Ride Home Rants
Ride Home Rants
From Player to Coach: Exploring the Highs, Lows, and Legends of the Coaching World
Ever wondered what it takes to transition from being a player to a coach, and the rollercoaster journey that follows? Join me, Mike Bono, and a panel of seasoned coaches as we navigate their remarkable career stories across various sports, from high school fields to the electrifying arenas of professional leagues. We kick things off with some amusing small talk—think breakfast beverages and snowplows—but quickly shift gears to the heart of the matter: each coach's unique path, filled with unexpected turns and triumphant moments.
Our conversation flows naturally into the highs and lows of coaching life. From jaw-dropping playoff wins to the exhaustion of managing multiple sports, our guests candidly share how their personal athletic endeavors shaped their coaching methodologies. Listen to tales of unexpected victories and the relentless passion that fuels these individuals, whether they're guiding a high school soccer team or strategizing for a college basketball championship. We also dive deep into the competitive and often unforgiving world of college coaching, where the stakes are high and the pressure is constant.
And if you've ever debated which professional sports league is the toughest to conquer, you're in for a treat. Our lively discussion zeroes in on the grueling demands of the MLB, NHL, and NFL, with varying opinions on what makes each league uniquely challenging. From the financial complexities of baseball to the brutal physicality of hockey, the conversation is sure to spark your curiosity. Not to be missed is our playful exploration of coaching legends—both real and fictional—offering a lighthearted yet insightful tribute to the titans of the profession. Prepare for an episode filled with laughter, debate, and genuine appreciation for the cr
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Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is, as always, your host, mike Bono. Have a great episode for us today. I am bringing in a slew of coaches. We're going to talk all things about coaching and how their careers have gone and whatnot, and take you deep dive into the coaching profession. So I'm going to let my guests introduce themselves here today. So, gentlemen, I need your name and the answer to these two questions. And that's what is the best drink to have with breakfast? And do you shovel snow or use a snowblower? And, bill, since you're right on the screen there, garv, go on ahead, I'm going first. All right, I got to give you my name.
Speaker 2:Go on ahead, I'm going first. All right, I got to give you my name, right, bill Garvey. Chocolate milk Definitely my go-to, I will tell you that. But I'm a non-coffee drinker. I'm sure everybody's going to say coffee, but I don't drink coffee. So chocolate milk is me like a two-year-old. And then I shovel snow. And then I shovel snow. No snow blowing for me, man. Okay, I bet you.
Speaker 1:Fitty's got a snow blower. He's been sending me videos of him shoveling snow today up there in Cleveland. You know getting pounded with snow right. So he's been sending me like this is why I can't be on the show tonight. I can't come into the joint round table. So he's got snow up to his knees right now. So he's in it to win it right now. But, mister, let's go to you.
Speaker 3:Mr Askew, aka Vampire Coach. And what do I love to drink with breakfast man? You know what? You can't go wrong with chocolate milk man. But you know, but sometimes you know you need to really wake up with that 1800 do I? Uh, shovel snow? Oh, absolutely, give me that big, that big. You know saying shovel man and uh and get get going, get grinding, no snowblower absolutely.
Speaker 1:I don't even know what a snowblower is anymore. You know, growing up you know it was always a shovel, so it's what we still use today, but drew. Let's go to you what's up y'all?
Speaker 4:I love the 1800, that's awesome. But uh, for breakfast, uh, I gotta go with milk as well. I'm not a coffee drinker, so, uh, I'm a a white milk kind of guy. And then, yeah, same. Here I'm just, I shovel snow man. I don't do any plowing, I consider it my little workout and get out there and shovel the snow.
Speaker 5:All right and last but not least, duncan, duncan Williams. For breakfast I prefer adult gasoline, black coffee and shovel or snowblower. Neither I'm from West Virginia. We just put that thing in four-wheel drive, turn the traction control off and spin them wheels till you feel the pavement. Baby, ah, there you go.
Speaker 1:That's the other way to do it. You were you open an italian household, my dad would have me. He had the. He would set the, the stove timer like to like every hour, like when it snowed, like you had we were, we were out there shoveling snow. Get back out, there might be, there might be a dusting on that driveway. We need to get that cleaned off. So yeah, but yeah, that was always a fun part, you know, growing up in west virginia, you turn that, like you said, turn that traction control off. We don't need that right now.
Speaker 1:There you go, but all right, guys, we're going to talk about all things coaching here. So, mister, let's go to you here and you know I want Are you a current or former coach? We just need you know if you are current or a former coach for this one right here, because we're going to dive into it here a little bit later.
Speaker 3:Okay, current not current right now, at this exact moment, but last I was up in Minnesota, minnesota North College, remaining college defensive coordinator, but at this exact moment I'm not coaching.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Darby, what about you? Same, not coaching. Last place I was coaching at was high school this past season, and then the last college place I was at was at Delaware State.
Speaker 1:Okay, duncan, what about you?
Speaker 5:Current Division II basketball coach and uh assistant athletic director all right, drew round us out here yeah, uh, currently am coaching.
Speaker 4:As of now, yes, I am coaching okay, all right, glad to.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm sure, garvin, mister, you guys aren't going to be former coaches here for very long with your guys' resumes and everything like that. But, drew, what is the highest level that you coached at? Was it high school, college? If so, which level? Or pro, and in which sport?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I've coached football and basketball. Highest level I've been was at the high school level for both and currently I'm at the high school level for football right now.
