In this episode of the Samson Strength Coach Collective, we sit down with Patrick Brooks, strength coach for Arkansas State Women’s Basketball. Patrick shares his coaching journey and growth, detailing his transition from intern to full-time coach and the lessons learned along the way. The conversation highlights the importance of building strong relationships with athletes, developing a confident coaching voice, and fostering a culture that supports both performance and personal growth. Patrick also reflects on mentorship, leadership, and the daily commitment required to continuously improve as a coach.
Key Takeaways
- Growth in coaching comes from consistency and stacking daily wins
- Building relationships is foundational to athlete development
- Finding your voice is essential for leadership and communication
- Culture drives effort, accountability, and long-term success
- Learning from failure is critical to coaching growth
Quote
“You have to be coachable.” — Patrick Brooks
Patrick Brooks:
My dad coached because he loved coaching and that he had the passion for it. He loved, you know, working with the guys and the girls that he worked with. He cared about them. And so I think being able to see it as not like,
Okay, so coaching is all about how much do you win? How much do you lose? How much credit can you get for it? It was more about, you know, how are you impacting people?
Samson:
What’s going on Sampson strength coach collective listeners on today’s we have, I don’t even know how to describe this man as a good, very good friend of mine, a former intern. Now he’s a even better strength coach than I am. I believe on our episode last week or two weeks ago with Nick, ⁓ we described you. think we’d said you were the stepchild of our strength and conditioning trees. ⁓ Co-parenting. That’s what it was. Co-parenting. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yes. So you, are, ⁓ he’s my co-son.
Patrick Brooks:
I think it was a co-parenting situation, which I’ll describe. Yeah, I think that was the word that was used. Yep.
Samson:
You know, there’s a lot of ways to describe them, but a repeat guest, Patrick Brooks, Assistant Straight and Conditioning Coach with Arkansas State Women’s Basketball. Pat, thank you so much for coming on,
Patrick Brooks:
Thanks for having me man, it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to you.
Samson:
I haven’t talked to you since yesterday, so it’s been a very long time. Well, I want to give our listeners a breakdown. So, Pat, you came on the show, what, originally two years ago, three years ago?
Patrick Brooks:
Exactly.
Yeah, I think about three years ago. was my first semester’s, it was like my first two weeks as a GA at West Georgia. So I’m looking forward to having a little more to talk about at that time. At that time I was just like, I’m trying to figure everything out.
Samson:
Must have been three, because you were still at West Georgia.
Yup.
Yeah. So, well, that’s exactly why we want to do this podcast, right? Is, you know, ultimately bring on some guests that we’ve had in the past, you know, so we can talk about your growth and it’s been exciting for me to see it, right? But then be able to actually put it out into the universe and everybody knows, you know, how much better of a strength coach you are. And so I’m excited to kind of talk about your growth and talk about your process of getting better as a coach.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, me too, man. I’m excited.
Samson:
Yeah, you definitely don’t look nervous to talk about yourself at all.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah,
it’s cool to get on here and be able to reflect because even leading up to this, it’s just been thinking about the reflection of what I’ve been able to actually be able to speak about. Because I said it was the first two weeks of being a GA and now I’ve been full time for two years, which is extremely weird to say. It still feels like I’m an intern sometimes, but to actually have some actual things to discuss is pretty exciting to me.
Samson:
Yeah, well, it’s part of the deal, seriously, because I remember ⁓ I’ve told this story before on this podcast a long time ago, but I did a podcast with Scott Caulfield, like when I was like my third year as a full-time strength coach. And I remember like they asked us a bunch of different questions and I would just be like, Scott, you go ahead, Scott, you can take this one. You got this one, bro. Hey, man, I’ll be humble. I’ll let you take this question. So, ⁓ but you know, that’s what’s exciting about it is I feel like you don’t even really notice the years go by, you know, like
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, you got this one man, you got this one. Yeah.
Samson:
When people ask me how long I’ve been a straight, kids are saying, I’m like, damn, 10 years. Like I didn’t even like, I don’t even really think about it. And like you’re saying, you know, it’s like, damn, I’ve been a full time for two years now. Like it just stacks and experiences grow.
Patrick Brooks:
Well, I think one of the things that’s cool too is it’s sometimes I have to step back and take a reflection because sometimes you kind of wait for like the adult strength and conditioning coach to answer questions. And like now that I’m running like my own team, I program, I run everything. There’s nobody else. It’s all me. And sometimes it’s kind of weird to be like, Oh no, like I am the strength coach. Like there’s no more intern or GA or anything like that. Like I’m the one running it. And like these decisions are mine to make. It’s a cool thing, but it also is a little scary sometimes too.
Samson:
Oh, for sure. mean, absolutely. Like I remember when I was with football, like it was nice just to be the guy who’s like, all right, you just got to coach these three racks. And then we don’t worry about programming, scheduling, anything like that to show up, you know, here, be here at this specific time. It was like, yeah, hell yeah. And then now, you know, obviously running your own teams, it’s just a, it’s a lot different. You got to answer to the head coach and you got to explain why something went well, why something didn’t, you know, and you can’t really hide behind the, well, I’m just an assistant or I’m just an intern kind of title. Like it’s, it’s way different.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, I can’t just roll out of bed. Like at West Georgia, we had those, you know, weigh-ins at 530, know, starts at 545, walk in, Coach Fry handing you the sheet for the day. You’re like, all right, here we go. You’re just reading it off. like, let’s go boys. Now it’s like, there’s a lot more process, which honestly doing all that makes you a lot better too anyway. Like for me, like, I mean, you know me, like the best way for me to learn is to do it. And so obviously programming, running everything, organizing everything, being the one scheduling out lifts and everything has only made me better because I’m actually doing it.
Samson:
Yeah.
Patrick Brooks:
Like I can read about stuff and obviously yes I still do that but the best way for me to learn is actually hands on.
Samson:
Yeah, no doubt. know, and like you said, it’s the best way to learn. ⁓ You know, now we’re the ones who are stressing about weigh-ins the night before, right? Like, you know, especially with our guys, you know, because you remember Don being on the team and he just walked in the door, my bad, CA, it’s over 10 pounds. Like, yeah, hey, bro, I literally feed my family with this paycheck. So please stop doing this to me.
Patrick Brooks:
my goodness. My bad.
