#397 Roy Williams, Hall of Fame NCAA Basketball Coach with North Carolina and Kansas: "You have to leave every player you ever coach with something that is still positive 30 years later"
Release Date: 10/01/2024
Way of Champions Podcast
In our first season of the podcast, we interviewed author Michael Zigarelli, who wrote a book called The Messiah Method: The 7 Disciplines of the Winningest College Soccer Program in America. The book outlined the tremendous success of Messiah College soccer, where between 2000 and 2010 the mens and women's teams had won 11 national titles and been to 17 Final Fours between them. Ever since then, we have wanted to bring onto the podcast the architect of that dynasty Dave Brandt. Today we get to do that. In 24 seasons as a college head coach, including stints at Messiah, the US...
info_outline #410 Ryan Bernacchi, Fromer TOPGUN Instructor and Commander of the Blue Angles on Leadership, Team Culture, and the Importance of Visualization in High Performance EnvironmentsWay of Champions Podcast
This week's episode is a replay from 2022 with Captain Ryan Bernacchi, USN (Ret.) a retired naval officer who possesses a unique background in aviation, leadership, high performance teamwork, and organizational culture. During his distinguished 25-year career in the Navy his notable positions include the Commanding Officer and Flight Leader of the Blue Angels, command of a fleet Super Hornet squadron, and TOPGUN Instructor, with worldwide deployments aboard aircraft carriers, including major combat operations. In academia, Ryan has complemented his operational expertise with the study of...
info_outline #409 Angelo Gingerelli on How to Compete, Win and Thrive as a College AthleteWay of Champions Podcast
Angelo Gingerelli (@mr5thround) is the Strength Coach at Seton Hall University and NJ State Director of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He recently published his second book The Next Four Years: Compete, Win & Thrive in College Sports. Gingerelli has been a collegiate strength coach for over 20 years and the book focuses on all aspects of the student-athlete experience from physically preparing for freshman year (weight room proficiency, conditioning tests, work capacity, etc.) to new issues in athletics like NIL and The Transfer Portal. The book is a great...
info_outline #408 Marginal Gains are Dead with Mehdi Kordi, Olympic and World Champion Cycling CoachWay of Champions Podcast
Mehdi Kordi has led the Dutch track riders to nine different Olympic medals including six Gold and 16 World Championships titles over 8 different athletes all on a fraction of the budget of their rivals. Interestingly Mehdi has never ridden a competitive bicycle race at any level or discipline. Prior to coaching the Dutch, Mehdi had a convoluted career where he only got into sporting world in his mid-twenties by doing a PhD which examined the training sciences to help optimise the performance of track riders in the Great Britain cycling team. Subsequently, he went on to become their sport...
info_outline #407 Anson Dorrance Pt. 2: Another NCAA Title, the New UNC Coaching Regime, and the Importance of Love in Your CoachingWay of Champions Podcast
On November 14, 2024, we interviewed 22 time NCAA Champion Coach Anson Dorrance from University of North Carolina Women's Soccer. At the time the Tar Heels were in the midst of another winning season, and Dorrance had resigned his head coaching duties, handing the reigns to interim coach Damon Nahas, Asst. coach Tracy Leone and GK Coach Chris Ducar. As the third assistant coach, Dorrance fulfilled a role he had never done before, and 24 hours prior to us recording this podcast, we witnessed the Tar Heels become NCAA Champions for the 23rd time! In this most timely of interviews, we discuss the...
info_outline The Secrets of a Successful Halftime Talk with Eamon Devlin, Founder of Minute9Way of Champions Podcast
Eamon Devlin is a multifaceted professional with a career spanning business, law, and elite sports performance. Originally from Ireland and now residing in England, Eamon is the founder of Minute9, () a consultancy creating cutting-edge communication systems for elite sports teams, focusing on and half-time interactions. Through research-driven techniques, Minute9 empowers coaches to amplify their impact, improving player focus, motivation, and performance under pressure. Eamon is currently pursuing a PhD at Leeds Beckett University, England, UK where his research focuses...
