It's fun to contemplate how rowing experience affects people in later life. Peter Amram, who majored in classics at Brown became a Latin teacher at Wheeler girls' school in Providence. After Vic Michalson asked him to coach the first Brown women's crews a very precocious oarswoman named Phoebe Manzella noted that Peter laced his practices with classical references. Which no doubt made his crews go fast like Atalanta, associated with Diana and best runner in antiquity and certainly faster than any man. But if Atalanta did temporarily fade in a race, when she caught up with the man she speared him.

There are all kinds of stories about Atalanta and in the long history of crew at Brown University too. Atalanta was a clinker-built six-oared shell so heavy that Brown had little chance against Harvard, Yale or anybody else. But the lethargic movement of The Atalanta did not stop anybody from naming the Dartmouth-Brown race spittoon trophy The Atalanta Cup. We miss its handsome rivets.

Tasker and Whitey with the Atalanta Cup Dartmouth, Hanover April 1960

See how alive John Taskforce is. And how Whitey looks like Steve McQueen. And how the Cup has a groove in it just like the porcupine.

Not only was the cup stolen by a workman during a renovation of the Hunter Marston boathouse but it is very hard in general to give Atalanta her due. A prime reason is that computers are determined to change her name to "Atlanta."

Eventually Phoebe Manzella would marry John Murphy, a fellow oarsman of Steve Gladstone at Washington-Lee HS's great rival the Kent School.

All of these people, men's coach Steve, women's coach John, and women's freshmen coach Phoebe became a multi-decades coaching team that won/win national championships for Brown.

George Baum-- he spawned two sons taller than himself one of whom assumed command and saved lives when the Stanford varsity sank. This noble son then rowed for Oxford which was beating Cambridge until a drunken Brit swimmer out in the Thames (the Tems-- does not rhyme with James) got in the way and the Oxford coxswain decided to stop.

Marshmallow Basketball joined one boat club after another and rowed and rowed.

Phil Makanna confused racing shells with vintage airplanes and became the premier airborne photographer in the world. The brightest fire in Phil's photos and films however is the background landscape.

Although Bill Engeman's two sons made the national lightweight crew, he still gave them trouble in a single scull well into his fifties.

While living east of Cincinnati and wanting a place to shelter his single, Bill noticed that the Army Corps of Engineers had plans to turn Harsha Creek into Harsha Lake. At last count there were ten boathouses on the shores and a thriving high school program drawing crews from all over the Midwest.

Philadelphia - 1960. Fedallah (Melville). Bill Engeman is as smooth an oarsman as ever was.

The biggest thing though was that he and Steve Gladstone and Harry Parker solved American rowing's age-old dilemma of not having a proper national championship in that the IRA (three miles) and Yale-Harvard (four miles) usually happened the same day.

The Cincinnati Regatta became the national men's championship for more than a decade until the men's and women's national rowing organizations took over. Yale and Harvard now row 2000 meters in the IRA and their traditional four-mile race in another week. Strangely or not, the longer distance never seems to hurt them for the shorter one.

Bill brought the best women to Cincinnati too, which helped shame the Royal Henley Regatta over in England into finally giving women their prominent place.

I was helping Bill with the Cincinnati Regatta once when too many reporters boarded the press boat so that it sank halfway through the race. But I was in a different boat closer to the action and got a first-hand story for the Brown Alumni Magazine.

I had been crew coach at West Virginia University on the Monongahela River and Skidmore College on Saratoga Lake.

I left other careers to go to WVU. I got the job with a timely application. The previous coach had taken the WVU women out at six a.m. in a fog bank.

The women looked up and saw a tugboat pulling a string of coal barges ten feet away.

The coxswain screamed "Row!" and the stroke her sister screamed "Swim!" and everybody swam.

The tugboat cut their wooden Kaschper in half. As the propeller went by it sucked off the women's pants. Subsequent litigation charged embarrassment, also that the tugboat's whistle didn't work. From the settlement the crews got a new Kaschper and the old one back perfectly repaired and other stuff too.

No one was hurt, drowned or killed. I got the job, gave the women to my assistant John Bancheri who went on to Marietta and then a Dad Vail Championship for the women at Grand Valley State.

Both John and I had winning seasons that first year although the men's 7-man, defying instructions spent the night before the Dad Vail with his Philadelphia girlfriend.

Caught in heavy traffic the next morning on Strawberry Mansion Bridge he looked down at the Schuylkill and saw WVU, who had recruited a WVU graduate substitute last minute from Vesper Boat Club racing underneath on the water.

WVU beat enough other boats to qualify for the semifinals but I considered the behavior of my crew criminal and turned them in. A highlight of that year was when Charlie Butt drove west from Langley, Virginia at a constant rate of 55 mph to help us out for a few days.

I coached one more year, both men and women this time. The Skidmore men-- without a huge pool to choose from-- won a few races but didn't do terribly well. The Skidmore women however, called "The Pulchra-crew" because of their great physical beauty, rowed at 28 strokes per minute in a 2000-meter race to upset St. John's and win the open championship of New York City, which was called "The Mets."

We, the Brown Cinderella Crew, are passing a pier on the Severn River in Annapolis. The old fisherman up top calls down to us.

"You guys look pretty good," he says. "But you'll never beat Tuskegee."

This is the final chapter of row2k's serialization of FOUR YEARS AT FOUR. A very limited edition of the original coffee table version was published by GHOSTS books and calendars in San Francisco. Members of the Cinderella Crew paid for the design, publication and shipping. The book was written and prepared for them. One can see a preview at BLURB through this link: Four Years at Four. Any image that appears can be clicked upon or swiped across. All the pages will fan open electronically one at a time.

Philip Makanna began his career in aviation at the age of six making model airplanes in his parents' basement. He took a few years off and majored in Crew at Brown University. When he was a little older he got an assignment from WOMEN'S SPORTS MAGAZINE to go to Reno. There he met a few of the old airplanes and some of the dreams that he grew up with. Those moments in Reno grew to become his first book, GHOSTS, A TIME REMEMBERED, which was published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston in New York in 1978. Makanna has since published nine GHOSTS books the most recent of which is GHOSTS - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY. He and his wife Jeanie have published his GHOSTS calendars for 43 years. See more at https://ghosts.com/

John Escher thanks to mentors at Brown got to study fiction for a year with William Golding at Hollins College in Virginia during the popularity phenomenon of LORD OF THE FLIES.

Eschers four Kindle books include a novel, THE PURSE MAKERS CLASP, and a political book, THE LAST WORDS OF RICHARD HOLBROOKE. Because of new ideas, he has disavowed the technical information in two tennis books, A NEW YEARS SERVE and INNER SLINGSHOT. One of his proudest writing achievements is the official guide to a major American cult classic. Pamphlet title: THE MYSTERIES OF SHOOT THE WHALE, A FILM BY PHILIP MAKANNA.

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Book Excerpt: Ch. 24, Later Life- the Final Chapter of Four Years at Four, by John Escher - row2k.com

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Over the past five years, every now and then, Mack Brown would ask Gene Chizik a version of the same question.

"Are you ready to coach again?"

Brown asked it four years ago, before he got back into coaching at North Carolina. At the time, Chizik told him he was not ready just yet. Then in spring 2021, when Chizik had a few opportunities come his way, Brown told him, "You've got to decide if you want to coach again."

Chizik had a simple reply.

"I do," he told Brown. "I've got one more in me."

Neither knew in that moment that "one more" meant reuniting with Brown, under whom he had served as defensive coordinator at Texas in 2005 and 2006. They remained close friends over the years, whether Chizik was head coach at Auburn or defensive coordinator at UNC or a TV analyst.

But when Brown called him in January, he asked him that same familiar question, only with a little added weight: "Are you interested in coaching again?"

It did not take long for Chizik to say yes, bringing him back to the Tar Heels for a second stint as assistant head coach for defense and defensive coordinator.

Ten minutes after hanging up, Brown got another call from Chizik. Puzzled, Brown picked up.

"I need to tell Jonna that I'm going to do this," Chizik told him, referring to his wife.

Brown chuckles recalling the story. It certainly seems providential that Chizik decided now was the right time to return to coaching after spending the past five years as a college football analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network.

As a result, Chizik became one of the most notable assistant coaching hires of the entire offseason.

"It had to be the perfect scenario, the perfect fit," Chizik said. "Because I could be choosy if I was going to do this again. This was the singular fit that made the most sense. If I was going to be a coordinator somewhere, I had to be with somebody that I knew and that I understood. I was not willing to roll the dice with somebody else."

Chizik last coached in 2016, a lifetime ago considering all the changes that have happened across the board in college football, from the transfer portal to NIL. When he walked away from North Carolina after two years as defensive coordinator back then, he truly did not know whether he would coach again.

But he fielded phone calls every single offseason with job offers.

