A Coach's Diary

“It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being good every day.” - Willie Mays Are you someone who shows up and performs every day, or do you show up and perform only when you feel like it? I’m in the airport ready to fly home from our final AAU tournament of the season—I just finished another season as the head coach of a NIKE EYBL basketball team. I believe this is the toughest, most competitive league in the country. Four times a season, you have to play a 5 or 6 game schedule against some of the toughest teams and players in the country. We tell our athletes to be the best, you have to be able to put together great weekends, not just a great game. Then you have to be able to put together a great season, not just one great weekend. You have to be consistently great if you want to be the best. Willie Mays was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He once said, “It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What’s tough is being go...

“My message always is: No matter where you are from, no matter what past you have, it is all about your future and your goals.” - Shelley-Ann Frazier-Pryce Do you focus more on your past and what has happened to you—or your future and what could happen? The nature vs. nurture debate has been around for years in psychology, biology, and education. At its core, it asks this question: What shapes who we are—our genetics or our environment? Nature suggests that much of who we are is built into our biology and inherited traits. Nurture says our experiences, culture, upbringing, and relationships shape our identity. Which one do you believe has the biggest impact on who you are? Shelly‑Ann Fraser‑Pryce, a Jamaican sprinting legend, once said: “No matter where you are from, no matter what past you have, it is all about your future and your goals.” Whether you believe in nature or nurture—or both—you still have the power to shape tomorrow. Yes, your past matters. Where you’re from, your...

  “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” - Pat Riley Do you know what excellence is or means? Excellence is the commitment to consistently doing your best—and then finding ways to raise that standard over time. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about being better than others. It’s about being better than you were yesterday. Pat Riley is one of the most respected and successful figures in basketball history—known not only for his championships, but also for his leadership, culture-building, and fierce competitive mindset. He once said, “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” Excellence isn’t a one-time act or a sudden breakthrough—it’s a long-term byproduct of consistently choosing to improve. You don’t wake up excellent—you become excellent. It’s not about perfection or talent—it’s about the daily mindset of asking, “How can I be a little better today?”  Every small choice to work harder, refine a skill, or lear...

  “Discipline is doing what you’re supposed to do, the way it’s supposed to be done, when it’s supposed to be done.” - Nick Saban Do you have the discipline to do the things you don’t want to do and avoid the things you do want to do? Discipline is doing what you’re supposed to do, the way it’s supposed to be done, when it’s supposed to be done. When asked what his secret was for winning 7 national championships, legendary football Coach Nick Saban said, “People have goals and aspirations to do things, and you have to help them define what they need to do to accomplish those goals and how they have to edit their behavior to be able to do it. And then, show them that they have to have the discipline to execute it every day, which is probably the hardest part.” He then says we make hundreds of decisions every day that come down to 2 questions: Are you willing and able to do what you know you are supposed to do — especially when you don’t want to do it, and are you willing and able to...

“I’ve learned that when you push yourself in uncomfortable states for long enough, they become comfortable.” - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone  When things get uncomfortable, do you lean in and keep going, or do you quit? I really don’t like running — especially running miles — but my college coach loved them. At least once a week, we ran timed miles, with sprint work on the other days. I hated it. I wasn’t fast, and I couldn’t run long, so I was miserable. It hurt, and I couldn’t keep up with a lot of my teammates. But then something happened: I got faster. I could run longer. After a month of sticking with it, the workouts started to feel easier. Well, not easy — but easier. That’s when I learned something valuable: if you lean in and keep showing up, discomfort becomes strength. When you stick with it and push through, you grow, and what once felt impossible starts to feel possible. Sydney McLaughlin‑Levrone is a US track and field superstar, widely regarded as the greatest female 400...

“Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve got to be confident when you’re competing. You’ve got to be a confident player. That comes from preparation.” - Peyton Manning  How do you handle pressure? Do you thrive in it, or do you melt in it? When I was growing up, coaches would say, “Pressure can bust pipes or make diamonds.” How you respond to it can either break you or bring out the best in you. Under too much stress, some people get overwhelmed, panic, shut down, or fall apart. Others grow stronger, sharper, and more focused, and rise to the challenge. Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks of all time. He said, “Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing. You’ve got to be confident when you’re competing. You’ve got to be a confident player. That comes from preparation.” The times when I feel more confident are the times when I’m most prepared, so prepare relentlessly. Know what success looks like and what you ...