Speaker 5:Okay, Duncan what about you? A little bit of everything Started in high school, went to college, did college soccer, did college basketball. Still do college basketball, done college basketball all actually at the division two level for 15 years, 16 years. Did a college golf for a year or two as well, a couple years ago okay, garvey, what about you, uh?
Speaker 2:I've been the highest level. I've been as fcs football football only, but I've been at division two, division, division III. This past year my first year coaching at the high school level so I've been at FCS and Division II, division III.
Speaker 1:Mr. What about you?
Speaker 3:Highest level arena arena football. I was actually the head coach of three different arena football teams, two of them the league never got started, so that never came to fruition, but coached at D1, d2, d3 in high school and cheering college, so I've been all over, okay.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. We got a high level of you know from high school all the way up, even to the pros there. When and being in the arena football league, arena football is like it, I just kind of want it off, but I don't think it ever will yeah, you know it's been um, it's been a rocky.
Speaker 3:You know what it's actually. You know, when the n NFL came in and they started doing things with the NFL, that's when they randomly started going down here. You know the contracts, the money them guys were making, man, them guys were making six figures. You know, when it was Arena 1. And then Arena 2, they were making $200 a game with the $50 win bonus. Some of them was different man, but them guys were starting to make some money, you know, and they had health insurance too. They had it all Arena 1. Yeah, they was making some money. I mean, he was good, you didn't have to find another job.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, you know a lot of those, those. That's what people don't see is they do a lot of these arena players and these semi-pro players, like they still work a day job and then they go out and they're still out there performing at a high level, right it's, it's amazing to see, but you know I see him play arena football in like the mall of america.
Speaker 5:Recently I did see that like, wasn't that nuts I mean it was awesome, though you had like five tiers of fans kind of stacked up in the aisles right next to the field wild I wonder if they had the mission to get in there for that.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 5:It's almost worth it.
Speaker 1:I'd be kind of pissed if they're like yeah, it's like $10 to get in to go shop, but, mister, did you play any sports in college? Uh, if so, where did you go to college? And you know what sports did you play?
Speaker 3:yeah, I played, uh, I played football and I ran track one year actually. Uh, I played at alabama a&m. You talking about somebody that went on a journey. Hey, I'll tell you what you talking about, how these guys was hopping in the portal. Well, I was doing that before that stuff was happening, because my journey I went from.
Speaker 3:This is no lie. I was at Alabama A&L, I left, I went to Rock Valley College, I left. Then I went to University of Cincinnati, stayed there for about what? Two, three weeks doing camp. Uh, rick manning was the head coach, harbaugh was the was my running back coach at the time, special team coordinator and then uh left and ended up, you know, saying getting back with coach ernest wilson. Uh, he got me, he got me back on the right track at Elizabeth City State. Man, I ended up graduating. So I went to one, two, well, four different schools. I'll tell you what it was a journey for me, man, it was a journey. You talk about going full-time, part-time, part-time, full-time. I just had to. You know I had to get it done and you know, a lot of times you hear coaches talking about the journey or the process. When you get to the end and make it. It's well worth it. It is well worth it.
Speaker 1:You invented the transfer portal. Was that what you're trying to say?
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, by far, I invented that thing, absolutely, absolutely. You're talking about getting your tapes, getting your film. Oh, by far. Oh, I invented that thing. Oh, absolutely, oh, absolutely. You talking about getting your tapes, getting your film. We wasn't getting films on the internet, no, we had VHSS tape, buddy, and you would press them, play, pause, record and I was sending them out. Oh yeah, I invented a transfer portal.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right, garvey. What about you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I play football at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, which no longer has a program anymore.
Speaker 1:Wow, what do you think goes into that when programs just get shut down?
Speaker 2:Money, I think it's all money. And in a place, iona was at a strange situation because when I went there it was a Division III program making the transition to 1AA, now SCS, because really the whole conference was like Georgetown was in it, duquesne, Siena, they were all basketball schools playing Division III football but Division I basketball and that was becoming like you couldn't do that anymore so you all had to be. You now have to be um, except for hockey, which, because hockey is just different, you have to be the same division. But st john's was in there, rider college was in there, st peter's I mean a whole bunch of schools that no longer have football. They all dropped it. There's a few that still do. I was like georgetown moved on to the patriot league, but a lot just dropped and no longer have it. So I mean money, what they want to spend their money on, where they want to put it.
Speaker 1:Football is an expensive sport, man yeah, yeah, absolutely, uh, duncan, what about you?
Speaker 5:I played uh soccer and basketball in college. You know, played baseball my whole life growing up but didn't play in college. I went to Winthrop University, which is right outside Charlotte. I went there a couple years, went in that portal back when it wasn't a portal. We didn't brag about it probably as much back then, probably didn't get as much NIL, because it never existed back then. Then I went to Shepherd university uh division two school and played both there and graduated from there and then went on the uh the journey. And then since since you just mentioned, like schools or programs closing I've coached a handful of different colleges on my way up, two of which have closed since closed, so they're not even schools anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the insane one to me, when whole colleges and universities shut down. I understand money is a big factor into it, but it still blows my mind to this day. Right, let's just shut down more education.
Speaker 5:Yeah, just completely close it all.
Speaker 1:Let's just shut it down. I don't understand it, but, drew, what about you Round us out on this question?