"Every year for the last five," he said of the offers. "Now as you start getting into Year 4 and Year 5, and they realize that you're really kind of retired and you're not coming back, there became less [calls], but I said no to every one of them because they had to be perfect for me."

That includes interest from the new USFL team the Birmingham Stallions earlier this year. Chizik confirmed in January he had several discussions about joining as a head coach, including one roughly two days before the official announcement stating he would return to North Carolina. Again, here is the familiar refrain when it comes to the Tar Heels -- perfect fit.

In a few short months, Chizik has reacquainted himself with what he missed so much: The teaching, the competitiveness, the ability to have an impact on the young men he coaches. (Definitely not the sleepless nights).

On a personal level, though, the experience this time around will be totally different. Though Chizik cited family reasons when he stepped away in 2016, few knew how difficult the situation had become on everyone in his family.

It started at Auburn, where Chizik was head coach from 2009 to 2012. When Chizik took the job, he promised his three kids they would never have to move again -- no matter what.

After he was fired following the 2012 season, they all stayed in Auburn so the kids could stay in school and keep their lives as normal as possible. Chizik stayed, too, and worked as an analyst at ESPN until then-North Carolina coach Larry Fedora called and offered him the defensive coordinator job in 2015.

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Chizik knew the only way he could accept would be to live alone in Chapel Hill, while his family stayed behind. Fedora agreed to allow him to commute back to Alabama whenever the schedule allowed. Chizik got an apartment 15 minutes away from the football facility. Though they visited and FaceTimed whenever possible, the stress over living away from his family for two years took an increasingly heavy toll.

"I'll never forget, I was on the bus after we played Stanford in the bowl game in El Paso, and you have time to reflect, and I remember going, 'You know what? It's time for me to go home.' That's when I made the decision," Chizik said.

His twin daughters, Landry and Kennedy, were headed to Auburn, and he missed their senior year of high school. His youngest son, Cally, had sustained a neck injury during football practice, a moment that made Chizik reevaluate everything. Though Cally never asked for his father to be around more, Chizik sensed he needed to be there as a father.

"It's really important for your family to be there watching you play," Chizik said. "I know that when I went to his football games, one of the first things he did is he always looked up to see where we were sitting. I just wanted to be a dad and enjoy that part of his life and let him know it meant enough for me to realize I am not there enough for him. I wanted to be there for him.

"For two years, we did the best we could. But when you reflect on basically not being there, on things that are really important, which is baseball and football and all the other things, dances and proms, it is different when you're not coming home to the same house every night. Completely different."

Chizik felt at peace with his decision, understanding one reality: He might not ever coach again. So he returned to television work and went to support his kids, turning down the opportunities that came his way.

But now that he is back, he and his wife have already bought a home and she will live with him in Chapel Hill for the first time. Cally is a cornerback at Furman and his daughters are settled in with their own lives. With the off-the-field concerns squared away, Chizik can focus on his new team. There is plenty of work ahead for the UNC defense, which struggled to tackle and prevent big plays in a 2021 season that did not go as planned.

The Tar Heels gave up 6.1 yards per play last season -- ranking in the bottom third among all FBS teams. North Carolina has given up fewer than 400 yards per game over the course of an entire season only once in the past five years.

Stacks of binders lined Chizik's office in the spring, because there is plenty of reacquainting to do. But Chizik also knew if he was going to take this job, he would have to bring in Charlton Warren, with whom he had grown close during his first stint with North Carolina.

Warren had moved up the coaching ranks after leaving the Tar Heels, and was the defensive coordinator at Indiana when Chizik called. Warren agreed to leave a job as the sole defensive coordinator to take a job as co-defensive coordinator for the opportunity to work with Chizik again.

The two had no previous history when Chizik interviewed him in 2015 for a job as defensive backs coach, but the job interview itself established the foundation of their relationship. They met early one morning in Atlanta, in a nondescript building in an industrial complex so they could keep the interview under wraps.

For eight hours, it was just Warren, Chizik and a white board. Chizik not only asked Warren to run through plays, he asked him to explain every scenario he drew up. The more they talked, the more they bonded.

That bond remained after Chizik stepped away. Chizik called Warren frequently to go over concepts and plays -- including hours-long Zoom calls going over specific details from games to new concepts that he was running.

"You don't study and meet if you aren't going to coach again," Warren said. "The depth he went into, the detail, the notes. He'd go visit NFL teams. I knew eventually he would become a football coach again."

Without question, this is a big season for North Carolina as it heads into Year 4 under Brown. What appeared to be a program on an upward trajectory -- with a preseason ranking at No. 10 a year ago -- hit a setback after instead going 6-7, with an entire team that underperformed.

Despite losing starting quarterback Sam Howell, there are talented players returning -- especially on defense, with a deep group along the defensive line and in the secondary.

"I think we can play really good on defense because we're talented," Brown said. "We're young still. We made too many mistakes last year. We had too many penalties, and too many missed tackles. We're going to make sure that we don't give up as many explosive plays, because sometimes we played great. That's what got me. It's my fault when you have a team that can play great, but they don't. That's my job, and that's why I felt like a failure. We've got better players than our record. We're not going to do that again."

The goal, of course, is to make it to the ACC championship game, something that has eluded Brown to date. As it happens, there is an assistant head coach on staff with ACC championship game experience: Chizik.

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Gene Chizik's return to coaching was inspired by a 'perfect fit' with Mack Brown and North Carolina - ESPN

Call it a transition for two former LSU athletes who are headed in different directions.

Rodney Brown, a Tiger All-American in the discus, has resigned as head track and field coach at Catholic High, just one month after leading the Bears to the Class 5A title.

Meanwhile, former LSU basketball point guard Jeanne Kenney is returning to her alma mater, St. Michael, for a second stint as girls basketball coach.

At this point, I just want to be closer to my family, said Brown, a Chappell Hill, Texas, native. Telling the guys was one of the toughest things I have had to do. But I know they will be fine.

The 29-year-old Brown was picked to succeed legendary coach Pete Boudreaux, who retired from coaching track and field after the 2019 season but remains as the schools cross country coach.

Browns first spring season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bears hit on all cylinders in 2022, placing second in Division I indoors and winning the 5A outdoor title. Brown set an LSU school record in the discus in 2015 and went on to compete internationally.

Kenney, who helped St. Michael win two LHSAA Class 4A titles as a player, previously coached the Warriors from 2017-2020. She spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant at Utah State, then moved to Appalachian State for the 2021-22 season as an assistant.

In addition to coaching, Kenney will serve as an assistant athletic director and will chair the physical education department.

Of course, being home is always a draw, Kenney said. When I think back on it, as many times as I try moving away, I keep staying home.

I did the college gig, which was very interesting. A lot of people say youre going back to your old job. But I am thankful to have positioned myself to have added responsibilities. That was a big draw for me because my masters is in sports administration.

West Feliciana has hired former Zachary High star and assistant coach Morris Wright as its new boys basketball coach.

The Saints, who will move up to Class 4A this year, hired assistant coach Hatem Bachar as the new girls track coach. Bachar was previously an LSU assistant and was head coach at Christian Life. He also is the girls soccer coach atWest Feliciana.

St. Josephs Academy made three key staffing moves for 2022-23. Erin Hart, previously an assistant athletic director at Catholic High, is the Redstickers new athletic director. Dorinda Beaumont, the previousSt. Josephs Academy AD, moves into the assistant athletic directors role.

Ali Buchart, the school's assistant swimming coach, is the new head swimming coach. Jimmy Roberts, an assistant coach at Catholic for the past 10 years, is the newSt. Josephs Academy assistant swimming coach.

After one season at Livonia, John Michael Collins has been hired as head baseball coach at St. John.

The Advocate's 2022 Boys Athlete of the Year, Ascension Catholic's Bryce Leonard, committed to play baseball at Northwestern State. Leonard's twin, Brooks, also committed to the Demons.

Former Catholic High and LSU star Josh Smith has been a real hit since getting called up by the Texas Rangers last week. Smith has played third base and was hitting .417 through Fridays action.

Parkway High girls basketball standout Mikaylah Williams was selected for the USA Basketball womens under-17 team this week. She will play in the World Cup from July 9-17.

East Ascension track athletes Sahnya Lathon (Southern) and Sydney Johnson (Fisk) are among the areas recent college signees.

Lathon has personal bests of 37-8 in the triple jump and 5-4 in the high jump. Johnson has bests of 116-1 in the javelin and 59.48 in the 400 meters.

St. John is seeking a volleyball coach for the 2022 season. The Class 1A-Division V school lists the position as one that could be full-time with teaching duties or a nonfaculty certified part-time.

Contact athletic director Cindy Prouty at (225) 333-6389 or send an email to cprouty@stjohnschool.education.

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Prep notes: One ex-LSU standout resigns as coach while another returns to former post - The Advocate

The most profound comment Ive ever heard in 25 years covering college football came from Greg Schiano. There are two things every man in America thinks he can do, the Rutgers coach once told me. Work a grill and coach football.

