Podcasts about assistant athletic director

This week on Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, sits down with Director of Athletics, Jeremy McClain, to discuss some of the things that are going on this summer in Southern Miss Athletics, including preparations for the upcoming football season. Cox also sits down with the new Associate Head Coach for Golden Eagle Basketball, Win Case, and Reid McGee, the Assistant Athletic Director for Equipment Operations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

LSU men's basketball coach Matt McMahon brought another impotant piece of the LSU Basketball program back to Louisiana with the April 2024 announcement that Baton Rouge native Michael Chatman will be the head men's basketball strength and conditioning coach for the Tigers.Chatman has served for the past five seasons as the Sports Performance Coach for the men's basketball team at Stanford.The native of Baton Rouge graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a degree in applied science and earned his master's degree in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania.Early in his career, Chatman served as assistant strength and conditioning coach for a little over a year at Southern University of Baton Rouge and then spent a year-and-a-half working for legendary coach Gayle Hatch's weightlifting program as assistant strength coach.He has spent time at Michigan, Texas and Penn State before being named the Director of Basketball Performance in 2016 at Southern Mississippi. In 2017, he moved to Towson where he was the Assistant Athletic Director of Strength and Conditioning at Towson.In 2019 he was named to the staff at Stanford.He is known, among other things, for his development of movement and mobility protocols and has also worked with team nutritionists and athletic trainers. In working with various sports he has stressed life lessons and etiquette importance in teaching skills beyond the weight room. He works with his student-athletes to go the extra mile, both inside and outside the weight room.To View This Episode- https://youtu.be/vOD98NmsSr4#lsu #whoknewinthemoment #philfriedrich #podcast #lsubasketball #strengthtraining

Gus Felder on the NCAA House Settlement + The Future of Player DevelopmentIn this powerful conversation, Ed Jones II sits down with Gus Felder, Director of Player Development at the University of Nebraska, to break down how the NCAA House Settlement is reshaping college athletics—and what it means for player development professionals, departments, and athletes alike.We dive deep into:How Gus first reacted to the settlement announcementThe real risks he sees for athletes in the new paid modelWhere player development must now step upHow Nebraska is preparing—and how other schools can do the sameWhy mentorship still matters more than moneyWhat athletic departments should never forget in this new eraA powerful message to athletes walking into the “Paid Athlete Era”Whether you're a coach, administrator, athlete, or someone working behind the scenes, this is a must-watch as we enter one of the most transformative moments in college sports history.-

10 Lessons in 10 Years of Player Development | The Player Development PodI am FINALLY telling my full player development story. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on a full decade of work, wins, losses, and lessons in the world of player development. From stepping into my first role at the University of Houston in 2016… to hosting the Player Development Summit and publishing The Player Development Guide in 2025 — every year has brought a powerful lesson.This episode is personal. It's reflective. And it's 100% real.Here's a preview of what I cover: 2016 — Impact over Position 2017 — Passion over Title 2018 — Someone's Always Watching 2019 — Don't Reinvent the Wheel 2020 — Let the Players Lead 2021 — Relationships Are the Program 2022 — The Real Ones Show Up 2023 — The People Want This Work 2024 — Be the Platform 2025 — Consistency Creates ImpactWhether you're in a player development role, trying to break into the field, or just curious what this work really looks like — this episode is for you.Player Development Journey Assessment: https://edward-jones-8qvfl4ht.scoreapp.comPlayer Development Retreat Inquiry: https://forms.gle/fchDR9xJftBUKKnr6-BOOK - The Player Development Guide: https://amzn.to/4ju6ov3Player Development Newsletter: https://beyondthefield.substack.com/ Player Development Plan Course: https://btfplayerdevelopmentcourses.thinkific.com/courses/player-development-plan-beginnersAbout Ed Jones IIFounder | Educator | Culture Builder | Voice of the Player Development MovementEd Jones II is a nationally respected authority in player development—known not just for what he does, but for how he builds people. With a career rooted in service, leadership, and transformation, Ed has impacted over 500 student-athletes across Power Five programs, including the University of Houston, the University of Kansas, and Baylor University, where he rose to Assistant Athletic Director.Today, he is the founder and CEO of Beyond The Field, a pioneering company that equips schools, organizations, and leaders with the structure, strategy, and soul to build intentional off-the-field experiences for athletes. Through assessments, certification programs, high-impact workshops, and strategic consulting, Ed is helping shape the future of athlete development around the world.He is also the creator of a fast-growing educational ecosystem that includes: – The Player Development Pod (200+ episodes and counting) – The Player Development Summit (the leading national event for professionals in the space) – The Player Development Newsletter (insight and strategy delivered weekly) – The Player Development Plan Course & Cohorts (a step-by-step blueprint for building programs that matter) – Three published books, including the bestselling Player Development GuideWhat sets Ed apart is his clarity. He doesn't just speak about change—he builds systems that make it possible. Ed's work sits at the intersection of education, athletics, and personal growth, and he's quickly becoming the go-to mind for departments, directors, and decision-makers who want to build better, not just louder.If you're building a program, a department, or a career in the space of athlete development, there are two types of people: – Those who have connected with Ed Jones II. – And those who are about to.Connect with Ed here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjonesii/-PLEASE LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE.Let's Talk Player Development. Email me here: info@btfprogram.com Visit: https://www.btfprogram.com/ Follow:Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTF_Program Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/btf_program/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BTFProgramLet's Talk Player Development. Email me here: info@btfprogram.com