Speaker 4:Yeah, played. Played football at Louisville, was recruited to go to Ashton university and was committed to about the last second. And then I got a coaching opportunity to coach with my former head coach at Matthews and I waited my options and I got pretty hurt my senior year pretty bad hip injury. So I decided against playing college football and I got into coaching immediately.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, I probably should have went that route. I had, unfortunately, my senior year of high school playing football and I swam too as well. I was a better swimmer than I was a football player. I hurt my shoulder, which is like the kiss of death for swimmers. I lost a lot of scholarships Bethany kept theirs. I went there, swam for a season and re-injured my shoulder. So you know, it was just. Yeah, I probably should have just went into.
Speaker 1:I coached for a summer swim season here in central Ohio. You know I loved coaching, but I had a range of kids from like eight to 18. And there was like some 90 some kids on this in this program. So swimming's are long as it is, but now we got 90 some kids into the pool, went into events and it's just like all right, I didn't want to do anything today but stand around a pool in the summer sun. I didn't just bake in the sun, you know I I liked it. I always said I'd make a better coach than I did an athlete. Uh, but you know it's just. You know there's not a lot of people that are looking to to start swim programs. That's the, that's the problem. And you know, with with my, I guess we'll say it's tough to get going and once it gets going, keeping the traction with it, because swim meets are brutal to go to, it's an all-day event.
Speaker 4:It's like wrestling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember you know regionals in high school and we got to the pool at like 8 am and I remember leaving there at 8 pm and we were done with like events for the day, like 12 hours. It's not a three, four hour football game or soccer match or basketball, it's yeah, it's an all day event and people just don't want to sit for that long. I don't, I don't blame them, I don't want to sit that long. So I get it, but still love the sport of swimming. It only gets recognition once every four years with the Olympics. So it is what it is. But, drew, what would you say was your biggest win as a coach? It could be as an assistant or a head coach.
Speaker 4:My biggest win actually my biggest win was as a player. It was my senior year and we were one in six and we played a team that was six and one and um, they were on a six game winning streak and they were probably one of the better teams in our division in the state and we played them. You asked me about this. It's an incredible story. They came to our place and we just beat above and down, just destroyed them. It was like like final score, like 28 to six. We won, we score on the first play of the game. We stopped in three and now we've got the next play and we scored again. We scored twice on two plays. It was just like an incredible night. So getting that one was insane, probably as a coach, I would have to say.
Speaker 4:Back in 2016, I was special teams coordinator at Matthews we were 5-4. This is when 8 teams made it and we were seed 11 and we were playing the 10th seed. So we needed a lot of things to happen for that winner to make the playoffs. I think 4 teams had to lose and those 4 teams exactly lost and we won week 10 and we made it at that 8th spot. It was pretty cool. It was a cool night to celebrate that.
Speaker 1:So I probably say those two were my uh, most incredible wins as a coach yeah, that's definitely when you're praying for other teams to for you to make it into, and then it actually happens.
Speaker 4:You know that's that's definitely a huge victory the best part is we didn't even know about it until like a minute left that if we would have won it, we were going to make it, so we really got excited at that point.
Speaker 1:Nice. I think it's good not knowing that until after the game, because it would be in the back of the players' minds.
Speaker 4:Oh, for sure, no doubt.
Speaker 1:Because we had that my senior year of high school. It was, you know, we had finished five and five, all three years and missed the playoffs and we finally had a chance. But we needed another school to lose. Yeah, and our coaches stupidly told us that Went out for kickoff Like why would you like?
Speaker 1:and you could just tell like everybody was stiff at the start of the game because we were worried about that. Yeah, definitely want to wait till the end of the game, or, yeah, even after the game, like, okay, now we need to look to see if x, y and z lost. Yeah, yep, duncan, what about you? Biggest win?
Speaker 5:I guess as a coach beat a couple top two or three nationally ranked teams. You know, within our division as a division two we've beat a couple different division ones. Those were always nice. But winning, winning, winning a tournament championship, did that a few times. That's that feeling's kind of unbeatable. I mean, beating a D1's nice and beating a top ranked team's nice, but those are regular season games. You know, the winning tournament championships is just that, that feeling kind of something really different. Been lucky enough to be a part of some teams that did that a few times, I'd say those Garvey what about you.
Speaker 2:It's a good one. I'll give you two as well. As an assistant, when I was at Harvard, we won the Ivy League championship. We had to beat Harvard-Yale games the last ones we had to win out to get that. We did that in. That was in 2011, I think. And then as a head coach probably um, like, I think it's my first, my first or second year. I think it's my first year at bethany. We beat wj for the first time in 32 years, so that was a pretty, you know, kind of a turning point for that, for that place, a little bit trying to move that thing forward in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. I remember that win. That was a good one. That definitely was a good one. And Harvard, was that with that wasn't with Fitzpatrick there. He would have just left in 2011,. Right, no, no, no, he would have been no it wasn't 11.
Speaker 2:So it there he would. He would have just left in 2011, right, no, no, no, he would have been. No, it wasn't 11. So it would have been. I'm way off.
Speaker 1:Not 11. So you, you were at Bethany when I was there, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not 11. I don't mean see, that's how old I am. Six, four, eight, two, nine, eight, nine. It's early 2000s. Fitzpatrick would have been. He may have been a freshman on that team.
