The Team Behind the Team

Host Donnie Maib discusses coaching technique and theory with fellow coaches around the country.

The Team Behind the Team

sports

E45 | Molly McCage: Find Your Voice

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E45 | Molly McCage: Find Your Voice
/

Former Texas Volleyball star Molly McCage and Donnie hit the booth to discuss a variety of topics, but none more important than the impact of sports on her life. Molly and Donnie touch on how sports can help athletes find themselves as individuals and even find their voice as leaders. Additionally, the ongoing concern of mental health in sports continues to be at the forefront of concerns in athletic performance. Molly and Donnie discuss how a communal approach through former athletes, current teammates or professionals are some of the best people to lean on to support mental health. Tune in this month to listen to one of the all-time Longhorn greats.

Molly McCage currently plays for Athletes Unlimited and is the manager of Player Care and Coordination. From 2021-2022, Molly was the Director of Volleyball Operations at Pepperdine University. Molly played for the Allianz MTV Stuttgart Pro Team in Germany as well as being a member of the USA National Team from 2017-2019. You can reach Molly on Instagram or Twitter: @mollymccage. “

E44 | Christie Aschwanden: Debunking Recovery Trends

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E44 | Christie Aschwanden: Debunking Recovery Trends
/

From Ice Baths to Gatorade, this week’s guest Christie Aschwanden joins us from her home in Colorado to discuss her book, GOOD TO GO. Christie covers multiple modalities we use today for recovery, but also debunks some of these methods as well. Is beer hindering or helping your recovery? Is Gatorade the best product for performance hydration? Are ice baths and cryotherapy really beneficial to recovery? In today’s world of fitness, we follow lot of misleading protocols for recovery and things we think will enhance our athletic performance. Tune in and listen to Christie break down these methods and whether or not they are really helping you.

Christie Aschwanden is the author of Good To Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery and co-host of Emerging Form, a podcast about the creative process. She’s the former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight and was previously a health columnist for The Washington Post. Christie was a National Magazine Award finalist in 2011. Other honors she’s received include a Best Article Award (2005) and Outstanding Essay Award (2007) from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. A frequent speaker at writer’s workshops and journalism conferences, Christie is the founder of the Creative Convergence freelance writing workshops. You can reach Christie Aschwanden at her website: christieaschwanden.com, on Instagram @cragcrest, and her podcast Emerging Form.

E43 | Martin Rooney: Into the Roar

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E43 | Martin Rooney: Into the Roar
/

Whenever there’s a group of people, there’s a culture” -Martin Rooney. This month we were lucky to catch Coach Martin Rooney while he was in town for a presentation. Coach Rooney discussed how we as leaders can inspire our athletes, but need to inspire ourselves as well. He and Donnie explored going “into the roar” and how the analogy applies to training not only his Mixed Martial Artists, but athletes and business professionals alike. Lastly, he covers not only pursuing and accomplishing your dreams, but addressing what we should do once that dream has been accomplished. If you ever run into coach Rooney, maybe you’ll be lucky enough to watch him tear a deck of cards with his bare hands, but for now, tune in to some of the most inspiring career advice we’ve had on the show.

A former US bobsledder and two-time Guinness World Record holder, Coach Rooney is the creator of the Training for Warriors system and former COO of the Parisi Speed School national franchise. Martin has presented to Fortune 500 companies, Military Organizations, and consulted numerous professional NFL teams. Martin has trained athletes from the NFL, MLB, UFC, NBA, WNBA and multiple top Division I collegiate programs. Martin has written five best-selling books for Harper Collins and Wiley publishers which have sold over a combined 200,000 copies. You can reach Coach Rooney on Instagram @themartinrooney and on Facebook @Martin Rooney.

E41 | Dr. Jan Todd: A Giant Amongst Men

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E41 | Dr. Jan Todd: A Giant Amongst Men
/

This week’s special guest is local to Austin, Texas and is a legend in the field of strength training. Dr. Jan Todd, the Director of the Stark Center at The University of Texas and former powerlifter shares her story as a pioneer for women in the sport. Throughout the podcast, she dives into her extraordinary journey and experiences with some of the strongest humans the planet has ever seen. We also touch on her life in academia and the critical role she has played in breaking barriers and stigmas for women and weightlifting.

Dr. Jan Todd is a Roy McLean Centennial Fellow in Sports History, and the Interim Chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Todd is also the executive editor of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, that she and her husband Terry Todd founded in 1990. During her career, Sports Illustrated often described her as the “strongest woman in the world”. As a powerlifter, she set more than 60 national and world records (in five weight classes) and was included in the Guinness Book of Records for over a decade. Jan Todd was the first woman inducted into the International Powerlifting Hall of Fame and was in the first class of the USA-PL Women’s Powerlifting Hall of Fame. You can reach Jan Todd at her email: j.todd@austin.utexas.edu  Additionally, you can get ticket information for the Arnold Strongman Classic at: https://www.arnoldsports.com/sports-and-events/strongman/arnold-strongman-classic/

E40 | Bonus Episode: Through the Looking Glass

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E40 | Bonus Episode: Through the Looking Glass
/

David Joyce is back for a bonus episode! This episode is a speaking engagement he did while here in Austin. Coach Joyce speaks about how WHAT we are doing in the future will not change, but HOW we do it will change. In what way do we bring the future forward? Additionally, he addresses 8 complex issues that should be considered moving forward in our careers. One example is the economy, and understanding the stability and allocation of funds from your respective athletic departments. This is an amazing episode and will force you to consider issues you wouldn’t normally associate with athletic performance. Enjoy!

