DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are not that of the United States Government, the DoD, or KBR Contracting. The tables are turned on this episode! Coach Tom Palumbo hosts Justin Schwind to cover his journey to the tactical sector and his coaching philosophy.
Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) is built for strength and conditioning environments that need equipment which holds up under daily use. The current page highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPAG8ulKEYA&list=PLxq_OWThB2iSscx30C1qEisoHmOQRJ5Fp&index=48 DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are not that of the United States Government, the DoD, or KBR Contracting. The tables are turned on this episode! Coach Tom Palumbo hosts Justin Schwind to cover his journey to the tactical sector and his coaching philosophy.. The added copy below focuses on how coaches typically use it, how it fits into a real room plan, and what buyers should confirm before ordering.
Where Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) fits in a training room
Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) works best when the equipment selection matches the age of the athletes, the available floor space, and the way the room rotates groups through training. In many programs, the goal is not simply adding another station, it is building a room that supports consistent daily use. When coaches evaluate Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach), they typically look at how it supports the primary lift or movement pattern, how quickly athletes can adjust or use it, and how well it integrates with surrounding racks, benches, platforms, or storage.
Within the strength coach podcast category, Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) should be considered as part of the full operating plan for the space. That includes supervision lines, plate and accessory storage, entry and exit paths, and the amount of setup time needed between groups. A piece that performs well on paper but creates bottlenecks during class changes will not serve the room as well as equipment that balances training value with day-to-day efficiency.
What buyers should evaluate before ordering
Before placing an order, confirm who will use Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach), what training outcomes matter most, and what space limitations already exist in the room. Measurements, user position, range of motion, and loading style all affect whether a piece feels intuitive for the athletes using it. For schools, colleges, and team facilities, practical details such as cleanability, hardware durability, finish quality, and long-term maintenance usually matter just as much as the headline feature set.
It is also worth reviewing how Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) will work with existing Samson or non-Samson pieces already on the floor. Compatibility with adjacent stations, storage placement, and coach workflow can make a major difference once a room is fully active. Planning those details early reduces rework later and helps the final install feel intentional instead of pieced together.
Common use cases and planning considerations
Programs typically invest in Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) because they need dependable equipment for repeated institutional use, not a consumer-grade solution. In a collegiate or high school setting, that usually means thinking through throughput, ease of coaching, and how quickly multiple athletes can move through a station without creating confusion. In a private performance facility, the focus may shift toward flexibility, coaching visibility, and making every square foot work harder.
When the piece is part of a broader buildout, layout matters as much as the individual product. Samson regularly helps facilities decide how many stations they need, how to balance open space against equipment density, and where to place storage so athletes can transition cleanly between blocks. That planning work helps ensure Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) contributes to a better room instead of becoming a standalone purchase that never fits the traffic pattern.
Helpful next steps
- Contact Samson Equipment to discuss pricing, lead times, and recommended configurations.
- Start Your Free 3D Layout Design if you are planning a new room or reworking an existing facility.
Request Pricing and Layout Support
If you need pricing, fit guidance, or help deciding whether Samson Strength Coach Collective: Episode 051 – Justin Schwind (Tactical Strength Coach) belongs in your room plan, contact Samson Equipment. If you are planning a new build or expansion, start your free 3D layout design to review station counts, equipment mix, and traffic flow before you order.
Ordering, support, and facility planning
In a high-volume facility, the right equipment is only part of the solution. Planning station counts, storage, and traffic flow helps teams train efficiently and keeps equipment in better condition long-term. If you’re building a new room or upgrading an existing space, Samson can help you choose the right mix of stations and accessories so the room works under real training volume.
For help selecting options, confirming fit, and building a complete equipment list, reach out here: Contact Samson Equipment. If you’re planning a full room layout, you can also start a free design conversation here: Start Your Free 3D Layout Design.
Quick FAQ
- Can Samson help with layout and station counts? Yes, layout-first planning improves throughput and daily usability.
- Do you support schools and team facilities? Yes, Samson equipment is built for repeated institutional use.
- How do we choose the right accessory mix? Match accessories to training goals, group size, and storage/organization plan.
How facilities compare configuration options
Coaches and directors usually compare a piece like this by looking beyond the product photo. They review floor footprint, athlete changeover speed, nearby storage needs, and whether the station works cleanly with the rest of the room plan. That practical review matters because a piece can look strong in isolation while still creating congestion if the surrounding stations are too tight or if athletes need to cross traffic lanes to load, unload, or adjust it.
That is why Samson planning conversations typically include room dimensions, training group size, supervision lines, and the age range of the athletes who will use the equipment most often. With those details in hand, it becomes easier to recommend the right quantity, spacing, and companion pieces so the final install supports daily coaching instead of forcing workarounds after the room is already built.
Auto-generated transcript from YouTube captions. Minor transcription errors may remain.
