E37 | Coach Ryan Davis: Learning from Mistakes and Coming Out on Top

[00:00:00] Donnie Maib: Welcome to the team behind the Team podcast. I am your host, Donnie Maid. This is the monthly show focused on building conversations around the team based model approach to ethic, performance, strength, and conditioning, sports medicine, sports science, mental health and wellness, and sports nutrition.

[00:00:23] Donnie Maib: Hello and welcome back to the Team Behind the Team podcast. I’m your host, Donnie Mabe, and man it is heating up in Austin. And this episode, this month, we have got one of my all time favorite guests. But before we introduce our guests, uh, Joe Crok is out, his, him and his wife. I think they have a little anniversary this month.

[00:00:44] Donnie Maib: So he’s out and we’ve got a. Cohost guests this month. So Kylie Lehe, who’s been on the show, say hello to everybody. Kylie.

[00:00:51] Donnie Maib: Hello

[00:00:51] Kylie Lahey: everyone. Thanks for tuning in.

[00:00:53] Donnie Maib: Right. So Kylie, thank you for being willing to step up and again, this is ultimate team behind the team podcast here, [00:01:00] Kylie filling in. So, so gracious defense.

[00:01:01] Donnie Maib: So thank you for that. Uh, how you like any summers,

[00:01:04] Kylie Lahey: Kylie? This is my fifth one and it never gets any easier,

[00:01:08] Donnie Maib: right? Right. It is what I think we’re hitting like 1 0 6, 1 0 7. It’s like all time records, so over the. With that too much. Yeah, with that. With that hot summer we had to bring in, since I knew he was in town.

[00:01:20] Donnie Maib: Coach Ryan Davis from the University of Maryland Coach. How was your flight in today? Flight

[00:01:25] Ryan Davis: was really good. We’re a little bit delayed, but it’s always good when you get the exit row and you got free leg room in front of you. So it was good.

[00:01:32] Donnie Maib: Coach. Anytime we can get time with you. Whether it’s on time, a little late, we’ll take what we can get.

[00:01:37] Donnie Maib: So thank you for, for being gracious to come in

[00:01:40] Ryan Davis: today. So I really appreciate you guys

[00:01:41] Donnie Maib: having me. Good stuff. So, hey, we’ll, we’ll get kind of one of my favorite topics. Um, uh, if you don’t know Coach Ryan Davis, you’ve never met him, him and his beautiful wife, Marissa, they have one child, Jackson. That’s right.

[00:01:57] Donnie Maib: And one on the way. How is the dad life [00:02:00] treating you right now? Coach? Tell us what’s going.

[00:02:02] Ryan Davis: It’s, I get goosebumps thinking about this, but, um, Jackson, Edward Davis is my absolute pride and joy. I mean, I, this kid is, he’s 18 months old and I don’t want him to grow up anymore. Right. He’s at that point right now where he is, he’s got this personality and you know, he does not care about how my day was when I was at work or what happened in the weight room.

[00:02:28] Ryan Davis: All he cares about is that kid’s eyes light up when daddy comes home and it’s, and it is the best feeling that I’ve ever experienced, ever. So I’m honored to be a part of the club of, uh, being a parent, ,

[00:02:41] Donnie Maib: I tell you the, That’s so cool. They really will make the clouds go away when you, you, you have children.

[00:02:46] Donnie Maib: Those, you so sweet. Listing that can relate. Uh, there are a lot of work for sure, but they literally can make just put the biggest smile on their face. So I can relate to that as well.

[00:02:55] Ryan Davis: So, yeah, I heard, I heard somebody say that you just trade in sleep for love. I guess that’s a good way to [00:03:00] look at it.

[00:03:00] Ryan Davis: Cause I hadn’t lept since he’s been born, so It’s okay. ,

[00:03:04] Donnie Maib: that’s funny. Uh, well you got one on the way so. You’re gonna go, have to go right now. You got, you got a little zone coverage, you’re gonna go to man coverage. Yeah.

[00:03:11] Ryan Davis: Well it’s like, like ris. And I always say if, if things in our life isn’t, if it’s not a full court press and it’s not us, Right?

[00:03:17] Ryan Davis: So we, we like to keep things interesting and fast paced.

[00:03:21] Donnie Maib: Um, one more question. This is, uh, a favorite topic of mine and I’ll pass it to Kylie, but, uh, So Marissa? Mm-hmm. , if anybody knows your wife. She’s been a very successful coach, entrepreneur, uh, professional in this field as well. She is a go getter like yourself,

[00:03:39] Donnie Maib: You guys both run at high levels, Uh, she’s still coaching, correct?

[00:03:43] Ryan Davis: Correct. She’s at Georgetown.

[00:03:44] Donnie Maib: How, so talk about for a minute, how do you balance, like all you got going on with both you guys coaching and you got children, and I’m sure other things going.

[00:03:54] Ryan Davis: Yeah, so a, as my players say, she’s like the real coach Davis.

[00:03:57] Ryan Davis: So they don’t call me Coach Davis. That’s why they call me Rd. They call [00:04:00] her Coach Davis when she comes in. Um, but she’s got her own career. She’s got her own identity. Uh, it, it was important for me to be able to support that. I, I never wanted anybody to associate her from a career standpoint with. I’ve done.

[00:04:16] Ryan Davis: Hmm. Because we’ve had very separate avenues and she’s done a really good job at, you know, creating that identity and, and having that for herself. And so I always wanna be a support to that. Um, in terms of balance, I, I don’t, I don’t know that, that’s a good word. Right. You know what I mean? I think it’s more of a, of a harmony like Jackson’s been in this summer to watch lift groups.

[00:04:39] Ryan Davis: Uh, he’s totally enamored by our receivers when they train. I don’t know why, but he can sit there and he can watch a guy bench or do pullups all day long and be good. And then after the group’s over, I mean, he’s tired and wants to take a nap like he trained so, I’m fortunate to be in a situation and work for a head coach in, in Mike Lockley, who [00:05:00] allows me to be able to have my son at 7 0 7 and be able to have him in the weight room in some of the groups and around the players.