How do you build a sustainable high-performance culture despite yearly assistant coach rotations and demanding schedules? Alice Read, Assistant Athletic Director for Sport Performance at Vassar College, shares expertise from managing 29 teams and 600 student-athletes while continuously "riding the rollercoaster" of Division III scheduling. Read explores strategies for maintaining program continuity, including matching assistant coaches to sports based on strengths and growth areas. She emphasizes advocating for daily staff lifts to test and refine programs firsthand. In a full-circle moment, Read, once an NSCA Foundation Assistantship Recipient, now serves on the committee awarding these opportunities, demonstrating the value of early professional involvement. She also discusses collaborative problem solving within the Liberty League Strength and Conditioning Committee and explains how the College Coaches Professional Development Group (PDG) provided boots-on-the-ground guidance for the 2024 NSCA Strategic Plan. Tune in for actionable insights on mentorship, collaboration, and longevity in collegiate strength and conditioning. Connect with Alice via email at aread@vassar.edu and on Instagram: @ajpr3 and @vassar_strong | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Show Notes“I think I'm the coach I am today because I was thrown right into the fire. I definitely had good support, so I wasn't going to fail. […] I want to give young coaches the kind of experience I had, which was get your feet wet right out the door and experiment yourself so you can really understand how your programs are working.” 3:40 “I think especially to younger coaches, I think that for so long you're thinking, what's the next step to push my career forward? I need to build my network or things like that. I think it's important to think outside of just yourself. I think at some point, you have to take a step back and think, OK, this career is treating me really well, or I'm building all these networks to get me to that next dream job or whatever it might be.” 18:15 “My advice is that you're never too young to get involved, […] get involved in some way on a small level, even if it's just attending your first national conference. Get to a conference. Attend some of these meetings you feel really passionately about. And don't be afraid to speak up.” 18:45

This week on Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, sits down to visit with Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain to discuss a number of topics including Golden Eagle Baseball and the highlights of the 2024-25 athletic year. Cox is also joined by head track and field coach Jon Stuart and Reid McGee, the Assistant Athletic Director for Equipment Operations.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Want to get Coffee?!Maura Donovan has an incredible story to becoming a sports dietitian. Her impressive background and unique career path have set her up for her dream job. Maura is a board-certified sports dietitian and currently serves as a Medical Education Specialist for Sports Nutrition at Thorne.Maura earned her master's degree in nutritional sciences and completed her dietetic internship for RD credentialing at Boston University with concentrations in sports nutrition, eating disorders, and clinical nutrition. In 2023, after completing over 2,000 hours of sports nutrition work, Maura sat for her board exam and became a Board-Certified Sports Dietitian.Maura began her career at Walden Behavioral Care, working in their Partial Hospitalization program and their GOALS IOP program for athletes with eating disorders. She was responsible for programming nutrition education sessions, patient meal plans, and overseeing patient meals and group sessions.Prior to joining Thorne, Maura oversaw the nutrition of 14 Division 1 intercollegiate sports teams at Boston College. In conjunction with the Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Nutrition, Maura was responsible for individual athlete nutrition counseling, delivering team nutrition talks, creating educational materials, providing supplement education, and collaborating with coaches and sports medicine to ensure the best nutrition practices for all athletes. This episode is brought to you by 2before Performance Nutrition. Use code RDSNIPPETS30 at checkout for 30% off product online at www.2before.com. For teams specific pricing, reach out to info@2before.com for more information.

Today we sit down with Lauren Jones (Plourde) who is the Assistant Athletic Director for Marshfield High School in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Lauren shares her journey along with some cool BEST PRACTICES on this episode of The Educational AD Podcast!

What does a day in the life of a player development professional actually look like?In this episode, I take you behind the scenes of a real day working in player development — from 5AM workouts to 9PM academic walk-throughs. While no two days are ever the same, I walk you hour-by-hour through what a typical day looked like when I served as Assistant Athletic Director for Player Development at Baylor Football.If you've ever wondered what it's like to support athletes beyond the field, build relationships, juggle departments, and stay ready for whatever comes your way — this episode is for you.- Player Development Weekly Checklist: https://beyond-the-field-player-development.kit.com/wklychk

Assistant Athletic Director of Lacrosse Operations Danielle Della Rocca talks behind the scenes of the program in season.

Melanie Hinson and Chief Richard Palomo Season 5 Episode 4 In this episode of The Coaches Call, host Chris Doelle introduces Melanie Hinson, the Assistant Athletic Director for Southwest ISD, who then interviews Southwest ISD Police Chief Richard Palomo. The discussion revolves around the safety protocols and best practices for high school team travel, particularly […]

On this week's edition of Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, sits down with the Director of Athletics, Jeremy McClain, to discuss a wide variety of topics concerning Golden Eagle and Lady Golden Eagle athletics. Cox is also joined this week by Spencer Bridges, the Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Revenue Officer and Ryan Lee, Assistant Athletic Director, and Director of Compliance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nyere Miller, assistant athletics director, discusses his extensive career and his roles at our college. He also delves into our athletic programs and how to get involved. Recorded by Quinn Szente and Anthony Lucas.Edited by Quinn Szente.from the College's Sound Recording and Music Technology Program.