0:12
so good afternoon good evening good morning depending on when you’re listening uh this is Tom Palumbo for the Samson strength coach collective uh I’m here with uh Justin twin coach Schwind uh turning the tables on you this time normally you’re the guy that is doing the interviews and putting people in the hot seat you’re in the hot seat today so good to hear good to see you uh how’s things going at your end right now good thanks uh good good morning good uh good day at work working with uh the airmen and uh truly blessed to be here and uh to have where I’m at as far as working and truly blessed to be on today
0:48
and I guess to rap a little bit about myself uh uh yeah yeah and that’s what we’ll start hey tell us about yourself uh we’ve I think we picked up with some of your other interviews a little bit pieces here and there let’s put it all together uh who is coach twin how did you get to where you are yeah sure um you know uh played college football as a walk-on wasn’t any good but but attempted to play college football at stephen f austin state university and uh when that didn’t work out I finished up my studies for undergrad at texas state university and um after that that stick I I started volunteering as an intern really liked
1:29
it and uh graduated and then I had to figure out what was next I had a couple graduate assistant opportunities but also had the opportunity to do an internship at baylor college of medicine in a neural imaging lab I really was out of my realm but uh had the opportunity to uh make some cash to build a safe for grad school and then to experience something a little bit different so I did that for a year and also volunteered as an intern at rice university uh during that same process and uh it was great got to meet more coaches I also was able to recruit athletes from rice over to the study that I was
2:08
doing at baylor uh from there when I was graduate assistant at mississippi state university I got to work at scc it’s pretty freaking cool I got to work with a variety of sports uh main one was football and it was it’s still early on strength and conditioning as you remember back in the days when you started and uh so everybody kind of did everything and it was there was not an olympic sports side and a football strength side it was everybody kind of integrated work together so I really love that opportunity I’ve got my master’s degree from mississippi state and then from there I went on to birmingham southern college division three school uh they
2:44
just started the strength condition program got to be a part of it uh it was great we just meet with a whole lot of athletes 550 to be exact and ish and uh it was a variety of sports from uh rivalry to uh through traditional football and uh so uh really was challenged with myself as far as my boundaries and how to do it and how to really work a very hard academia schedule uh and uh being division three it was not required year-round it was a little bit different than the division one school so it’s very similar to where I’m at now and so it was about creating a good culture really reaching out to the coaches
3:24
really reaching out to the athletes and and really selling them on a vision uh from there I got to follow the football coach down to university of south alabama and start up the program got the higher staff and was there for right shy under 10 years for first nine years the head strength coach and then my last year I moved over to administration for a year as uh the director of football operations and got to run the program from the business side of things which again was a great opportunity for me to get some real good admin work to screw up to follow my face and um and and learn how to manage bigger than just a straight staff but as
4:03
a whole the entire football staff do plan on on uh all the travel the camps I mean all of it it was a lot but it was a great opportunity uh we didn’t have a good season so like any any uh staff in in college athletics we got fired so I had to figure out what was next and my wife was pregnant at the time and decided that uh I wanted to go a different route uh I’d always had heard uh about the tactical side of things and actually interviewed a job at uh uh down in biloxi and uh decided not to take it at the times wasn’t a good fit but it was in the back of my mind so
4:40
when it came open I kind of felt like god had really been put on my heart to go a different route to have more time for a family one but two uh to work with a uh a type of athlete that that didn’t require uh you to serve them so I want to give a shot and there’s three jobs are open at the time uh one at uh in columbus fort benning one up at fort bragg and then uh there was one over in california in monterey and and I interviewed all three um and realistically I talked to my wife and she said I want to go the farthest one north the least tropical I said okay
5:20
well I guess we’re going to brag uh and had the opportunity to go up there and work for the 528 sustainment brigade uh which was a uh basically a support unit for all of the uh usak or army special forces units uh so it was a little bit different you had some what we call baby operators uh we had the medics uh the soulmate medics but you had a lot of calm guys and gals and it was it was good baptism man from that opportunity got to go over to swick uh work with the q course all the operators that are pre-operators that get prepped and got to go through selection and then went through this the
5:59
language process and it was a big huge conglomerate machine and it was essential for me to really see things on this on a big scale and really see things in a fast pace in the special forces or the special operations command community um and then from there I got to jump over to the 58 sal as a human performance advisor and um that’s where I’m at now um and and get to work with airmen every day and it’s it’s a great resource uh the potiph program to them because they have a job where they can maintain a lot of stress uh a lot of fast decision making and a lot of physical and mental stress so I
6:42
get to play that role um fortunately enough I’m a kpr employee as a contractor and um it’s uh it’s good it’s I can’t complain I’ll work uh definitely significantly less hours in the collegiate level um I get to be a father I got my second one just I just had my daughter and you sent me a card I appreciate that um but uh I had number two hopefully number number two is the last one but I get to be present um and I get to work really hard at work and try to do the best job I can do at work but when I come home I get to be at home and I think that’s important to me
7:16
uh to be a better person um to be be a better man be a better husband and a better father so that’s being a nutshell all right so you mentioned that you’re uh hpa human performance advisor what is that what does that roll entail what do you do day to day uh what are your kind of responsibilities in that role you know you’re jack of all trades as you know um I I say you’re the glue that holds everything together um so if you have a staff member that can’t be there can’t be president you kind of fill the gap does that mean I’m an athletic trainer sometimes no does that mean I’m a physical therapist sometimes or a
7:50