Well,
it’s also funny too because as an intern, when you have to weigh guys in or as a GA, guys are like, hey, give me a pound or two. And you’re like, aye, brother, I can’t do that. Trust me, I can’t do that. And now it’s not the ones, they’re not trying to even hide it from you. They’re just like, Pat, I’m sorry. You’re like, my goodness. Yeah, y’all are wrong with you. Yep.
Samson:
Hehehehe.
I’m sorry. I apologize. I’ve wronged you. Yes, you have. Yes, you have. All
right. Well, I mean, let’s just get right into it. You know, actually, let’s do this for our listeners who haven’t listened to the previous podcast. Can you just give us a breakdown of kind of the different spots you’ve been your experiences and training conditions?
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, so ⁓ I got my undergrad from App State, which is obviously how me and you connected because ⁓ I was finishing up my senior year. I think you’re in your first year at App. So, but before that, I got my start. I just did like some high school stuff. My dad was high school coach for 30 years, so he has a bunch of connections and stuff. So I just like volunteered to help out one summer in the weight room with the high school football team, kind of just get used to coaching. After that, I went to UNC Charlotte, which is where I made the connection with Nick Roger.
⁓ and then Cory bell who has been on here, but it’s been quite a while since Corey’s been on here. He’s at rice now killing it. and the rest of the guys at Charlotte did that for a summer, did some sports nutrition stuff at app. Obviously then work with you. And then I took off and went to a West Georgia and then at West Georgia, I was down there for a year. Volleyball, football, baseball. and then going into my second year there, the spot came open at Arkansas state. And, ⁓ you know, you were like, I think you should.
Try to go for it. It’s a good spot. Met with Coach Dez, had a Zoom meeting for like 15 minutes. then next thing you know, like a week later, I’m moving to Jonesboro, Arkansas. And I’ve been here for the last two years. So going on my third year here.
Samson:
Yeah, I remember putting you up for the job and you’re like, had a Zoom meeting and I got off for the job. I was like, what? I knew you’re a good coach, but damn,
Patrick Brooks:
⁓
Well, so it was actually funny, and Dez were talking about the other day, that was one of the best interviews ever because it didn’t even feel like an interview. I met with her, our philosophies are very similar, we’re both kids of coaches, her dad coached football and basketball for years and years, and obviously my dad coached everything too. So it was really easy to kind of have a common vision. I think we figured it out pretty fast because the interview only lasted probably 15 minutes and then it was like…
Okay, this is where I need to do go. need to go to Jonesboro, Arkansas. I have no idea what’s in Jonesboro, but I’m packing up and moving anyway.
Samson:
Well, lot of Walmarts, I can guarantee you that, that’s for sure. You know, but Jonesboro’s actually a pretty nice city. I’ve stopped at the Sonic before in Jonesboro, which was exciting. Yeah. The one with the dog park right next to it. Yep.
Patrick Brooks:
Mm-hmm.
There’s five Sonics too. There’s lot of Sonics here. Yeah. But it’s one… yeah, I know exactly which. I actually live right near
there. But it’s one of those places where like, Jonesboro, like people think Arkansas is like whatever. Jonesboro is really nice. Like you stay at the hotel right across from the arena and everything, you’re like, this is not a bad place at all.
Samson:
Yeah, no, seriously, I agree 100%. I remember being very impressed with that hotel. And then I remember being very sad after we lost. We went down and played the men’s side over there. That was a tough game for us. Yep, yep, yep. Then the guy, you sent me the picture of the guy who randomly like took a picture of me filling the water. I was like, hey man. Yeah, I got violated. Best student section on the road that we’ve had too, because I mean, they knew my life story.
Patrick Brooks:
That was the one that was on ESPN, wasn’t it? We watched that after…
I’d forgotten about that.
Samson:
They actually shouted out this podcast and said it sucks. The Arkansas State student section, they said it was a terrible podcast. And I believe the other phrases were, I can’t believe Tess said yes, my wife, because we were engaged at the time. ⁓ Ugly was another one of them. And then they said, we’ve got a hotdog for you, you fat. And then another word that I can’t repeat on this podcast. So I was like, damn, you guys really, he brought the juice.
Patrick Brooks:
Mm.
Mmm.
Hey,
we at Arkansas State do not condone that kind of behavior. All right, that was not us. Not us. Yeah.
Samson:
I think it’s fun. think it makes it more fun, but I never told my wife
about it up until like we had a booster dinner in October and then one of our boosters who went on that trip with us was like, can you tell me again about Arkansas State? He’s like you gotta tell rest of my family about it and so we were saying it and then like test was, you know, obviously upset, you know, and then I was like she goes. Why didn’t you ever tell me that I was like? Cause you would have cried like if I told you those things like you’re just an empath. You’re a sensitive person and I love that about you, but she would have cried. She’s like.
I would have cried a thousand percent. Yeah. You ever said about right now? I can see the tears in your eyes right now. Okay. Well, again, it’s awesome to see your growth and success. know, take me back. Let’s go back to your time at West Georgia. Okay. You’re on the podcast for the first time. Like you said, you’re GA for two weeks. You know, you’ve been an intern at a couple of different locations, but you’re just figuring stuff out. And then to now, what are the ways that you feel like you’ve grown from that time to now?
Patrick Brooks:
You’re upset about it right now, exactly. Yeah, yeah.
Hmm. Well, I think there’s a bunch of stuff. think ⁓ obviously like as you evolve and ⁓ grow as a coach, like you’re going to get better. You’re going to mess up on things. You’re going to make mistakes. You have to learn lessons. I think the biggest one for me is just being able to kind of find my voice and really apply what standards I want to have in the weight room. ⁓ That comes along with like building a culture, a mindset in the weight room. ⁓ I think biggest thing with, and I’m sure you can relate to this working with basketball is the athletes sometimes don’t have the best. I would say they don’t feel the best in the weight room sometimes with squatting.
sometimes with hinging and stuff like that, but getting them like more comfortable in the weight room, getting them to like fit in in the weight room almost feel like they belong there is one thing I really tried to focus on. I learned it with, ⁓ with the football, with volleyball, ⁓ at West Georgia. And that’s something I’ve really tried to carry through here. So I try to kind of focus more on like building that culture and everything. And the rest kind of follows in when I feel like at first I was kind of doing the opposite. I was trying to optimize my programming, optimize how everything’s flowing. And it’s like, Hey, get them comfortable.
get them used to it, get them kind of that momentum going in the weight room. And then you can build upon that. And I think along with that too, some of it is having that standard and being able to kind of be like, hey, this is not how we’re going to do things. We’re going do things the way I need it done. And there’s nothing wrong with doing that. I think for me personally, it was kind of hard to make that transition from intern to GA because as an intern, there’s not a lot of pressure. You’re there to help set up, take down, but like the one that has the authority, like in our situation was you or at Charlotte, was the full-time guys.
but then having your own weight room, you’re the one with the authority and you’re the one that has to set the standard and find that voice. And that was something I had to grow into a lot, not only as a GA, but my first and this year here too.
