Our Great Coach on this episode is Roy Masters. Roy is an Australian sports journalist and former rugby league football coach. He started life as a schoolteacher in the NSW countryside coaching school sides and by 1974 had been appointed as the Australian coach of the Australian School boys’ team. He then became coach of a youth team at the profess…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Nicole Pratt. As a player, Nicole reached a career-high ranking of #35 and won 4 ITF singles titles. As a doubles player, she reached a doubles ranking high of No.18 (September 2001) and captured nine WTA doubles titles and nine ITF doubles titles. She then switched to coaching with the Australian Institute of Spo…

This episode focuses on the athlete-coach relationship and how the quality of the coach-athlete relationship will influence measurable performance. I also found this fascinating through the lens of the corporate world and how relationships there can impact cohesion and results. Professor Sophia Jowett, who teaches at Loughborough University, joins …

Rob Tarr is a Wheelchair Rugby Coach. As an athlete, he represented Great Britain in 3 Paralympic Games, 3 World Games, and 3 European Championships. Rob was part of the coaching team that won gold in Tokyo 2021, the head coach for the inaugural low-point World Championships, which won gold in 2022, and the gold-winning team at the Women’s Cup in 2…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Dean Smith. Dean Smith is an American Basketball coach who led the the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill men's team for 36 years. When he retired in 1997 he had 879 career victories, which was the NCAA Division I men's basketball record at that time. During his tenure as head coach, North Carolina won tw…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Vésteinn Hafsteinsson. Vesteinin is an Icelandic Olympic discuss thrower who is now considered the most successful discus coach in the history of the sport. He represented his native country at 4 summer Olympic games and five world championships. As a coach he has worked with World and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter…

Tony OcConnor is a rowing coach. As a rower he represented Ireland at 2 Olympics and won 5 medals at the World Championships in the men's lightweight pair. After retiring he took up coaching and now lives in New Zealand where he is also a school teacher. In 2021 he was appointed the coach for the New Zealand men's eight, which won gold at the Tokyo…

Today's episode focuses on the topic of Coaches as Educators. And I'm joined in the discussion by two great coaches. The first is Valorie Kondos Field. Ms. Val, as she is known, led the UCLA gymnastics team from 1991 to 2019, collecting seven National Championships along the way. She now leads the course "Transformative Coaching: Introduction to Ph…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Tom Herman. Tom is An American Football coach. After graduating univsierity he began his coaching career in 1998 at Texas Lutheran as a receivers coach. He then took a position in 1999 at the University of Texas at Austin as a graduate assistant under the mentorship of Greg Davis. He then joined Texas State as the…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Fred Vergnoux. Fred is a swimming coach. He started his career as a coach in France with the club Racing Paris. He then headed over to the USA and took jobs working for people like Greg Troy to gain deeper knowledge if the sport. This would lead to him to eventally being appointed as the Head Coach for the City of…

Today’s episode focuses on the coaches, who the Great Coaches we have interviewed, have called out for praise or recognition. And we put this episode together because we wanted to hear from you. If there is a coach who had had an impact on your life then we would like to hear from you. Grab your phone and send us a recording explaining who they are…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Shaun Wane. Shaun is a former Rugby League player and now coach. He started coaching with his old club Wigan in 2003, leading the youth academy team to 7 Academy Grand Finals and 6 League Leaders’ Shields. Then in 2011 he became the clubs Head Coach and went on to win three Super League Grand Finals, a Challenge C…

As a player Greg Cannella was a High School All American, and a an All American while at Nassau Community College. After graduating he spent time as an Assistant at Stony Brook before becoming Head Coach at his alma mater the University of Massachusetts in 1993. Since then, he has gone to achieve eight NCAA Tournament berths, Eight New England Cham…

As a player Franco Smith represented South Africa as well as playing for clubs in South Africa, Italy, France and Wales. He started his professional coaching career in 2006 with the South African team the Cheetahs. Then in 2008 he became Head Coach of Benneton in Italy, guiding them to 2 National Championships, a Coppa Italia and a Supercup. In 201…

On this episode, my firend Jonathan Cole and I are joined by owen Jordan who has just written a terrific new book called Wise Words: Thoughts and Beliefs of Great Coaches. And today we talk about some of the key things he has learned about coaching and leadership while putting the book together. If you would like to send us any feedback or if you k…

