Inside World Class Coaching

I had the chance to talk with Mike Montgomery – one of the elite coaches in basketball. Montgomery received the John R. Wooden “Legends of Coaching” Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, following Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olson, Denny Crum and Roy Williams. Coach Montgomery opens up about what he calls “Buy-in and Baggage” – part of his strategy to reignite the Cal Basketball program which he led to their first conference championship in 50 years … all in his first year at Berkeley!

You’ll meet a woman who’s been named NCAA’s Coach of the Year more times than she can count. Beverly Kearney, head coach at the University of Texas, is recognized as one of the winingest coaches in the history of track and field. She’s coached national champions, all Americans, Olympic Gold medalists and she’s coached from a wheel chair. She triumphed over a near fatal automobile accident which left her in a and told she would never walk again. She continued to coach from a wheelchair and then from a walker and now on a cane, ultimately adding two more national championships to her record.

You’ll hear from the winningest coach in college sports – Jack Clark. Under Coach Clark, Cal rugby has won an amazing 21 National Titles. He shares what he does to set the tone for excellence on day one. You will hear detail on how he builds a blueprint of success for each of his athletes. I loved discovering his definition and development of leadership. I could listen to Jack all day long.

I had a great conversation with Mike Candrea – Head Softball coach at the University of Arizona where they have won six national championships. He also coached the US National Team to Olympic gold in ’04 and ’08. We talked about not just how important the little things are to success but specifically what are those little things. I asked him how he prepares each month and each week. He shared how When you win, it’s a good time to get picky. And what exactly that means.

Teri is known as a coach who turns previously unnoticed swimmers into major talents – Nataile Coughlin being one of those swimmers. Teri was just named as head coach for the 2012 Olympic team. All coaches have pet peeves – stuff that our athletes do that just bugs us. I was tickled to hear how Teri addresses this with her team and turned it into a powerful tactic. It was also enlightening to hear how she deals with having very talented athletes (Olympic champions) on her team.