dietician no but I make sure that I set it up so they can connect with them if it’s remotely um if it’s uh getting them out to the flight line uh to meet with the personnel and to really establish that relationship and then also being with uh headquarters and making sure that the the mission and and and the culture that they see is passed down um where we are when the boots are on the ground realistically and really work with those blue servers and the air commandos and it’s it’s it’s good yeah I I like managing I’ve done a lot of personality tests in my life and and they did I never came out saying
8:30
like I was this this righteous huge leader component but the every single time it’s talked to me is about being a connector so more than anything what that means is I can talk to people and communicate people and I can get people in a room to really connect um so once once that happens once the the culture here is established I don’t know what’s going to be next I guess I just keep moving forward and keep learning to be better at whatever I could be but uh that that’s what it is again it’s the blue that fills in the gaps I think is the best way to say it yeah I don’t think you’re ever going to get bored
9:01
there I don’t think there’s a there’s an end point uh you know when I started my job I made a list of things that I thought needed to happen it was about 18 bullet points uh deep and I said man I can probably knock this out about six months and then I don’t know what I’m gonna do because everybody’s gonna be doing their thing people are gonna train and I’ll just have to kick back now that hasn’t been quite the case so going along being uh you’ve been your position I think about a year now plus or minus a little bit right there uh some changes were kind of forced on you and then you’ve initiated some of
9:33
them like some of the ones that are forced on like you’ve had to replace you’ve had some staff members leave you’ve had expansion of staff your facility has changed so you can you talk about the changes in staff the changes in facility if you want to kind of move into that culture how you’re trying to change that so what kind of things did you have to make because they were there for you and then what changes are you initiating uh on your part well I mean first and foremost is is from the active duty personnel side we’ve had a complete turnover and uh that that in itself was a huge change because it’s a whole
10:10
new leadership thought process holding philosophy and just I mean really what the what the role is him performance advisor if you look at the pws um it really states that you’re there to advise leadership so my goal within that process was to get them caught up where we were and where we were going and then help them mesh that together where how they saw our vision going forward so that’s first thing second thing is um having a brand new staff where everybody comes from different things no one’s really on the same page on a contracting side and just work on creating common language and that’s we did a couple of outings uh we did a certification online
10:52
certification together virtually but we did it together as staff and that was really helpful because we could really collaborate and ask questions together uh one other thing we really did was um we put together a big virtual collaboration with all the flying uh uh wings and uh we let all the specialties or scopes of practice uh hear and hear the vision as a whole individually and and just really collaborate together which is really cool and I guess the last big piece is we did a uh we did a big adding with top golf in albuquerque we just we hit some golf balls we all were really really bad at it and it made it even more fun but
11:29
outside try to create somewhat of a working relationship outside working relationship where we when we come to work it’s not just hey what do we got going on today but hey how’s life um so there’s there’s more depth I think that’s where the culture really comes in where you know we care about each other um and that’s important because if it’s all about work then there’s not a deep investment into the program so there’s a deeper investment hey I can’t be here today because I had my daughter four weeks ago the staff all stepped up all worked together and they figured out how to cover it so again um that’s where that depth comes from
12:05
those those are the big big picture items that we did and we continue to do um but ultimately I think other than that it’s quarterly we do something if we go go grab a coffee at the coffee shop and just talk life uh as a staff or I’ll go out and I’ll grab coffee for everybody we’ll come back and we’ll just shut the door and just have a real conversation I think all that’s important um and just making sure that we make effort like today I ran out and got our dietitian probably the most unhealthy thing we could have got a dietitian and uh uh athletic trainer but I have like kendra said she wanted dove
12:42
chocolate so I went and got her some dove chocolates and when I got an athletic trainer some checkmates that’s what they wanted so I got it back from just small small um investments into showing that I care um that we care for each other and then that effort of of just working together and all same issue all right thanks for sharing that so in knowing you for the short time that I have but I think that we’ve accelerated that relationship by having a lot of good communication that you’d speak of I’ve noticed that one of your strong points is that you’re well connected and I don’t think that’s an accident you’re well connected with people
13:17
you’re well connected with people that are in development of equipment and technology those two kind of things like coaches connected and then equipment can you tell how you’ve kind of done this purposely over time yeah you know it’s funny early on in my marriage my wife probably hated it but um anytime we I had vacation uh I would always position our vacations uh early in my career to be at a location where I could go meet another coach so we went and did a boston trip my wife and I so we went I spent three days with the patriots you know the coaching staff strength coaching staff and all the folks and then my wife and I spent three
13:58
extra days there exploring boston um so literally early on my career every time we’d go somewhere like hey can I go see somebody while we’re on a vacation so we kind of collaborate that together um and synchronize that up one uh and then two I I never had any hesitation to reach out to anybody online or or via phone call and just keep calling them and call them and call them until they picked up and just wanted to ask them a few questions uh uh really just who they are more than strength coach philosophy and then I guess lastly uh when we would go to conferences I never liked to go into talks um because I always felt like there was so
14:39
much somewhat of a smoke and mirrors it wasn’t true fire because people would put this glorious piece of hey this is a shiny shiny piece of stainless steel instead of saying well this is really what it is it’s a it’s kind of a tampered piece of bronze um but we work hard and we get through it and we see success from that I never never hear that so if I heard anything at a conference that something was good I would I would make a marking and that would be one of the trips I’d like to try to make make and go see but when it were there I’d always go to the venues and I would literally walk
15:11