Send us a textSummary of the Interview: In this episode of the PIO podcast, Kevin Strauss, the communications manager for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency, discusses his journey from college athletics to public communication. He shares insights on the challenges faced in unifying communication strategies post-COVID, the importance of digital advertising, and the management of water resources amid drought conditions. Kevin emphasizes the significance of internal communication, the impact of AI on public perception, and the necessity of having a supportive team to effectively convey messages to the community. He concludes with personal insights and rapid-fire questions that reveal his values and beliefs in communication.Kevin's Bio - Kevin Strauss is the Communications Manager for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCV Water) and is responsible for all internal and external Agency communications. Previously, Strauss spent six years as a Communications Specialist with the City of Santa Clarita. During his career, Strauss has produced several award-winning public relations campaigns and recently led SCV Water's brand relaunch initiative and crafted the Agency's first digital media strategy. For his work, he was named the 2024 Communicator of the Year by the California Association of Public Information Officials (CAPIO).When he was with the City of Santa Clarita, the Communications Division was named the 2020 Frank Potter Cowan Crisis Communications Leader by CAPIO for its response to the Tick Fire and Saugus High School shooting in 2019. Prior to joining the City of Santa Clarita, Strauss worked for six years in the Athletics Department at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), first as an intern then as Assistant Sports Information Director before being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Digital Marketing. Strauss earned his bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations from CSUN. He and his family reside in Santa Clarita.Kevin's EmailEye-Opening Moments PodcastEye-Opening Moments are stories of adversity, encounters, and perspectives. They are...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showOur premiere sponsor, Social News Desk, has an exclusive offer for PIO Podcast listeners. Head over to socialnewsdesk.com/pio to get three months free when a qualifying agency signs up.

Mitch Harper and Matt Baiamonte are joined by Duff Tittle of BYU athletic communications to talk more about the impact Tom Holmoe had on BYU athletics.

Steph Mock Grubbs hails from Pennsylvania, spending the last four years as the Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance at the University of Pittsburgh. As of 2025, she's accepted a position as a MLB Strength Coach with the Houston Astros, taking her understanding of S&C, sport science, and leadership to H-Town. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the keys to great leadership. Steph discusses her time as a strength and conditioning coach and Director/Assistant Director at various schools, including Mississippi State, Clemson, the University of Pittsburgh (the list goes on). Very rarely will you find someone with an insatiable desire for knowledge and the opportunity to get in the trenches and put it to practice.EnjoyFollow Steph:https://www.instagram.com/coachstephmock/https://x.com/coachstephmock?lang=enhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-mock-grubbs-8a89432b6/Follow me and support our sponsors:https://www.instagram.com/josh_philwl/Weightlifting House:https://www.weightliftinghouse.com/ code PHILWL for 10% offOnyx:https://www.onyxstraps.com/ with code PHILWL for 10% offhttps://www.instagram.com/onyx_straps/

This week on Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, The Voice of the Golden Eagles, visits with Athletic Director Jeremy McClain to discuss a number of topics including the start of baseball season. Cox is also joined by Leah Williams, Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Men's basketball associate head coach Juan Cardona.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Assistant Athletic Director for Creative and Digital Media Ian McFarland takes us behind the scenes of Oregon Creative. Plus, Joey Mac chats with Oregon Softball Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi.Duck Insider presented by OnPoint Community Credit Union is live from the Country Financial Studio every weekday from 1-2pm. #GoDucks See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week's edition of Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles is joined by Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain to discuss several topics, including men's and women's basketball and preparations for the upcoming baseball season. Cox also sits down with Ryan Lee, the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Spencer Bridges, the Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Revenue Officer.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