I think I can make a pretty tasty steak. Im also wise enough to realize I really cant coach football. Lord knows Ive done enough fly-on-the-wall access pieces over the years where Ive glazed over after 45 minutes of trying to keep up in a defensive staff room. Id been an assistant coach on my sons teams the previous two seasons, and thats been more about helping run practices and getting kids lined up. The head coach came up with the plays and decided which ones to call in the game.

My son, Ben, a second-grader, is obsessed with football. He devours NFL Films pieces and any game highlights he can find. And since I still havent gotten over my own parents forcing me to shut off Monday Night Football after the first quarter throughout my childhood, Ive given him a lot of leeway when it comes to his football watching.

Hes played in our local 8-on-8 league for three seasons and has loved it. The league, which allows for blocking and line play, has a bunch of plays nullified by penalties or dropped snaps. When I heard there was an NFL flag league 20 minutes away that was 5-on-5 and had more passing, I wanted him to try it. We knew one kid in the league from his soccer team, and that kids dad said their coach was great. After trading emails, we were set to join the team. But a few days later, the league sent an email saying it needed more head coaches. I ignored it, as I did the second email, but then came a third if the league didnt get more coaches, it might have to drop 20 kids.

And so begins the story of a dad me who was a reluctant youth football coach who took a careers worth of Xs-and-Os lessons, mantras and rants to a pee-wee league to truly learn what I actually do and dont know about the sport I cover.

I really did not want to be a head coach. It was a new league for us, with different rules. Who were the kids? Where would we find a practice field? Questions Id let other people deal with in the past. But I offered to do it. A player draft was scheduled the following Tuesday.

A few weeks after sign-up, the league had held its combine. Similar to the NFL, the players were measured by height and weight. In the NFL, players run a 40-yard dash. In pee-wee NFL, they run a 30. How far a kid can throw a football is also tracked.

My son didnt participate in the combine. We went, but after waiting in line for an hour, we left. My son was part of about a third of the 80 kids registered in Bens division of first- and second-graders without combine info. Ben had also been in a baseball league, and I knew of a half-dozen other kids signed up from that league. I jotted down another half-dozen names with fast 30 times.

I went to the draft with 11 kids circled. I met the other seven coaches. But it wasnt really a draft like I knew. Before we started, the commissioner went around the table and asked which kids the coaches already had lined up kids previously on their teams or, in the case of two kids on my list, who were friends with someone on their teams. One dad rattled off the numbers designating all of the baseball kids I had on my list. Suddenly, I was down to one of my 11.

Thats when the draft actually began. I had the third pick. I spotted a kid who had one of the eight fastest 30-yard times and was one of the heaviest kids on the list. Sold.

The commissioner pointed out that my first pick also has a brother and I would be taking him too. He was about the same weight but didnt run nearly as fast. I assumed they were twins. The rest of the draft moved slowly. Half of the kids I picked didnt have any measurements listed. One of the fastest players I drafted was Ava, the only girl in the league.

Driving home, it dawned on me: My first pick was the same height as my son, but 40 pounds heavier, and yet ran around what I thought my son wouldve been timed. Hmmm.

Three days later, the Pee-Wee Rams had our first practice. My first pick and his brother showed up early. They werent twins. My first pick was a kindergartner, the younger brother of a second-grader. I soon realized his 30-time was probably a typo. We had only six kids show up. The one other kid I knew from our previous league was out of town, but his dad said he could help coach. I didnt realize this going in, but we had a lot of younger kids. In the other sports leagues my son has played in, it was all kids in the same grade. In this league, it was first- and second-graders plus our kindergartener.

Half our team was in first grade or kindergarten, which meant this was the first exposure to football for most of them. We practiced flag-pulling drills and I showed them one play I had drawn up on an index card. It had three receivers on one side. One receiver would run a go-route. The inside receiver would run an out-route. The outside receiver would go last and run a slant, hopefully getting open in the defenses confusion with the crisscrossing. For about 20 minutes, the only confusion was our players trying not to run into each other. We repped that play 30 times. We didnt leave until we had each kid do something right that we highlighted.

My son was excited after practice because he ran circles around the rest of our team. But on the way home, I kept thinking we might get blown off the field by these other teams what if my kid ends up losing his love for football? Another parent I know had told me of a bad experience his son had with a wreck of a team that seemed to gut his boy.

I thought about that all night.

I never heard from one of the kids Id drafted, and the dad of another kid said his son wouldnt be able to play because it was too far away. My best hope was to add another player. I knew a college coach who just moved his family to Los Angeles. Id met his son before; he was a first-grader, but hed grown up around football and his parents were former college athletes. I didnt know if hed played before, but on his moms Instagram, Id seen him smashing home runs in T-ball. The next morning, I called his dad, who said check with his wife.

We were in luck. Kannon was in.

Our first game was eight days away. I figured we should get in an extra practice since the dad from the team Ben was supposed to be on told me theyd already scrimmaged another team. I Googled some youth football plays but reasoned thats probably what a lot of the teams were running, so I thought about some of the stuff the college coaches I know did and then tried to kid-ify them.

Mike Leachs go-to Air-Raid play 92 made sense. Years earlier, Id co-wrote Leachs book, Swing Your Sword, and in it he shared a story of staying at his buddy Peter Berg, the filmmakers house. Over breakfast, Berg asked Leach for help with his kids team. Run a bunch of crossing routes, Leach implored. Little kids get confused easily. Leach said Bergs team won a championship. I was just hoping itd help us be competitive. I also wanted to incorporate Wake Forests Slow Mesh because it gives defenses fits since it messes with their patience.

I scheduled practices on Monday and Friday. We divided practice into four segments: warm-ups (catching the ball and stretching), flag-pulling, repping a few plays that Id drawn up and sprints.

The rules of the league: All players are eligible receivers. Only one player can rush the quarterback and that player has to start from 10 yards behind the line. The field is 40 yards by 40 yards. On the first play in our first game, against the Chiefs, we gave up a 30-yard run in part because I didnt understand how I should align our defenders. We were 10 yards off the line. Bad idea. Our kids, though, responded by making a goal-line stand. On offense, we hit some big plays. Kannon scored twice, weaving through the defense. Then we tried the Slow Mesh. The delayed timing of it confused a few of their defenders. Our running back found an opening and ran 35 yards for another touchdown. We had an 18-12 lead late in the game, which I almost blew. An outside run I called near our own goal line turned into a safety.

Fortunately, we hung on to win, 18-14. The kids and their parents were downright giddy. I kept thinking my stupid play call couldve cost us the game. Regardless, we werent going to be winless!

The following Sunday, we faced the 49ers. When they came out at the coin toss, I saw they had plays diagrammed on their wristbands. They all have wristbands?!

On the first play of the game, we gave up a 35-yard touchdown run because of a zone that had been vacated. Clearly, an issue, we, er, I hadnt fixed.

Offensively, our kids understood what I was asking them to do from the play cards. We added to the Slow Mesh. My son had watched dozens of Wake Forest plays so he had a feel for it, other than the quarterbacks Butt Block that wouldve been a penalty. The third time, we lined up to run it, we put Kannon next to him, figuring the defense would go right after him. Ben knew that if they did, he would have an open receiver outside. The idea of running a real run-pass option play with a 7-year-old quarterback handling post-snap reads felt a little dicey. I cant even get Ben to use his fork all the time. Now hes reading the cornerback?

The play unfolded how I thought it might. The defense was aggressive. Ben saw the kid he was reading move and threw the pass. We got a 25-yard completion. A few plays later, Ben scored the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run. It looked like a funky misdirection play. After the game, Kannons dad asked me about what Id called.

That was an accident, I explained. (Our quarterback) turned the wrong way for the handoff but had the wherewithal to backhand Ben the ball, and he just sprinted in because the defense was drawn to the opposite side.

Yeah, Im definitely adding that play to our offense. It looked like the old Statue of Liberty play. We called it Spin Draw.

On the drive home, I called Dave Clawson, the Wake Forest coach, and told him were running the Slow Mesh with our pee-wee team and, its working! He got a kick out of that.

Youre our first convert! he said.

No other teams have tried to copy the Slow Mesh in college football. The Wake Forest staff has been tight-lipped, especially after WakeyLeaks, when a former Wake assistant got caught sharing their game-planning secrets with opposing coaches.

In the three seasons before Clawsons offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero came up with the Slow Mesh, Wake averaged 17 points. In the five seasons since, the Demon Deacons are averaging 36 points and are the only ACC team to average more than 30 points each year.

Necessity is the mother of invention, Clawson said. When we got to Wake Forest, we installed a lot of the stuff that we ran at Bowling Green. We werent very good and a lot of the defensive lines in that league were so good. Any time we dropped back to throw, we were getting sacked. But one of the hardest things to do as a defensive lineman is transition from defending the run to defending the pass. When you know its pass, you get in that stance and take off. What we had to do in our league was to prevent the teams in our league from doing that.

