#446 Geoff Carlston, former Ohio State and Ohio U Volleyball Coach, on Fear vs Love Based High Performance Environments
Release Date: 09/11/2025
#478 When Hard Things Happen, Culture Matters the Most with Erin Quinn, Middlebury College Athletic Director
Way of Champions Podcast
This week we welcome back Erin Quinn to the podcast. Quinn has spent the last twenty years as the athletic director at Middlebury College in Vermont, being recognized as the National AD of the Year in 2021. Under his tenure, his teams have won 19 NCAA championships, 69 NESCAC conference championships, and 29 Middlebury athletes have won individual NCAA championships. Prior to becoming athletic director, Quinn served as the head men's lacrosse coach at Middlebury, winning three NCAA national titles and six NESCAC championships. What we love most about him, though, is that he is known as "A.D....
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#477 Daniel Coyle, NYT Bestselling Author, on How to Flourish, Find Meaning, Joy and Fulfillment in Sports and Life
Way of Champions Podcast
Daniel Coyle (@danielcoyle) is the New York Times bestselling author of The Culture Code, which was named best business book of the year by Bloomberg BookPal and Business Insider. Coyle has served as an adviser to many high-performing organizations, including the Navy SEALs, Microsoft, Google, and the Cleveland Guardians. His other books include, The Talent Code, The Secret Race, The Little Book of Talent, Hardball: A Season in the Projects. His newest book is called Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment. This book is about building the environments that make us feel...
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#476 Mentlaity Wins with former Harvard Womens Basketball Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith,, NFL and MLB Sport Psychologist Dr Jonathan Jenkins, and Sport Psychologist and NCAA Champion Dr. Kimberly O'Brien
Way of Champions Podcast
This week on the podcast, we are joined by three incredible guests: Kathy Delaney-Smith, Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, and Dr. Kimberly O'Brien. Kathy Delaney-Smith is the winningest head coach in Ivy League women's basketball history. She spent 40 seasons at Harvard University, winning 11 Ivy League titles and taking her teams to six NCAA tournaments and eight women's NIT tournaments. Her teams won over 600 games, including 12 seasons with more than 20 wins and finishing above .500 in 31 of her final 33 seasons. She has been inducted into numerous Hall of Fames and received numerous accolades across...
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#475 The 20 Year Journey to Three Olympic Hockey Gold Medals with Ken Martel, USA Hockey Senior Director of Player and Coach Development
Way of Champions Podcast
In 2026, USA Hockey accomplished something no other nation has ever done, winning Olympic gold medals for Mens, Women's and Paralympic Ice Hockey. Yet this was not something that happened overnight, and in fact was the culmination of nearly two decades of growing the game and modifying rules and game formats in order to develop more skillful players and a much larger player base to choose from. And who better to discuss this journey than one of its architects, Ken Martel. Ken Martel was named senior director of player and coach development in November 2022. He is charged with helping...
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#474 Joe De Sena, Founder of Spartan Obstacle Course Racing, on Why We Need to Teach Our Kids to Do Hard Things
Way of Champions Podcast
After building a multimillion-dollar pool and construction business in college, and creating a Wall Street trading firm, Joe De Sena set his sights on ripping 100 million people off their couches by creating the Spartan lifestyle. He moved his family to Pittsfield, Vermont to operate an organic farm, a bed and breakfast, and a general store for hikers. It was here his passion grew for ultramarathons, adventure races, and endurance events, and thus the idea for Spartan was born. With more than one million annual global participants at more than 270 events across more than 40 countries, Spartan...
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#474 Joe De Sena, Founder of Spartan Obstacle Course Racing, on Why We Need to Teach Our Kids to Do Hard Things
Way of Champions Podcast
After building a multimillion-dollar pool and construction business in college, and creating a Wall Street trading firm, Joe De Sena set his sights on ripping 100 million people off their couches by creating the Spartan lifestyle. He moved his family to Pittsfield, Vermont to operate an organic farm, a bed and breakfast, and a general store for hikers. It was here his passion grew for ultramarathons, adventure races, and endurance events, and thus the idea for Spartan was born. With more than one million annual global participants at more than 270 events across more than 40 countries, Spartan...
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#473 Jason Sacks, CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance, on Educating One Million Coaches and Making Systemic Change in Youth Sports
Way of Champions Podcast
Jason Sacks is the CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance (@positivecoachus). He joined the organization in April 2006 and has since served in a variety of capacities, including President, Chief Development Officer, EVP for Business Development & Philanthropy, Director of Partnership Development, and as Executive Director of PCA’s Chicago, IL chapter. Jason began his career at PCA as the Partner Development Associate for the New Jersey/Philadelphia region. Most recently as PCA’s President, Jason led the organization’s growth of impact to millions of youth participating in youth...
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#473 Jason Sacks, CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance, on Educating One Million Coaches and Making Systemic Change in Youth Sports
Way of Champions Podcast
Jason Sacks is the CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance. He joined the organization in April 2006 and has since served in a variety of capacities, including President, Chief Development Officer, EVP for Business Development & Philanthropy, Director of Partnership Development, and as Executive Director of PCA’s Chicago, IL chapter. Jason began his career at PCA as the Partner Development Associate for the New Jersey/Philadelphia region. Most recently as PCA’s President, Jason led the organization’s growth of impact to millions of youth participating in youth sports and created...
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#473 Jason Sacks, CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance, on Educating One Million Coaches and Making Systemic Change in Youth Sports
Way of Champions Podcast
Jason Sacks is the CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance. He joined the organization in April 2006 and has since served in a variety of capacities, including President, Chief Development Officer, EVP for Business Development & Philanthropy, Director of Partnership Development, and as Executive Director of PCA’s Chicago, IL chapter. Jason began his career at PCA as the Partner Development Associate for the New Jersey/Philadelphia region. Most recently as PCA’s President, Jason led the organization’s growth of impact to millions of youth participating in youth sports and created...
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#472 Dr. Jean Cote on Transformational Coaching, Enjoyment, and his new Research on the Factors that Promote Continued Interest in Youth Sports,
Way of Champions Podcast
Dr Jean Côté is a Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. His research interests include children in sport, coaching, youth development, and sport expertise. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) and the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP), and has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and 70 book chapters. He frequently presents his research for sporting governing bodies and at academic conferences, delivering 66 keynote addresses at major national and international...
info_outlineOver the course of his collegiate coaching career, Geoff Carlston served as head coach at Ohio University, Ohio State University, and Concordia University, amassing more than 400 career wins. His teams consistently competed at the highest level, earning multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, including several Sweet Sixteen runs, and he has been honored with numerous Coach of the Year awards. In 23 years of leading high performance NCAA volleyball programs, Geoff only had one student athlete transfer out of his program. Think about that for a moment.
At Ohio University, Geoff led the program to five straight Mid-American Conference titles and a Top 10 national ranking — one of the most successful stretches in MAC volleyball history. Later, at Ohio State, he turned the program into a perennial contender in the Big Ten, widely regarded as the most competitive volleyball conference in the nation.
Beyond wins and championships, Geoff is known for his values-based leadership and commitment to athlete well-being. He is a frequent speaker at coaching clinics nationwide and brings a unique perspective that blends high-performance results with intentional team culture-building.
Connect with Geoff: www.epicjourneyleadership.com
BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking November and December 2025 and Winter/Spring 2026 events, please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com to set up an introductory call.
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This week’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports. Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs. Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams.
Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs. So if you’ve been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG.
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