And the Beat Goes On.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. Tuesday night, in the asphalt-covered rear loading area of the Wal-Mart there was a Redneck throw down. Buck Tooney was wasting no time in cementing his leadership position over the White portion of our High School. His job was made more difficult by Darius' ruthless efficiency in allowing no other organizations, no matter how informal, to challenge his dominion. That translated over to Buck having to bust more heads to bring the 'rednecks' all in line.If that worked out, the city-Whites would be next. The problem for everyone else was the High School had been a succession of autocratic tyrannies for so long, it was difficult for the students to successfully even balkanize, much less unify. Everyone assumed another 'Darius' would eventually arise to restore a brutal school order; as long as 'he' was Black.That meant Buck needed a Black figurehead to parade in front of the 'establishment' to get things done. So far, no such person existed. Rashaan not only had the mistaken impression he could resist Buck, he was the Chief of Police's son; so not a prime candidate to be a figurehead for a criminal like Buck. Therefore he had to get Rashaan out of the way; figuratively speaking.Another problem for Buck was the school already had an existing Black criminal element. Darius had not been a part of it, but like so many other aspects of school society, when he told the leaders of the school subcultures to do something, or not to do something, he expected compliance. If not; pain would definitely follow. These characters weren't going to easily knuckle under to Buck Tooney though. After all, he'd been Darius' brother's 'boy', not the other way around.If anyone seriously thought Buck had returned to High School to be the Black Man's Bitch (again), they were clearly high, brain damaged, and/or delusional. I wouldn't have put money on who could have taken who in a Buck vs. Darius brawl; except Darius wouldn't have been lured into that kind of fight.Absent Darius, the school's Black community only had two confederates with sufficient intellect and charisma to lead the forces on that side of the racial divide. Sadly for the disciples of the Almighty BBC, both were women. Not only was Taliyah's mom the Mayor, she herself was co-Captain of one of the establishment's most recognized bodies; the Cheer Squad.The other was Jewel 'C. S.' Lafontanté. She was more infamous than famous, intelligent, un-aligned with any club, or activity, which awarded accolades, yet was overly endowed with a host of natural abilities as well as learned skills and talents. And, unlike Taliyah,; absent Darius; she felt the top spot was hers for the taking from the get go.Step one had been to sit at the feet of her mother and father, taking their counsel on the principles of asymmetric warfare, transforming weaknesses into strengths and how to locate, isolate and exploit the weaknesses of her enemies. Step two was accomplished Tuesday night when she and the rest of the Zulu Princess Posse jettisoned their boyfriends. From here on out, the ladies would be taking whatever cock they wanted. The times; they were a-changing.I had two more imminent problems with my life. The first was Riley Pasternak, Mayor Malik's aide and a woman I'd put my cock into; without my Mother's permission. By the way she kept licking absolutely everything off her fingertips at dinner Tuesday night while staring at me, I was sure she was expecting another performance.Before I could worry about how to finally put the brakes on my out of control sex drive, we had a caller at the gate; for me. It was Randi Leigh Upshaw. That was more than a tad unexpected. I'd stuck my cock in her, so I felt obliged to provide hospitality now that she came calling, but promised myself 'no sex'. We met on the porch.‘Hey, Vlad,' Randi Leigh appeared distracted and a bit distraught and couldn't meet my gaze.‘Hello, Randi Leigh. Care to sit down?' I motioned toward the porch swing.‘Sure,' she walked that way. It wasn't all that cold, she was in a team jacket, yet she still felt the need to wrap herself in her arms.‘What's going on?' I said once we'd taken our seats and swung back and forth twice.‘I; do you like Brandy?' she turned on me, putting a both her hands on my right forearm.‘Yes, I do,' I nodded. ‘Very much.'‘I can make you happier than she can,' bubbled forth from her lips.'What gives you that idea', seemed inappropriate so; ‘I thought you were happy with Rashaan,' was my second, and apparently equally bad, choice. Her look said it all: Rashaan wasn't getting the job done in a fundamental way.‘He's nothing like you,' she purred with the understated passion of an addict needing fix; me being the drug.‘Vlad, what is going on out here?' Mom called out. With Mom's propensity to sneak up on things like a Martian and listen in on conversations, this had to be a clue about something more. We both hopped out of the swing.‘This is Randi Leigh Upshaw. She's a; ah friend of Brandy and on the Cheer Squad. She's dating Rashaan Quinterre now.'‘Nice to meet you,' Mom was full with the feigned politeness, ‘Randi Leigh. I need a moment of Vlad's time, then I'll give him back.'She pulled me aside and back down the walk around porch until we were out of earshot then;‘Care to explain?'So I did; everything from the encounter in the Parking Lot to the Music Room banter, her going off in an epileptic seizure and ending with her here; now. Mom put her hand to her chin as she lowered her head slightly. Her far-off look dictated she wanted a few moments to think things through.