Shaun Caven was born in Scotland and started coaching canoeing when he was 16 years old. He progressed until he was the coach of the national team in 1997. He then went on to lead the British Junior and Senior teams before moving to the USA in 2008 to lead the program at Oklahoma City University team. That team went on to win National Championships…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Lisa Alexander. Lisa was the coach of the Australian Netball team, known as the Diamonds, from 2011 to 2020. During that time She oversaw gold medal successes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Netball World Cup, as well as silver medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019 Netball World Cup. We first inte…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Andy Shay. Andy is a former Lacrosse player who started coaching as an assistant for four years under Greg Cannella at the University of Massachusetts where he helped the team win three New England titles. Then in 2003 he was named the Head Coach of Yale where he has gone on to lead the team to the 2018 NCAA Champ…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Sjoerd Marijne. Sjoerd is a Dutch former field hockey player and now coach. As a player he twice won the Dutch National Championship and EuroHockey Club Champions Cup. He then transitioned into coaching, first with youth teams, eventually leading the Netherlands U21 women to the gold medal at the World Cup and the…

Pat Summitt was an American basketball player who won a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics and then transitioned into coaching leading the USA team to a Gold at the at the 1984 Olympics. However its as the coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012 that she is most famous. Over her career she amassed 1098 wins and led the tea…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Alf Galustian. Alf started his career playing for Wimbeldon in the UK. Knee injuries cut short his career and he transitioned into coaching. In 1984 he founded Coerver® Coaching, along with Chelsea great, Charlie Cooke. He has gone on to work as a Coach with 17 national federations including France,Brazil, England…

Nell Fortner is a former basketball player and now coach. As a player she went to the University of Texas and led them to the #1 National ranking and played for the USA. As a coach she has over 40 years of coaching experience at high school, college, pro and international level. The highlights of her career are a Big Ten champion (1997) and a SEC c…

Today’s episode is on the topic of Leadership Identity and we are joined for the discussion by Allister McCaw, Alistair is that rare person who excels across disciplines and industries. In addition to being an author who has sold over 300,000 books, his podcast ranks in the top 1% in the world, and for the last 25 years he has also consulted and wo…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Al Scates. Al is a former American volleyball player and volleyball coach. As a player, he was selected as a collegiate All American, and also represented the USA National Team. He transitioned into coaching in 1964, and went on to be the head coach of UCLA for 48 years. He went on to become the winningest volleyb…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Bill Sweetenham. Bill is an Australian swimming coach, who first started training athletes in the 1970’s in the rural Australian town of Mount Isa. His coaching career progressed quickly and he coached at his first Olympian in 1976. His swimmers have delivered 27 Olympic and World Championship medals and have brok…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Barry Dancer. Barry Dancer is a is a former Australian field hockey player and coach of Australian men's national field hockey team. As a player he competed in 48 international matches for Australia between 1973 and 1979. he was a member of the men's hockey team that won a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics.…

Today’s episode is on the topic of Mindset as a superpower, and we are joined for the discussion by Allister McCaw, Alistair is that rare person who excels across disciplines and industries. In addition to being an author who has sold over 300,000 books, his podcast ranks in the top 1% in the world, and for the last 25 years he has also consulted a…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Shane Beamer. Shane is an American Football Coach. He started as a coach in 2000 after finishing as player with Virginia Tech. He then held positions with the University of Tennessee, Mississippi State, the University of Georgia and then University of Oklahoma where they won 3 Big 12 Championships. He was then app…

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of having a Billion Dollar Mind And my good friend and co-host Jonathan Cole who is himself an Executive Coach are joined by the great tennis coach Rick Macci, who has worked with players like Venus and Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova Andy Roddick, and Jennifer Capriati. He is also a 7 times USPTA national c…

Gail Goestenkors is a former All American player and Coach. At just 29 years of age she was appointed as Head Coach of the Duke Womens program and led them for 15 seasons including 4 final fours and 2 national runners up. She was the ACC coach of the year on 7 occasions, and on 3 occasions led the team to undefeated regular seasons. She has also le…

Jess Thirlby is a former England netballer and now coach. As a player she represented England in youth teams all the way to the senior team. She began coaching England National Youth teams while still a player and then retired at 26 to take up coaching full time. She went on to lead Bath to 3 super league titles and in 2019 was appointed England He…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Alan McConnel. Alan is a former Australian Rules Football and now coach. In 1996 he was appointed as the coach of the Fitzroy Football club for the final 8 games in their 113 year history before they were merged with the team who were then known as the Brisbane Bears. After Fitzroy he joined Geelong under Mark Tho…

Today’s episode is focuses on the topic of 2 great soccer coaches Jose Mourihno and Arsene Wenger, and its led byDr David Turner David at Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge in the UK. We unpack the background of both coaches and how it shaped who their style, critical incidents in their careers and the key lessons that come out o…