Its hard to keep secrets in coaching. Most coaches concede that since rivals have your game film, they essentially can figure out what youre doing. Theyre adept at reverse-engineering things. Plus, coaches visit other staffs and secrets get out. In the case of Wake Forests Slow Mesh, opponents know what theyre doing. They just dont know how. As Clawson told me, you cant break down their film and evaluate it in a traditional way: These route concepts have these built-in rules if this happens, the ball goes here. Nobody quite knows our rules.

Clawson, who began 13-24 in his first three seasons at Wake, changed how he operates because of WakeyLeaks: We dont share. Were not open. Before WakeyLeaks, I was probably as open as any coach in the country. The amount that we were compromised and the number of games that probably cost us wasnt worth it.

I told him how we warm up on the far side of the stadium to avoid practicing our plays within the eyesight of the opponent and how I deleted a video of one of our plays that Id posted online just in case someone might come across it and study it. I cringe at how ridiculous this all sounds.

Welcome to the world of paranoid coaches, Clawson said.

In Week 3, we beat the Ravens. They defended the Slow Mesh well because they werent very aggressive. The Slow Mesh wasnt a factor the next week against the Cowboys, in what became another lopsided victory. Kannon got two pick-6s. Preston, the one kid I knew of from our old football league that we were able to draft, was everywhere on defense, pulling flags. Ben scored on a couple of long touchdown runs, the second one coming on our new Spin Draw play.

We were 4-0. My kid and his new friends were having a blast.

I felt fantastic on the ride home. For years, Ive worried about how time was slipping away and my kids were growing up so fast. In the fall, I often was away on weekends, covering college football games and face-timing our twins at night. It eats at me at how often Id jump up and leave the dinner table or walk out of their rooms because Id gotten caught up chasing some news story. Sometimes, they were big stories. Most times, they werent, but I had gotten so wired for the chase that my ego and competitiveness were getting the worst of me. I knew I was missing out on moments Id never get back.

I never had any common ground with my own father and a bond never took. Coaching this team didnt just mean I was getting to share something that my son and I both loved, but also the 25-minute car rides to practices and games three times a week, where it was just us, meant me getting to see him develop and him getting to see me believe in him. Id gotten inside my head so much about fielding a team, that the most important aspects of this had escaped me till that drive home. My wife and daughter would often come to the games but would leave early while Ben and I finished up.

When we walked through the door, my wife asked, Hey, whyd you put Ben back in the game late in the second half? I told her that we needed to practice that play in the game since we hadnt run it much.

We thought you were running up the score? my wife said, as our babysitter nodded in agreement.

Really?

Well said our babysitter, looking like she just got a whiff of bad air. My wife suggested I get the opinion of the dad who has been a college coach for more than 20 years.

That coach laughed when I called him and said, You just coach the team how you see fit.

The challenge with coaching youth sports is trying to do the best you can to help your team while remembering youre coaching little kids. Your competitiveness tends to get in the way. For some, that might show as frustration with the referees. For others, it might show as frustration with the kids. For me, it surfaced with the angst when our team showed signs we were going to have much more success than Id anticipated.

Id initially defined success to the team as: All were trying to do is be the most improved team in the league. Thats all that matters. Id told them that repeatedly over our first month together. Id absorbed enough coaching mantras over the years. Some resonated with me so much that I saw the value they had in real life, away from the field control what you can control. Thats wisdom if you can be disciplined enough to not get hung up on things you dont have any control over.

Id heard a thousand times from coaches I cover not to lose sight of the present and muddle up the process or The Process, as Nick Saban has always said. Be the most improved felt right since it was more process-focused than results-oriented. But then, in my own head, it became about having an undefeated season and winning the championship. I didnt say that to the team. But it was hard not to think beyond the next practice or the next game.

Football is a game wrapped up in its preparation. We romanticize stories of coaches who sleep in their offices or wake up every day at 3:17 a.m. They pour over film with the lights dimmed for hours, studying upcoming opponents to flesh out tendencies or their own teams having every drill shot from a variety of angles.

In my sons old league, the games were filmed. As it was explained to me, the reason was so you could send the link to grandma or grandpa and they could watch the game in what was condensed to 10-minute videos. The reality: Many of the dads used it as a scouting opportunity. For me, it was also a great way to teach my son more about the game. I could show him, as a cornerback, when a running play broke to the opposite side of the field, why him not turning and running at full speed with the proper angle mightve allowed a touchdown. That visual evidence made sense to him.

The following week, that very scenario happened again. This time, he took off and was waiting for the ball carrier near the 40-yard line. The film was invaluable because theres just so much that goes into each play in football that its impossible to see live.

Before the season, I talked to one of the parents about filming our games. We played early on Sundays, and by Sunday night, Nick, our assistant coach, had the film on YouTube. My son couldnt get enough of it. Hed study where certain plays he ran broke open and how defenses tried to cover our pass plays. The replays showed me things I missed in real time. The first time we ran 92 Leachs play and sure enough, Dane, one of the receivers running the crossing route did slap hands with Kannon, just as wed coached him to.

Every Sunday, we won, beginning the season 7-0 with the playoffs upcoming. Our regular-season finale was against the Chiefs. Id learned that the Chiefs had won the league title the previous season. Wed watched them a few times playing in games after ours. They had a lot of good players.

We led 18-8 and got the ball to start the second half. The game was tight and I could feel that some of our kids were pressing. Little kids definitely dont have poker faces. We threw an interception, and then another. The more plays the Chiefs made, the louder their families cheered, and the more frazzled our kids got. The Chiefs won, 26-24.

Our team was deflated. I wasnt sure what to tell them. I said that I was proud of them and wed had a great season. Before we broke our huddle, I said that the playoffs were what really mattered and if we kept playing well, wed get to play them again. Was that really what I should have been telling them?

Each of our players seemed to be wired differently. One was overly aggressive. Another was very analytical. Another was too hard on himself. Another was easily distracted. (Well, many of them were.) What would be the best way to get them settled down?

I got a call from Chris Petersen that week. The former Boise State and Washington coach had become a colleague last season. We sat in the green room watching games every Saturday. Getting to pick his brain about plays and players and everything else thatd come up while staring at 14 TV monitors was a treat. Long before he walked away from coaching, wed have deep conversations about the books hed been reading. When I saw his name pop up on my phone, I asked his advice about trying to push the right emotional buttons.

Petersen had left coaching to find a better work-life balance. Several months after that, he and I had a long talk about how the grind of college football was so at odds with his own preferred temperament. I heard from dozens of people, in and out of coaching, who identified with those issues. Petersen had become a resource to coaches at all levels in all sports.

Petersen asked if Id seen the interview Masters champion Scottie Scheffler gave the day before the final round. When asked how hes been able to remain so calm, He said, If I win this tournament, it will change my life on the golf course, but it wont change my personal life at home. So Im able to play freely, knowing that the rest really isnt up to me, Petersen recalled, in a tone of admiration.

Petersen has said half-jokingly that he wanted to come back in another life as a youth football coach and would stress how no emphasis would be put on winning the games, and that so many important life lessons can be instilled at that age. Listening to him got me thinking that the counter was also likely true that there also could be a lot of psychological damage that could be done then as well. They truly need to be taught how to fail the right way, he said. Then they can understand it is a process and that is how you learn. He explained to me a formula hes talked through to many coaches that he picked up from a consultant named Brett Ledbetter.

Write this down, he said. Start with C, then a greater than sign, and then P. Then another greater than sign. Then R. So, its C>P>R.

The most important part, the C, stands for character. That, Petersen described, is how you are as a person, how you treat your teammates and your opponents. The P stands for process, which is in the details for how you play the game. Doing the little things right. We dont care about what the refs do. We support each other, Petersen said.

The R is the least important thing, which everybody makes the most important part, and that is the result, Petersen said. Its not where were focused. It just should be about how they compete. Were not gonna complain; were not gonna point fingers. Sometimes, the other team is just better than you, and thats OK.

I got his message. But not right away. I initially took it as the result didnt matter. Id be lying to myself, and to the kids, if I said that. It wasnt until sitting down to write this story that Petersens formula clicked.

We beat the Raiders in our first playoff game and then beat the Bengals the following day. Nick, our assistant coach, and I stayed with our sons to watch the other semifinal to see who wed play next. The Chiefs defeated the 49ers, so wed face them for a third time. Nick noticed something he thought gave the Chiefs trouble. He suggested a new play, where wed line up with trips to one side. At the snap, my son Ben would run back toward our quarterback (Nicks son Preston), rolling out to the trips side to set up what felt like a reverse. Sometimes, Preston would hand it to Ben. Other times, hed fake it and throw it to either of the receivers on the trips side.