[00:05:06] Ryan Davis: And so I think it’s good for Jack’s, even though I want him to play golf or maybe do baseball , something that he can play for a long time. Yeah, longevity. Um, um, but I think it’s also good for our players who get to see me. I’m the same person. Whether I’m with him, whether I’m with risk or whether I’m in that room, I’m the same person.

[00:05:25] Ryan Davis: So I think it’s good for them too.

[00:05:27] Donnie Maib: Yeah. Real quick. That’s a, that’s a great point you just made. I, I was just talking to a friend of mine on the phone about a job opening and today, and he was, uh, I said this quote to him, I said, It’s not about, it’s not always about like where you work, but it’s about who you work for oftentimes.

[00:05:44] Donnie Maib: Mm-hmm. . And you gotta have somebody who has that core value mm-hmm. that, yeah, we’re gonna be successful, we’re gonna win, but not at the risk of you losing your family. No doubt. And so that’s a, that’s an important component I feel like for me too. Like, cuz I’ve, I’ve, my first job I [00:06:00] watched, um, my boss.

[00:06:02] Donnie Maib: Family be destroyed through just working crazy, like 80 plus hours a week. Mm-hmm. and never home. Now we were winning, but then the home life was in a bad situation. So I just don’t ever feel like the re that reward of neglecting family is ever worth it. So,

[00:06:18] Ryan Davis: kudos to you. No, it, it, it isn’t. And, and one of the benefits that, we didn’t realize this early on, but you know, we, when I, when we started dating, I was already a head strength.

[00:06:28] Ryan Davis: Yeah, so it was just a little different because the demand was already there, and it’s kind of been that way from the beginning. It’s kind of the expectation. And we had Jackson, I was in the hospital and she’s like, it was the day after he was born, and she looks at me and goes, When are you going back to work?

[00:06:45] Ryan Davis: I says, Well, I guess I’ll go back today. Yeah. Like, he doesn’t need me right now. So, but um, it, it’s made it good because it, again, we have the ability to kind of. He can be around and, and we have that environment at Maryland and I’m lucky to have that. So [00:07:00] it’s been good for

[00:07:00] Donnie Maib: us that, yeah, it’s a very, very fortunate situation.

[00:07:03] Donnie Maib: Good, Good stuff,

[00:07:04] Kylie Lahey: coach. Yeah, absolutely. When you think about your career and all the different places you’ve worked and what’s brought you here, um, all the stops along the way, can you talk about either some of the mistakes you’ve made or just lessons you’ve learned that helped you?

[00:07:20] Donnie Maib: That’s the whole episode.

[00:07:21] Donnie Maib: Explain

[00:07:22] Ryan Davis: part too. So I, I did last year, I, I always, I tell this story now because I think it’s shifted me a little bit in terms of when I go speak and when I do things. But I did the power conference last year. I’m back out here to do that again. And coach and I talked that we get to catch up every year with it, but, Last year, I really didn’t know what I was gonna talk about.

[00:07:42] Ryan Davis: And so I was sitting in my office with my interns and I said, I need some ideas. Like, what would you guys want to hear? You guys are around me every day. What would you want to hear? And, and my intern, Claire Ingersol, who is now at uh, Virginia Tech, she looked and she goes, Coach, I would really enjoy if you would just tell stories.

[00:07:58] Ryan Davis: And I go, What do you mean? [00:08:00] And she says, Every time you talk about the mistakes you’ve made and the things you’ve learned, and you give it to us in that kind of story format, it puts us on your level. Mm-hmm. . And so last year I did something that I don’t know that a lot of strength coaches are willing to do, but when I came to the power conference, I did an entire presentation on mistakes.

[00:08:20] Ryan Davis: Mm. And lessons learned. Wherever you want to start in, Like, you want to talk about the mistakes that I’ve made in performance and how, um, I had no idea as a young strength coach really what speed work was or, or how it should be programmed, or how I should go executed. And really all we did was condition.

[00:08:38] Ryan Davis: Yeah. And, and every year when we run, My guys now, the current guys will post something and I’ll get former players that’ll be like, Oh man, coach, When we were running those one tens and I’m like, Guys, stop, stop posting this. Like, they’re like, Coach, you don’t understand what it’s done for me in my life to tough.

[00:08:55] Ryan Davis: And I’m like, I was young, dumb, and hard headed. Um, at 26, you couldn’t tell [00:09:00] me anything. That’s when I got my first head job. I had all the answers. I didn’t care about your experience. I didn’t care about your resume. And now, Like Cochran always tells me, I worked for Scott Cochran at the University of Alabama when I was there, and when I pick up the phone and call him, he will remind me, Listen to your staff.

[00:09:19] Ryan Davis: There’s, there’s a reason you went and got them. There’s a reason you hired them. Listen to your staff. It’s always gonna be your decision. But just listen. And he talks about mistakes that he made and not listening to us. So I’m, I’m trying to, you know, get the ego out of the way. And right now, I think at this stage of my career, I don’t, I don’t have much of an ego.

[00:09:39] Ryan Davis: I’m very confident in the, in the work that we’re able to do, uh, with our team. So I think. When you get that out of the way, it helps you in terms of being a little bit more transparent, little bit more vulnerable and, and able to listen a little bit more. I think that’s probably the biggest change, I think in my career.

[00:09:57] Ryan Davis: Yeah.

[00:09:57] Donnie Maib: Real quick, uh, so for our [00:10:00] listeners, Kylie, uh, if you, I forget what episode she was on, but she’s a social worker here and, uh, works, helps lead, leads our behavioral health, and I’m sure you could speak to the power of that. Vulnerability and empathy is kind of what. So I, I’d love to hear your thoughts on what he’s saying,

[00:10:16] Kylie Lahey: the power to that.

[00:10:17] Kylie Lahey: It’s funny you’d mention that cuz that vulnerability kept coming to my mind as you were talking. I want her to quote that was something along the lines of, people relate a lot more to your weaknesses than your strengths. Right. As strong, especially if you’re in education or leadership. People wanna know how you came back from a tough time versus how nothing’s ever been hard for you, because we can’t relate to that, you know?