Samson:
Yeah, can you talk to me a little bit more about finding your voice? Because that’s something that a lot of people struggle with, right? You know, mean, a lot of coaches, I think everybody has an inherent desire to be liked, right? And so when you first start out in coaching, it can almost feel like if you kind of have to take control of the weight room or if you have to find your voice a little bit, it can feel like, OK, well, the players aren’t going to like me then if I have to do this, right? And so it can be difficult to help yourself find what your standards are and how you can be that voice for the weight room. Talk to me about that process a little bit.
you know, how did you end up finding it and how has it grown since you’ve been able to work on it?
Patrick Brooks:
So I’ll personally say for me, I’m really, really lucky in my situation. ⁓ I work for Coach Des, who is an awesome head coach. One of the biggest things that she told me when I first got hired, and I got hired as a GA, had never had a full-time position, and she told me that you were the head coach of the weight room. Like, you have, I trust you, this is your area of expertise. Like, whatever you need to do, I’m here to support you. So I think having a head coach like that that’s in your corner, like, she always tells us, like, I’m gonna take care of you, whether it’s a staff.
like whoever, like she’s gonna take care of us. She really pushed me to find my own voice in that sense, where she’s like, whatever standards you need, like what you need from me, if I need to back you up, anything like that, like I’m here for that. So I think having that was a huge thing immediately, because it felt like, okay, I belong here. And then once you feel like you belong, then you can start applying your standards. For myself personally, it’s just living in the discomfort, because I am a person where I do, you know, like,
You’re saying like you want to be liked, you want to be the coach everybody’s like, ah, Coach Pat, da, da, da. But you have a job to do. And ultimately that’s what is the most important thing is doing your job and helping the team. So I think just being able to say, okay, sometimes it’s a little uncomfortable for me to do. I don’t want to be the guy that’s kind of the a-hole, but that’s what you have to do sometimes. And when you do it, it’s ultimately for their benefit. And you set that standard and they’re only going to rise to the standard that you set. So if you set this bar lower, if you let this behavior slide or lackluster effort then.
that’s what they’re gonna do because that’s what’s accepted and you can’t allow that to happen.
Samson:
No doubt. What are your standards for the weight room? What are the things that you really look for and want to get out of your team when they’re in the weight room?
Patrick Brooks:
Just effort, honestly, I think effort is the huge thing. ⁓ Like I said, like with basketball, especially like meeting a lot of the recruits and stuff, a lot of them come from JUCOs or smaller schools that they haven’t had a good strength and conditioning program, whether they haven’t had a strength program at all, or they had a strength coach that, know, bless them has had to work with the entire athletics department so they don’t get a lot of individual like time with them, but just effort. And ⁓ I think a lot of that will just kind of fix itself as long as they’re in there trying and giving their best and really being open to coaching.
and not saying, I can’t do as much as this person. Like it’s fine. can’t do as much as them. If you’re trying just as hard as they are, it’s fine. But I think that’s the biggest thing. like I said, everything else really takes care of itself after that. You give effort, everything else will be falling apart.
Samson:
What about those moments in late season, right? You where like you want to get that as much effort out as possible, but you’re getting a lot of pushback from the athletes. I think a lot of those coaches listening have dealt with those situations. I’ve personally dealt with it many times where you’re trying to get as much as possible and it’s almost like pulling teeth. You know, what are the methods or techniques you use to still get that effort out of the players?
Patrick Brooks:
Honestly, I think it’s one thing I learned from you and the guys from Charlotte. I was around a lot of people that really focused on building relationships. And so I think that if you haven’t built that relationship in the time up until, you know, kind of where it’s coming to a head at the end of the season, then you’re probably not going to get that because if all you’re doing is just like, you know, I don’t care what you say, this is what we’re doing. It’s like, well, okay, well, I don’t feel good. So don’t want to do it. It’s kind of a give and a take. You build that relationship so you can cash it in at that time. At least that’s the way I view it.
Right? Like they know even my returners that are coming in now, they know like, okay, you know, we were just in the postseason a month ago, but like now it’s time, it’s my time. Like we’re getting after it, we’re pushing, but they also know when it comes to conference time, I’m to make sure I take care of them. If we’ve been on the road a lot, like, okay, we’re to take it lighter today. We’re going to have like a mobility day. We’re still going to hit some weights, but just stuff to kind of get them feeling better. I’m not really trying to do anything crazy. And then when there is some time to actually push it in conference or at end of the season, then they’re like, okay, well I trust coach back because he’s taking care of me whenever my body’s hurting.
So maybe I don’t feel the best now, but if he’s saying this is what’s best for me, then I’m gonna trust him.
Samson:
No doubt. And you I think like you’re mentioning, you know, kind of keeping an overarching plan too and keeping them in the loop, right? Where, you know, I’ll tell our guys like once we get to, mean, let’s say September late, you know, late September, early October, when we start practicing our volume is really high on the court, but we’ve still got to push in the weight room. Cause this is kind of one of our key times. Like I’ll tell them straight up, Hey, this is going be one of the most difficult three week or four week blocks we’ve got coming up.
once we start playing games, it’s going to get easier for you. You know, and you just need to trust me on this. That’s where I kind of call on the returners too. And I just say, Hey, returners, let them know, you know, I will take care of you, but right now I need you to trust me. need you to kind of work hard and go through it. And you know, like you said, with those relationships that there’s building blocks, you know, I call them tokens a little bit. Like it may not be the most politically correct way, right? But like you collect tokens, right? Like I think back to just even yesterday, we had a player ⁓ with us with.
Patrick Brooks:
Ha
Samson:
men’s basketball who’s got to get on the bike. He’s got to go through a little bit of a body comp change. And, you know, I basically told him, Hey, let’s go 300 cows in 20 minutes. And he was pissed, you know, didn’t talk for the rest of the lift, you know, was pissed off and everything. And so I told him, I was like, man, I’ll do it too. As soon as you’re done, I’ll do it too. Right. And so he’s like, yeah, whatever. And so I sent him a picture right after. I, you know, I was, it was a little bit of like, you know, kind of the male competition aspect a little bit, cause obviously I’ve had to beat his time, you know, but I sent him a picture. was like, Hey, I’m right here with you, bro. Like we’re to do these things together.