I also had a couple of other plays Id worked on that wed practiced the week earlier. When the team gathered for our warm-up before the title game, I mentioned to Preston that we had some new plays. He glanced at what had grown to be a half-inch thick stack of index cards.

All of them? he said, bug-eyed.

Uh no, I replied, realizing that Id gone from three play cards to a dozen over the course of the season. Theres just one new card. Apparently, I have as much trouble self-editing in coaching as I do in my writing.

More than anything, we tried being encouraging with the kids. Ava was our pass rusher. She was one of our faster players, but this was her first season playing any football. Wed emphasized to her how important her role was. Most of the interceptions in the league occurred when the quarterback was rushed. All we needed her to do was to watch the snap and run fast at the quarterback.

Dane had been primarily our center. We knew he had good hands. We just hadnt thrown the ball to him a lot. We were going to get him more involved. We figured theyd key on Kannon and Ben since theyd had several big plays when we faced the Chiefs previously. Dane also would have to play a lot at cornerback something he hadnt done much before, but we were missing one of our better players. Since it was the hottest day of our season, we wouldnt use Dane in as many snaps at center because we didnt want to wear him out.

Nicks trips play got us our first touchdown. Ava and Dane had their best games of the season. My favorite moment of the season, though, was when Preston hauled in a deep pass up the right sideline, turning his body around before snagging it with one hand. It was a remarkable catch for anyone, much less a second-grader. Watching the game back the next day, I had chills hearing the excitement in his dads voice when his boy made that acrobatic play. We won, 18-6. Our kids were elated.

I cant recall ever being so overcome with delight from any sporting event Ive been at as I was watching our Rams and their families celebrate that Sunday in late April. My hunch is they wouldnt have been quite so emotional if we hadnt lost to this team a few weeks earlier. Nick had told them after the game that day that that loss would make them better. He was right.

A few weeks after we won our Super Bowl, I sat down with Clawson to talk about the Slow Mesh and the Pee-Wee Rams. I showed him our version of the Slow Mesh in the videos saved on my phone. This is awesome, he said, laughing.

I also showed him our play that became Spin Draw.

Thats the same-side handoff stuff that were doing, Clawson said, as he got up and began to realign some nearby wooden chairs. Nowadays, what so many defenses do, is theres the three-technique and theres the five. Everybody wants to put their three-technique to the side of the back because if youre running the traditional zone read, you want that end to play both. But if this guy is a shade, that gap gets so wide that he cant play both

It was around this point of our conversation that I remembered that I really cant coach football.

Read more:
Feldman: The coaching and parenting lessons I learned coaching my sons pee-wee football team - The Athletic

Posted 15 hours ago

Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? Thats the Intel. This rep has the latest with Justice Haynes prior to his big official visit this weekend in Athens. He ranks as the nations No. 4 RB and the No. 23 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.

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Justice Haynes is one of the 13 official visitors in town this weekend at UGA. His official visit will wrap up in a few hours and then he will have officials to Florida, Alabama and Ohio State later this month.

Where he stands going into this month was worth an in-depth Sunday read.

Thats because hes important to the 2023 Georgia class for so many reasons. First and foremost, hes a tremendous prospect for any championship-contending program.

Haynes could serve as the primary tailback, even at a program like Georgia, for multiple seasons.

That means he is capable enough of being the correct answer in a debate about the nations top RB in the 2023 cycle. The 5-foot-10, 207-pounder is an All-American and the son of former Georgia great Verron Haynes.

Haynes had a solid NFL career in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Having that type of father provides a wealth of knowledge and guidance and inspiration about what it takes to be an impact player on Friday, Saturday and Sundays.

Haynes trains like he aims to be the best running back in the world one day. His work habits and regimen have mirrored a college running back training for an NFL Combine for a few years now.

Hes in Athens for the next few hours this morning. A recent interview with Haynes offered up a wealth of information heading into that official. The plan was for it to wrap up just after noon on Sunday.

He has a potential baseball game and his sisters graduation party as conflicts with his schedule later that day. Thats why his 48-hour official visit window began just after noon on Friday.

To cover the ground here as quickly as Haynes does, lets go over a few major talking points for Haynes this weekend and for the rest of his recruiting journey.

Did you know the weekly DawgNation.com Before the Hedges program is available as an Apple podcast? Click to check it out and download it.

All-American RB Justice Haynes ranks as the nation's No. 3 RB prospect and the No. 47 overall recruit for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite rating. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)

Jeff Sentell, Dawgnation

All-American RB Justice Haynes was back in Athens for the national title celebration on January 15, 2022, at Sanford Stadium. (Instagram)

Instagram, Dawgnation

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Justice Haynes: Legacy All-American RB has a busy life-shaping month up ahead with official visits - DawgNation

That is no longer the case. Former players are becoming the popular choice for teams, considering the success of Udoka and Kidd this season.

Commissioner Adam Silver is now pleased to field questions and address the leagues diversity surge, because its been an issue for years.

Get Court Sense

Bounce around the NBA with our Celtics-centric look at the latest happenings on and off the court.

One of the things weve done, and this isnt unique to the NBA and Ive learned this from other businesses, is that you have to talk about these issues all the time, he said Thursday prior to Game 1 of the Finals between the Celtics and Warriors. If you care about diversity and inclusion in your workplace, youve got to look at the data. Youve got to constantly present it to your colleagues, to your department heads, to your teams, and it has to become a focus. Its my job in part to say thats a priority for this organization.

Its not that those coaches who took an unconventional route college, through the analytics circles or low-level organization jobs have been dissuaded from applying for jobs, its that younger NBA players, including Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have said they prefer to be coached by someone who has played the game. There is generally a bond there.

While Im particularly proud of those numbers, and roughly 50 percent of our head coaches are Black now, the goal is that thats not newsworthy, and that when people are hired, their first reaction isnt the color of their skin, Silver said. I dont want to be nave, either, though, because I know that what we do in this league is important symbolically, not just for sports but for other industries, and people watch us all around the world.

Im also putting aside the color of the skin of those coaches. What were also seeing, and this is something we very much focused on, is the emergence of a whole new class of former players who have moved into head coaching positions.

Silver said the league was made more aware of some coaching prospects who accused general managers and team presidents of hiring candidates they were already familiar with. The league had to revamp its coaching networks, develop better training programs for aspiring coaches, and increase the communication networks between candidates and teams.

I remember Rick Carlisle came to us as head of the Coaches Association in the league a few years ago, said we all collectively need to do a better job, Silver said. One of the ways we decided is again, technology helps, having a better database, so that head coaches who are looking for assistants or team governors who are looking for coaches have a database, which they could quickly see who is available, who is interested in coaching, how much experience they have. These changes come only incrementally. It doesnt help just to bang the pulpit and say, go do this. You have to work with people and you have to understand what the obstacles are.

Silver promised the improvement will funnel into more front office positions.

Im proud of the job we have done in the league office, he said. We are making a lot of progress in terms of general managers, team presidents, both on the basketball side and the business side, but more work to be done.

There had been speculation that the NBA had decided to expand to 32 teams with new clubs in Seattle and Las Vegas. Officials in Seattle, which has a new arena that hosts the NHLs Kraken and WNBAs Storm, are apparently getting positive feedback about a team in the next decade.

But Silver again dispelled rumors about an NBA return to Seattle, at least in the next few years. The league is going to eventually expand, but there are no immediate plans.

That talk is not true. At least maybe there are people talking who are not at the league office about us potentially expanding after the 2024 season, Silver said. We are not discussing that at this time. At some point this league invariably will expand, but its not at this moment that we are discussing it. But one of the factors in expanding is the potential dilution of talent.

Silver questioned whether adding 30 more jobs would dilute a talent base that may already be thinned because of early-entry mistakes, lack of player development, and overseas leagues that pay more for lower-level players.

I find it remarkable that when you have the second-most-played sport in the world after soccer, tens of millions now just talking on the NBA side of young men playing in this game, and then you have the 450 best in the world in this league, that theres a few of them who separate themselves even among those 450 as the very best of the best, but there is then a drop-off in talent, Silver said. So expansion does create a certain amount of dilution. And even sort of adding another 30 players or so that are roughly comparable, there still are only so many of the truly top-tier super talents to go around. That is something on the mind of the other teams as we think about expansion.

But those are wonderful markets. We were in Seattle. Im sorry we are no longer there. Well be looking at it at some point, but theres no specific timeline

And Silver dashed any hopes for those pining for the return of the 2-3-2 Finals format after the league returned to 2-2-1-1-1 in 2014. The 2-2-1-1-1 format is going to stay, even though it potentially adds an additional cross-country trip for each team.