[00:10:42] Kylie Lahey: That’s right. And so I think. Uh, Bne Brown always talks about leadership and vulnerability and how they go hand in hand. That you gotta put yourself out there in the arena and, uh, other people will follow suit and learn from you or respect you so much more if you’re in, in the arena doing the [00:11:00] work. So, I,

[00:11:00] Ryan Davis: I couldn’t agree with that more.

[00:11:01] Ryan Davis: I think that’s a, that’s a strong statement.

[00:11:04] Donnie Maib: Good stuff. Um, just to add to that, um, , any defining moments through your career? Give us now you, to our listeners. If you’ve been in the strength conditioning, profe, everybody knows Scott Cochran. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. I mean that’s kind of, He’s the Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:11:21] Donnie Maib: Coach, right? Yep. Yeah. Um, and you obviously have a very good relationship and he’s had an influence. Any defining moments, cuz you were, let’s go back. So you were, you’re at Maryland. Before that you were the head strength coach for football at Colorado State? Correct. Before that, you were at Sanford?

[00:11:36] Donnie Maib: Correct. And then you were there where

[00:11:38] Ryan Davis: before that again, So I, I was at Alabama two different occasions over this course of four years. And then right before that I was a GA at, uh, University of West Florida for Kent Morgan. I was his first year, I think. So

[00:11:51] Donnie Maib: one defining moment that stands out, that kind of shaped or changed or transformed you.

[00:11:57] Donnie Maib: Maybe it could be even something small too. It doesn’t

[00:11:59] Ryan Davis: [00:12:00] have to be, I, I’ll give you this. I didn’t, I’ve been so blessed and fortunate in my career. All right. And there, like you don’t always know what you’re in the midst. When you’re in the midst of it. And so I, I didn’t know that Camp Morgan was gonna be so influential in my life.

[00:12:18] Ryan Davis: I had no idea that Nick Saban was gonna probably go down as the greatest college football coach in the history of the game. I, I didn’t. I, I didn’t know this stuff. I didn’t know that Pat Sullivan was gonna change my life when, when I met him. Right? And then like, full circle, I had, how could I ever know that when I did this time at Alabama from 2009 to 2012 was really gonna be the reason that I got the Maryland job in 2019.

[00:12:43] Ryan Davis: Right? I, I had no idea, but this is what I’m gonna give you. . I tell everybody if I could go back and do it again, I would. I would be where my feet were just a little bit more. And what I mean is not, I wasn’t ever the person that was like looking at the next job. I was always trying to figure out what I needed to do to be a head [00:13:00] guy.

[00:13:00] Ryan Davis: Mm-hmm. . And that was the perspective and lens that I chose to look at everything through. But when I was at Alabama, I. I got to the point where I realized this is pretty special. Mm-hmm. , it took me two years to realize this. Right. And I, and I said, Okay. And Scott gave me this advice. He said, Go back in the program.

[00:13:19] Ryan Davis: Put together, take the template. All right? Take everything we do and go through it with a fine tooth. Comb everything you like, keep it in there, everything you don’t like, have a reason you don’t like it, and talk to me about how you’re gonna change it. Okay? And so I get this opportunity at Sanford. So I had studied this blueprint at Alabama and I’d learned it and Pat Sullivan hire.

[00:13:41] Ryan Davis: And, And you can only imagine, I’m in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and my family’s been coming down to go to these games. We’re playing Tennessee, we’re playing South Carolina, we’re playing Florida. They’re on a field for pre-game, and I’m leaving saying, I’m gonna take this head job at Sanford. And everybody’s first comment is Stanford.

[00:13:59] Ryan Davis: No, no, no. I’m not going. [00:14:00] Shannon Turley was out there. I’m not going there. Right, right. I’m going to Sanford. It’s a small, private Baptist school in Birmingham. And I’m gonna go work for this guy named Pat Sullivan. And, and Pat, I think it’s been two years now. I actually talked to his wife the other day. I think it’s been two years since he’s passed now.

[00:14:15] Ryan Davis: But Coach Sullivan changed my life as a coach. Mm. And so I got this blueprint. And I’ve learned it inside out. And we had this really young staff at Sanford that these guys have been all over the place, kind of under this, this either this Saban tree or a little bit of the Auburn tree. So was a really cool staff, especially geographically located.

[00:14:36] Ryan Davis: Right between those two places in Alabama. Mm-hmm. . And what I learned from Pat is that you can coach people harder if you love. And you invest time with him. And there are some things that he did that when he first did it. When I got the job, I was like, What is he doing? I mean, I cleaned the weight room and the staff [00:15:00] from Sanford to the University of Alabama is about 52 miles.

[00:15:04] Ryan Davis: And when I did my two week transition, I was working at Bama during the day and I was at Sanford at night. And some of the assistants would come up and they would help me from Alabama. They would help me clean the weight room and get it organized just to kind of get me. You know, to a good start. And the one day Pat walks in and he brings Saul’s barbecue sandwiches for everybody in the weight room.

[00:15:24] Ryan Davis: So in my mind, I’m like, the head football coach just walked down here and gave everybody like a sweet tea and a barbecue sandwich. Strong message. Totally. And I’m like, Man, this is kind of weird. So he finds out that I enjoy cooking and a few months later we’re in the, we’re in the summer workouts and he brings these ribeyes from his buddy that owns a butcher.

[00:15:45] Ryan Davis: And it’s got your name on. You know, so he sat down, somebody thought enough to write your name on these ribeyes and like they’re in your fridge, in your office. And he is just got this card up there that says thank you. And so for the time that I work for him, I never [00:16:00] wanted to let him down. Hmm. And it’s different when you think about the athletes.

[00:16:04] Ryan Davis: We get the train, it’s different when the relationship built off of trust and vulnerability. The the real relationship. Yeah. Because you’re in the arena. It’s different when you can push. and they don’t wanna let you down. Yeah. Versus, well, I’m just being pushed

[00:16:20] Kylie Lahey: or versus being afraid to let you down. It’s mm-hmm.

[00:16:24] Kylie Lahey: it’s a, because they respect you, they wanna give you their best cuz they know you give them their best or your best.

[00:16:31] Ryan Davis: Yeah. Nail, nail on the head. And I think that was my time at Sanford that, you know, it was a moment, but it took being at some other places and then getting. and it took me a little while to realize mm-hmm.