“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” - Natalie Coughlin Do you believe in yourself? When is it hardest for you to believe in yourself, and what helps you push through it? Natalie Coughlin is one of the most accomplished swimmers in U.S. history. She’s a twelve‑time Olympic medalist—winning 3 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze medals across the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Games. She once said, “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” But how? Where does that belief and confidence in yourself come from? Self-belief isn’t about arrogance. It’s about trust—trusting your preparation, your effort, your character, and your ability to grow. It comes from showing up, doing the work, learning through failure, and proving to yourself that you can keep going. Belief isn’t built in one moment. It’s built over time, through moments. Coughlin also said, “Success is not about being the best. It’s about b...

  “If you have a service, story, or a product that helps people, it is your responsibility to make yourself visible to those people because every single day that goes by that you’re not making yourself visible to the people that you can help is another day that those people are going to follow someone else.” - Jen Gottlieb Do you let the fear of what other people think of you hold you back? Jen Gottlieb is a speaker and best-selling author. She says, “If you have a service, story, or a product that helps people, it is your responsibility to make yourself visible to those people because every single day that goes by that you’re not making yourself visible to the people that you can help is another day that those people are going to follow someone else.” She’s big on social media and encourages people to boldly share their stories and messages with the world — but this also applies to leaders and athletes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen great athletes and potential leaders...

“The formula for success is simple: practice and concentration then more practice and more concentration.” - Babe Didrikson Zaharias How strong is your concentration? Babe Didrikson Zaharias redefined the boundaries of athletic possibility. She excelled in virtually everything: track & field, basketball (All-American 1930–1932), baseball (she even pitched in Major League Spring Training), swimming, diving, billiards, bowling, and more. She even helped co-found the Ladies Professional Golf Association, or LPGA. Babe was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year six times between 1932 and 1954, the “Female Athlete of the Half Century” in 1950, and the “greatest female athlete of the 20th century” by the Associated Press. How? Babe said, Practice and concentration. She said, “The formula for success is simple: practice and concentration then more practice and more concentration.” She also said, “Luck? Sure. But only after long practice and only with the ability to think un...

“Have the mindset of: Coach me, Coach. I want to be coached.” - Vontrell King-Williams Do you take tough coaching personally, or do you want to be coached? When talking to a group of high school athletes, college football coach Vontrell King-Williams explains that he is a demanding, fiery coach and tells them to never take tough coaching personally. He says, “When I’m coaching you hard, your response should be, ‘Yes sir, Coach,’” and you should always have great body language. Coach King-Williams shared a story about watching one of his top recruits at practice. Because the recruit’s body language was so bad, he stopped recruiting him. He said he couldn’t take the kid because he didn’t have the time to coddle him and baby him — they have games to win. He said the recruit will still get offers to other schools, but he limited his options because of bad energy, a bad attitude, and bad body language. Coach King-Williams then said, “It ain’t never personal. Have the mindset of: Coach...

“The only way you can grow is to push yourself out of your comfort zone.” - Laila Ali When was the last time you did something hard? My 3 daughters play sports, and they go to a trainer in the summertime. Today, one of them said, “The workout was sooo hard because we had to run sooo much.” As she was telling me this, I was looking up quotes from former boxing champion Laila Ali. She was the daughter of legend Muhammad Ali, but she made a name for herself, finishing her boxing career with a perfect 24-0 record. The quote that I came across from her was, “The only way you can grow is to push yourself out of your comfort zone.” I shared the quote with my kids and said, “If you want to  grow — whether as an athlete, a leader, or a person— you have to be willing to do things that stretch you, like running harder, further, or longer than you are used to. Staying in your comfort zone might feel safe and easy, but it keeps you stagnant and stuck in the same place. Growth happens when...