Speaker 5:Get the calculator out.
Speaker 2:That was it may have been a freshman. I carry the one. He may have been a freshman. That probably 2000. And I got to think about this. I got there at All right 2001, 2011. And I got to think about this. I got there at all right, 2001, not 2011. I just added a one.
Speaker 1:I think it was 2001, 2002. All right.
Speaker 3:Mister, what about you? I'll tell you what. I'll give you two, three of them real quick. One of them was with Savannah State. You know got my first Division I. You know we was in the MAAC I mean the MEAC conference with Coach Wilson Coached with him. You know, we've been together. He coached me Come out of Alabama I ain't know. You know I've been with him for 25-plus years and we finally got to the D1 level at Savannah State and got our first win together on Division I level. The second one will be high school. You know what I'm saying winning the first playoff game at Afro Central High School, the first playoff win ever. And then the third will be coaching with that guy right there, bill Garvey. You might remember this, bill.
Speaker 3:We was playing Thomas Moore. We were down 21-0, 20-0 at halftime and that gone, garve, you know what I'm saying. He got into that zone and he said no more of this BS, no more of this bull crap, no, and we just switched it. Them guys played and that was a real, real special moment, man, you know, because you know, everybody knows the story of Bethany College. You know up and down and being getting beat and we pulled that sucker out. Man Gar called a hell of a game man.
Speaker 2:At their place.
Speaker 3:Yep at their place, Yep at their place and they was sick. Them guys was mad they thought they had that game. But that was a good game, special game. That's one game that I just stick with me because I was right there by Gar man. I was soaking up everything that he was just calling and just how he acted. Man, I loved it. I loved it, man. I did learn a lot from you, man. I know I probably said a whole lot of things behind your back, but I learned a lot.
Speaker 1:I think it's always a big win for a coach to win an away game, especially when nobody thinks you're going to be able to win that game on the road.
Speaker 5:Nothing like an away game, man. It's the best.
Speaker 1:Those away wins, oh yeah.
Speaker 2:You just don't plant your flag in the middle of the field.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we don't need anybody to get faced like this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it happened all day yesterday, they just outlawed that Good night.
Speaker 1:They were still talking about it all day. This morning, when I was sitting up watching SportsCenter drinking my coffee, that's all I kept hearing about was Ohio State losing, which I was so happy that Ohio State lost. I can't stand Ohio State state. I'm not a michigan fan either like I.
Speaker 5:I just hate ohio state that much you can't say that out of the restaurant I live 45 minutes out of columbus, right, that's good luck, I live too.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it's all I see down here is people like just that's all they talk about is ohio state, and I can't stand it. Uh, but you know, for me, I mean, I I didn't coach long enough to have, you know, that big win, uh, but it was as a swimmer and that was winning, uh, my regional 100 backstroke and having that in high school on my resume as a regional winner and in an event that I really never raced throughout the season like I did it sparingly. We had enough guys that they would, you know, throw somebody else in there every now and again, sparingly. We had enough guys that they would throw somebody else in there every now and again. They put me in for regionals, which to this day I still don't know why they decided that at the beginning. But I ended up pulling out the win there by almost half a second, which is an eternity in swimming.
Speaker 1:Then winning the 50 freestyle at the PAC Championships at Bethany College. It was one of the first events I got to do in the conference championships and just winning that event was huge for me, until I ended up getting dehydrated and having to miss the last two days of the conference championships Because the doctors would not release me to swim, even though I got the IV and I was fine, but that one still too. I've had a lot of downs more the ups in swimming. My swimming career, that's like crazy ex-girlfriend.
Speaker 1:One of those ones that still haunts you just years later. Know I'll do. Uh, but, mister, what do you? What do you? Suppose you know? What pro sport would you think would be the hardest to win a championship in? Is it the nhl, nfl, nba or the MLB?
Speaker 3:MLB, mlb. I think that'll be the hardest. I mean, you're playing a thousand games, though it's a long season. Yeah, it's a long season. The mental, you know, I mean just the mental, to be able to come out and play every night, if you can do it, you know, and I don't know how many of them guys are doing that, because all of them guys are taking breaks, but I can see the hockey too, though I would say baseball and hockey will be the hardest, because hockey is a that's brutal will be the hardest because hockey is a that's brutal. I mean, you know, you talk about legs, thighs, ankles. You put your leg on the line. The blade, oh heck, no. But baseball, I think that'd be the hardest one.
Speaker 2:All right, garvey, what about you? Oh, I still. I mean not to be too biased, but I think football and the reason why I say that is because I think football, I think, is the hardest team sport to be played, because it's the most it's 11 people at one time trying to do the same the right thing more than any other sport. Right, it's the people at one time trying to do the right thing more than any other sport. Right, it's the most people on the field at one time that have to do one thing and move in the same direction. That's why I always say I think football is the hardest one out of all the team sports, just because it's the most people on the playing surface at one time. Yeah, so I'd still stick with football.
Speaker 1:Never thought of it that way. That's an excellent point, duncan.
Speaker 5:It's a loaded question, as always with this group.
Speaker 1:We ask the tough questions here.