[00:16:44] Ryan Davis: like this, this is, this is really special. And he was a guy like, it, it hurt when he passed. I mean, I flew out from Colorado, it’s been more than two years, it’s probably been four years now. But I flew out from Colorado and I was at the funeral and I’ll never forget his wife, front [00:17:00] row with his megachurch.

[00:17:01] Ryan Davis: And she’s like, Get him and, and bring him up here. And I’m at this funeral and everybody’s there. Every, everybody, I mean Spurrier, Steve Spurrier’s at the funeral. It’s like Re Lashey is there. It’s everybody you can think of. And there were a few people that Miss Jean was like, Come up and mm-hmm. be around because it’s not that I was closer to him than everybody else.

[00:17:23] Ryan Davis: I think it’s because Miss Jean knew the impact that he had on a few of us. It’s really special.

[00:17:29] Kylie Lahey: It’s

[00:17:29] Donnie Maib: good stuff. Yeah. Well, uh, You know, those are definitely powerful lessons, and it’s kind of interesting. We’re gonna go get to this next question, but just one point from there was. . It’s amazing how your perspective changes over your career, and I agree with you.

[00:17:48] Donnie Maib: I think that there’s times when you’re in the middle of a job or situation that you may not always appreciate, but over time as you mature, you look, you realize like, Wait a minute, that was pretty cool and special, so mm-hmm. . [00:18:00] That’s, that’s a, a great thing for, for everybody to listen to. So, Absolutely. Um, so coming into Maryland football, you got there in 2019.

[00:18:08] Donnie Maib: Mm-hmm. , obviously Maryland was in the news because of all the tragedy and all the, all the bad things that happened there. Now don’t wanna talk about that, but I’d love to hear, you know, you guys feet on the ground, boots on the ground, I would imagine some challenge. What have you done in the staff there to kind of like, kind of wrap your arms around those players and kind of rebuild to where you’re at?

[00:18:29] Donnie Maib: You guys had a, and again, this is my opinion, you had a phenomenal year. I know you wanna be better than that. You went seven and six. Um, and I know hopefully you will be better than that. And, uh, so talk about maybe some of the things you’ve done to help. Get that program rebuilt and going in the right

[00:18:46] Ryan Davis: direction?

[00:18:46] Ryan Davis: Well, I think first, first it’s, it’s definitely a we thing and it’s, it’s everybody in the organization. Um, I love our players. I, I love our team. Uh, I make sure I tell ’em that e every so often that they’re hearing it [00:19:00] for me, how much I love and respect the guys who are in our program. Um, when we took over there, it was professionally, the.

[00:19:10] Ryan Davis: Challenging thing that I’ve ever done. Hmm. Um, matter of fact, so I’m, I’m talking to Coach Locks and I’m, I’m talking to Damon Evans about the job and the interview and all that stuff. And, um, you know, we had really prayed about this opportunity and, and in saying if we got a chance to do it, we, as in Marissa and I, we we’re gonna go ahead and we’re, we’re gonna try to take it.

[00:19:32] Ryan Davis: And what’s funny is I was in the car, so when I got the, I. , I flew up and it was on an off time. It was on like a Sunday, and, and I get picked up by somebody and I’m in the car, and I don’t know if it’s an ops guy or if it’s like just a driver. I don’t really know who it is. And so my phone rings and, and the number on my phone said Rockville, Maryland.

[00:19:56] Ryan Davis: So I’m in Maryland, so naturally I’d, I’d pick it up. What was another [00:20:00] job? And, and I’m in this car and they’re trying to schedule this interview. And, and I’m gonna say this, we talked about when I was young and, uh, you know, my ego and all this stuff, I used to tell Cochran said that I, I wanna be a head shrink coach in the S sec.

[00:20:16] Ryan Davis: That’s what I wanna do. And it was an s sec job. And I’ll never forget, I’m on the phone and I’m in the back of this car and I’m trying to play it dumb. Mm-hmm. where I’m like, cuz I don’t know who this guy is that’s driving me. I picked up the phone because I thought it might be somebody on the interview at Maryland.

[00:20:34] Ryan Davis: And, uh, I, I, during that, that night of the interview, I talked to a mentor of mine and he said, Be careful what you pray for because you spent a lot of time saying what you wanted, but you spent this recent time praying for something different, and that’s a sign of growth. You’re looking for the challenge.

[00:20:53] Ryan Davis: We probably could have took the other job. We, it would’ve been fine. We would’ve been, you know, [00:21:00] we’d still be there probably, and it’d be, we’d be in the south and it’d be everything that I’ve said that I wanted as a young strength coach. It doesn’t come close to what I’ve been given from the opportunity at Maryland.

[00:21:11] Ryan Davis: Um, the biggest thing that I learned goes back to the vulnerability point. They, they don’t care. Like, they don’t care how smart you are. They, they don’t care what your reputation is. As a coach, when your boots are on the ground and you gotta look them in the eye. They care that you care about them. Mm, totally.

[00:21:32] Ryan Davis: It’s true. And that was a, we kind of knew that going in, but if you can imagine for six months we’re, we’re training them. And I have these guide, these guiding principles I give our staff. Um, for me, if you’re ever gonna work on my staff, you need to have the ability to critically think and problem solve as number one.

[00:21:48] Ryan Davis: I’m gonna talk about that all the time. That’s because I don’t want task oriented people. I don’t want people that I always have to tell what the next thing is to do. The ability to critically think and problem. Means that you’re gonna be able [00:22:00] to take the bull by the horns and get some things done without me always having to tell you.

[00:22:03] Ryan Davis: Number two in that is we want to coach with relentless positivity. That’s not sunshine and rainbows. What it means is be very direct with what you’re coaching. All right? The third one is we’re gonna invest time in them. We have to build trust, and trust comes with time, Trust comes with time and trust comes with vulnerability.

[00:22:21] Ryan Davis: For the first six months, I think the athletes looked at us, they enjoyed. and they enjoyed how we went about some of our work, but I always felt like they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like, like, when’s it gonna flip? And that’s, it’s a, it, it’s a very unsettling feeling going through that first year.

