Tim Corbin, Vanderbilt Baseball Coach: How A 2x National Champion Built A Culture of Sustained Excellence
Release Date: 10/13/2020
Daniel Coyle - The Culture Playbook: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups & How To Apply Them To Your Own Team (w/ Oliver Winterbone)
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is , best-selling author of , , and his newest book that was released this week, . In this episode, Daniel shares insights he’s learned about how to build a strong culture, what some best practices are around hiring and team building, and what he’s learned from consulting with the Cleveland Guardians. My co-host today is , Director of Coaches and Executives at Wasserman, one of the premiere talent management companies in the world. He previously worked for the Oklahoma City Thunder and University of Florida Men’s Basketball program in various roles. The Athletic named him...
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Paul Oyer, Stanford – Economic Value of Tradition, Reckless Spending in Sports, & The Most Insane Stat You’ve Ever Heard
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is , a professor of economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He’s also the author of . Paul and I start with the most insane statistic I have come across in my entire life. Then we blow through a number of topics, including gambling, the NIL, the effects of conference realignment within college athletics, public financing of private stadiums, why coaches get huge buyouts, and most importantly, why I was serving a huge need by reselling a boatload of UF football tickets when I was in undergrad. This was a fun conversation on the future of sports related to a...
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Francesca Gino, Harvard - Steve Kerr, Exploring Your Curiosities, & Embracing Your Rebellious Side (w/ Oliver Winterbone)
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is , a professor at Harvard Business School focused on why people make the decisions they do at work, and how leaders and employees have more productive, creative and fulfilling lives. Harvard is well-known for their case studies being used by colleges and companies all over the world, and when I saw she wrote a case study on Steve Kerr, I had to get her on the podcast. Our conversation today starts with lessons learned from studying and talking to Coach Kerr. Then we shift to the topic of her best selling book, . She was one of the most impressive people I’ve talked to...
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SPECIAL: Jeff Seder – The Best Moneyball Story of All-Time (via The Meb Faber Show)
Coaching Coaches
Today’s episode features a conversation between and on . In my last episode with Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, we touched on the incredible story of Jeff Seder and how utilizing data led him to go all-in on American Pharoah and later tell his employer, “.” Wise words considering the horse would go on to become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Meb was kind enough to allow me to release the episode on my feed here for you to listen to. That being said, if you enjoy the episode and want to repay the favor to Meb, or are looking for a podcast on investing and what’s going on in the...
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Seth Stephens-Davidowitz: Moneyball For Your Life
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of . I’m not sure if there’s someone whose work is more fascinating to me than Seth. His first book, , looked at how our Google searches reveal our true selves with topics like racism, child abuse, This book looks at what the data says on how to live a better life. We touch on parenting, finding a spouse, being a sports fan, what sport your child should play if they want the best chance to get a college scholarship, and how much of an athlete’s success is nature vs. nurture. His work is as fun as it is insightful and I’m sure you’ll...
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Seth Stephens-Davidowitz: Moneyball For Your Life
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of . I’m not sure if there’s someone whose work is more fascinating to me than Seth. His first book, , looked at how our Google searches reveal our true selves with topics like racism, child abuse, This book looks at what the data says on how to live a better life. We touch on parenting, finding a spouse, being a sports fan, what sport your child should play if they want the best chance to get a college scholarship, and how much of an athlete’s success is nature vs. nurture. His work is as fun as it is insightful and I’m sure you’ll...
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GUEST INTERVIEW: Preston Greene and Shane Perkins – The Mindset of A World Champion
Coaching Coaches
Today’s episode features a conversation my good friend recently had with world champion cyclist, . Preston is the strength coach for the University of Florida men’s basketball team and one of the most well respected strength coaches in all of college athletics. Shane is a professional track cyclist who won the Bronze Medal in the 2012 London Olympic games and also won 2 world championships. In this episode, Shane talks about how he trained his mind and mentally prepared to perform, the importance of being coachable as an athlete, and what separated the great coaches from the others...
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David Shaw, Stanford Football Head Coach: Developing Players On & Off The Field
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is David Shaw, head coach of the Stanford football team. In this episode, he talks about what it’s been like to coach players like Andrew Luck and Christian McCaffrey at an elite academic institution like Stanford and lessons he’s learned working with guys like Brian Billick and Jon Gruden. Coach Shaw has been pursued by NFL teams and shares advice on how he thinks about his professional career, what makes him happy in life, and what one NFL GM said was the reason he pursued him.