Andrej Lemanis is a former professional basketball player and now coach. As a player he won the Australian National championship with the South East Melbourne Magic in 1992. He then transitioned into coaching holding various assistant roles until he was appointed head coach of the New Zealand Breakers in 2005. That team would ultimately go on to wi…

Today’s Episode is on the topic of Chasing Influence. And I am joined for the discussion by my friend Murray Noble who is the President of the Melbourne Baseball club and Dr Troy Urdhal who has just written a terrific book called Chasing Influence. The books is half story and half reflection on his learning as an educator and coach, with a deep-roo…

Our Great Coach on this episode is Glenn Pocknall Glenn is a cricket coach with over 20 years experience at the elite level. He started coaching in 2002, learning through coaching youth representative teams. He eventually joined the Wellington Firebirds in the New Zealand National league as an Assistant coach. He then went to England, Ireland and t…

Today’s episode focuses on the topic of Legendary Coaches and I am joined for the discussion by Dr David Turner at Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching at ARU in Cambridge in the UK, and Valorie Kondos Field, universally known as Ms Val. Both have been on the podcast before Dr David in his role as a leading academic on coaching and Ms Val as a Great C…

Sir Matt Busby was the Head Coach or as they say in Soccer, Manager, for Manchester United from 1945 until 1969. He was the first manager of an English team to win the European Cup which he did in 1968. As a player he won the FA cup with Manchester City and as Manager, won it twice. He also won the League title on 5 occasions. But as you will hear …

Todays episode is on Emotional Control And I am joined for the discussion by 3 Dr’s. Dr. Michael Mantell who among many things has been the Chief Psychologist for San Diego’s Children’s Hospital and the San Diego Police Department, as well as working with elite athletes. Website: https://drmichaelmantell.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d…

Linn Dunn is an American basketball coach. She coached for 25 seasons at the college level, winning 447 games and going to the NCAA championships on 7 occasions. She then went on to be first coach and GM of the Seattle Storm in the WNBA, bringing superstars Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird into the team. In 2009 she was then appointed head coach of the …

In this podcast we explore the Leadership traits that we have found from analyzing the transcripts of the 200+ Great Coaches we have interviewed. If you would like to test your leadership against theres you can take our free, anonymous diagnostic here: https://thegreatcoachespodcast.com/survey-intro/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more …

Ante Milicic is an Australian soccer Coach and former professional player. As a player he represented Australia and won National Championships and was the first player to score a hat-trick in the A-League. After retiring he moved in to coaching straight away with becoming player/coach for Sydney United in 2009. At the same time he became an Assista…

Brian Bohannon is an American Football coach. He started as an Assistant with Gardner-Webb in 1996, and then over the next 17 seasons progressed through roles with Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech. In 2014 he started as the inaugural Head Coach for Kennesaw State. That team has gone on to become the the best five-year start-up program in col…

This week, my co-presenter the gold medal winning coach Hugh McCutcheon and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with the American Football coach Mike Bloomgren. Mike started his career in 2000 as a graduate assistant and the the University of Alabama.. He then held various assistant roles before starting at the New York Jets in 2007. From …

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I are joined by Kevin Eastman. Kevin is an American Basketball coach. He started coaching in 1978 progressing through assistant roles to become the Head coach of Belmont Abbey College. He then went on to lead the lead Washington State University and then the University of North Carolina Wilmington. In…

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with Shane Mcleod. Shane is a former New Zealand hockey player and now coach. He transitioned into coaching while still playing, and coached teams in Europe before becoming the Belgium Women’s team coach in 2002. In 2007 he moved back to New Zealand and led…

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with Ben Darwin. Ben is a former Australian Rugby Union player who represented his country 28 times. He retired at the age of 27 after a neck injury and moved in to coaching before co-founding Gain Line Analytics, a company that has uses empirical analysis …

This week my co-host, Professor Eric Knight and I continue our exploration of Thriving Teams with the Great Coach Jill McIntosh Jill McIntosh is a former Australian National netball player and team coach. As a player she won the 1983 World Championship and then coached the national team to the championship in 1995 and 1999, as well as gold medals a…

In 2022 we were talking with 2 of the great coaches we have interviewed over a coffee, Eddie Jones and Neil Craig, as we got up to leave they challenged with an idea; so many sports coaches have models to illustrate what they think high performing teams do, why not compare them against what the coaches you are interviewing are saying? It was an int…

Liam is a former Irish Hurling player and now Coach. Liam played 13 senior games with Tipperary over 10 years. He retired in 1999 and in 2002 began coaching Tipperary youth teams. In 2007 he was appointed senior coach, and in 2010 he led to team to their 26th All Ireland Victory. Liam then took a year break from coaching at the highest level to spe…