Thats one of the first things I changed when I became commissioner, was moving back to this 2-2-1-1-1 model, Silver said. It just feels, as long as the flight is, we just feel its better from a competitive standpoint. It always felt to me in all my years in the league before we switched back to this format that, first of all, the players are used to, on their bodies, the 2-2-1-1-1 format from the earlier rounds. And it just always felt that three in that second city felt long and arduous.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Thompson knows the Celtics well

Warriors guard Klay Thompson is the son of longtime NBA player Mychal Thompson and has cherished memories of attending games as a child. One of the more notable games he attended was when Klay was a sophomore at Washington State, and he and his father went to Game 7 of the 2010 Finals between the Celtics and Lakers.

I would say my rookie year, just playing that team of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and [Kevin Garnett]. That was like a welcome to the NBA moment for me because just a couple years before I was watching them battle Kobe [Bryant] and Pau [Gasol] in the Finals, and I was just mesmerized by how great those teams were, both the Lakers and the Celtics, Thompson said. So life comes full circle, now being able to play [the Celtics] in the Finals. I was watching them in college, Game 7, at Staples, with my dad, and now its 12 years later, and I get to play the team that I was rooting against. Its amazing.

Being a lifelong Lakers fan, Thompson said he did not know much about the Warriors when he was drafted 11th overall in 2011. The Warriors had won a combined 62 games in the two seasons before he arrived.

I remember watching the We Believe team [of 2006-07]. They were a gritty team of guys who might have been outcasts to other organizations but created such a fun brand of basketball, upsetting a 1 seed.

The Bay Area has always been considered an exceptional basketball market because of its local talent and support for the Warriors, even in difficult times.

I remember how crazy the fans were during that run and how great Bay Area basketball fans were. I grew up in a Laker household, so we didnt have many Warriors games on. But I always knew that basketball was just a beloved sport in the Bay. Thats obvious, just the amount of talent that has come out of this area. They have had so many players out of Oakland that for such a small city, you knew they live and breathe basketball.

ETC.

Heat have work in the offseason

The Heat had every intention of reaching the Finals with their offseason decisions. They executed a sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry, added rugged forward P.J. Tucker, and allowed Victor Oladipo to get healthy during the season with the hopes of a deep playoff run.

That run ended in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics. The Heat were never truly healthy. Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro suffered a groin injury. Butler and Tucker battled knee issues and Lowry a hamstring injury. The Heat struggled to score and relied heavily on undrafted players such as Max Strus and Gabe Vincent.

The Heat have some issues to address in the offseason. Oladipo is a free agent, and Duncan Robinson has four years left on his contract and barely played in the postseason.

Its probably tough for me to answer that right now because of all of the emotions, coach Erik Spoelstra said of the teams needs. When it ends like this, it ends with a thud. Youre not ever contemplating that I would be speaking in front of you guys talking about the offseason. It just was not even a thought with anybody in the locker room. Thats part of the makeup that I love about this group.

So I say, exceeded expectations, how do I say that without being disrespectful? No, it feels heartbreaking. We just wanted a crack at it. A crack at Golden State, and just find out, you know, as competitors.

The Heat have some weaknesses. Jimmy Butler has a lot of miles on him after 11 seasons. Center Bam Adebayo is special defensively, but as he showed in the Celtics series, he is hesitant on offense. Lowry and Tucker are 36 and 37, respectively. The teams window is closing and injuries played a major role this season.

I love this group, Spoelstra said. This team was here to compete for a title. In that regard, I think we lived up to those expectations. But we fell short. Well never know, and thats the part that well have to live with.

These last two series, it was a daily meeting with the training staff to get an inventory of where guys were. But these guys were so committed to the challenge that they are willing to do whatever it took to get themselves out there and really compete at a high level physically. It just shows you the mental toughness of the guys in the locker room.

Lowry signed with the hopes of winning another championship. His previous team, the Raptors, moved him because they were retooling. Lowry has two years left on his contract totaling $59 million, meaning hell be difficult to move because of his age.

Its been a wild season for me, he said. But Im given an opportunity to play basketball, and any time I get a chance to play, Im really happy to do it. I will never make an excuse about injuries, never. I was out there. Jimmy was hurt. Tyler was hurt. Tuck was hurt. They had guys hurt. I wish I would have been able to play a little bit better, at a higher level, but I didnt. It just adds fuel. You dont know how many more opportunities you will have to get back to this, so for me, honestly, it was a waste of a year. I only play to win championships.

The Heat are not likely to be favored to win the East next season barring major offseason moves. More likely, Miami is going to have to stick with its veteran crew and hope it works. Robinson could be a trade chip to get a more impactful player.

It was fun, and I appreciate the guys, my teammates, and I appreciate the opportunity, but for me its a waste of a year, Lowry said. Youre not playing for a championship, youre not winning a championship.

I think [a second year] helps. I think everything helps, having some continuity with the team and understanding who youre going to be there with and tendencies and understand the offense, terminologies, defensive schemes, offensive schemes, emotions, personalities. It definitely helps. We look forward to the opportunity of getting better over the summer and getting back to this opportunity next year.

Layups

College players are beginning to embrace staying in school and are using the draft evaluation for honest advice. Players such as Gonzagas Drew Timme, Miamis Isaiah Wong, and LSUs Shareef ONeal (son of Shaquille ONeal) were among 112 candidates who decided to bypass the draft and return to school. The NLI (name, image, likeness) opportunities are having an impact, but it appears college prospects are also making sounder decisions and would rather have another year in school than being undrafted and going the G-League route. Its good for the NBA and for college basketball The Lakers Darvin Ham took a similar road to an NBA head coaching job as Ime Udoka, a veteran player and then a longtime assistant who didnt carry the allure or big name but was considered a rising star in coaching circles. The Lakers took a chance on Ham over retreads Kenny Atkinson and Terry Stotts, and drew raves around the league for their decision. Ham, because of his pristine reputation around the league, especially as the backbone for the Bucks 2021 championship, had negotiating power. Ham was assured that former Laker Kurt Rambis, who has become notorious for meddling in organization affairs and helping making roster and personnel decisions, would not have further influence on those calls. Former coach Frank Vogel had to deal with Rambis and others in the organization during his tenure, all of whom had an opinion on how the Lakers should be run. Ham was assured he wont have to deal with so many voices The Hornets are the last team without a head coach and the job appears down to Atkinson and longtime coach Mike DAntoni. The question for owner Michael Jordan comes down to which coach can bring the best out of All-Star LaMelo Ball, who struggled at times with former coach James Borrego, who hesitated to discipline or bench Ball for his lackadaisical stretches because of organization and fan backlash. The one thing a new coach needs in Charlotte is the authority to make strong decisions without concern of repercussions. Borrego did a solid job but never carried the big name or the high level of respect. DAntoni, especially, would carry that respect if he gets the job.

Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.

See the rest here:
NBA can be proud of its diversity in coaching ranks - The Boston Globe

Juventus completed a thrilling comeback away in Rome, coming from two goals down and losing Federico Chiesa to score three rapid second half goals to beat Jose Mourinhos AS Roma 4-3.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri was in the stands for this one after being suspended for a game by a sporting judge following some choice comments he made the previous game about the refereeing.

His assistant Marco Landucci manned the dugout instead and must have been ruing the day when first Chiesa went off with what looked like a serious knee injury and then the Giallorossi scored two quick goals early in the second half to lead 3-1.

When you win everything is much more amazing. Manuel Locatellis goal gave us back our enthusiasm and we managed to turn it around.

Happy with Mattia De Sciglios goal, we showed character. Approaches are of little use, you have to show it on the pitch. Today I lost 5-6 years of my life, if it always ends like this its amusing.

Roma started the game hot and scored early on, and could have had more too. However, Paulo Dybala equalized soon after and stabilized things.

We started with fear, we wanted to play an offensive game but we conceded goals from set pieces. We changed something in the second half because we were struggling to score.

Too bad about the second goal, we threw the ball away, it happens often, its not a coincidence. Then we did well to believe in it, the second goal helped us and gave us confidence.

When asked who made the substitutions for the game, Landucci laughed -

A secret, we cant say! We were all staff working together.

Wojciech Szczesny had a couple of huge saves, but none bigger than the late penalty that preserved the lead.

I hoped Tek would save it like he did in the first leg.

Alvaro Morata made a difference immediately after coming on with his hold-up play.

A strong player, he has always shown affection for this team.

What did he think of Paulo Dybalas showing?

A good game, a good goal, he showed his quality.

Landucci ended with an update on the injury sustained by Federico Chiesa.

The only negative note, a sprained knee, he will be assessed tomorrow.

Szczesny meanwhile did not want to take too much credit for the penalty save.

Yes, I was lucky rather than good. Pellegrini shoots two kinds of penalties, I did the feint on the run-up and I was out of time, I was a bit off balance.

The goalkeeper also talked a little bit about how the Juve side are evolving with Allegri back.

Were getting there but we still lack a bit of personality, the Juve DNA. We have players who have important qualities, but we need to give them time to get used to playing under pressure.

[We need] To be more consistent. This year weve played some good games, then others weve played badly. Its not like Juventus, we must try to be the best team in Italy but today we are not. But our ambitions are there, well get there little by little.