Speaker 5:I know you really set everybody up to really dive in. I'd love to say basketball, because that's what I mildly get paid to do, but I don't really think it is. I think if you get the right group in basketball it kind of takes care of itself, kind of like the way the Patriots can play some football. The one thing like I want to say baseball, just because you just don't see that many repeat winners. But at the same time I think the world of baseball is completely unfair because their payroll for the yankees can be 350 million dollars a year when they're playing other teams in the playoff, even in the world series, that their payroll is more than double the team they're playing. So we might say it's harder because of the sport. But when one team can pay their players $350 million and the other team can pay their team $88 million, there should be more likelihood of the team that just pays more to win them, which we have seen.
Speaker 5:Teams get hot in the 90s for baseball. You had the Braves and you had the Yankees and them two were just kind of stealing it every year. We haven't had a ton of it recently. So I'll say baseball, just because the sport just goes up and down so quick because of pitching and because of hitting, but I almost don't want to give them that respect because of the way they do their payroll. So I don't want to say it, but I am I.
Speaker 1:I agree that baseball players are way overpaid, especially starting pitchers. Like okay, I've gone on this rant so many times, but I got to it again. Clayton Kershaw got a 10-year $350 million contract to pitch every four days and not even a full game, and then choking the playoffs Like who needs one that amount of money? I'm not saying I wouldn't want that amount of money, I'm saying needs that amount of money, but like that and you're not pitching every day. You're not a first baseman that's got to go out there and take line drives every day and or a catcher that has to try to hope his knees hold up throughout the season from squatting all day. It's just yeah, I don't. Yeah, okay, we'll get off that so we can get Drew to answer this question.
Speaker 4:No, you're good. No, all you guys make great points. You know you want to say baseball because what everyone mentioned, you know it's so hard to play. You play 162 games a year. That's, that's insane. And then if you make the playoffs, you're playing probably another 30 more.
Speaker 4:Um, yeah, that's hard, but I think, ultimately, not to be biased either, I think football is extremely hard. Like coach garvey said, 11 guys on the field. You got to have the same mindset, the same. You don't know exactly what to do. Every single play Not easy. And then you look at the NFL. You know, watching the Bills and 49ers, now, everyone's such on a level playing field In the NFL. You get to pick your own guys so you can see who you want, who fits your scheme, who fits your team, and it's hard to compete. You look like a Panthers team. They can go in and beat a San Fran, they can beat a Buffalo. They almost won today against Tampa. It's just, you know, every day it's different with the NFL. So that's why I think that's got to be the hardest to win.
Speaker 1:See, I got to go hockey on this one.
Speaker 1:For me, just the physicality of the game you know you're on ice, you're skating and then you have to. You know the option for a fight always happens and then trying to do that, and just the natural athletes that these guys are Like. I still go back to Sidney Crosby going to the Pirates Stadium and taking BP and just taking these pitchers yard for like, like. I mean just the hand-eye coordination you have to have, the the mental toughness that you have to have to be a hockey player of 82 games seasons, not counting playoffs. You know they're, they're playing every night, every other night, like baseball, albeit not not as many games, but still I think the physicality that you have to deal with in hockey and playing that many games and back-to-backs it's then going into playoffs, best of seven series, trying to play another 30 games on top of that too as well if you go all the way to the championship. So yeah, it's just just a long, grueling season, uh, but yeah, that's I'm. I'm a huge hockey fan too, so I guess I'm not talked about.
Speaker 5:Enough is hockey like professional hockey? Players are full-on linebackers. That are yeah mild ballerinas, because they have balance and speed, and all of that because not many athletes do, and then throw a puck in the mix that's going around at 110 miles an hour.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 5:It's like a combination of all types of wildness going on.
Speaker 1:Try being a goalie and stop it oh yeah, it's nuts.
Speaker 1:When Ovechkin shoots at 110 mile an hour, slap shot albeit. He's like the wild thing in major league and he's not accurate. But if he, if he by chance, puts that on net, you have to react to that and you know that's one thing. That is just always. I don't think hockey gets the respect that it should, because Zdeno Char, when he played, was six,7 without being on skates, and 250 pounds. That's a linebacker or an offensive guard, like you know. That's what. That's what's going on and being played, and like he's undersized for hockey. He's only 6'2, like it's like okay that he's only 6'2" 50. It's like okay, that's Derrick Henry, 6'2", 50. No doubt Up against him every day on skates. But Drew, I think we kind of touched on this a little bit but who do you think is the greatest coach ever? It can be anyone, from a high school coach through college pros, olympics, etc and in any sport. So I mean just wide open here. You know who's who's the greatest coach ever?
Speaker 4:wow, you want to talk about a loaded question this one's coming straight from finney. I know that's the worst part about it.
Speaker 1:You can't tell who wrote what questions.
Speaker 4:Oh man, the greatest coach ever you know. You can talk about Bill Walsh, the Dolphins, the only team that went undefeated in the NFL. That's the hardest sport to win a championship and he's done it and swept the table. That's pretty impressive. You can talk about these guys at the NBA that have done it for so long. Greg Popovich is another guy that comes to mind. I mean, he's just the San Antonio way down. There has been relentlessly good. I know they've been bad the past few years, but you're going back to 2000 where they just been unbelievable. Um God, I would have to say you know, give me, give me Walsh the dolphins undefeated season. He did it. He never take it away from him and hasn't been touched yet.
