Claim OwnershipBeyond The Whistle with Odell McCants
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Beyond The Whistle is the podcast that takes basketball coaches beyond Xs and Os with actionable tips and advice to grow your network, create a plan for your career and maximize your influence. Hosted by Odell McCants of McCants Sports Advisors.
25 Episodes
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On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Matt Johnson, Director of Men’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning at Butler University. Matt and I discuss: The role of the strength and conditioning coach during the COVID-19 pandemic Using Instagram to connect with athletes during this time The focus on coaching player’s lifestyle - sleep and nutrition Coach LaVall Jordan’s leadership during crisis Breakdowns create breakthroughs Tough times reveal the mindset of elite athletes - resilien...
We're going Beyond The Whistle with the first Coaches Roundtable. Our roundtablers are Kevin Sutton, Assistant Coach at Rhode Island and Randolph Childress, Associate Head Coach at Wake Forest. This was the most fun I have had as a podcaster. It's a conversation amongst friends about our high school coach, mentorship, fatherhood, leadership, COVID-19 (of course) and more. Kevin, Randolph and I discuss: How Randolph ended the season in a sling and how he's doing now Lessons from our high s...
On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with George Lynch. I go back with George all the way to high school, where we both played for legendary coach Stu Vetter and nationally ranked teams at Flint Hill School in Virginia. George was a member of the 1993 University of North Carolina NCAA national championship team. George played 12 years in the NBA, and his coaching career includes serving as an assistant at UC Irvine, Southern Methodist University and the G-League's Grand Rapids Drive. Mos...
On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Dan Tudor of Tudor Collegiate Strategies. Dan and his firm develop research-based recruiting strategies for programs in all sports, at all levels of collegiate athletics. Dan joins me for a third appearance on the podcast to discuss: Challenges coaches first faced recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fundraising and budget concerns athletic directors have during this time. The mindset of recruits now without campus visits and evaluation ev...
On this episode, we go Beyond The Whistle with Kyle Adams, Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff. Kyle also has his own consulting firm, It's Bigger Than The Ball, where Kyle works with coaches, educators and organizations to provide transformative learning experiences for the next generation of leaders. During our conversation, Kyle and I discuss: My high school days playing in Pine Bluff's King Cotton Holiday Classic high school basketball tour...
I'm back! It's been over a year since I last recorded an episode. I was already planning to record today (January 26th, 2020) when the world was struck by the news of the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. My plan was to explain how life had gotten in the way the past year and reasons why I had not published an episode. But in thinking about Kobe, I couldn't do that. There was no better example than Kobe of work ethic, winning habits, passion and preparation. So I'm not going to share excuses. So...
Have you thought about having your own podcast? This episode of Beyond The Whistle is all about the power a podcast of your own can have as the foundation of your personal brand. With a podcast, you have your own coach’s show. Think about that. Regardless of where you are in your coaching career or the level of your program, you can create a platform to share your personal story, who you are and what you are about, with an audience of fans, recruits, parents, other coaches and even administ...
Personal brand. What does that mean to you? What's the value of having a personal brand? Have you struggled to create your personal brand? Ron McKeefery is an internationally recognized leader in strength and conditioning coaching. Currently the Vice President of Performance and Education for PLAE, a leader in sports and performance flooring, Ron served as strength coach at the collegiate and professional level. Ron has worked with the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the...
I'm honored to have as a return guest to Beyond The Whistle, my friend Kevin Sutton, Assistant Men's Basketball Coach at the University of Rhode Island. Kevin was my very first interview guest, appearing in episode two, "Persistence on the Coaching Career Path". In that episode, Kevin shared his career journey and how he has woven a path from coaching at two nationally ranked high school programs, to a college coaching career in the Atlantic 10, Big East and ACC. In some ways, this episode b...