[00:22:44] Ryan Davis: And I’ll take it a step further, So, So every day. You’re having to overcome this stuff in building these relationships and getting these walls down and building these relationships. So we had this mantra and it was, um, you know, Matt f who’s a head guy at U N L V now, and Mason Baggott was [00:23:00] with us, who’s a head guy at Nevada.

[00:23:01] Ryan Davis: And then I had, uh, two of my guys that are with me right now still. So that first year I said, Look, all morning, I want us to just focus on building the perfect brick. , That’s it. So we’d lift in the morning and then we’d have run groups in the afternoon. And I said in the afternoon, as a staff, I wanna take our time and place that brick exactly where it needs to go.

[00:23:23] Ryan Davis: Don’t think about what we’re trying to build. Don’t think about the wall, don’t think about the building. I wanna be so one-dimensional that we’re thinking about the brick. As a matter of fact, I wanna be so one-dimensional that we’re thinking about just the brick in the morning and placing that brick in the afternoon.

[00:23:37] Ryan Davis: And then when we come back, Let’s bring our lunch PAs and do it again the next day. And we had all this stuff about what that meant. Time invested in a building relationships with these guys, and we did that and I thought we laid a good foundation, but it was unsettling every day because you knew that they were like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[00:23:57] Ryan Davis: Right? Then you get into a season where you [00:24:00] go three and. Everything we did was, you know, the, they always talked about like, we, we spend more time on the practice field, we run more, we lift more. And then the first year you don’t get the result. Like they won five games before we got there. And to them they were saying, we didn’t do half of this.

[00:24:19] Ryan Davis: Yeah. We went

[00:24:20] Donnie Maib: backwards. They’re thinking, Yeah, it’s cute.

[00:24:22] Ryan Davis: So, So now you have some attrition in the program and you go into year two, but I’m gonna tell you man, year two, I. We finally got ’em to where they said, They’re not gonna change. This is actually who they are. The other shoe’s not gonna drop. This is it.

[00:24:39] Ryan Davis: And so we made the most progress, in my opinion, in the off season of 2020. That was our B and I tell our head coach that I said Coach, I think it was our biggest step in the program. And then from a football standpoint, obviously our biggest step was last year when you get ’em to post season. And we get the post season, I think it was [00:25:00] the first Bowl game in seven years, and the first bowl win in 11.

[00:25:03] Ryan Davis: What an achievement. And so we, so now you have a group of guys that are the buy-in’s there, the trust is there and, and the relationships are there. And that was it, Coach. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It was the most rewarding from a career standpoint, but it was by far the hardest. I ain’t have gray hairs in my beard when I got to Maryland.

[00:25:27] Donnie Maib: Yeah, I understand

[00:25:28] Kylie Lahey: that. Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, that’s good. Along the same lines when you’re talking about rebuilding and trust and all of them, all the athletes figuring out how to operate in a new environment. I think of mental health and the role of mental health and then all of the air time that mental health has continued to get over the past couple of years.

[00:25:51] Kylie Lahey: How, you know, what kind of issues do you see at Maryland and how do you address mental health?

[00:25:58] Ryan Davis: Well, I think, I [00:26:00] think right now in our game, it’s not just at Maryland. I think you, when I grew up and played football, I played Pop Warner, and then you would e when it, when the season was over, you would, you would go either play another sport or you got to lift and train, you know?

[00:26:17] Ryan Davis: And now what I see, the sports are so specialized. and these kids are playing this game from the time they’re little and the season never ends anymore. Mm. So it’s like they go from the regular season to the seven on seven camps to the big man camps and it, and it’s, it’s some sort of competition all year round.

[00:26:37] Ryan Davis: And the thing that I notice is that builds pressure for these guys. And so all this time and the backgrounds they come from, they, they have people that are depending on them to be successful and they haven’t even figured. What success is supposed to look like. Yet, this is not the time that you’re supposed to be worried about, that you’re supposed to be enjoying the sport, and [00:27:00] so the amount of pressure that these guys deal with, you start to notice that they’re the support structure for a lot of their family.

[00:27:09] Ryan Davis: You start to notice it’s really hard for them to keep their feet where they are because they’re so focused on the next thing. Because I got all these people to take care of. , we know it. They’re not built to manage this yet. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . It’s gonna manifest differently for different people, but they’re not built to deal with this yet.

[00:27:31] Ryan Davis: And so that is probably the biggest thing that I’ve, I’ve seen. And it’s constant conversation. And the biggest hurdle, and you can probably comment on this, is like, getting somebody to admit that they might need help in managing some of this stuff. Yeah, and I, and I tell our guys all the time, like, guys, we were not created to do stuff on our own.

[00:27:55] Ryan Davis: There’s not a single thing you’ve ever accomplished in your life that when you really [00:28:00] think about it, you did it by yourself. Totally.

[00:28:03] Kylie Lahey: Our brains are literally wired for community, and you made me think of the pressure, especially in regards to external and media and people watching ’em on TV and how the focus there is you’re just a football player, but you’re talking about these other parts of their identity.

[00:28:20] Kylie Lahey: And we try to build that up in behavioral health a lot of the time as well. Mm-hmm. to help separate from. If you do lose a game, you are still a son, you are still, you know, a, a teammate still, whatever your major is, all these other parts of the identity. I think your point is so important though, being able to, uh, create a culture that gives them permission to.

[00:28:44] Kylie Lahey: Incorporate their sport into these other parts of their identity as they’re figuring out how to shape shift with everything being asked of them.

[00:28:54] Ryan Davis: Absolutely. Absolutely. We, we had a kid that came in this year as a transfer [00:29:00] and was a really good player. At his last school and had all these different accolades and, hi, his and I, we have a very good relationship.

[00:29:07] Ryan Davis: But I’ll never forget somebody I, I, I put out a training video. I just posted a highlight from the weight room, and you should have seen what some of the people from his last institution were posting. And so I don’t, I don’t often get into the banter with fans on anything, but all I did is I started posting his stats , and I would post him in making these plays and I went, the last time I checked, he was a pretty good football player, but, but the video that I posted had nothing to do with that.