around and check everybody’s hand and the cscca was best because they had the largest they had like 500 freaking uh uh different venues there so I would literally go up to every single person have a conversation give them my card grab the card and when I would get back I would send them all an email I make sure I email every single one of them and the ones that would come back and actually have a genuine conversation with me it was the relationship that I established if they’d come back and just try to sell me their item I really didn’t want anything to do with them because I knew that they didn’t have great customer service skills and I know
15:45
that the relationship that we would establish didn’t mean anything outside of their product um and that’s what I wanted a deeper relationship so when I knew I had an idea and maybe to make the product better we could have that conversation and they’d take it to heart um either they would apply it or they wouldn’t but they at least were taking a heart they gave me their honest feedback um and I think that was important and then again um over time I try to when I do have free time uh look at sending someone texts or sending someone an email um just to kind of catch up and just see how you’re doing the other day perfect
16:18
example you asked for me see if I could get given my contacts at alabama and I hadn’t talked to jason polith and shoot eight months and I saw him a text message I saw he was doing had a real conversation and I said hey speaking of which can you do these this little thing for me and he said no problem and gave me that feedback back but those are those are really areas I look at is continuously making that connection not seeing somebody and just after that saying okay I meant I’m good good to know and that happens every once in a while um like I should and I wish I could keep in contact with anybody but that’s
16:49
freaking impossible it just is because life happens life is fast you know we want to value what’s important to us you know god family and and definitely uh uh relationships that are closest that we try to stay with but other than that down that line of priorities of bullets those others we try our best but we just even do the best we can that’s good I’m glad that we got that one out there I think that’s great advice for uh especially a lot of the young strength coaches that are listening to this I think that’s a big market that does check these uh podcasts out uh and and just because I know the very first time that I went to an nsca
17:30
conference I went with my boss and he’d been in the business uh probably five years but it felt like if he didn’t know everyone he knew who they were like uh and he’d point them out and I was so intimidated and I was nervous to even talk to people like that but I kind of did what you did and just put myself out there and if they’re genuine people they’ll reciprocate and if they’re not then I don’t really need them part of my life and part of my profession part of my career great so next question moving on what are some long-term goals that you’re working towards within your professional uh uh realm right now
18:08
both as a development as a professional and with the 58 sound you know ultimately overall and I’ve said this on another podcast uh the first one is to really get the word out how awesome the opportunity the tactical field is um I think people don’t realize even even though it exists one but but two realize uh how important of a role this is so uh through a podcast like this or when I go somewhere to visit a coach like when I went to baylor a couple a year ago a year and a half ago and I went to saw university of baylor uh since then three coaches from that staff are in the tactical setting now
18:51
um I had that conversation and and they they talked about how glorious everything was for them and life happened and they got fired next thing you know they’re calling me said can you tell me more about this so I feel like that that small mission of what I did uh was to bring great quality people into a great quality setting and to elevate the tactical field because I want the best people in this because we’re training the best of the best and I want to have that capability I know that again my my my special what I do is is connecting so I want to build connect and build this as a whole and I don’t expect anything
19:30
out of this except to make this better if we can make this better we’re going to make better tactical athletes if it’s a soldier or an airman or whoever it is and I want to see that I want that to be elevated and then I guess the second one is here at trident sales just to build a culture where people want to be a part of it you know right it’s a voluntary component so we have the standard folks that come in that love to work with us be a part of it but I want everybody to know about it I want everybody to be a part of it and I want them to know and
20:01
say hey I know I can come here and be better will we ever accomplish that I hope so is there ever going to be a pinnacle component where it’s like we’ve done it all like you said earlier no way but we always want to strive for that always make that effort get out shake hands get out knock on doors just introduce myself introduce who we are what we’re about and and really just show that we make that effort to make it the best we can I think that’s it and they have a staff who when we say hey we’re going to do this we all understand what’s going on it’s not like you’re speaking japanese
20:35
to them when it’s like this is simple you don’t understand what’s going on well one I didn’t do a good job of explaining myself but two that’s not our standard and I think that’s like it or not that’s one thing that you can really appreciate for some programs even though they might operate off of a book that book is the standard it’s it’s like the bible it’s like when I want to experience wisdom I go to the bible I know that’s that’s the standard that’s the foundation that’s the base of who I need to be and and I think that’s kind of where we’re at here is is create that uh with some sort of leeway uh
21:09
impliability where there can be some sort of bleed over to give you the freedom to still be who you are and not micromanage and dictate and you’re just a robot so yeah follow along with that so those are some of your long-term goals right there if you could be king for a day not god for a day so you can’t automatically change culture within that day but you could be king for a day and whatever you made the laws for king for the day could not be uh knocked down or taken back the next day king for a day what would you do within the profession and at the 58 sound well in the profession first off
21:47
I would uh require everybody to [Music] everybody to serve as that intern piece I think that’s important um I would make sure that that was an essential where you had it wipe down the machines you had to freaking mop the floors you had to do the the the small things that build the big picture because you appreciate the big picture I think there are some people that are somewhat um still just kind of grandfathered in and I think those are the ones that don’t appreciate where they’re at and don’t do those small things and then don’t appreciate the people that work for them either
22:33
because when you when you come from the bottom up when you hear those stories those are the people that come down and say hey thank you for what you do because I was in your shoes like I understand um and I couldn’t have been here without a person like you uh one and then two here at the 58 sow um just consistently have a daily conversation with leadership in command like every in the special operations community everything’s so fast people are going away they’re going downrange they’re they’re going overseas it’s just such a fast moving piece like you don’t you can’t grab that attention I can’t grab the the colonel’s attention