Patrick Brooks:
Yep.
Obviously,
Samson:
And so I think doing small things that can help you build those relationships and have those blocks makes a big difference.
Patrick Brooks:
Well, and I think too, like of things I’ll say, like one thing that I really like to do with obviously working with like female sports, ⁓ just a kind of something that I’ve noticed is not a lot of them have like the ability to do like a chin up or something. All right. When they first get there. So one thing that I’ve really done is try to focus in on something like that and then build up something where they can actually say, my goodness, when I first got here, I couldn’t do a chin up at all. And now I can do three, four or five. And like having like little stuff like that goes a long way because they can see, my goodness, look at how much progress I made with this. Well, then obviously like,
he must know what he’s talking about with all the other stuff too. So having those kind of fun things, I call it fun things, where I’ve never had anybody that’s been like, I can do a chin up now, I don’t care. Like they’re all like, Coach Pat, can you film me? Let me see how many I can do. Like little stuff like that, I think helps build those tokens that you’re talking about, like you can cash those in.
Samson:
Yeah, for sure. It’s just trackable progress, things that you can show that, you couldn’t do this when you first got here. Now you can do eight, whatever it might be. Those things make a big difference. Well, one of the things that I kind of know, there’s going be some questions that I know stuff about you personally, but I think are going to be important to talk about on the podcast. You have a great relationship with your head coach, and you kind of always shout her out and say, she does a fantastic job with you. You really like working with her.
Patrick Brooks:
Exactly.
Mm-hmm.
Samson:
⁓ You know, and I know ⁓ you’re well sought after coach, but it’s easy to stay with her because, know, ultimately she’s the one who drives a great relationship and you do too. Can you just tell me about that relationship a little bit? What you did to build that? And kind of what are the benefits of having a relationship like that with your head coach?
Patrick Brooks:
Well, I’ll say in terms of building it, ⁓ she’s really trusted me from the jump, which I said is credit to her. So from the jump, was, I trust you, whatever you need, how many days a week do you want to lift them, how long do you need, what do think we should be doing for this and that? She’s always trusted me. And she’s also been ⁓ very open to me being a young coach. sometimes, especially so, I run the Kinexons here. Excuse me. And then when I first got here, I had no experience with GPS systems. So I was learning everything on my
was Googling stuff, was reading articles, I was reaching out to people. So there’d be times where I’d be like, coach, I just don’t know, but I will find you that answer. She was like, yeah, absolutely, take your time. She trusts me. And that was something I felt like I didn’t have to earn, that she just came in and she was like, you’re a part of my staff, I believe in you for a reason, I brought you here for a reason. But along with that, our relationship has only grown. She’s awesome to work for. mean, in terms of yes, working, but then you’re on the road a lot together.
And having somebody that you can actually like talk to and like connect with like in a personal sense while you’re on the road together is awesome too. as a staff, we had a sleeper bus trip. can’t remember. It was during the college football playoffs and like as an entire staff, we sat and watched the college football playoffs together. We talked, we laughed. Like that’s something that I don’t think people think about enough is how much time you spend with them, like away from, you know, your family and everything. And like, it’s kind of your family on the road. ⁓ In terms of working together, she’s, she’s awesome. The Connectsons are really integrated into what we do at practice.
She’s really big on getting after it, mental toughness, being tough. ⁓ The way that we play, we’re a very high tempo team. We get a lot of possessions, we run a lot. So we’re going to be in really good shape and that comes from how we practice. But with that, she’s open to saying, hey, this is the data. This is what the data is telling us. We’ve had two really, really hard days. Might be a good idea to kind of back it off a little bit. She’s been very, very open to that. And we integrated in, we have a three day tapering protocol we’ve done the last two years.
They get data reports every day. She’s texting me about data reports. What can I do? What should I do with this and that? And then just, you know, trusting me to schedule stuff out too. We have a great relationship, but you know, if I want to have them come in two days a week, three days a week, she’s in complete support of it. She trusts me that it’s my job. It’s my area. And like I said it earlier, but she really does believe that I’m the head coach in the weight room. And without a leader like that, that trusts you and believe in you, I feel like you’re kind of, you know, almost a little handicapped with it too.
Samson:
Yeah, it can be a struggle for sure. Did you have, you know, I mean, this is your first full-time job. I think a lot of listeners can relate to this, right? You know, where you have a little bit of nervousness in your relationship with your head coach when you first meet them, right? You’re a little nervous to talk to them. You don’t really know what’s the preferred communication style. Did you have that at all with Des and then how did you kind of shake that off if you did?
Patrick Brooks:
I mean, absolutely yes, because she is my boss and I’m always, you I want to work for somebody that I respect and I respect her because I trust what she does, but also because she has a standard too that she holds everybody to. ⁓ But I’ll say like I alluded to that first conversation that we had on the zoom and kind of just talking to her within the first 15 minutes, I knew that we were going to have a good working relationship just with how similar our personalities are, our coaching styles, kind of how we trust each other. ⁓
But yeah, I would say, you my first few months I definitely was scared to text her anything, you know, being like, hey coach, ⁓ you know, but as you get used to it and you, it just takes time to build that relationship. Like you can get along really good and you can have a lot of stuff in common, but until you guys have been each other, been around each other and worked with each other, it’s hard to have that like comfortability, at least for me. Like I have to be around somebody to kind of open up and get comfortable. It was just the time it was also, ⁓ you know, when I spoke about something really trying to
Like you told me one time, like whatever you do, just have a hundred reasons why you did it. Always have a rhyme and a reason to why you do something. You can defend it and then you just kind of got to roll with it from there.
Samson:
Yeah, for sure. You know, and like, I think you bring up a great point too, where when you’re on the road, you get very close with the staff as well. Like once you kind of start traveling with them and you spend some more time with them, it’s a, it’s a lot easier to build that relationship to, know, now where when I go into our coach’s office, it’s like, you know, I say, what’s up to everybody. We barely talk about stuff with the team, you know, most of the time, like I’m just going in and check in with everybody, say what’s up. And then we might mention one or two things that happened that day, just so everybody can kind of keep aware of situations, but it makes it a lot more fun when you can have a good relationship because at the end of the day, like,
Like you said, this is kind of your family away from your family.