‘With some girls; it goes straight to the brain like some allergic reaction,' she related. ‘In 1898, one of your ancestors was felled by a delirium and was cared for in a cat house in Dawson City. Three 'Ladies of the Evening' quickly fell to fighting over him and concluding with two fighting a duel with pistols in the middle of Front Street to decide who got 'their man'. Clearly some ladies can go a bit nuts over what your family has in your nut sack.'‘That's totally nu; crazy and unfair to poor Randi Leigh,' I frowned. I kicked at the planks on the porch for good measure.‘Didn't you just tell me she is gladly whoring herself out for Rashaan Quinterre? Do you think she's doing that for love?'‘What about Brandy? I don't want to cheat on her; any more than I've already cheated on her,' I muttered. Man, I sounded pathetic!‘Here's what you do,' my Mother stroked my cheek. ‘You tell Randi Leigh she had better become Brandy's #2 friend from here on out, or you won't have anything to do with her. You aren't going to cheat on Brandy, but Brandy might see a way to share you from time to time if she behaves. No more Big Black Cock for her though.'‘Okay,' I felt partially relieved. Now that I had a moment alone, I added, ‘What about Riley?'‘I got her.'‘You?'‘Yes. Me and your Da are going to take her to bed for some pulse-pounding, three-way action,' she grinned like an orca about to devour a baby seal.I had no idea Dad was so; kinky.‘Once I get your Da going, he's quite the animal,' Mom enlightened me. ‘I'll get me and Riley going in the bedroom. When he walks in, he'll protest; like he always does; then he'll come around and; ‘‘Enough, Mom,' I raised my hands. ‘Enough.'She laughed. I retreated to the semi-sanity of Randi Leigh who was waiting on me expectantly.‘Here are the rules,' I began ticking off my points, finger by finger.‘I'm Brandy's boyfriend. If you want to spend time with me you had better become Brandy's #2 best friend.'‘You don't sleep around with anyone else besides me and my brothers without clearing it with us first.'‘You don't pick fights with anyone unless you 'okay' it with myself, or my brothers first.'‘You break the rules three times and we never even talk with you; ever again.'That would have been the point I at which would have expected her to scoff at me at least, possibly slap me, or at least cry as a form of manipulation. Randi Leigh simply nodded. I walked her off the porch to her vehicle. We hugged, but didn't kiss. Afterwards I called Brandy and gave her the basics of what had gone down without explaining the toxic stew which lay behind it.I avoided my family the rest of the night; choosing to go to bed early instead. As I lay reclined on my back, staring out the tall window into the clear, highland night sky, I felt sick to my stomach. Slowly a revelation came to me. What my family had was definitely a curse, not a blessing because it was wed to a sense of conscience and responsibility.I had often thought about why Mom sought out Dad as the 'One' for her, but until that night, never really considered why he had chosen her to be his 'One'. Looking back, I realized it wouldn't have made sense until that point because I didn't have enough pieces of Mom's puzzle. I had the belief Dad sensed the intense pain within Mom's soul and nothing short of the grave, or what he had within him, could soothe her.By Mom's own admission, she was a Wild Child. She would have never settled down. Never had us kids. Never felt the love of a family if Dad hadn't decided to share his genetic curse with her. He'd loved her enough to become her lodestone; the center of her life and to take on all the pain such a position entailed.Everything I knew about my Dad suggested Mom was the Last type of woman he would have wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Dad liked his life calm, quiet and orderly. Mom was the polar opposite of those desires; impulsive, loud and chaotic. I didn't doubt his love for her in the slightest, yet my Father had sacrificed his dreams of tranquility to save my Mother.Why wasn't Mom furious with him over enslaving her to his cock; his magic sperm? She probably had been, once she figured out the family secret; for a short while. Then she realized the import his love had, saw the course her life was taking her down and what she obviously meant to him. But Mom being Mom; she still made him pay with her explosively eccentric behavior and her bizarre tutelage of his boys.And Dad had accepted it all as the price necessary to save my Mother's life; and that was that. Dad could have had any woman he wanted. Any Samsonov man could have. Why weren't we a clan of billionaires then? Why didn't we have oriental-style harems and dozens of mistresses on the side?Because we saw what we possessed as a curse; which we sometimes shared with truly crazy people to give them a real world focus for their lives so they wouldn't finally be consumed by their peculiar forms of madness. My hypothesis certainly fit what I knew about my kinfolk. I took that uneasy psychic compromise with me to my dreams.Wednesday.Wednesday morning, the storm clouds began to gather. The big news was Jewel Lafontanté had dumped Thomas 'Shaka' Sneed, Student Body President. Certain notorious Redneck troublemakers were either absent, or had shown up bruised and battered from last night's rumble with Buck's crew.That wasn't the only bruising going on. Rashaan had gone from one cheerleader to none, to two, to none once more; inside a week. The damage to both his ego and prestige was immense. Into the void stepped a rather brutal individual named Porter Walmsley, the Football Squad's Defensive Team Captain. While he was big, bad and Black, Taliyah and Brandy insisted his thick sausage was also very short; a definite deal-breaker when it came to BBC Mastery.Not to be outdone, Alonzo Hollingsworth, son of the richest (Black) man in Kingston made a play for Taliyah at