David Joyce is the Founder of Synapsing, a global strategy and decision-making consultancy linking the boardroom to the front line in complex environments. He has extensive experience leading elite sports around the world, stretching from Premier League and European Football, to the Olympics, from international Rugby o the NFL. You can reach Coach Joyce on Twitter: @DavidGJoyce, Email: David.joyce@synapsing.com and Linkedin: David Joyce.

E38 | Dr Jacked and Mr Caulfield

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E38 | Dr Jacked and Mr Caulfield
/

Coach Scott Caulfield joined us over Zoom from The Green Mountain State to discuss his great career. Coach Caulfield has done it all from his service in the United States Navy to being the head coach at the NSCA headquarters. We talk about his unorthodox coaching philosophy and some of the research he conducted at the University of Denver on The Social Construction of Strength and Conditioning. (Also see the Dr. Gearity interview, Episode 34) Coach Caulfield also catches us up on the life of a strength coach in division 3 collegiate athletics. Lastly, we cover his time in the military and how that helped shape his career.

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

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E37 | Coach Ryan Davis: Learning from Mistakes and Coming Out on Top
/

Coach Ryan Davis flew in from Maryland and took the time to discuss his career with Coach Donnie Maib and guest host Kylie Lahey. Coach Davis really explained the importance of family, and ways we as coaches can maintain a work/life balance with such a demanding position. Mistakes early in our careers is something we simply cannot avoid. Coach Davis talked about mistakes he made as a young coach and how that helped shape his career. Finally, Coach Davis dives into the process of working with Rogue Fitness to build a new weight room for Maryland Football. This is a great quick episode you’ll definitely want to listen to.

E35 | Peter Twist: From the NHL to the Mountains

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E35 | Peter Twist: From the NHL to the Mountains
/

All the way from Vancouver B.C., Coach Peter Twist joins us to discuss his long and successful career in sport performance. He talks about his experiences with the Vancouver Canucks and writing the book, Complete Conditioning for Ice Hockey before heading into the private sector. Coach Twist also walks us through the details of fascial line training and getting out of the weight room for running in the mountains. This episode is packed with positive and insightful tips that you do not want to miss!

Peter Twist is from Peterborough Ontario, where he was drawn to becoming a Physical Education Teacher. Peter instead progressed to achieve his Masters in Coaching Science at the University of British Columbia. He graduated to work as a sport scientist conducting brain-body research and coached for 11 years in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks. Coach Twist has worked with over 700 professional athletes, published over 400 papers, authored 10 books and 19 DVD’s on athletic development. Two major honors include the NSCA’s 1998 Presidents Award and the Can-Fit-Pro 2003 Specialty Presenter of the Year Award. You can find Coach Twist on Instagram @coachpetertwist and on Facebook: Peter Twist

This episode was mixed and mastered by Will Kurzner

E32 | Zach Dechant: The Baseball Guru

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E32 | Zach Dechant: The Baseball Guru
/

The long wait is over! Zach Dechant joins us in the studio to share his thoughts on strength training and topics alike. Coach Dechant works primarily with baseball players both Collegiate and Professional. In this episode, Donnie and Zach go in depth on shoulder health for the overhead athlete. We also cover the nature of baseball today and how he manages the volume his athletes accumulate over a long season. Finally, Zach talks about the books he’s written thus far and what he plans on writing next. This is a great episode you do not want to miss!

Since 2008, Zach has been the Senior Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Texas Christian University (TCU) overseeing the development of Baseball. Zach also runs his own business, Zach Dechant Sports Performance Enhancement, where he offers numerous courses, blog articles, resources and (2) books written by him. You can reach Zach at his website zachdechant.com.

This Episode was Mixed and Mastered by Alejandra Arrazola and Clayton Faries

E 31 | Craig Moore: Building Trust and Tackling Food Insecurities

The Team Behind the Team
The Team Behind the Team
E 31 | Craig Moore: Building Trust and Tackling Food Insecurities
/

Craig Moore joins us in the studio to talk about his career as a Dietician in the collegiate setting. Craig spent time with us explaining the importance of “Buy-In” with athletes and coaches. This helped him engage with athletes on a more personal level and in turn, allowed him to prescribe in-depth nutrition strategies. Lastly, we discuss an important research thesis Craig completed on Food Insecurities, and how it affected athletes at home over the COVID pandemic.

Craig has recently accepted the position of Performance Nutritionist at the Red Bull Athletic Performance Center LA (APLCA) in Santa Monica, CA. Over the past three years he was the Head Football Dietician at the University of Texas. Craig received bachelor’s degrees in both Medical Dietetics and Nutrition & Exercise Physiology from the University of Missouri, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He completed his master’s degree from the University of Utah in Nutrition and Integrative Physiology. To contact Craig, go to @craigmoorerd on Instagram or email him at Craigmoorenutrition@gmail.com