info_outline "You Might be the Last Coach with a Chance to Reach that Kid": A Conversation with Terry Steiner, USA Women's Wrestling Head CoachWay of Champions Podcast
Coach Terry Steiner is the Head Coach of the USA Women's Wrestling Team. A 2024 inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and a 3x All American wrestler under legendary Iowa coach Dan Gable, he has been coaching Team USA since 2002. In six Olympics, he has coached four gold medalists, three silver medalists and six bronze medalists. In 17 World Championships, Steiner has coached 16 gold medalists, 17 silver medalists and 29 bronze medalists. He has coached five of the six women inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as Distinguished Members. At the 2024 Paris...
info_outline "You Might be the Last Coach with a Chance to Reach that Kid": A Conversation with Terry Steiner, USA Women's Wrestling Head CoachWay of Champions Podcast
Coach Terry Steiner is the Head Coach of the USA Women's Wrestling Team. A 2024 inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and a 3x All American wrestler under legendary Iowa coach Dan Gable, he has been coaching Team USA since 2002. In six Olympics, he has coached four gold medalists, three silver medalists and six bronze medalists. In 17 World Championships, Steiner has coached 16 gold medalists, 17 silver medalists and 29 bronze medalists. He has coached five of the six women inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as Distinguished Members. At the 2024 Paris...
info_outline #404 Doug Lemov, Author of The Coach's Guide to Teaching and Practice Perfect (Replay)Way of Champions Podcast
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we dive into the archives with author Doug Lemov. Doug is the author of the international bestseller Teach Like a Champion, Teach Like a Champion 2..0 and Practice Perfect. He is one of the foremost teacher educators in the world, and recently he has branched into the world of coach education. He now consults with Major League Baseball teams and is an instructor for the US Soccer professional licenses. His most recent book The Coach’s Guide to Teaching is a “must read” for any serious coach. In our conversation, John and Doug...
info_outline #403 Anson Dorrance on his Retirement as Head Coach of 21x NCAA Champs UNC Women's Soccer, Self Awareness, and Being a Truth Teller to Your Athletes (Part 1)Way of Champions Podcast
Anson Dorrance recently stepped down as Head Coach the University of North Carolina Women’s Soccer program. In his career spanning 1979-2024, he won over 1100 games, 21 NCAA Championships, 7x NCAA Coach of the Year awards, 12 ACC Coach of the Year Awards, and even one NCAA Men's Coach of the Year award. He also led the US Women’s National Team to the 1991 World Cup Championship. He has published 3 books (Vision of a Champion, The Man Watching, and Training Soccer Champions) and has a wonderful podcast where he interviews the best of the best, the Vision of a Champion...
info_outlineRoy Williams served as the men's head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels for 18 seasons and the Kansas Jayhawks for 15 seasons. With a total of 903 wins, Williams took his teams to nine Final Fours in his careers at Kansas and North Carolina and won 3 NCAA Championships at UNC. Williams is the fifth NCAA Men's Division I head coach to reach 900 wins, and reached the mark in fewer games than any other head coach with 900+ wins. He is the only coach in NCAA history to have led two different programs to at least four Final Fours each, and the only basketball coach in NCAA history to have 400 or more victories at two NCAA Division I schools. He is also 14th all-time in the NCAA in win percentage among men's college basketball coaches. He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
Williams started his college coaching career at North Carolina as an assistant coach for Dean Smith in 1978. Four years later, North Carolina won the national championship. After ten years as Smith's assistant, Williams became head coach at defending national champion Kansas, in 1988, taking them to 14 consecutive NCAA tournaments, four Final Four appearances, two national championship game appearances, collecting an .805 winning percentage, and winning nine conference titles.
In 2003, Williams left Kansas to return to his alma mater North Carolina, replacing Matt Doherty as head coach of the Tar Heels. In an 18-year period at North Carolina, Williams won three national championships, reached a total of five Final Fours, finished first in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season standings nine times, won three ACC tournament championships, one AP National Coach of the Year award, and two ACC Coach of the Year awards.
Our conversation today is one of our best ever on this podcast, as Coach Williams discusses the most important mentors in his life, his philosophy of coaching and building relationships, and what comes across most is his authenticity, vulnerability, curiosity, and honesty in discussing his storied career. Get out a pen and paper for this one.
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