lunch. He was long on talking solidarity while showing no solidarity with any of the other social 'front-runners'. Taliyah told him she'd 'think about it' in a blatant attempt to rile Mikhail. It didn't, which only soured her mood more.At practice, the Assistant Athletic Director (aka Coach Weasel, aka Coach George Wilcox), named Deon Manley Team Captain. He was (surprise, surprise) Black, in my position (Point Guard) and on record as performing sexual favors for the coach (letting the coach suck his cock).After practice, I got a message; via Brandy; that Jed Lee Earl wanted to talk with me and my brothers. She had to give me the 411. He was from one of Kingston's old White Rich families, led a clique of rich and 'almost rich' White kids and she thought he was gay. Most likely, with Buck on a rampage, he was looking for some 'muscle of his own,' she added with a giggle. I swatted her ass over that one.At least this time we avoided any name calling as we made our exit from school. Alexander was off to Ms. Blanchard's class. Mikhail took Kaja home on his KTM 690 Enduro R motorcycle without argument. I took Monique and Shaquille home (her house actually) with Vicky and Kaelyne tagging along. Brandy and Taliyah took Alondra and Noémie to their homes before the rendezvous at the Fonteneau mansion.The routine cycle resumed: homework, working out, showering, then a small amount of friend time before dinner. Unlike Tuesday, Mikhail was downright responsive to Taliyah; playful if not contrite. Taliyah countered by being friendly to Kaelyne and Vicky. I had my hands full with Brandy the entire time, so I was of no help.Vicky surprised us all by asking to learn a few wrestling and Sambo moves as we migrated to the backyard. I was 'nominated' to be her instructor. Things were complicated by her relative small size (5'2' / 157.5 cm) and mass (98 lbs. / 44.45 kg.). Figuring out all she really wanted to do was grab my cock, or nuts (both clothed) and pinch my nipples took all of thirty seconds.While tickling is not in your regularly accepted repertoire of wrestling moves, I had grown up with two brothers and plenty of young cousins. With my superior reach and strength, Vicky never stood a chance; so Kaelyne rushed in as well. When she proved unable to turn the tide (recall: I'm one of three; triplets), Brandy jumped me as well. This time I had the good sense to go down under their combined might, cry and beg for mercy.Thursday.With Brandy's acquiescence, if not outright permission, I gave Randi Leigh a blowjob opportunity before Home Room on Thursday. Mikhail was in the stall next to mine doing the exact same thing with Alondra. The difference was Alondra left with bounce in her stride and a smile on her face. Randi Leigh was fidgeting and uneasy.We missed Lunch Period, replacing it with a truncated orgy session which included Taliyah and Brandy plus Vantrice Kirby, Mia Ryker and Le 'Pearl' Yates. That left only Noémie Lucie Desdunes (in her case the middle name was a Creole thing) and Amber Lee Huffington, who were both in the B and T camp anyway. We could get them Saturday, or so the plotting went.The (Football) Coach and Principal decided since Friday was a 'home' game, we would have a 'memorial' service for Darius Pope; not that he had actually died, or anything; instead of the standard 'victory' party after the game. Apparently the Principal thought Brandy, as Darius' girlfriend, could help coordinate the function. Help as in work with the suddenly school-active Jewel Lafontanté.The other event was Hell Must Have Frozen Over and Satan had Klansmen shoveling coal like mad while he shivered in his igloo chateau; at least as far as the Kingston and Davis County social scene was concerned. The family of Gayle Fonteneau was invited to dinner at; the house of the Madam Mayor aka Dominique and Chinedu Malik.Her father had broken the hold the Fonteneau's had over the town which once bore their name; but now was Kingston, back in the late 1960's and early 70's, ushering an age of Black Supremacy into this burgh. It hadn't been an easy, or happy, transition either. Generations of Fonteneaus had treated the town as an extension of their own estate and hadn't welcomed the march of democratic progress.My Mom's rape, Uncle Theo's rampage of vengeance, and the resulting cover-up had severed the links between the Fonteneau Clan and the town of Kingston. That was the other, hidden, part of 'The Deal' which saw Uncle Theo going to a military school, not straight-out prison, for the punishment he'd visited on my mother's attackers.It could be argued Mom was now violating the 'corrupt' bargain between old Mayor Fox and Great Aunt Matilda. I also imagined neither ever thought their heirs would ever find 'common cause'. Both were now safely dead and if his daughter, Dominque, was bothered by this, she was doing the opposite of complaining.Had I realized how much Mom was sending Dominque's way, I would have been stunned. Had I realized how little of the Fonteneau fortune her support represented, I'd have cringed. The Fonteneau has been rife with eccentric, often wicked, geniuses for over two centuries.They'd invented and patented stuff, they swindled, robbed and stole from kinfolk, neighbors, towns, tribes, corporations and countries, and they invested that wealth with prescient ability. Unlike other famous American capitalists and industrialists, they hadn't felt obliged to build theater halls, university buildings, or jack-squat to remind the Rest Of The World how rich they'd become.No; they had miserly hoarded their wealth with one family member in each generation getting the lion's share along with the tacit understanding they took care of one another. That had equated to Great-Aunt Matilda being the inheritor in her