Speaker 1:So I'm saying the wallsves, I'm going to throw a curveball in here for you and maybe give these other guys a chance to think about this. I'm going to Herb Brooks for the Olympic hockey team. Good one, that's a good one. That beat the Soviets with the band of misfit toys from Boston. That's a great one, that's a good one, that's a high-level choice. Miracle on ice, the movie and everything about it, that's, you know. Yeah, I gotta go hurt Brooks, but Duncan, what about you? And now the special guest here with you.
Speaker 5:This is Viv. She just wanted to get on the podcast. She just heard all the laughter happening. She's jealous pretty much. To be honest with you, I'm going to want to up you with hockey. I don't even want to talk about all the unbelievable coaches that have graced our presence with all the sports that we all have coached and know too much about, because it's almost offensive to skip some guys. But some guys I really model myself after speak in the hockey realm. You know, I grew up to gordon bombay coaching the mighty ducks. What he was able to do with those kids in the movie was next to fantastic to really take them out of the gutter and put them together and win championships and take them to the private school and then to the junior olympics. I mean, tell me when that's been done, you know. So I've modeled myself after him in my career, other than the trouble he started with when he was in the first movie. I'm not shooting for that, but his story and the comeback. Everybody loves it.
Speaker 1:Gordon Bombay. Oh my God, that was a fantastic answer you can take that with you.
Speaker 5:That was free.
Speaker 2:I lose with Goldberg the goalie man Goldberg. I can't lose with Goldberg the goalie man Goal. He can stop Ovechkin shot.
Speaker 1:Yeah the bash brothers To get Fulton Reed out there. All right, garvey, what about you?
Speaker 2:This is. This is a tough one I mean there's so many one. That came to my mind Cause you gave me the hockey idea and I'm from Long Island, new York. I'd be the head coach of the New York Islanders when they won four straight Stanley Cups, al Arbor.
Speaker 1:So that's a good one. That's a good one, especially in the home. It's a little obscure. It's out there yeah.
Speaker 5:What info you got on them, because I don't know enough.
Speaker 2:I'm probably maybe the greatest dynasty in all sport, possibly. Right, because they won four in a row. They got to the fifth one and lost. Yeah, I think they got to the fifth one. I can't. We're talking. I'm like how old am I? I'm like 10 or 11 years old, so that would be one. But heck, I mean you got all those basketball guys, coaches that have done it. I mean you could give to the Marvelini. You got the Buffalo Bills on right. He never won one, but he went to three straight right four.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's so many but I'll go with my first one New York Islanders being biased from the New York guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, thank you for that Absolutely. But, mister, what about you?
Speaker 3:I am going to take the high road in this and I am going to go way off, okay, and I and you can laugh at me and that is quite okay, but I am going to have to go with Al Pacino in any game of Sunday. So that is my guy, that is who I'm going to go with Every inch, and it's Al Pacino, al Pacino, al Pacino.
Speaker 1:AKA Scarface. Scarface. You said you had another one. It was your second one there.
Speaker 2:I thought he was going to go with what's that? I thought he was going female girls basketball and going.
Speaker 3:I was. I was going to go with Pat.
Speaker 2:Pat Summitt, I thought you were going to go with Gino.
Speaker 5:Or Gino, yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:You're good at seeing garden on me, he right.
Speaker 2:I thought you were going straight female basketball. That's where I thought you were going, and all of you really good picks.
Speaker 3:Badger Bob.
Speaker 1:Johnson. Wow, my wife from the other room, badger Bob Johnsonger. Wow, my wife from the other room, badger Bob Johnson. Great day for hockey. Oh man, we're going to have to move on. She's starting to talk about 90s penguins and that's a whole other show In and of itself About hockey and the Pittsburgh Penguins. So that's a whole other show in and of itself. It might have to split it into two shows. She will go on forever about the penguins and her love for the penguins. But, mr, when you're coaching, what is one trait you want in a player above anything else as a coach?
Speaker 3:Resilience. You know you got to be able to go when all odds are against you, so you have to be just resilient. You know that would be the thing you know. You have to be um, just resilience. You know um that, that that would be the thing you know. You have to be a killer you gotta be a wolf. I'm looking for wolves and not portals, man I'm not mad at that garvey.
Speaker 1:What about you?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, I think resilience things right there and and mine's a little bit probably broader on just just toughness, right. And you know, mentally and physically and probably mentally, with resilience, what Mr is kind of referred to is probably way more important, right, because the play part of things, that's the easy part, right. The mental toughness of fighting through things and fighting through adversity and your resilience and doing the necessary things when you're not in season and those types of things, that's the hard part, right, I mean, that is the hard part. So for me, you know, just toughness, mentally and physically, and probably more on the mental toughness side.
Speaker 1:All right, duncan, what about you?
Speaker 5:Yeah, a lot of these things kind of go together and almost overlap each other. But you know, mental toughness and being resilient, they all overlap. Being just in an elite competitor, you know, is always important, and guys that I'm either recruiting or coaching, like I'm going to try to go play ping pong with them and see if they care or not. I'm going to talk them into a paper airplane competition and see what happens. We're not getting funky about it. You're probably not my guy.
