Coaching Culture

Billy Armstrong hasn't just won four state championships in six years. He's become, in his own words, a completely different human being. In part one of a two-part conversation, three years after his first appearance on...

A standard isn't a standard unless it's enforced. That's the line JP Nerbun keeps coming back to in this solo episode, his first since the podcast's earliest days back in 2017. JP unpacks twelve mistakes...

LeBron James just left the Lakers for a shot at one more championship with the 76ers, and JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson use that move to dig into a question every coach eventually faces: what do you...

What happens after you finally admit the grind stopped working? That is where part two of this conversation with journalist Lindsay Crouse picks up. Lindsay and JP dig into the physical cost of never backing off, talk...

Are your three closest teammates a friend group, or a clique the rest of the roster feels shut out of? JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson dig into Level 4 leadership this week: the real difference between a...

Most coaches have someone they pour into. Almost none of them have someone who pours back. In part two with Zach Brandon, JP and Zach go deeper into what it actually takes to develop coaches — not players, coaches — and...

Zach Brandon spent years inside one of the most pressure-filled environments in professional sports. The biggest thing he took away was not about performance. It was about connection. In this first conversation with...

Every coach says they want more leaders. But most are picturing the wrong level entirely. JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson unpack Level 3 leadership, the one-to-one relational work that has to exist before...

If the big people aren't okay, the little people don't stand a chance. That is the idea psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington has built her career on, and it flips the entire athlete development conversation on its head. In...

Is your best leader always your best teammate? JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson are not so sure, and the answer says a lot about how you build culture this season. This episode continues an ongoing...

Making athletes work harder is one thing. Making athletes better is something else entirely — and Rustin Dodd draws that line clearly in this episode. In part two of JP Nerbun's conversation with Rustin Dodd and Elise...

Most coaches spend their careers shaping athletes. Rustin Dodd and Elise Devlin spend theirs learning from them — and what they've found might change how you coach. Rustin and Elise write NY Times feature, The Peak for...

JP Nerbun's 10-year-old daughter said something on the walk to the bus that stopped him cold: "She's climbing the mountain of achievement without any purpose." That one line is the heart of this entire conversation...

What does it mean to truly know yourself — not perform yourself, not brand yourself for public approval, but honestly know who you are at your core? JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson explore that question...

Most coaches think they're having conversations with their athletes. Marcia Reynolds says they're mostly just talking. In this episode, JP Nerbun sits down with Marcia Reynolds — executive coach, neuroscience...