Patrick Brooks:
Absolutely, absolutely. And you know, like, I think the biggest thing is like her culture too, of just how, you know, the coaches that she’s brought in, not only me, like obviously the other sport coaches, athletic trainers, our dobo jelly, who’s awesome. Like everybody that I work with is super easy to work with and they’re always uplifting each other, including myself. Even when I was a, you know, I was there for a month or two, they were like, Pat’s the man, Pat’s the man. You know, just making me feel like I had that confidence. Yeah. Yeah.
Samson:
That’s awesome, man. love to hear it. So, okay.
So we kind of initially went through where you’ve grown from, from your time at West Georgia over a period of three years to now. Okay. Let’s say we have another podcast in another three years. Samson’s dumb enough to let me keep hosting this podcast and I get you back on in three years. What are the main areas that you want to continue to grow in? What do you want to be able to say after these three years? I’ve done that and I’ve grown in these areas.
Patrick Brooks:
I mean, I’m still going to say the culture building too. I mean, I don’t ever think that because I think I’ve done an okay job, like I’ve done a decent job, but it’s, I don’t have to work on this anymore. ⁓ I definitely think I want to be able to, you know, get people in, get them integrated and faster. ⁓ Obviously programming is a big thing. I’m still learning and growing, reading different like training styles, implementing new things, growing like that. ⁓
Personally, just a very specific one, it’s just like my encore stuff, like change of direction stuff, some more speed work, just getting better at that. That’s one thing I’ve kind of focused on this off season. It’s just, that’s kind of been like my niche I’ve been into trying to grow into. But honestly, like in three years, I want to be different than I am now because I’m way different than I was three years ago. I want to keep growing. I want to be able to look back on myself in three years and say, I didn’t know anything.
Samson:
Well, I mean, I can tell you from an outsider’s perspective, right? You you are drastically different from three years ago in a positive way, right? Like even myself interviewing you and seeing you kind of work through these questions, your confidence in the way you approach these questions is really impressive. So you’ve done a fantastic job. I’ll be very disappointed in you if you don’t show the same amount of growth over the next three years.
Patrick Brooks:
Appreciate that.
Just gotta keep growing, stacking days man. One day at a time. Stacking hay, stacking days. Hey in the barn, hey in the barn.
Samson:
Just stacking days, hey, what is it stacking hay? Every single day, we’ve got to put the hay in the barn, baby, let’s go.
Well, what are some, I always got to ask some negative questions too. What are some failures? What are some areas where, or maybe specific examples of things that didn’t go right and what did you learn from them? And how have you applied that to continue improving?
Patrick Brooks:
I mean, everything’s coming back to like this setting the standards and the relationships and everything like that. Because that’s just something that I think about a lot. I mean, that’s the reason I’m in strength and conditioning is because of the relationships. Like I love relationships with the coaches, the staff, the school, the players. That’s the whole reason I do it. I think the way I went about kind of trying to find that coach’s voice, I think that what I initially would do is I would let stuff kind of build up and then I’d explode. And then I get really, really mad.
as opposed to addressing the problems when they arose. I think that I’ve kind of learned to say, that’s not the, if I was an athlete, that would not be the way that I would want to be communicated with, which is, yeah, I’m mad, but I’m not going to say anything. I’m just going to of push it deep down inside. And then eventually when it builds up, I’m just really, really mad. ⁓ So I think being able to kind of address things as they come and not let them build up, that was something I really, really struggled with. And obviously like I still do, ⁓ but I think trying to have that perspective is something I’ve been growing.
is understanding like that is an issue I’ve had, that’s a negative thing. That’s going to impact my relationship with the athletes negatively. So being able to address them when they arise.
Samson:
Yeah, I think that’s a great point. And I really like what you say about putting yourself in their shoes, right? And saying, would I want to be communicated to this way? Right? And I’m a type of person where if I’m doing something that’s bothering you, I’d rather hear about it on the first time. then instead of hearing about it, you know, after I’ve been doing it 10 separate times and then you’re all upset, right? Cause it doesn’t even give me a chance to, you know, fix it, but it’s just part of the natural process.
Patrick Brooks:
Exactly.
And it’s not fair to them either. Like you’re saying, like, how is it fair that I’m going to get mad at you for something that you don’t even know that you’re doing wrong, right? Maybe it’s the way that you’re warming up. I don’t think you’re taking the warmup seriously or you’re showing up just barely on time, something like that. But if you don’t address that and say, Hey, this is not the standard that we have, then they can’t correct it.
Samson:
Yeah.
Well, it’s just a much easier conversation the first time too, right? Like, you know, if somebody comes into the waiting room for the first time, you know, right at 12 o’clock when the lifts at 12, it’s like, Hey, we don’t do that here. You know, just so you know, right. It’s gotta be five minutes early. Just be ready to go. So we start working at 12, whatever it might be, whatever your standard is instead of now it’s like, well, you’ve been showing up, you know, right at 12 o’clock for these past 10 times. And, know, and then they’re like, what the hell is this guy on? Like.
Patrick Brooks:
Exactly.
Well then it becomes like, why is this an issue today? Why this has never been an issue in the past? Why is it like, what’s wrong with Pat? Like, what, you know, did I do something else? Like it’s nothing, it’s just that, but we don’t communicate it once again.
Samson:
Yeah.
That’s a great point. They could just see it as like in your feelings on that particular day.
Patrick Brooks:
Which I mean you probably are anyway, but once again, that’s not the right way to do it. Yeah.
Samson:
Yeah, for sure. Is
that, you know, we talk about learning about that process and kind of understanding how to have your voice a little bit earlier on. Is that something that you work with your interns and GAs on? Because now you’re kind of in a position where you’re helping educate, you know, future strength coaches. Like, is that something that you focus on with them?