[00:29:40] Ryan Davis: And I, the kid hit me up and was like, man, or did, you’re a real one for doing that. And I’m like, well, at the end of the day, they’re 18 to 22. And sometimes when you listen to people talk because of how things are so built up and they watch ’em on TV and they, they have now they have the opportunity to build their brands and have [00:30:00] all the I stuff sometimes we forget that they’re 18 to 22 year old college football players.

[00:30:07] Ryan Davis: Mm-hmm. , they’re, they’re not. The, again, these guys haven’t taken on those, all those responsibilities yet, right? Of, of being a, a grown man or a grown adult. Yet, not to say that they’re not grown young men, but they’re growing young men and sometimes we forget that the way people talk about ’em because of how this game has been, you know, how it’s changed, in my opinion over the last 10 or 12 years.

[00:30:35] Donnie Maib: How’s, how has mental health changed the game today? Kylie, I’d love to hear from you and then Rd. Love to hear your, How’s it changed in your perspective? Yeah,

[00:30:45] Kylie Lahey: I think that mental health and the impact of, you know, uh, UN cared for mental health and really positive mental health is not new. I think it’s the awareness around it that has grown a lot and that people are [00:31:00] starting to realize, Oh, okay, my brain controls my body and I have to use my body to do my sport.

[00:31:07] Kylie Lahey: So if, how my brain’s feelings going to impact that? And I think the fact. . Um, I always say that the connectedness of social media is very complicated, but I think it’s done a lot of good in helping to educate and remove stigma of that. It’s okay to feel different things on different days, but also to say, Hey, you wanna be the best is gonna start from the top literally, um, in your brain.

[00:31:34] Kylie Lahey: And I’ve even had students in my office that come in. I’m like, What do you wanna start talking about? Why are you here? They say, Well, you know, this professional football player has a therapist. This, you know, this important person. And they go, So I want one. I’m like, Okay, well then let’s get to work.

[00:31:53] Ryan Davis: That’s, yeah. I mean, I think social media’s helped it a lot for. I, I have people [00:32:00] that I talk to so that I can stay sharp. You know, we, we, uh, I had a guy that we developed a very good relationship who’s a, a psychologist and we talk about every other week. And then I’ve got another friend that does some, um, mental assessments on people and, and we talk in the, in between weeks.

[00:32:17] Ryan Davis: But you, you’d be surprised how much it helps in terms of keeping you sharp mm-hmm. for not just the people that you’re responsible for coaching, but. You know what? That also helps me do at a mentor that said, Leave your keys. Leave your problem with your keys. So like when you put your keys in the drawer at work, leave your problems at home.

[00:32:38] Ryan Davis: At home. When you bring ’em home and you throw ’em in the drawer, leave your problems at work. At work. Don’t, don’t mix the two. And it’s helped me just be able to deal with what’s in front of me. Mm-hmm. . And so I think the biggest impact that I’ve seen on my, my personal side is yes, with the players and trying to keep me sharp for coaching them, but [00:33:00] it’s also kept me sharp in being present with Jacks when I get home, so I’m not clouded with all this other stuff.

[00:33:07] Ryan Davis: And, and I share that with my players. I’ve let my players sit in on some calls with me, so they’re like, Man, I, I didn’t know you did.

[00:33:17] Donnie Maib: Yeah, see, I hear Kylie. What I hear him saying too, a little bit, and this is just my simple Tennessee mind, is you’ve gotta, there’s a couple things I think boundaries, right?

[00:33:28] Donnie Maib: You’ve gotta know how to, to separate, like when you’re dealing with things like whether it’s your job or performance as an athlete or a coach, keeping that separate from like your home life. Not that you can compartmentalize it, but the words I hear there is you gotta have margin. Right, Totally. You’ve gotta, you’ve gotta put that space in there, whether it’s playing with jack’s or if it’s, you know, hanging with a friend or it’s doing something different other than being glued into your, your phone and, and, and work or your sport.

[00:33:58] Donnie Maib: But you’ve gotta have that margin there for [00:34:00] recharge. For, for me, it’s, I’m kind of a. Kind of a chill. I like Mela mushroom, I call it, I gotta have some, I gotta have some Mela mushroom time where I’m just having my coffee and there’s, It’s quiet. Yep. And that, that brings me back up to my mental health. And I can clear my head before I go back and I can work again.

[00:34:17] Donnie Maib: So I think everybody has, and I’ve talked to Kylie about this, but everybody has different, you know, layers and levels of what they need to recharge, so Oh yeah. Anyway.

[00:34:25] Ryan Davis: Totally. Oh yeah, that’s what the boat’s for, for you, you’re the, you’re boat guy, Salt water, or the boat and I, the, the people. And my family will talk about the money that I waste.

[00:34:37] Ryan Davis: Yeah. We love the salt water and we love the boat, and I’m like, Y’all don’t understand that. This is probably what’s adding years back to my life. That’s my mellow mushroom time. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . I mean, we’ll go out as a family on the boat right down the bay from where we live and drop the anchor and eat.

[00:34:54] Ryan Davis: That’s, that’s, I love that.

[00:34:55] Donnie Maib: And just saying that is, that’s, that’s your best life right there. Clearly. I’m living your best life. [00:35:00]

[00:35:00] Kylie Lahey: I’m telling you. I, I tell students a lot that. Also little things add up, right? And so I’ll say, you know what? If the $5 latte today is what’s gonna make or break it, go for it.

[00:35:11] Kylie Lahey: Because that’s gonna get you through. Yep. You know, if, if that’s gonna push you over to be able to handle the stressors, then. It adds up every day. But if you need it once in a while and it’s the quick fix or something, take

[00:35:26] Ryan Davis: care of yourself. So when I stop and get the $5 latte, four or five days in a row, I’m, I say that she told me it was okay.

[00:35:32] Ryan Davis: Tell

[00:35:32] Donnie Maib: Marissa’s right. It’s fine. She gave you the green

[00:35:35] Ryan Davis: line Mental health coach told me

[00:35:37] Kylie Lahey: this. Listen, it just helped keep me balanced.

[00:35:40] Donnie Maib: Yeah. Love it. Good stuff. Well, well, hey, uh, next question. This is when I’m, I’m dying to hear. Um, so you recently built your brand new weight room. Mm-hmm. and Rogue Fitness did the whole deal.