When asked if he thought if the Bianconeri could still get a Champions League berth this season, Szczesny sounded confident.

If one of us doesnt believe in it, they can stay at home and not play matches. You cant accept not going to the Champions League, even in this difficult year. We are Juventus. But first we have to improve, but we have the ambition to reach the top of Italy.

Read more from the original source:
Landucci: Coaching Juventus today I lost 5-6 years of my life! - Black & White & Read All Over

When Lupe Prado graduated from college with a degree in accounting, she landed a job in one of the "Big Four" accounting networks (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC). For accounting majors, this was the pinnacle of success, and Prado was living the dream. That was until she began to have chronic headaches.

I learned so much, and I worked with brilliant people, but I was working really long hours and just really stressed out and not feeling like the work was in alignment with my strengths, Prado says. I was not feeling that sense of fulfillment, and I had really bad headaches that wouldn't go away. I had an MRI done and they couldn't figure out what it was.

At the time, Prados family and friends urged her to scale back on her workload, citing a possible correlation between her physical pain and her stress. While she didn't follow most of the unsolicited advice, Prado did look into one suggestion: getting a life coach.

I was so desperate, I was really unhappy that I was, like, I'm just gonna try it, whatever. Let's see if it will work,'"Prado says."I had no expectations."

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The decision led to a transformative experience, Prado says, when she hired Dallas career and life coach Kristin Taliaferro. In her first session, Prado remembers she had an "aha moment" and pinpointed feeling stuck in her career. What followed was a three-year coaching relationship between Prado and Taliaferro in which Prado had breakthroughs in her career and health. Prado says her headaches disappeared within two weeks of her transitioning out of her stressful role at work.

Delighted by her results, in 2017 Prado enrolled at the Coaches Training Institute. In 2018, she opened her own business as a career and life coach.

Life coaching is a partnership between the client and the coach, where I ask questions, as a coach, to help them get clarity and take action, Prado says. It's different from therapy in that therapy can focus on the past and coaching focuses on the present and the future. And it's different from consulting and mentoring, in that I won't give you insight as a coach because research shows that giving advice doesn't necessarily help with long-term change.

"People tend to stick more to things that they really figured out for themselves, so the coaching process is just helping. It's like Im holding up a mirror for the client to see themselves more clearly.

Life coaching is a future-focused relationship in which the client is expected to act on their own to achieve a goal or milestone with the guidance of the coach. Life coaches vary in specialties from career coaching (Prados specialty) to relationships, self-image, finances and wellness. The coaches act as unbiased accountability partners who highlight the details, patterns and mindsets that clients have overlooked and challenge them to analyze and make changes.

For Prado, the approach to this relationship is gentle. She prides herself on being a deep listener. She asks questions and allows for her clients to arrive at their own conclusions.

Most people walk around feeling like they are not really listened to, and in coaching we listen more than we talk, and that process can really unveil mindset patterns, thought patterns, and that can be really helpful, Prado says. Sometimes we don't realize that we are worrying about being stuck without really doing anything to change.

For some, the coaching relationship may sound like a glorified friendship. Friends and family rarely shy away from giving unsolicited advice. But despite their best intentions, loved ones can't remove their on biases and at times self-serving motivations.

I don't tell people what to do, and that's the difference, Prado says. When we go to our friends and family, they tell us what to do and why you should do this, and that doesn't take everything into account. And so when I'm listening, I'm just pointing out things like connections and values like, It sounds like connection is really important to you. Oh, when you mentioned this other thing, and what's important for you? And so through that process, the client gets a lot of clarity. And then I'll say something like ... 'What are the next steps for you?

The average life coach takes on about 12 clients at a time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Life coach clients can expect to meet with their coaches on a weekly or biweekly basis. In these sessions, which nowadays are typically virtual or via telephone, clients discuss a particular goal they want to achieve or a habit they want to break or obstacle they're facing. Sessions last about 45-60 minutes on average.

During these sessions, coaches outline plans and tasksfor clients such as quitting a job, setting boundaries, initiating conversations, joining a dating site, expressing and identifying emotions and any other tasks that will help the client. Having to report back to their coaches in subsequent sessions motivates clients to act on prescribed tasks.

Like most industries, coaching was affect by the pandemic, and Prado says the demand for life coacheshas increased. With more people working from home, the lines between work and personal time have become blurred and clients expressed discontentment due to isolation, burnout and toxic work cultures.

People want to feel like they're making a positive impact through their work. They want to feel a sense of purpose in their work. They want to be challenged, Prado says. People have different values, and they want to be able to have those values at work such as a value of connecting with people, and connections are really important. But if they're stuck behind a computer, on the spreadsheet, and they never had interaction with people, that would leave someone feeling really drained and burned out.

Victoria Foster of Dallas E & R Life Coaching LLC defines a life coach on her website as someone who listens to what you are going through, asks questions, helps you to formulate a plan and will hold you accountable along the way. Foster assigns her clients homework that varies by client depending on their desired outcomes.

I had a client who wanted to network, but didn't feel like she would be able to carry on those conversations when she got into those networking arenas, so we did homework, Foster says. One of the homework experiences was that person stepping out into a networking event and then coming back and speaking to me about how that event went and how it would look the next time she went to an event. Its not just the coaching experience. It's what happens after and how you use the tools that I give you outside of the coaching experience.

Foster calls herself The Restorer. She specializes in personal growth, confidence, relationships and marriage. She has coached individuals in building confidence to achieve career and personal goals, to resume dating, to develop intimacy and find a shared vision with a partner.

Whatever you don't think you can do, I promise you by the end of the amount of sessions that you have selected that I will have you there, but it also takes a commitment from the client to be an active participant and take it seriously, Foster says. I call myself The Restorer because I take you where you didn't think it was possible to be.

"People tend to stick more to things that they really figured out for themselves so the coaching process is just helping, it's like Im holding up a mirror for the client to see themselves more clearly. life coach Lupe Prado

Alexis Cavo, owner of life coaching firm Paragon Consulting, initially pursued a career as a therapist.

Therapy is going to be a lot different. As far as coaching, we focus on the present, and we're more of a future-focused practice and therapy, says Cavo, who used to work at a behavioral health hospital in Dallas. Therapy is a lot of touching on the past, and you use a lot of different types of theories and philosophies. As far as coaching, we're very much, 'Where are you at right now? What's the circumstances right now?' And we focus on the future. It's a lot of goal setting, accountability, coaching, and it's a holistic approach versus therapy.

For clients who lack motivation, feel stagnant or lack control of their emotional reactions, Cavo encourages them to analyze their behaviors. Cavo says clients are able to imagine, create, dream and develop goals and desires resulting in an increase in motivation.

Because the field is subjective, that looks different for every client.

A positive mental breakthrough is whenever you have an epiphany, or I call them 'Aha moments,' where you realize something that you have been doing in your life has been creating a habit that you don't necessarily love, and you're able to recognize why you were doing that, Cavo says. You're able to make a change from a positive thought that's going to bring positive results.

Kari Jorgensen had her epiphany in January 2021 with Paragon Consulting life coach Giana Garcia.

I tend to get in my head and overthink things a lot, Jorgensen says. Even if I achieve the goal, there's a lot of mental duress in the process, and I think this really helped me unpack that, and understand why it was happening and how to get past it.

Garcia led Jorgensen through what Paragon Consulting coined The Life Model, in which clients work through their personal circumstance with their coach by analyzing the thoughts and feelings it provokes. The coach then guides them through developing a plan to generate positive results.

Within four coaching sessions, Jorgensen was able to work through insecurities preventing her from making the progress she wanted.Jorgensen successfully continued blogging after self-doubt caused her to stop, a goal she set with her first couple of coaching sessions. Jorgensen says she still uses the principles from The Life Model.

Life coaches stress the importance of a consultation before entering a coaching relationship. Jorgensen says there it's important to gauge chemistry.

The first step is to have a consultation or reach out to learn more, Jorgensen says. During that conversation you're going to learn if things seem like they're aligning and if you think you're going to have a good relationship with the coach. Giana and I ended up having an amazing relationship, and I felt like she was really able to understand where I was, and I feel like that dynamic is very important.

Foster advises those seeking life coaching to do their research online, find coaches who resonate with them and set up consultations until they find the right fit. Cavo agrees.

If you're looking for a coach, definitely interview. You're interviewing each other, Cavo says. But go and interview different types of coaches before you settle for one unless you feel super connected to that first coach that you meet with.

However, not everyone is an ideal candidate for life coaching. The ideal candidate for life coaching should be ready for a change. They should be looking for clarity or purpose and be motivated to take the necessary steps to reach a short-term goal.

The initial consultations serve as a method for coaches to see if the match is a fit for them as well. With her experience in mental health advocacy, Foster has been able to recognize when a client is showing signs of depression or anxiety. In those instances, Foster urges her clients to seek therapy or consult with a licensed medical professional before going forward with the coaching relationship.