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, I try to. ⁓ It’s hard sometimes because once again, like having the perspective, like sometimes I still feel like an intern. I know I’m not, but that’s kind of the, goodness, I’m the strength coach. You know, we’ve had some really good GA since I’ve been here. We’ve had three ⁓ and just trying to like be like, hey man, like take advantage of this. Like to me and to Shane, who’s our director, you’re not a GA. You’re a full-time strength coach. You’re in a GA role, but like you have your programming.
you run it the way you want to run it because everybody has different experiences. The way they want to run it’s not the way I want to run it. It’s just not the way Shane wants to run it. But like find what works for you and do it that way. ⁓ I think that was a big thing that you told me as an intern and the guys at Charlotte, like, you know, it’s a, know, there’s a thousand ways to skin a cat. ⁓ But until you see it happen and you have somebody support you in that way, you don’t understand it. Like when I was at West Georgia, West Georgia, coach Fry, like he was really big on like, Hey,
Take ownership of this. This is the way you want to run things. Do it the way you want to do it. It’s going to be different than how I do it, but I want you to do it the way that you feel most comfortable doing it. So I’m trying to apply those lessons that I learned from you guys and Logan and try to apply it to RGAs too.
Samson:
Well, that’s always the cool part about training conditioning, is where you take these lessons that you’ve learned from other mentors, whoever it may be, and then you start applying them in real time for yourself with coaching. And then all of sudden, after you have some experience with it, you can start passing those lessons down too.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, and I’ve been lucky to have a lot of like, I got extremely lucky as an intern with the places that I was at with the guys at Charlotte fully embracing me and supporting me. You, West Georgia is awesome, Coach Des here. So I feel like it’s kind of my duty, but I’m trying to be that same way and try to help them as opposed to being like, well, it’s not the way I would do it, man. I don’t know why you’re doing it like that. Trying to see, okay, why would they do it like that and understanding why they want
Samson:
I think there’s an aspect of luck, but I think there’s also a large part of it is, know, you who you are as a coach and who you are as a person, because you’re applying all those things, right? I don’t really change. I didn’t coach you any differently than I have other interns or other people I’ve worked with in the past, but you’ve had a lot of success with it because you’ve applied those things, right? And from not just for myself, not making myself out to be the best internship coordinator ever, right? But you know, from Charlotte, from Coach Fry and all these different areas. And that’s why you’ve been able to see successes because you actually apply those things.
Patrick Brooks:
Well, it’s even like, but I mean, all right, so it comes back to like the applying the standards thing. Like that’s huge for me. It’s the area of growth and I keep talking about it. But think about what happened on my last day as an intern, right? Like it’s my last day, I mess up. you know, I didn’t know the warmup, right? Why would you not know the warmup after you’ve been interning with somebody after a semester, right? You held me to that standard even on my last day, even though it was like, yeah, it’s a little awkward whatever. But like, also I knew I messed up. Guess who’s never forgotten to warm up since?
Samson:
Yeah. Yeah.
Patrick Brooks:
Me, like, you know, I learned that lesson because you were still there to apply that standard to me as well.
Samson:
Well, we’ve got to tell the story now because our listeners got to have a little bit of context. But on our last day, we had these things called Fourth Quarter Fridays with women’s basketball when I was working with them. And it’s kind of like a challenge day, do a lot of different stuff, conditioning, team building, whatever it is. And so I’m like, hey, Patrick’s last day is today. We’re going to let him run the whole deal. And so he’s going to run the warm up, he’s going run the workout, everything like that.
And so he comes up and this is the second time I’ve told you that you need to know the warmup because yes, yes, bro. And so now you don’t know the warmup to go through. And I’m already like, God damn, Pat. And then we go through the workout and it was not a great workout. you know, again, this is it’s just part of the deal. It’s part of the process. And at the end, I remember you said something where you were like, that’s that one’s on me.
Patrick Brooks:
Yes. 100 % yes. Yes.
Samson:
you know, and I lost it. I didn’t handle the situation very well. I might’ve been in my feelings on that day, but I remember I was like, don’t you dare say that ever again.
Patrick Brooks:
Well, I mean, but it’s true though, because it’s like you have to take accountability, but they have to take accountability too. So the warm-ups on… Yeah. ⁓ trust me. I know. I mean, but like for me, right? Like, okay, I forget the warm-up. We’re setting everything up because I told you I didn’t remember the warm-up exactly. And I tried to frame it in a way of like, remind me what goes after this and that. And like, I’m trying to check the back of my paper. That’s a bad look. Like, you can’t do that. And you said, like, the workout didn’t go great. Yeah, because it’s my first time coaching it, leading it.
Samson:
Yeah, yeah, they were the ones who didn’t want to be there.
Yes, sir.
Patrick Brooks:
all the coaches around there, I’m super nervous, but also like I didn’t set myself up for success. The first thing that we did, I’m already like, ⁓ I don’t really know. You know, I’m already sweating, I’m nervous, I’m trying just to remember the warmup. So like, if you’re not even gonna set yourself up for a good start, then how are you gonna expect to have a good workout?
Samson:
Well, my favorite part of this, too, is I ripped you right afterwards. And I remember the girls were like, don’t be mean to Pat. And I was like, no, man, he fucked up. I was pissed. then it was your last day. So I was like, we got to go get lunch. And you were like, we don’t have to go get lunch. I was like, no, we’re getting lunch. So right after I ripped you, we sat down together at Troy’s Diner for an hour.
Patrick Brooks:
I did! I did!
But it wasn’t even, all right, so listen, listen, it wasn’t even that. The reason I was like, we don’t have to get lunch, I was like, he’s mad. I was like, hey, he probably just wants to blow off scene, we’ll go tomorrow, whatever. Even though think I was leaving pretty soon after that, I felt bad about it. I didn’t think, I was like, what’s Connor’s problem? I was like, dude, this was my chance to run a workout, to step up and rise to the occasion. I I messed up, I dropped the ball. And I was just like, don’t, I don’t wanna get ripped into a lunch again.
Samson:
Well, I think I held back at lunch, which was good. But, you know, my even my wife was like, why were you mean to bet on his last day? But again, you know, so you can hear from my side too, right? Is like, you know, I can say this, you know, quite open and honestly, you’re the best intern I’ve ever had. You know, so I was I have a higher standard for you. Right. And so I had a standard for you that I you know, held you to and you didn’t meet that standard on that day. So that’s why I was pissed, you know. And so I just want to see the best out of you. And I knew you could.
Patrick Brooks:
No, we were fine at lunch.
Appreciate it.
Samson:
you know, give me your best. And so when I saw you, I know the warmup was pissed.
Patrick Brooks:
It was bad, dude. But like, so I even relate it back to like the whole discipline stuff with me now too with having the standards, right? You can get on somebody and you can really get on them, but then you don’t have to keep holding onto it, right? That’s something I’ve struggled with in the past, but I think about back to that. I dropped the ball like in front of the whole coaching staff, the women’s basketball coaching staff, right? And they understood I was an intern, but that’s still like, you’re still the one that’s ultimately answering for it. Like it’s a reflection on both of us, but we go to lunch and everything. You’re like, it’s in the past. You learned your lesson.