23:19
say hey colonel can I talk to you today I need to get it up you can’t every once in a while the blue moon but it’s still his time is so precious it’s so hard to grab that I wish it could be consistent because that that all starts at the top and I know if you have that capability um that the understanding as a whole the culture change the what we see what we want uh would be a lot easier easier understood um and not hey I’m going to show up to a command briefing once a month or once every two months or three months and they see my face I might say a sentence
23:55
or two and that’s all they see and that’s all they hear so they don’t know who I am uh realistically um so that I think those are the two big ones and just like being in college athletics you know could I have that athletic director’s attention every single day just for 10 minutes a day if I had that capability he could see the overall vision not come by once once every month or every two months or at the football game on saturday and say hey how things are going like dude you’re not even there like you have no idea what’s going on um you act like you tried to but you got to be there and I think that’s important
24:31
and I think that’s important for that whole physical element to have that presence yeah I I agree with that because it’s tough for you to do your job without the support of command and they didn’t get to the position that they’re in because they’re lazy stupid or anything else like that so if you just were able to make that time and that connection in there and they would get what you get because you’re the expert in the area and they would they listen to you but if you don’t have that opportunity to get in front of them we get it they’ve got there’s a war going on and things to do that uh you just don’t have that
25:06
opportunity so hopefully that’ll break and maybe if it’s not 10 minutes a day it’s five minutes but it’s perfect five minutes one-on-one a week you know kind of with that and and your time is stretched too uh you’re you’re a connector uh but I’ve heard you talk and I took this from from our interview uh you talk about be present uh can you expand on that because I thought it was very meaningful and if I didn’t listen to that podcast I want them to get it through this podcast um yeah you know I I think that that’s important for anybody um for example we don’t have to be on right now I’m serving as as a straight
25:45
through conditioning coach because we have a new hire he starts here in a few weeks and when he does awesome but until then because my prior experience and my certifications and all the things that’s the role I’m feeling um I make an effort to be on the floor at least every hour I set a clock on my watch um and when it goes off I make I make a rounds if they’re just opening up for training we’re not doing a group setting where we’re training them coaching them up but I make sure whoever’s in there I walk up to every single individual and I ask how they’re doing ask if they need anything um ask what they’re doing for
26:19
the day and I make sure that I’m present in their lives um and it’s not just for me um but it’s I had an air uh airmen come the other day and uh they they were struggling uh with something in life and they wouldn’t tell me directly but I had that capability because I had that conversation and being present with them to walk them over and talk to our counselor a licensed professional counselor so they integrate all elements of potiph so it’s it’s not just for a personal element but it’s also for you can really walk them into an area of their life where they might need someone else to walk with them and you can help connect that piece
26:56
too so that’s huge and then as a staff too like we talked about earlier I think to know that every day that I’m here I’m here listening to them I value what they hear what they say and I’m listening and I’m empathizing with them um and and we talked about that present because that’s the empathy piece and really knowing that whatever they’re saying I’m feeling too that’s where the presence comes from it’s not just okay I get what you’re saying but we still have to move forward it’s oh I get what you’re saying and that sucks but in making that statement I will walk with you and let’s get to that point together I think that’s the
27:37
presence piece that I refer back to brene brown I read I’ve read three of her books so far and and she’s had probably one of the most impactful pieces on me as a person because it’s really taught me more in depth of who other people are and and I think that that’s it’s not just about sitting there in the chair but sitting there in the chair it’s it’s about going down into the hole with the person and sitting in the hole with them and then that way when you do and you all walk out together you know hey we got each other’s back and this thing is deeper and bigger than just you or me
28:15
it’s all of us hope that helps it does it it helps me because I need to hear that uh and I think that’s an important message not only within the strength and conditioning field the human performance field but I think it it transcends uh professional life but it it doesn’t you know if you’re a lawyer you need to be present when your client’s there uh whatever the situation whatever your profession is um also it’s your home life like you said that when you went on vacation you know you would do some business stuff so that’s okay if you when you did the business stuff you did the business stuff but when you were doing vacation then it switched off and
28:56
you weren’t still making phone calls to the other and stuff like that wherever you are be present with that individual I know from my standpoint there’s nothing more frustrating than having a conversation if you and I were talking right now offline and then you kept looking down at your phone and you were doing other things you were distracted that would be frustrating on my part because you don’t value the time that I’m spending with you and you cannot concentrate on two things at once I get it like something comes up real quick home family something something does usurp where I am like there’s a hierarchy and your wife and kids are higher than that so if something comes
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through that but if you’re constantly moving back and forth then you’re not present you’re not with me and so why why bother let’s go do what you’re going to do and do that and if you’ve got time for me great if not let’s not worry about it uh and so you know I kind of move away from those type of people I’m going to move more into some of the questions that you typically ask on this coach’s collective here and so it goes into you’re familiar with this one what motivates you and I’m going to separate that into two parts what motivated you when you’re a coach is there something new now that you’re more at the staff administrative level
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and then how do you motivate uh the people that you your staff that you work with yeah I mean I never was a a a wins and losses guy and I’m not a wins and losses guys here too I mean obviously ultimately my goal is to win there’s no doubt about it but I I would say creating better people to be better pillars of society um and why I love the mission of potiph because it covers everything either as a coach you know are you spiritually there are you mentally there are you physically there um and I believe as a whole if I can provide that and get those athletes ready for that position um if it’s game