It was a personal honor to have as my guest on this episode, Tom McMillen, President and CEO of Lead1 Association. As a kid growing up in Washington, DC, I had two dreams: 1) to play in the NBA and 2) to be President of the United States. I like to think I came a little close, having played basketball in college, worked for a U.S. Congressman and spent time as an NBA agent. At least that's what I tell myself. Having those dreams, and living in DC, Tom was someone I followed closely. Tom was ...
One of my goals with the podcast is to bring coaches tools, resources and stories from other coaches that you can use in your own professional development. This episode of Beyond The Whistle accomplishes just that. In this impactful episode with Khadija Head, Associate Head Coach of women’s basketball at Kennesaw State, we discuss: The importance of mentors in your coaching career The power of your personal brand Her three years away from coaching Entrepreneurship and the experience of sta...
I have a confession to make. I am the last person to subscribe to Netflix (at least it feels that way). I was getting ready for a family spring break trip. When traveling with our son, the question at night is always, "what are we going to do?". Not wanting to spend the exorbitant cost of pay-per-view movies at the hotel, I decided it was time to sign up for Netflix. So, I took advantage of the first month free offer and downloaded Netflix to my Amazon Fire TV Stick. Now, packing and preparin...
In part one of Take Control of Your Recruiting Process with Dan Tudor, we discussed what prospects are looking for in communications from you and how you can take control of the recruiting process in a way that helps guide your prospects to a decision. In this episode, Part Two with Dan, we discuss the campus visit phase of recruiting. What does your campus visit look like? How do you know if a visit is the next step your prospect is ready for? Listen and learn how to make your campus visit s...
I first met Romone Penny at the barbershop we both go to here in Washington, DC. At the time, Romone was a senior on the American University basketball team. His team had just come off an appearance in the 2008 NCAA tournament and Romone was doing great work giving back to his community in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from American, Romone joined the global accounting firm Ernst & Young. Fast forward ten years (yes, hard to believe). Romone now heads Pursuit S...
The 2017 National Letter of Intent November early signing period recently concluded. This year, college football will have its first early signing period, from December 20th to the 22nd. Have you ever asked why do we have National Letter of Intent signing dates in college sports? What's so magical about these dates? What if we didn't have signing periods at all? What would that look like? In this episode, I discuss these questions with my guest Michael Cross. Michael is a true thought leader...
On September 26th, the college sports world was rocked by an F.B.I. investigation of college basketball, which lead to the arrests of 10 people, including four assistant coaches and two Adidas executives. The fallout has also included the firing of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino by the University of Louisville. And this is just the beginning. On this episode, which is going to be the first of several you will hear from me on this, I am going to share with you my thoughts on coaches and ...
How do you control your recruiting process? Do you even have a process? My guest on this episode is Dan Tudor of Tudor Collegiate Strategies. Dan has done an amazing job of taking professional selling processes, skills and tactics and has applied them to athlete recruiting. Dan shares what recruits and parents are looking for during the process, how to effectively communicate with recruits and how to control the process. We also discuss his annual event, the National Collegiate Recruiting Con...
Rising Coaches Elite 2017 I recently had the opportunity to speak at the 8th Annual Rising Coaches Elite 2017 Conference. Rising Coaches Elite is an annual conference that provides professional development for basketball coaches, primarily just starting in their careers. Most of the attendees are graduate assistants, directors of basketball operations and team managers. Attendees came from a wide range of programs. I was also pleased to meet and get to know a few high school coaches who atte...
It's July, which means we are in the college basketball summer evaluation period. Coaches will travel throughout the country evaluating high school players at AAU tournaments, camps and summer leagues. As a college coach, just as you are looking for high school players that stand out as prospects for your program, the summer is also perhaps the best time of the year for you to stand out for your own professional development and advancement. In addition to evaluating players, head coaches use ...
During the most recent “coaching carousel” of college basketball, I had the opportunity to work with a few coaches on their resumes. There is one mistake I see on coaching resumes and if you're has this, you can fix it right now. The number one mistake I see on resumes - of all professions, not just coaching - is writing the resume as a job description. Your resume IS NOT a job description. The person reading your resume knows what the duties and responsibilities are of a head coach, a...
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