Don’t do it again, move on. And that’s a great lesson in and of itself too. It’s like you don’t have to hold on to these things like that. Set the standard, say it, move on. Enjoy the rest of your day, know, even though I was, you know, tucking my tail a little bit. I called my dude, I called my dad and I was telling him and you know, you know my dad. My dad’s like, well you effed up man, that’s your problem, ain’t his problem. And like I wasn’t calling him to say that, I was just like, damn, he’s pissed dude. But I was like, well don’t forget to warm up next time. How about that dumb ass? And I was like, thanks, Pop.
Samson:
Yeah, we’ve… ⁓
Yup.
Thanks, Bob. I appreciate it, man. Yeah, that’s like literally when I called one of my mentors when I first was at Texas Tech and I was like, yeah, I was whining and moaning. Like, you know, like I was like, they won’t listen to me. You know, I don’t know why that, and he was like, you ever thought you’re the problem? I was like, all right, dude, like, come on. Whoa, what is your deal? Are you your feelings today? So, well, I’m glad you brought up your dad too, because this was one of the questions I kind of had loaded up. Like you.
Patrick Brooks:
What is your deal dude? You’re supposed to…
Yeah.
Samson:
Talk about the importance of being a coach’s son, right? And obviously that’s how you first connected with Des. What are the things that your dad as a coach has taught you?
Patrick Brooks:
⁓ I mean, it sounds cliche to say everything. ⁓ But I think there’s certain things that, he’s taught me. with my dad, so he coached basketball the first, I don’t know, probably the first, my first 10 years. So I guess until I was 10 years, I’ll probably better say that. ⁓ But I grew up going to practice with him, sitting in the coach’s office, sitting around him at the games. There’s literally a picture of me in the newspaper. My dad used to drink those seltzers, like the
the waters, the carbonated waters, disgusting. during the game, he’d get horses, and so I’d go get the drinks for him, and there’s a picture of me, like four years old, seltzer in hand, keys in the other. So I just grew up in a locker room. I grew up in a coach’s office specifically. And so I think being able to know, like, a huge thing is being able to know, like, it’s sacred. Like, the coach’s office is sacred. Like, that’s a huge thing that I think some people struggle with. Like, sometimes people need to go in there and vent. Sometimes people need to go in there and be left alone. Like, that’s a big thing.
But I think with my dad too, it was just about like, and my mom as well, like I don’t wanna leave my mom out of this, cause she’s a high school teacher too, but it was all about relationships. Like my dad wasn’t coaching for a full-time job. Like I coach for a living. That’s the only thing I do. I don’t teach PE, I don’t do driver’s ed like my dad did. I only coach. My dad coached because he loved coaching and that he had the passion for it. He loved, you know, working with the guys and the girls that he worked with. He cared about them. And so I think being able to see it as not like,
Okay, so coaching is all about how much do you win? How much do you lose? How much credit can you get for it? It was more about, you know, how are you impacting people? Same thing with my mom. Like my mom’s an English teacher, right? Nobody’s ever going to say, you know, well, I mean, she won’t teach you the year a few times because she is a great teacher. But, you know, like, ultimately, like it’s about how she’s affecting these people as opposed to like, look, here’s this huge news story about this person. Like she’s never going to get the recognition that she deserves, but she’s not doing it for that. She’s doing it because of the relationships and impacting people and having a positive effect on people.
Samson:
That’s awesome, man. And again, those are the things where they help shape you as a human being. Like you said, it’s from a young kid that you see those things. And ⁓ it was funny because I remember being coached by my dad. ⁓ we had a, it was basketball, believe it or not, for our listeners. did play basketball at one point. And it was, I mean, fifth, sixth grade, right? And so fifth grade.
Patrick Brooks:
Hooper.
Samson:
I was also the point guard, which shows you how bad our team was. But we had a different, was, ⁓ he was an ⁓ orthopedist, ⁓ orthopedic surgeon. And he was coaching the team in fifth grade. We took it all super serious and everything. then ⁓ in this series, right? Fifth grade basketball is big time. And so then in sixth grade, my dad ended up taking over coaching for the team. And I remember we named the team ⁓ after an ice cream flavor at one of the local ice cream shops. We were like,
Patrick Brooks:
But it is serious. Exactly.
Samson:
because we were the Bulldogs a year before, then he was like, we’re going to be the Bulldog Crunch this year. And I was like, man, what the hell is this? What are we doing? my dad let people have fun. I mean, no joke, had feeling circles at the end of practice. we would talk about different stuff, but he was a counselor, a drug and addiction counselor. And so I’ll never forget learning those lessons about, I was so mad at him all the time. We need to take this serious. We need to be competitors and everything. And he was like, just slow down and enjoy it.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah.
Samson:
He’s like, because if you get caught up and just try to win all the time, you’re going to be miserable. And he was right, because I still kept that mentality for a while and I learned those lessons from him too. So I’m glad you were able to learn those lessons from your parents.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, and one thing about my dad too, it’s just I’m funny thinking about this. But another thing my dad taught me, really, really taught me growing up the son of a coach is like, you have to be coachable. Like even now, like I’m a coach, but like you have to be open to changing and adapting and learning like that. Cause I know a few people can relate, but my dad used me as the example a lot of the times because he knew I could take it. And also it’s like, you know, you have to be tough. So like he would coach me as he was coaching other people.
And a lot of my coaches did that as well because my dad was not like, take it easy on Pat. My dad’s like, let Pat have it. Like he needs to learn and grow. So like my coaches would coach me talking to the other team, right? I was on time to practice. That’s just kind of how I was raised. Like if you’re not early, you’re late, but like they were going to yell at me about that. Well, you’re captain. Why are you allowing this to happen? ⁓ so that helped me learn like not every like,
Constructive criticism isn’t a personal attack on you. Sometimes it really is just there’s things that you need to fix and that’s the hard reality of it is like this is an issue that you have address it fix it and grow people are still coaching you like, know, and even People saying that to you’ve been also being able to reflect on yourself and say, okay These are areas that I’m not good in it doesn’t reflect negative on me as a person It’s just stuff that I need to grow at like the communication aspect, right? I didn’t do what the best but it’s not like I’m a horrible person. It’s just that’s an area I need to grow
Samson:
Yeah, no doubt. And I would argue you even get coached harder as a coach’s son than the rest of the team. yeah.
