I’m most active on ⁓ Instagram page. So it’s sbrandon.antley ⁓ But that you can reach out to me shoot me a message do whatever more than happy to hop on a call with somebody or just network talk shop anything
Samson:
Awesome, Well, a man of your word. You’re ready to network whenever you need. So I love it. Well, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for coming on the show. Absolutely.
Stephen Antley:
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. Thank you for having me.