Another key distinction between coaching and therapy is regulation.

Life coaching is not a regulated industry, Prado says. "Really anyone can call themselves a coach."

Life coaching is not regulated by the government and does not require licensing, but there are certifications available that serve as credentials for life coaches. Both Foster and Prado are certified coaches.

The certification helps by telling people that you take your job and your role with them seriously and that you're not just out here throwing out anything to try to help them or to bring them on as a client, Foster says. I think that certifications do help people take the field more seriously.

Prado is certified through the International Coaches Federation (ICF), a global membership-based coaching organization. The ICF offers three tiers of credentials: associate, professional and master certified coach certifications. The certifications require up to 200 hours of training, 10 hours of mentor coaching, 2,500 hours of coaching experience, performance evaluations and assessments.

Because life coaching is customized to the coaches' and clients' preferences, the longevity of the relationship, session frequency and costs vary greatly. Despite the popularized Oprah Winfrey Networks depiction of Lindsay Lohans life coaching experience, life coaches don't integrate themselves into a clients physical life like a sober coach to keep them on track.

According to Choosing Therapy, a medically reviewed publication website, a short-term coaching relationship lasts about six months and a long-term coaching relationship lasts about a year to two. The average cost of a life coach is $120 per hour, which most health insurance does not cover.

Prado says her three-year relationship with her life coach was longer than average.

For most people it can range from a few months to a year,"Prado says. "Three years was probably above average, just because I loved it so much, but it really depends on what the goal is. So if it's like a longer goal, like a career pivot, that takes a little bit longer, and it's not a couple of sessions, because there's a lot that has to be worked through.

Foster says her average client relationship lasts about four months with biweekly sessions.

Considering the lack of regulation, in the event that a client relationship begins to go astray,the most likely consequence will be the termination of the relationship.

Life coaching is not a regulated industry. Really anyone can call themselves a coach." Lupe Prado

It's an instant investment, but it's one that has a ripple effect, really, for the rest of your life, Prado says. It is still a positive ripple in my life having worked with my coach years ago. I tell everyone she changed my life; it's definitely worth it.

Life coach Vernica Cordonnier was introduced to life coaching through the UnF*ck Your Brain podcast right before the pandemic led to Cordonnier's being laid off from her job as a corporate project manager.

With time to reflect, she focused her energy on self-coaching with the guidance of UnF*ck Your Brain podcast host and master certified life coach Kara Loewentheil.

Im a fun, feminist, non-judgmental combo of life coach, feminist mentor, and hilarious best friend ... except I give way better advice than your friends do," Loewentheil says on her website. "And I actually teach you how to act on it.

Loewentheils feminist approach appealed to Cordonnier, and soon Cordonnier realized that she, too, had been coaching in her prior job. Through her work as a project manager, Cordonnier led fundraising efforts for public media where she coached individuals on how to develop the confidence to approach others and successfully generate funds for the cause. Cordonnier realized she could take these tools and apply them to coaching others.

In December 2020, Cordonnier opened her own business, BiConscious Coaching Co. She used her life experience as an immigrant, bisexual, polyamorous, feminist, activist and Latina to bring life coaching into new spaces.

I noticed that the majority of coaches were white women, and I saw what a great benefit and value they had, and all these tools and learning hacks for people, but they were really servicing a lot of other white women, Cordonnier says. I knew I could help people and train people on their mindset, and it's important to me to do it as a marginalized person myself, because if I could have somewhat of a struggle as a light-skinned fluently English-speaking Latina, if I can have the experience of still feeling kind of outside of coaching, then people who are even more marginalized than me, or darker than me, or came over more recently than I did to North America, then how are they going to be able to reap the benefits of coaching if they don't see anybody that looks like them?

Cordonnier also hosts The BiConscious Badass podcast, which offers free access to life coach advice and tips from other coaches and community leaders. Her Facebook group, Instagram and Patreon also allow people to explore the benefits of life coaching.

See original here:
Life Coaches Say Their Business Increased With the Pandemic. So What Do Life Coaches Do? - Dallas Observer

One of the biggest differences between a coach and a therapist is how they're accredited.

"Therapists are governed by a licensing board, and to legally provide psychotherapy, one requires a master's degree with a state license to practice," Melendres explains.

In the U.S., licensing requirements vary from state to state, but in general, only practitioners who have at least a master's degree in fields like social work, counseling, or marriage and family therapy and who have passed their state's licensing board exams can legally be called therapists. You'll see acronyms after a licensed therapist's name, such as LCSW (licensed clinical social worker), LPCC (licensed professional clinical counselor), or LMFT (licensed marriage and family therapist).

There are many paths to becoming a therapist, but all therapists undergo years of school and training, including obtaining a minimum of a master's degree, acquiring clinical experience under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional, and passing a state-mandated board exam for licensure. Psychologists who hold doctorate-level degrees such as Ph.D. or Psy.D. can also choose to work with clients as therapists as well, though state licensing requirements may still apply. Psychiatrists, who are medical doctors holding an M.D. and who prescribe medications as part of a client's treatment plan, may also be called therapists.

For coaches, there is currently no centralized governing body that regulates or oversees the coaching industry, and there is no specific training or minimum requirements to become a coach. "I firmly believe that's on the precipice of changing," Gozo notes, though, "so it is strongly encouraged that anyone serious about becoming a life coach gets appropriately trained and certified to do so."

As a client, here are a few ways you can verify whether your potential coach has the proper training, certifications, and credentials:

Read this article:
So, What's The Real Difference Between A Therapist & A Coach? - mindbodygreen.com

A person can download the TaskHuman app and run a search for what they are interested in doing or ... [+] learning. You can search for individual practitioners or the terms, "how can I improve my mindset? or what are the best ways to deal with anxiety and stress? The app will lead you to the appropriate coaches. The choices include personal training, yoga, pilates, meditation, life transitions, financial wellness, mindfulness, leadership, coaching, diversity and inclusion and more. It's meant to help with the overall mental, physical and spiritual health of the workers.

We are in a new, exciting era that places the focus of attention on workers. Companies have realized that they need to roll out the red carpet to job seekers and show empathy and appreciation to their current employees. With millions of open jobs each month, and 4 million quitting on a regular monthly basis, executives nervously noticed the sea change. In response, they are offering an array of benefits to attract, recruit and retain people.

It used to be that bosses would throw some more money at a person to make them shut up, put in the long hours and keep working hard. The power dynamic has now dramatically shifted from management to workers. It takes more than a few bucks to entice job hunters to select their company and keep current employees happy and engaged.

Smart entrepreneurs are creating products and services for businesses to offer unique experiences that express appreciation and gratitude to their workforce. Ravi Swaminathan, CEO of TaskHuman, is a progressive, forward-thinking startup founder. He built a unique platform that helps companies combat the current Great Resignation culture and win the war for talent. His app offers comprehensive and holistic employee wellness and coaching solutions that improve the quality of lives of workers.

Swaminathan believes employees are the most valuable assets of a company. He is a champion of the concept come as you are, which means that business leaders should offer deep personalized support for each employee based upon their individual needs and desires.

When employees are appreciated and offered meaningful ways to enhance and improve their lives, theyll be more apt to stick with the company. Theyll also be more motivated and productive. To best future-proof their organization and retain talent, business leaders must create an environment where employees feel valued and are offered resources that help them build healthy behaviors and help the employee feel good about both their personal and work life, said the TaskHuman chief executive. Swaminathan added, Employees will see their workplace as an invaluable resource that supports their unique individual lifestyle.

In an effort to better the lives of workers, the TaskHuman app easily connects workers with an expert in a specific field with a personalized one-on-one experience. The company has over 1,000 coaches for over 1,000 topics, which can be accessed anytime. Companies use the platform as a great benefit to employees to improve and enhance their lives. People can also subscribe on their own, too.

A person can download the app and run a search for what they are interested in doing or learning. You can search for individual practitioners or the terms, "how can I improve my mindset? or what are the best ways to deal with anxiety and stress? The app will lead you to the appropriate coaches. The choices include personal training, yoga, Pilates, meditation, life transitions, financial wellness, mindfulness, leadership, coaching, diversity and inclusion and more. It's meant to help with the overall mental, physical and spiritual health of the workers.

Some of TaskHumans corporate clients include Zoom, RingCentral and Purdue University. The companies use the app to help support employees by enhancing morale, improving health, well-being and productivity via personal and professional help with the video calls.

Swaminathan says that personalized guidance that caters to each employees unique needs creates transformative experiences for employees. Additionally, in remote and hybrid workplaces where people start to feel alone and isolated, group sessions build morale and improve employee satisfaction.

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Company-Sponsored, On-Demand, Personalized Live Coaching Is The Latest Trend To Help Improve The Lives Of Workers - Forbes