Speaker 5:It doesn't matter what it is if you're competing against it, if you're addicted to the path and the grind, that's worth more than four inches on a vertical, that's worth more than 4% on a three-point shooting percentage because you're going to be so addicted or so competitive that you're going to get better at those things. Like those traits are something that I think most of us coaches wish we had enough time to just coach those traits more or just recruit those kids more and just know more about just those things, rather than he runs this or he's this tall or whatever it is academically. So I think that just being ultra-competitive boils over into those other things in the classroom or in life. I think that makes probably the biggest difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that goes back to my pick for Coach and Herb Brooks is. I got my team. I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right players. You know, like that's that's. You know, I think that's that boils down to that right there. And I, you know even the former player myself. You know, I still have that competitive edge in me now. You know, my son wants to play a video game with me and it's just like I think I'm gonna take it easy on you. Dude bro, I've been playing video games since before you were even a thought so like you wouldn't go. I'm gonna put it to you and I'm not gonna take it easy on you either too. So you know, that's just that's. That's just always been who I am, but drew. What about you? What about you? What are you looking for in a player?
Speaker 4:Yeah, let's touch that real quick. It's like that Cardinal Jones tweet where he plays the kid in the hospital. He's playing with him at it and they say Cardinal Jones won 56-7, and he corrects it. He goes no, actually it was 63-7. Yeah, but yeah, I think we're all have the perfect formula here for the perfect kid. I probably say coachability. A guy, a kid that's coachable, that wants to learn, that wants to get better. I take that over any God given talent, any day, and you know anyone can go out there and play. But if you're not doing the fundamentals the right way, the technique the right way, if you're not bought into the scheme and bought into what the team is trying to do, it's a lost cause. So I think being a coachable kid, being able to understand what you got to do, what your job is and how to execute your job on every play, is the biggest thing, and then everything else will take care of itself. So I think just being a coachable kid, that's a huge thing for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a yeah. I mean you, you can't coach that. That's one thing that you either have that you're a coachable player or that's not, something that a coach is going to instill into into any player. You're the coachable, You're not.
Speaker 1:You can try to coach it, you can try your best, you can try, you can help, you're probably not going to make it, or not For a while there, drew, do you think coaches at the college level are just as under as are? Just as holy crap, how did you? Do you think coaches at the college level are just as under as much? Oh my God, sometimes he types too fast when he sends me these questions. Do you think coaches at the college level are under as much pressure as professional coaches now?
Speaker 4:As much pressure as professional coaches now, yeah, I'd say if any coach of any high school, college or pros, there definitely isn't any pressure when you're responsible for your coordinator or your assistant coach or even your head coach. That's your responsibility and the pressure is on you, no matter what, no matter what sport it is. Obviously you go off the ranks from high school to college. I bet college has more pressure than a high school team and I'm sure NFL or NBA has more pressure than a college team. But I think each level has their own right of pressure and their own amount of pressure that a coach would feel. But when you're talking about more dollars and the higher ups, I think that probably adds a little more than coaching at a high school level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, look at what just happened today and I know by the time this show comes out this is going to be old news. But you know Neil Brown fired at West Virginia 6-6. Yep, good riddance for sure. I'm so happy that happened because I've been saying it for two years now that he's not the guy for West Virginia University. But you know he finished 25-28 as a record in the Big 12. Like that's not getting it done.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1:You know he was 37 and 35 as a coach at West Virginia. Like that's just, it's not getting it done for a big-name Division. I program in the Big 12. You know you've got to be fighting for Big 12 championships, hoping kansas state, colorado, uh, kansas, and I think oklahoma state had to lose for us to even sniff a big 12 championship game at six and six. Like it's like that's, like that's crazy. The big 12, I mean it's very top dominant, you know. And then you add in colorado, coming in byu in these schools, arizona state. You know formerly of the pac-12, which now the pac-2 yeah, the conference changing is incredible, it's insane.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I mean, it added a whole other also phil.
Speaker 5:Wvu in the big 12 is a is a pretty tough job, just comparatively. It's not what WVU and the Big East was.
Speaker 1:It's different man and I've been saying this since they went to the Big 12. I think they should have went to the ACC.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I agree A lot of people do, especially regionally.
Speaker 5:But Big 12, I assume, pays a lot more and I'm sure there's some type of something to be in the ACC. You know, wvu may not have been pretty enough the right colors, the right education. There's always other factors in the play.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. But you know what about you for this question there, duncan, you know, are college coaches under as much pressure?
Speaker 5:I think they are, I think as soon as you and it probably depends on the sport and depends on the pay, which is drastically different at every college and different at every level of college. You know, a lot of people probably don't realize that. You know, just because you're a Division II coach, that same coach at Division III might be a full-time gig, might be $50,000 or $70,000, might be health insurance, might be this, that and the other. And then you go up a level to Division II. That same job at Division II, for some reason or another it might be a part-time job. That coach of that certain sport or whatever it may be, it's just different at that university. So the pay for jobs at different levels and the pay just strictly off of the sport changes drastically from school to school, between levels.