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day if it’s their mission set um whatever it is they’re gonna win they’re gonna win well they’re gonna win they’re gonna dominate um that’s my belief and that’s what I’ve always strived to do is to do those little things too to be on time um when I was a college coach it was you’re going to tuck your shirt in male female didn’t matter you’re going to tuck your shirt in it’s like I think I’ve heard another podcast you might talk about it but making your bed every day something small um that had big things and it was obviously the biggest impact the small story or short story real quick I had an athlete um he was he’d be a pain in my butt
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sometimes but he was he was a great dude at the end of the day I love the guy to death played safety for us and uh he at south alabama but he talked about discipline and the disciplines when he was in high school his coach they would do the exact same warm-up every day and he looked at coachmen said man coach this is stupid he says it might be stupid it might be right it might be the best thing in the world but we do it because it is who we are and it defines us and we take pride in it and I think it’s the same thing in this setting is those small things allow
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us to take pride in who we are um and it’s every day when I show up to work right now um I make sure that the lights are on I make sure that I blow the floor and the floor is clean and set up and looks presentable and if anything’s on the ground I pick it up and I put it up um and it looks like that it’s a facility that’s that’s uh inviting when you come in it’s not that it’s taken care of it’s love so you want ownership when you walk in too and when I told you earlier about walking through and having that conversation with everybody I also have the same conversation saying hey do me a
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favor give me a shot this is your facility too this is not my facility this is your facility so whatever you do just make sure you make it look like it when you got here I mean if not even better and I think those smalls kind of carry over the same with the staff too hey if you see something on the floor just pick it up I remember when I was a waiter in a restaurant uh my boss was the manager at the time he would purposely drop a napkin on the floor and he’d sit off in the corner and watch and see we’d pick it up and say who took pride in the restaurant
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and it’s the same thing as a coach like those small things matter and that’s who I feel I can rely on too because that stands out when you see those people they’re willing to take pride in those small things you know they’re the ones that can invest in the big picture too and and that’s with the athletes and that’s with the staff and that’s with myself too I think more importantly it’s me I have to be that person because I take pride in the big picture so kind of going along with that that and then kind of going on with some of the stuff you said earlier about creating a culture uh how do you create
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this buy-in so if you had that opportunity to spend 10 minutes with commander and you want to have this long-term uh goal of developing culture how do you get buy-in from everybody to do what you want to do and to follow you down the tracks versus following somewhere else or their own thing you have a needs analysis first you want to hear that needs analysis from each one of those individuals so if I have a commander um or colonel and I say hey what do you want what do you want out of this how do you see this now in saying that say I have a direction if that means I have to step up first and say this is what I see but
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tell me what you want you figure out how to definitely synergistically mold this together I think that’s huge that’s how you build that culture meaning if I have a culture and I’m working in college athletics and majority of my athletes are from the urban city and they they love a certain culture and a certain style that’s what I’m going to build what I do I’m not going to take something completely opposite of who and what they are and try to say this is what you’re going to do because it’s counter productive and it’s really it’s counter culture it’s everything against that so it’s it’s how do I instill the discipline how do I allow what I believe in in my philosophy work
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but somewhat mold over or bleed over what they believe and just bring that together and it’s not going to work 100 of the time so I think in that with having that culture be willing to try new things be willing to push a little farther outside of your comfort zone be courageous but at the same time when I say be great you should be willing to fail too and be able to step up and say well that didn’t work that was a bad idea well let’s let’s let’s reel it back or rewind a little bit and go back to what we believe in and where it’s not too counterculture or too uh anti-productive and but still push forward and and still try
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to tweak it as you go it’s it’s kind of like when you’re building a train track you wish it was a smooth straight flat plane to build that train track but you’re gonna run in the mountains you’re gonna run into lakes and rivers so that train track’s gonna weave it’s gonna go up and down and all around and you’ve got to be willing to adapt as you build that thing and it’s the same thing with your culture in itself too but when you do it you adapt to the environment and it’s the same thing as coach same thing as an administrator is is seeing what that environment is because the army environment in the air
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force environment are two completely different environments in itself one person kicks the door in the other person gets behind an aircraft and flies in the air and and creates essential emissions for those people that kick in those doors so they’re completely different on how they see things one person literally does his job and you drink coffee while they do their job while the other person has a freaking sledgehammer and a rucksack on their back with potentially some morphine in their side pouch if something bad goes wrong so it’s completely two different mindsets but at the same time they still have the same mission and be able to morph those two together and be able to excite them I
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think another big piece too is excitement you know when they hear you talk or they hear me talk they know that you love what you do um because that that matters I mean I mean I know in my case the people that I wanted to be a part of things were the ones when they would talk to me I know man that guy every day when he shows up I know he has something special that he cares about and I’m gonna keep following him because of that or her or whoever you know I’m blessed with our leadership right now um she’s very passionate about who she is and what she believes in and that’s exciting for me my previous leader same