Patrick Brooks:
Oh yeah, 100%. He made me
run the funniest story he always tells. We talk about it all the time. He made me run hill sprints until I threw up for making a B on a test because I was arguing with my mom about it. I didn’t want to study and she was like, you better study and you an A on this. And I was like, I’m going to make an A. And he’s like, you don’t make an A on this. You’re on the hill with the guys that got the penalties in the game. Made an 89 on it. So did not get my A. And then, you know, we’re running hill sprints. know, guys are like late to class, late to practice, got a personal foul in the game. What are you running for?
I gotta be on the test. Still lined up and ran those hills.
Samson:
Yeah, You’re lined up with the rest of them. Hey, what are you in here for? I gotta be. I’m screwed.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, you gotta be. My dad did
not, but once again my dad said it, I was like, I’m gonna make an A on it, come on. I didn’t lie. B plus, B plus. Don’t play with Jim Brooks, I’ll tell you that. Do not play with Jim Brooks. Jimmy, don’t mess around.
Samson:
B plus two, which is brutal. B plus is brutal. No, don’t play with Jim Brooks now.
No, he does not know. ⁓ Well, you know, it’s been very fun to see your growth and everything. What was it like, a final kind of non-serious question for you, what was it like being able to come back to App after you interned here and then came up, you know, with your team and were able to come back to Boone now as a competitor? What was that experience like?
Patrick Brooks:
Well that game was tough ⁓ because of the outcome.
Samson:
Sorry, that’s a bad memory. I should have brought
that one up.
Patrick Brooks:
It was cool because it was cool to come back and to see you and everybody like that. Even now there’s a couple girls that have transferred from APT that were on other teams in the Sunbelt to see them and still remember me and everything like that. That was really cool. And to see the guys and the girls that were still around. Because it’s kind of hard because was the year at APT some people left and then you bring in some more people. But to have those holdovers, they’re still excited to see me.
I mean, that was special. It’s like, oh wow, like I was just an intern. You’re still like, hey Pat, how have you been? It’s so great. I’m so happy for you. It does make you feel good. And you’re like, oh, okay, well that’s cool to see. And then being back in Boone is just, know, it’s awesome. Like it was beautiful. It was terrible weather in the middle of January, but it was fun to be back up there and wish the game would have gone differently. But after that, the rest of the season went great.
Samson:
Yeah, well you guys ended
up winning the Sunbell Championship that year, so you can’t complain too much.
Patrick Brooks:
You gotta sacrifice
some things man, you gotta sacrifice the app game, the homecoming.
Samson:
Yeah, well, part of the deal. Okay, so now my final most important question of you ⁓ for the rest of this time. How do you feel about the Panthers draft? Great.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah.
Great, great. think
you sure up the left tackle position. You got bigger in the trenches, big on that. I just want everybody to know I trust Nan Morgan. Okay, Bryce Young, Super Bowl MVP. I don’t know what Super Bowl we’re on. This year, 2027, Carolina Panthers Super Bowl champions.
Samson:
I wish we could bet money on it. That’d be fantastic. Cause I would love to just rake you over the coals on that prediction right there.
Patrick Brooks:
No, no, we don’t bet money, we bet personal feelings. Cuz when they lost to the Rams, it was a great game, but I was devastated. Devastated after they, I think Tyler Higsby caught that touchdown in the corner. was just, I thought we beat the Rams in the playoffs. It was awful, awful.
Samson:
You
Yeah.
⁓ I
cannot remember. ⁓ we were, ⁓ we played at coastal and ended up losing at coastal again that we definitely should have won. And if we had, we wanted, we would have been regular season champs later on down the road. ⁓ And then our booster, the same one who travels with us a lot is a huge Panthers fan too. So we lost that coastal. Then he watched the Panthers lose on the bus.
Patrick Brooks:
Yeah, we lost. We
had a really rough game at Troy and then we had to watch that too. So it was a rough boom boom. Double whammy, man. Double whammy.
Samson:
Yup.
Double whammy for the Carolina fans for sure.
Well, you know, the Jets will find a way to mess up their draft. That’s how they typically do it. They did have a good draft. They always draft well.
Patrick Brooks:
I thought they had a good one this year.
I think next
year is the year you all get your quarterback though. That’s the thing you all got to figure out.
Samson:
Who the hell do you think we’re gonna get?
Patrick Brooks:
They said Dante Moore, the one you are supposed to get this year from Oregon. They said he’s going to come out. literally just watched a video while I was getting ready this morning. It was like, the 2027 draft a generational draft? So I’ve already got it all planned out. Arch Manning is going to the Cardinals. We’re getting the cornerback from Notre Dame. That’s what I’m hearing. It be exciting. There is people are talking.
Samson:
Yeah, okay. Yeah, we’ll see.
You’ve already got it all played out.
Hmm. That could be exciting. There’s, there’s palpable buzz. People are excited.
Well, Pat, dude, seriously, it’s been great to see your growth. You know, obviously we stay a lot in contact and so I speak to you a lot, but it’s just very cool for me to get you back on the podcast and see how you’ve grown your confidence. And as a coach, you’ve done a fantastic job, man. So I’m very proud of you. Um, and I know the rest of your mentors and everybody you worked with as a young coach is proud of you too. So that’s been very exciting and I appreciate you coming on the show, man. Seriously.
Patrick Brooks:
I appreciate you having me back on, friend of the program, some are saying.
Samson:
friend, we’re
pushing it a little bit. We’re pushing it a little bit there. You know, think Friend of the Program is the official title for somebody who’s been on three times.
Patrick Brooks:
I had to sneak that one in.
Hey, three years maybe. Three years.
Samson:
Like we said, three years. Yeah, maybe
it could be the move. We could finally declare your friend of the program. That’ll be the episode title. I can lock that one down for sure. In front of the program. Hey, if anybody wants to follow you on Instagram, what’s the best way to do that?
Patrick Brooks:
friend of the program. Who knows what’s gonna happen?
P underscore Brooks 15 usually is to open up the app and hit the follow button
Samson:
Hey, bro. All right. I gassed you up a little bit too much and that was my fault. Patrick Brooks, everybody. Pat, thank you for coming on the show.
Patrick Brooks:
You
Appreciate you, man.