generation, yet taking care of her sister's children as if they were her own.How much did 'we' have? Mom snorted and told me the Fonteneau never kept all their money in one place; in case something happened. Still, it wasn't like Uncle Cassius in that Indonesian prison didn't have his own 'resources' to keep him safe, or Uncle Theo kept evading prosecution based solely on his military training. Had either of those funds been traced back to our family, there could have been trouble; and those were just two examples of how Great-Aunt Matilda dispersed the family fortune.Anyway, I decided to bring Brandy along as my date/protective shielding. Mikhail laughingly suggested Alexander bring Ms. Blanchard. He suggested Vicky. I suggested Alondra. He scoffed. I suggested we'd need the distraction plus someone we could rely on to keep their mouth shut if something untoward happened (or, in Alondra's case, failed to understand the significance of).After 'dressing up', Mikhail and I had to double-back to school to pick up Brandy, Taliyah and Alondra for dinner. They, and about forty other students, had been shanghaied by Jewel into making the auditorium into a tribute to Darius Pope; odd since I imagined she despised the guy and rejoiced at his departure.‘Hey there,' Jewel greeted us as we entered the largely empty arena. ‘Vlad, is it? Mikhail?'Jewel was a tall (nearly 6 feet) woman with skin a soft shade of brown enhanced with coppery highlights. Currently her long, kinky black hair was worn braided with a mixture of beads and ribbons which 'clacked' when she moved. Her figure was dynamite, more a powerful Amazonian 'C' to Brandy's curvaceous 'D', but an ass just as scrumptious.Her lips were wide and her nose broad, but her most sensual quality, in my eyes, was her smoldering dark eyes; so dark they seemed totally devoid of an iris, yet keenly perceptive and subtly intelligent, surrounded by the longest, most natural-appearing eyelashes I'd ever witnessed.Today she was in a leather, electric blue mini-skirt, white knee socks and a long sleeved, skin-tight white shirt with the torso-sized images of a rampant phoenix and tiger facing one another on both front and back.‘Yes. Vladimir and Mikhail Samsonov, Ms. Lafontanté. A pleasure to meet you,' I stated since we'd never been formerly introduced. Likewise, I'd been raised a gentleman who waited for a lady to offer her hand to be shaken before a man shook it.She gave me an appraising, almost predatory, up-and-down gaze.‘Call me Jewel,' she extended me her hand.‘Vlad!' Brandy called out. Her someone must be trying to poach my Man sense must have gone off because I was definitely getting that sensation as her fingertips played across my fingers and palm before we shook hands. She had a confident, solid grip.‘Princess,' I was continuing to 'test drive' Brandy's pet name as I looked around Jewel.‘We are almost done,' Jewel shifted so as to interrupt my view (almost worked; but I was taller than she was).‘Let me help then,' I offered, even as I realized she hadn't let go of my hand yet.‘I'm planning on it,' she smirked, then released my hand and spun quickly around.‘Alright!' she addressed the room, the word accentuated with a sharp clap of her hands. ‘Let's finish getting those banners hung; Brandy?'Brandy was decidedly ignoring Jewel by throwing herself into my embrace and including an impressive, tongue-hungry lip-lock. 'Umm; tasty'. I kept her off the ground, so she decide to kick up both her legs until her heels almost touched her buttocks. When our mouths separated, she gave off a breathless giggle.‘Strawberry?' I questioned the flavor of her lip balm.‘Yes,' she grinned. With exaggerated slowness, Brandy turned to Jewel. ‘Almost done, Jefe?'‘So Jewel, I understand your regular cock wasn't getting the job done,' were the first words out of Mikhail's mouth; the Jackass! The assumption was he was referencing her dumping her last boyfriend; who was also here tonight.‘Mikhail!' Brandy gawked.‘Damn it, Mikhail,' I pivoted and glared at him.‘You auditioning for the job?' Jewel took a provocative pose. So much for the possibility of being offended. It was at times like this I didn't get women at all.‘I'm willing to put you in my rotation,' he bantered back courageously.‘What is mine, is mine. I don't share,' Jewel volleyed.‘You won't be the first Top Bitch I've had to deal with. Won't be the last,' he chuckled.‘Am I 'your type'?'‘Babe, you are hitting on all cylinders; you're smart, fierce, built like a true athlete; plus you think you are better than me,' he leered.‘I'm AM better than you, Samsonov.'‘By all means,' he took two steps her way. ‘Prove it.'‘Mikhail, we are here to retrieve our dates and go to dinner with our parents,' I reminded him. ‘Speaking of which; where are Taliyah and Alondra?'‘Which one of you is dating Alondra?' Jewel scoffed. With the way she said 'Alondra' she might as well have said 'The Chihuahua'. I put Brandy down.‘Alexander,' Brandy simmered. ‘They bonded over having a soul; unlike some people.' Gosh, that was awful feisty of Brandy. ‘Vlad, they went to get some colored light filters for the spotlights. They should be back soon.'‘Hey now,' I patted Brandy's ass. ‘Needless hostility isn't getting the work done.' I used that hand on the ass to press her against my hard-on to remind her of our primal connection.Her eyes flashed up, she gave me a salacious look, two hip wiggles, and then sauntered off to complete whatever project she was assigned. I tagged along because I both liked that ass and decided keeping close to her was my best bet to stay safe. Jewel directed Mikhail to help with something else. When Taliyah returned with Alondra and Misty Dawn in tow (along with several boxes of something), she immediately alerted to his distraction.She gave him no warning of her approach. Unfortunately for her, growing up triplets left us all a bit hyper-situationally aware and always ready for some rough and tumble, so Mikhail clued into the impending threat right before Taliyah repeated her Charlie Horse from Hell. Instead, he caught her blow, pulling her in and pinning one of her arms behind her back.