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thing he came to work every single day and he freaking wanted to know how can we make this the best we can and let’s hear everybody’s idea and from there let’s move forward and see if those ideas can all play a role in moving in that direction you kind of uh talked about how things have progressed especially from the beginning when we had your intro uh you you’ve had a long illustrious career uh what is your coaching style and now you’ve got to be got to be a man of all seasons because you fill in the blanks when someone’s not there at work uh but what was your coaching style at the beginning maybe how you formulated
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that has it changed uh is it the same style but does it adapt whether you’re working within a door kicker or you’re working with a pilot or or who can you kind of just go over that coaching philosophy and the coaching style I’ve always been an excited guy that’s that’s willing to get loud if I have to um but not in a negative way not not a bunch of cuss words or anything like that but um just hoot and holler and cheer people on and not overly either not goofy clown-like but in a way that really just creates energy you know and and I I might uh clap my hands really loud and and might
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hoot my fists in the air whatever it is but that’s always been me that that’s that’s that’s who I always am um but obviously if I’m in a briefing that’s not gonna be who I am it’s gonna be a lot more calm cool I think over the years because as my role has changed and I’ve taken up more of a leadership role um I have to be more of a calm more of a listener more just to sit there and and see what’s going on and observe and less of taking control of the meeting I’m early on my career I think I I really thought I had to dominate everything um and be in control of the room because
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really as a strength coach you do you want to command the room but as you go forward and you have higher ups that are higher than you they have a lot more to dictate and say it’s more of just sitting back and listening so if you’re when your time does come you know exactly what’s going on and you can have a great thought or or a great process to where the need is so I think that’s that’s really changed over time and I guess I guess the last thing I talked about earlier is the brene brown piece is before it was more of this is my way or the highway and now it’s more of
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uh philosophically is what do you see what do you want um how do you see this going and say okay well let’s let’s see if we can mold that or bring that in and and let’s do this together and so it’s more of a team less of a me more about we I guess as I’ve progressed um in my career all right so you kind of that’s a great segue into the next thing I want to talk about uh you talked about how it initially used to be your way or the highway and then after maturation like just getting older and uh you’re reading of brene brown by the way I don’t know if she pays you a
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nickel every time yeah you mentioned her hey I’ll go to you guys better be better she needs to take you off dinner because I’ve listened to your other podcasts you know I I bought one of her books because of you to listen to and also so uh she made some money off of that so hopefully she’s hooking you up there but then I talked to you talk more of a conversation so with athlete so right now we’re in a time where the mo there’s the most amount of information available to human beings than there ever has been before at our fingertips uh like I’ve got my phone here I’ve got four devices right now in
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front of me on this desk that I can pull information off of in less than a second when I put in just keywords they don’t even have to be a good search right there so you have people you deal with people both as a coach and now even more in a staff position that have access to a lot of information that information is not always great quality information okay so sometimes you have to battle misinformation or poor information that does not match up with what your goals are and how not only your goals maybe the goals are the same but the methodology is different like this source says you should to get to this goal this is how you do it
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your methodology as an educated subject matter expert knows that that’s not the path you need to go this is the path how do you deal with those individuals that presents you with here’s my goal which you agree is a good goal but here’s how I want to do it they tell you how they want to do it versus you know that it’s probably not the best way most efficient most effective safest way of doing it how do you handle those situations you know some of what it has to do with being humble on both ends um me especially one to listen like we talked about and be present with them and how they want to do it and see how we can move as much
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as we can and I can’t tell you enough in this setting how many airmen and soldiers say hey I love to crossfit I want to crossfit cool I don’t directly agree with everything they say but they do have good things and here’s the good highlights that I do like um so I actually give me a chance I do have a master’s degree I do have multiple certifications um that are nationally accredited that say I can do these things and if it doesn’t work no sweat off my back no short off your back continue down the path you’re going but what I will say is if you need any other resources I’ll provide them to you
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um including research based including text book based uh uh research and understanding and definitive elements and um you know I I think that’s where you are you’re there to educate them you’re there to just be present and provide those services and you’re always going to have the outliers that they’re too stubborn to do what they want to do and I also think it’s important that you find those alphas that are potential that have potential to change uh or buying the change and you also really invest in them because if those guys or gals are the leaders amongst their units or uh platoons or wherever wherever they serve and they do a really good job and they
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see a lot of success those are the individuals that one are going to sell the program but two those others that you might butt heads with really come along and no matter what even if you’ve had a conflict of interest or had that conversation before and it was like this uh knowing that when they come to you you’re willing to be humbled in front of them and still to listen and still work with them because I mean we all have those athletes um in our careers where it’s like I don’t know how the heck to reach this person I have tried every freaking thing on the mankind and it is like just not working so it’s just continue to offer the
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olives branch uh growing up my grandma always said this saying I I don’t think you can you can outlive this no matter what age you’re in but killing with kindness um I I think that if you continue to do that sometimes it’s almost enraging to them they’re like well damn it I’m just gonna give this person a chance if I do they’ll probably leave me alone or they might have something to say usually nine out of ten times it works um you’re still gonna have your ten percent and so be it you can’t reach everybody you gotta understand the world ain’t fair and you can’t reach every soul and that’s okay um I live by the ninety percent rule