[00:35:54] Donnie Maib: Now I got a, we had a strong man competition in Austin here last spring or last year, and I got to [00:36:00] meet the owners, Bill Katie. Yeah. Got to meet them. Phenomenal people. They’re good friends with Jan Todd, who works here in the Stark Center. Yep. And so when I saw. You’re, you know, we obviously love you, and then you got to work with them.

[00:36:12] Donnie Maib: So Coach, talk to us about laying this room out. Like, was it, tell us everything. What was it? Was it difficult? Was it easy? Did you love it? Are you never gonna do it again? Oh, I’ll give us a little bit. I’ll do it again. Again. Give

[00:36:25] Ryan Davis: us a little insight. I love this process. I, I love it. And I think as a strength coach, we always loved the process about things, but it was a, that was two and a half years.

[00:36:35] Ryan Davis: You know, and, and it was two and a half years of planning and execution and going through it. And, um, obviously when you get the finished product, you’re like, it’s worth it. But it’s a challenge. It was a challenge for us. We went with Rogue on a lot of the equipment. We went with, uh, ACO on a lot of our, I did custom bars and plates and stuff with them, and then we had play with the floor.

[00:36:57] Ryan Davis: So we had three very big [00:37:00] vendors that had never worked together and. We’re the kind of the linchpin for holding everything together in there. Um, but rogue, I guess the first thing I’ll say about them is anybody that knows me knows that I’m not afraid to be different. Um, I wanted to do what I felt was in the best interest for the University of Maryland.

[00:37:23] Ryan Davis: It’s not just about me, it’s not my tag on the room. I wanted to make sure. I was gonna go with somebody who was gonna service that room, service the University of Maryland long after I’m there and give them the same level of service that they did when I was there. And that’s what I saw in Bill and Katie.

[00:37:42] Ryan Davis: Mm. Um, I didn’t, I, I’m not easy with anything, so we didn’t, Everything in the room’s custom and there’s, there’s perks with that and there’s some challenges with that. The headaches. There’s some headaches. There’s some headaches with it. I guess rogue being such a big [00:38:00] company and such a large manufacturer, those headaches were very minimal.

[00:38:05] Ryan Davis: You know, like I wanted to change an attachment on the Jamer arm, but our rack is a four by four rack. It’s four by four steel all the way across. And so when you change an attachment, the standard rack is a three by three rack. They gotta manufacture it. And so we, they went through and said, You know what?

[00:38:21] Ryan Davis: Everything that RD built in this room, we’re gonna go ahead and just manufacture and carry it so that when he wants to change stuff out, it’s, it’s there. Um, the first day we opened the room, I had the, the owners of Rogue in the room. I had the vice president, Rich, rich Gray from play. I had. Vice president from ACO that was in the room and all they did was problem solve that first day.

[00:38:48] Ryan Davis: Anything that comes up. He doesn’t have six months because we opened the room in June, Like he’s got a week customer service. And it was unbelievable. Excellent. Yeah, it was unbelievable. I, I think I would recommend any [00:39:00] of those companies. So we were, we were very fortunate. I love the, what Rogue has been able to do for us.

[00:39:06] Ryan Davis: All the, the attention to detail and the rack, the custom designs that we were able to put together, the small footprint of it, you know, the, even, even down to. The paint that we used on this stuff, like every single thing we did was a custom fit for that room. And those guys were unbelievable. I never knew that Rogue was gonna be able to do what they did for us five years ago, had no idea, would associate ’em with CrossFit.

[00:39:31] Ryan Davis: Um, after doing our room, I’m like, These guys, they, they can do anything.

[00:39:36] Donnie Maib: Congrats. Beautiful room, beautiful

[00:39:39] Ryan Davis: room.

[00:39:39] Kylie Lahey: Thank you. So cool. Thank you. This, you’ve talked a lot about over the years, right? And, uh, And, and what you value and how you carry yourself. We wanna know with, within the Strength coach profession, sometimes there’s a perception problem and, um, just how you, how you present [00:40:00] yourself.

[00:40:00] Kylie Lahey: So what would you, what kind of advice would you give as far as fundamental principles for strength coaches to promote and gain not only professional respect, but just promote. Professionalism. Mm-hmm. and making relationships even with administration. How do, how do you stay professional? Give us some insight.

[00:40:21] Ryan Davis: Well, I, I think if strength coaches ran a lot of their organizations, I think they’d be the most well run, uh, teams and organizations because of the discipline and, and you know, the way, just the general way that we approach things. But for me it’s been, Locke calls this like the chameleon aspect, like, If I’m gonna be meeting with adss, then I better dress like I’m gonna meet with a adss.

[00:40:46] Ryan Davis: Mm-hmm. . It’s not to say that I have to change, but, um, there, there is a certain level of respect when you can, you can understand who’s who the audience is, understand the room that you’re in, and make sure that [00:41:00] you’re, you’re gonna get the respect that you want in that room. Um, so that, that’s been a big thing.

[00:41:07] Ryan Davis: Um, Developing relationships. We always talk about how important it is with athletes, but it’s also really important to do with your administration. It’s really important to do with your donors, your boosters. It’s we, we open the doors of our program, so they get to see me when I’m coaching the players, and then I’ll go out with them.

[00:41:24] Ryan Davis: I’ll go to Ravens games with ’em. I’ll go to lunch with ’em. You’ve gotta invest time where you want to get a return on your investment, and I think that’s really important. So if you can dress the part, if you can understand the audience that you’re around, if you’re willing to put that time in, Like I don’t always want to go to a dinner, you know, with an admin or a donor, when I can go home and I can be.

[00:41:46] Ryan Davis: Sitting on the bay eating, eating, dinner with my crew. Totally. You know, But it’s important to do, and I know that we’ve developed a very strong relationship with our administration and our donors at the University of Maryland, and it [00:42:00] takes a lot of time to be able to do, They need to see what you do and understand it.

[00:42:04] Ryan Davis: They don’t need to see the, the exercise prescription of what you do. They need to see how the athletes respond to you. They need to see the relationships that you develop in the room. They need to see how you run your part of the organization, right? It’s transparency. And then you need to kind of understand what they do as well.