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Michele Gelfand, Author & Cultural Psychologist: Is Your Culture Tight or Loose?
Coaching Coaches
Click HERE to watch the video referenced in the intro.
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Becky Burleigh, University of Florida Soccer Coach: Who Are You Becoming As A Result of The Chase?
Coaching Coaches
My guest today is Becky Burleigh, the head soccer coach at the University of Florida. She’s also the co-founder of What Drives Winning, which unites the top minds in sports. In 25 years at Florida, she has led UF to a NCAA Championship, two NCAA College Cup appearances, 14 Southeastern Conference titles and 22 NCAA Championships berths. She has 507 total wins, putting her third all-time in Division-1 soccer.
info_outlineMy guest today is Tim Corbin, the head baseball coach at Vanderbilt University. Coach Corbin has built Vanderbilt into one of the most prominent programs in college baseball, making the College World Series four times and winning the National Championship in both 2014 and 2019. He’s also coached 15 players at Vanderbilt who ended up being selected in the first round in the MLB draft, including David Price, Sonny Gray, and Walker Buehler.
In this episode we learn why he made the Vanderbilt baseball team become the first college baseball program to build an alumni locker room, classroom, and nutrition center. We also discuss why he doesn’t believe in goals, what he looks for when recruiting players, and his relationship with other elite coaches including Penn State football coach James Franklin. Finally, we hear how he endured the tragic death of Vanderbilt freshman and former 1st round draft pick Donny Everett in 2016 right before the post-season, and what he learned about grief and resiliency.
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(1:34) — What he focused on when he was first hired at Vanderbilt in 2003
(3:05) — What standards and values he prioritizes
(4:20 )— Why 60% of his former players contributed to a fundraiser for baseball facilities in 2016 (the national average is 2–3%)
(6:45) — Why he prioritized building an alumni locker room, nutrition center, and classroom for his team
(10:52) — What he looks for in prospects when recruiting
(15:32 )— What common traits his best players have had
(19:08) — How he ensures all 40 players put the team first
(21:45 )— What “VandyBoys” stands for
(23:35 )— Why he doesn’t have slogans and quotes for the program
(25:40) — Why he doesn’t have goals for individual players and the team
(27:40) — How he handled the tragic passing of his player Donny Everett in 2016
(33:06) — The experience of coaching for Team USA
(37:00 )— His relationship with University of Michigan head baseball coach, Erik Bakich
(39:55) — His relationship with Penn St. football coach, James Franklin
(41:38) — The impact of winning two national championships
(44:35) — His thoughts on personal growth
(47:00) — End of episode questions
- What’s 1 book every coach should read? He doesn’t read a lot of books, prefers to listen to Jim Rome and podcasts like Finding Mastery by Michael Gervais
- Who is one person you’d want to hear as a guest on this podcast? Geno Auriemma, Brad Stevens, Erik Spoelstra, Billy Donovan, Chip Kelly
- What’s one area you’re looking to improve in over the next year? Keeping his mind sharp and staying relevant to the players
- What’s popular advice you hear people say that you think is wrong? When someone says, “this is a grind,” he disagrees. The grind is a terminal illness; this is a sport and he is being paid to coach college baseball.
- What advice do you have for young coaches who are listening to this? Whatever position you are in, make it the best you possibly can. Do whatever you can to make the experience and the environment as good as you possibly can. Modeling what you do and being the greatest form of integrity is very important as a teacher and a coach.
- What’s the darkest moment you experienced professionally and how did you overcome it? Handling the passing of his player, Donny Everett, and he leaned on his wife to get through it. He emphasizes the importance of having a life partner who can challenge and help you throughout your life.
Favorite Quotes:
“I think rules are for people who can’t follow directions; I think standards are for people who aspire to do special things.”
“Every choice has a consequence, and those consequences have outcomes. And I think when it gets down to it, it’s trying to help them with those decision-making processes they have during the course of day. And those decisions are small in nature but they lead to more positive outcomes if you do them well.”
“I think a lot of the time goals setup expectations and expectations get us in trouble sometimes. If you’re putting parameters around your life, you’re just expecting life to move in a directional, certain way, and that’s just not the way it is.”
“Those thoughts of winning and the torturous thinking of winning is more debilitating than prospering. I’ve found it not to be healthy in so many different ways.”