45:10
ninety percent in in everything in life that’s education that’s uh uh investment in my family and goals and resources if I’ve achieved 90 that’s pretty freaking good and usually if you look at the research that extra 10 is actually going to take you longer to try to achieve to get that 100 than that 90 so once you’ve invested that 90 move on to the next goal move on to the next goal um pretty darn good percentage if you’re playing baseball you’re probably gonna be mvp if you’re 90 and everything um in any sport in any of anything and everything um even in the mission set you think your mission goes off flawlessly and you look back
45:49
you say well we could have done this could have done this could have done this I did we didn’t achieve this mission flawlessly it wasn’t 100 now we probably killed or kidnapped or rescued the asset or whatever happened um but at the end of the day there were still a lot of things that didn’t go right so I think 90 is pretty darn good element to live by 90 I’ll take it day in day out so trying to get to that 90 percent uh you always got to stay ahead of the game you’ve got to make yourself better because getting to 90 today will not be 90 tomorrow as as the field grows as information
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quality information becomes available uh and both in breadth and with uh where do you turn to because time is valuable to you you’ve got a a newborn at the home uh you’ve got your staff that you look after where do you spend your time to collect more information to educate yourself to keep yourself on top of the game and I can be aware that it might have shifted over time because now your goals are a little bit different than maybe what it was when you were a beginning strength coach so can you speak to that throughout your range in your career yeah I mean I find my mentors and I continue to reach out and listen to what they say
47:14
and what and and not saying what they say is is the bible and the word but value what they have to say if it’s alvar bill legendary strength coach for the chicago bulls to kelly starrett physical therapist out of san francisco I I make those contacts and I ask them so what’s going on tell me what’s going on fill me in uh what’s going on donnie thompson world world champion power lifter any of those guys and I continue to reach out to them and and hear what they’re saying if they have a podcast or they’re on a podcast or uh some sort of youtube vlog or whatever it is and listen and kind of define that
47:50
um two go to conferences I I can’t say that enough um how important that is and that’s why this last year really kicked me in the in the in the hiney is is not be able to go and do what I do is connect um but in that it’s just be a part try to be a part of podcast so that’s just listening or or or or being present on one uh this this coach’s collective has been huge I’ve got to talk to freaking 40 different people like how awesome is that and hear their stories that I’ve never got to hear before one of my mentors is nancy mcknight and and I got to hear his story and it was
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like to me I mean beautiful like it was awesome there was it was everything like you would want to see in a five-star movie he spoke about his story and his success so that was awesome so those small things there to um literature philosophically not never going to change for me I always like to do something in my practice and then something and make me a better person me and my practice in the science in the practice of strength initiating performance however you want to define it and then something that’s made me a better person it might be motivational it might be spiritual um it might be um some sort of cognitive element to it
49:12
but whatever it is it’s going to make me better as a person being a better father being a better husband whatever it is being wild at heart you know I I love that uh element um and and and the literature that’s behind that um john eldridge and his whole philosophy he’s right up north of me and I’m excited to one day do one of his workshops just talking about manhood and masculinity and how it doesn’t have to be this dominant a stoic piece but you can be meek uh and humble and and and truly be respected and those small pieces too I think are important so that uh in itself and be open and where
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do I go is be open to listen to others I asked my staff and we did our frc last summer the functional range condition certification our athletic trainer came in rant and raved about it we did it so listening to what she has to say and listen to the younger the younger folks that you work with I think is important because they’re the ones to be a lot more gung-ho than us you know uh because they still have that passion they’re probably not married they probably don’t have kids um so they’re always gonna be digging and be willing to go in and like or not like what they have to say so I think I always it’s kind of like
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the disciples in the bible um there’s there’s obviously when they go out they go in droves of two but there’s really was three you know there was always someone above them and someone below them and being willing to listen to both of those people and where to go so those those are the guys that gals that make toward me and then those that someone I mentor and look at that direct connection between two thank you so you talk about uh the mentoring process and developing other strength coaches and developing yourself and maybe even possibly some retrospect some mistakes that you’ve made in the past can you transfer those concepts over to the industry as a whole where have
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strength and conditioning human performance where does it miss the mark where does it kind of hit the mark and where do you see that it needs the most development like you can internalize that and say well gosh I’m weakest in leadership aspects so I need to spend more time in leadership so where have we missed the mark and where do we need to get better as a holistic community well first off this is a quote different from alvermeil you know I mean I don’t know al miller um legendary strength coach for the broncos falcons and a bunch of other stuff anyways long story short he once told me this and I think we forget this sometimes in this art
51:45
once you become a seasoned coach you became a season coach because of the volume of athletes you’ve worked with you’ve seen you’ve heard you’ve even spoken with so we can never get away from our ability to see and to hear and to speak into um that’s important we we are our trade is unmeasurable by that characteristics by those characteristics in those traits so for example I watch them on olympic lift I can take many technology pieces and attach it to that game bar or that person or put cameras on them as possible but they’re still not going to see the broken down elements that we might be able to see as a coach meaning um that a video might not pick up where
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their mindset was not where it needed to be or they did not breathe