[00:42:23] Ryan Davis: And that takes time and it, and not many of us want to do that, but those people to, to have the support, they can make your life a lot easier. The one thing that I wanna see in our field, I wanna see more strength coaches that are getting the, the ad roles. I wanna see more. I agree. I don’t see enough athletic directors who were strength coaches at some point in their profession.

[00:42:49] Ryan Davis: And I think guys like Rob Glass are helping us out at, at Oklahoma State. Kudos to him for Right. Being the first million dollar strength coach. Right. He broke the ceiling. Cool, cool. And this is like the, uh, [00:43:00] the Roger Banister deal, you know, Roger Banister’s first four minute mile guy, and then, what was it, 27 people.

[00:43:06] Ryan Davis: It had never been broken, and then all of a sudden, 27 people broke it. It followed suit like, followed suits. success leaves clues. Mm. Let’s, let’s look at what Rob’s doing. Let’s, let’s take some notes from people like him so that we can have more people like us in those seats.

Yeah,

[00:43:22] Kylie Lahey: that’s good advice. Yeah.

[00:43:23] Kylie Lahey: Whether you think you can or you can’t. You’re right.

[00:43:25] Ryan Davis: That’s right. Yeah. A hundred percent. Well, good stuff. Well

[00:43:28] Donnie Maib: coach. Uh, little shorter show today than normal. We gotta land a plane here, Kylie. He’s in Austin till we, Sunday. Sunday, Sunday morning. Give. Top two choices. Where should he go eat? He’s gonna be down south.

[00:43:42] Donnie Maib: Where should he go?

[00:43:43] Kylie Lahey: Okay, I got you. I, uh, eating locally is one of my favorite things to do. And Austin, um, my husband and I love Laurel. It is off of South Lamar and it’s like a Korean, um, Barbecue [00:44:00] Fusion. So it’s Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue and then, I can’t remember his name, but the man, the head chef at U Chico Sushi and it has come together in this beautiful, unique food.

[00:44:10] Kylie Lahey: Delicious. Laurel. Laurel. L o r o. Yep. Okay. Um, and then, gosh, maybe you know, for some breakfast tacos, if you can get some bear crews tacos. You are speaking to my heart right now. We love Tyson’s Tacos. Little hole in the wall. Um, it’s, it’s hard to go wrong with breakfast tacos here though, in Austin.

[00:44:32] Ryan Davis: So, so I’m a food.

[00:44:34] Ryan Davis: Oh, really? Oh my gosh. Yeah,

[00:44:36] Donnie Maib: you’re, you, you’re talking to the right person. I’m, I might need to give

[00:44:39] Ryan Davis: you a list, T-shirt on. Yeah. I, and this is the last story that I’m gonna tell real quick when I go places. We went to Charleston, South Carolina, and I went to the two best barbecue places that were across the street from each other.

[00:44:51] Ryan Davis: And I, the crew that I was with, you know, Mesa’s looking at me going, He’s gonna do this again. I go, Look, I want the sample. I want all your best stuff up there and gimme your two best sides. And I [00:45:00] told everybody, Don’t crush. Because I’m gonna go across the street and I’m gonna do the same thing, and I’m gonna tell both owners.

[00:45:06] Ryan Davis: So I go talk to the manager. I said, If you guys are the best, I’m gonna come back and I’m gonna buy a shirt. And, and so the guy, I love this move, the first one, the first restaurant, he brings out my tray with the T-shirt. Oh my. And he goes, If you don’t like it, bring it back. But I know that you’re gonna be back here to buy the shirt, so I’m gonna just save you a trip.

[00:45:25] Ryan Davis: I love the confidence. Well, I wore that. He was right. He was right. So, yeah, I, I love, I love food. Yeah.

[00:45:32] Kylie Lahey: You might wanna stop into Terry Blacks here then is one of our barbecue spots. I would say it’s my favorite

[00:45:38] Ryan Davis: person. You wanna coach down this coach?

[00:45:39] Donnie Maib: Yeah. Oh yeah. Again, we’re not sponsored by theses, so we just, we love, Austin’s a great foodie town,

[00:45:45] Ryan Davis: So we, we love food. Terry Blacks. Terry Blacks might be making my first stop tonight and if you put

[00:45:50] Donnie Maib: on weight, That’s not our fault though. No,

[00:45:52] Ryan Davis: I’ll listen. I train RINs. Can’t be mad at I train so that I can eat. That’s the whole reason I train. Why you we

[00:45:57] Donnie Maib: understand that? Yes. We’re good. So yes. [00:46:00] Well, coach, last thing.

[00:46:00] Donnie Maib: Where can people connect? Our listeners if they wanna follow up and reach out and just kind of

[00:46:05] Ryan Davis: learn more about you? All of my social media platforms are at Coach Ryan Davis. Feel free to reach out dme I, I’ll respond to a DM way faster than I would in email. So feel free to hit me up in, in anything, any way that we can help you.

[00:46:19] Ryan Davis: Our doors at the University of Maryland are always open, not just to you guys, but for you listeners as well. If you’re ever in town and wanna stop by, hit me up, let me know. We have no secrets. Come see us.

[00:46:29] Donnie Maib: Good stuff again, listeners, if you’ve never met Coach Ryan Davis. Chasing down at a conference, Bug him over social, do something, connect with him.

[00:46:39] Donnie Maib: The guy will bring out not just positivity, but will make you wanna be a better leader. Man, coach, husband, father, uh, daughter, all the above. Um, coach, thank you for your time. Seriously, Kylie. Thank you for filling in while Joe’s out. This is so fun. Uh, great episode today. Again, that’s it from Austin, Texas.

[00:46:57] Donnie Maib: The team behind the team podcast. We’ll catch you on the flip side. [00:47:00] Hook them, hook them.

[00:47:05] Donnie Maib: Thanks so much for tuning and listening to this episode of the Team Behind the Team podcast. For future episodes, go to iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast, or Stitcher. We definitely want to keep having great guests on the show and great content. So if you have a moment, please go to iTunes, leave a rating and review and let us know how we’re doing.

[00:47:26] Donnie Maib: I’m Donnie Mabe, and thanks so much for tuning

[00:47:29] Ryan Davis: in.