Speaker 5:But most colleges, especially when scholarships are involved, every coach knows if I don't win enough, I'm not going to keep my job. It's a weird life to live but it's kind of what you sign up for. I would say it's exactly like the NFL, it's exactly like the NBA If you don't win enough, you're not going to keep your job. The only difference is you could go 500 or maybe even better in the nfl and get fired. If you're doing plus 500 in college you're probably okay, unless you're at that particular school for that particular sport. That pays a lot more to not do that than the national average for that sport. So every college coach, no matter what the sport knows, if I don't do well enough I don't keep my job, um, so there is a ton of pressure. Everybody has that feeling. It's just what is the well enough between the nba and what is the well enough between division two athletics or division one athletics or whatever. But they all know there's pressure involved. It's kind of what you sign up for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. We're going to go to the two here that have done it at the college level here. But, garvey, you know you've done it, you know at the likes of like Harvard, you know, tell us, you know what's the pressure like for college coaches.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think everyone think the other two are exactly right. I think it depends on the level. I think eventually, no matter what level you're at, if you're not having success, it's done. It's just probably as you move down your level there's just a little bit more tolerance, or maybe given more time Maybe that's the better word Because as you move down, there is less scholarships and less resources and those things that will help you win quicker than at other places, and obviously it's not as revenue driven and things like that.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I mean, I think there's pressures everywhere, no matter where you're at, and if you're at really good, competitive high school football, it's no different than college, right? I mean there's some places in this country that are paying high school football coaches really, really big money and if you don't win you're out too. So, um, you know and I know that it's happening in in basketball as well um, you know, at smaller, private places that are probably a little bit more basketball oriented because they're private schools and things like that, where you know you're pre-prep school, whatever you want to call them. But, yeah, I mean there's pressure everywhere, right? The best way to describe college coaching and coaching in general is great job, bad profession, yeah, that's well said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it really is, Mr can you add anything on to that? You know you've done it too as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm going to say, you know, anytime you're in a role of leadership and you're leading, you know, a group of individual, a group of people, you know there's always going to be pressure. You know, I mean no matter what, and I think a lot of time it comes down to who like you just a little bit more If you want to keep your job really. You know, because sometimes you know we talk about well, you know, particularly with high school or with college, you know you might have an AD come in, or a new principal or president come in, um, you know it just come down to you know, saying who like you a little bit more. But I mean, it's this pressure, this pressure from top to bottom, uh, no matter what yeah, I mean, it's all well said.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's anything to add to that. I was gonna end it there. That got a little heavier than I thought, so I want to end with this question here and, mr, I think I already know where you're going to go with this. And what's more realistic of a movie and football team Any given Sunday portraying the NFL or the program portraying college football?
Speaker 3:Oh man.
Speaker 2:Neither.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, how about I got a movie coming out? It's going to be called Vampire Coast Diary of the Vampire Slayer. Oh man, you can't win me.
Speaker 1:Listen, hey, Buffalo, those are real there's some role in it and I will add some comedy to it. Man, I'm game for this.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, man, the program Any given Sunday? Come on man, it's all real, it's real, all right.
Speaker 5:Duncan, what about you? I think they're both fantastic movies and that is a great reference. I mean, if anybody hasn't seen them, you're not alive or should not probably be in this chat. I think they're fantastic, especially for the time periods One was probably 90ss and one was probably early 2000s right, something like that. I thought they were pretty good. Like one's making music videos like Dion was like it's spot on. You know I am showing my age here, but at times in practices, when I know it's time to put somebody away, I say it's time to put the women and children to bed and go look for dinner. And the dudes look at me like what in the hell is this guy talking about? Like they know I say some weird stuff from time to time and they know that probably means something, but they got zero idea what that actually means you gotta show them.
Speaker 5:You gotta show them the movie I gotta show them, yeah, right just painting your face Breaking off toilet Doors, just yeah. So I don't know, to me just Going through both those areas, I think they're both real.
Speaker 1:Okay, garvey, what about you?
Speaker 2:I'm going any given Sunday. Okay, I mean, there's Truth to some of it and then some of it's obviously it's a movie. It's ridiculous, right Like nobody puts their head through a window. That's not real. We're not on purpose like that.
Speaker 3:Oh, go ahead.
Speaker 1:You put your head through a window, mister I was going to say mister might have something to say about that you know what I'm on Thursday.
Speaker 5:You should have seen me Thursday before the game.
Speaker 2:our junior year, all right, but that was walking home from Bubba's when you shouldn't have been there.
Speaker 3:Oh my God. Oh my God, here you go. Oh my goodness. Let me tell you something, the program I can. I will tell you this If you watch that, I'm partaking in some form and fashion of everything in that movie besides the head going through the window as a player and as a coach and as I got you, Drew.
Speaker 1:what about you?
Speaker 4:Two unbelievable movies. I gotta go Any Given Sunday. The Al Pacino speech at the end is as real as it gets, really at its top tier. I still listen to that sometimes before I coach games. I get fired up about it. Any Given Sunday is a great movie. They're both great movies, but I gotta go with Any Given Sunday. That's top tier.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, no worries, that's tough to follow, mr Doing Everything by Putting His Head Through. I'm surprised it hasn't happened. Honestly, mr Inouye.
Speaker 3:Hey, now I would. Now I would tell you what I have heard this story about LT putting that you know the chainsaw and cutting that car in half. Now I have heard stories about that down through the grapevine Through some NFL players I used to coach with and you know, we'll just leave it like that that's another show for another day.
Speaker 1:With that all being said, that is actually going to do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. I want to thank all my guests here Mr Drew, bill and Duncan for joining the show. This was a lot of fun getting to talk everything, coaching. If you enjoyed this, absolutely go check it out on the Patreon page. There, too, as well, you can get early access to the shows. You can ask us anything, where we will actually do a show and live answer your questions, and I'm giving out free merch too, as well um, on there as well. So go and check us out there. Get all those amenities. But, as always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it. Just because you didn't. That's gonna do it for me and I will see y'all next week.