‘Care to explain that?' Mikhail mused; 'that' being the incoming pain.‘I saw you scoping her out,' Taliyah sizzled.‘Well-duh,' he snorted, ‘but I wasn't touching, or anything.'‘You'd better not be.'‘Don't you have some work to do?' Jewel intervened.‘Yeah; if this Neanderthal would unhand me; ‘‘You going to take another swing at me?'‘You going to give me a reason to remind you to behave?' Taliyah snapped.‘Most likely,' my triplet shrugged then let her go.‘Come on Alondra,' Taliyah called over to the cheerleader. They went off to stack up the proper colored light filters by the various spot lights. The actual work would be done by the custodial staff sometime tomorrow.Soon enough we finished all our assignments. Jewel's No. 1 minion; a short, Sepia-complexioned, sharp-looking young lady named Dana Owens; checked off each completed item on her tablet as the group leaders reported to Jewel. She ran a very tight, almost scarily-so, regime. Notable absent were the student-athletes.Notably present was Jewel's ex-boyfriend, Shaka Sneed. He was handsome enough, chestnut-hued, slight acne-scarring along his cheeks with lighting-bolts cut on each side of his more-on-top, closer-cropped-on-the-side/back curly hair. He was right as 6' and broad enough in the chest and narrow enough in the hip to suggest he worked out once, or twice, a week, but his attempt to physically intimidate Mikhail was woefully ill-considered.His shiny, black tennis shoes, dark-grey slacks and black t-shirt were all top quality and tight enough to suggest he was 'aroused', but he was playing out of his league when comparing himself to any of us. Clearly not every BBC stud was packing a 10' Passion Piston inside his boxers and with all the hot chicks Jewel had assembled, it would have been pretty discernable it he'd had one.‘I don't like the way you were talking to Jewel,' he approached my brother as we were exiting the school.With so many polite replies to choose from and a proper dinner to get to; ‘What are you going to do about it?' we turned and regarded him.‘I; ah; ‘ Shaka stammered. Open, obvious defiance wasn't what he expected, despite some of the clear signs we Samsonovs weren't playing by the established rules.‘Listen up, Shaky,' Mikhail feigned annoyance, ‘I've got a dinner to go to. If all you are going to do is spit at me, I'm going to get to it. I'll catch up with you at lunch tomorrow and we'll settle Jewel's perceptions of your penile inadequacies then.'‘It is Shaka,' he insisted angrily.‘Whatever,' Mikhail shrugged.‘I'm going to inform Principal Jean-Georges of your threats,' Shaka pledged.‘What threats?' Mikhail gave a lopsided grin.‘You threatened to fight me at lunch tomorrow,' he looked left then right. We had quite a gathering. Since none of them looked ready to fight, it wasn't a problem.‘My exact words,' my triplet sounded bored, ‘we'll settle Jewel's perceptions of your penile inadequacies. Not once did I mention the words 'fight', punishment, or violence of any kind, Shaky.'‘It is Shaka!' he growled.‘It is Thomas,' Jewel announced in an amused tone. She'd been locking up.‘Shaky's real name is Thomas?' Mikhail's gaze settled on Jewel. ‘Why the fuck did he pick a shitty nickname like Shaky when he had a perfectly good name like Thomas to go by?'‘It Is Shaka; you pinhead!' Shaka shouted.‘Shaka? What kind of lame name is that?' Mikhail mocked him.‘It is Zulu, you dumbass cracker,' he glared.‘Why didn't you pick a more relevant name; like; Vlad, help me out here?' Mikhail's countenance lost all its humor.‘Like Agaja, Askia, Ewuare, or Samori?' I supplied some viable alternatives.‘Yeah; them. You know; West African war leaders you might have some relation to as opposed to a South African butcher who is as likely related to you as I am to Christopher Columbus, you dumbass nigger.'Silence.A White Boy had called a Black Man a 'nigger' and not just the 'n-word'.‘What did you call me?' Shaka puffed himself up.‘Whatever was the appropriate abusive racial insulting counter to 'cracker', pencil-dick,' Mikhail huffed.‘Say it.'‘Shaky.'‘You little bitch,' he said in a low voice.‘I promised we'd revisit your penile inadequacies at lunch tomorrow, Shaky, not now. If you are not going to 'jump', I've got a dinner to go to.'‘Chicken-shit.'‘I really don't have the time to go down the long list of all the things Jewel called you as she kicked you out of bed, Shaky; ‘ and then Shaka shoved him.‘That'll do, Pig. That'll do,' Mikhail chortled. He was getting ready to fight. We really didn't have the time to clean up this mess; I had no doubt Mikhail would destroy Shaka in ten seconds flat. The problem was we'd have to stick around and deal with the fallout which was time we didn't have.‘Enough,' Jewel intervened both verbally and vocally. She had two of her ladies backing her up. I had a firm hand on Mikhail's shoulder as a reminder we had to be elsewhere. ‘Shaka, I thought better of you,' she looked at her ex. ‘He's playing you.'‘You've been playing with him,' Shaka countered.‘Even if I was; which I was not (she wasn't?), I'm not your property, or your woman,' she sneered. ‘You are pathetic. I dumped you because I know I can do better.'Ouch! That was harsh.‘No; you can't,' Taliyah spoke up aka demarcating Mikhail. ‘Not while I'm standing.'‘Damn you, Jewel,' Shaka grabbed his former girl by the arm. ‘I; ‘And then she laid into him. I was pretty sure it was elbow to the solar plexus, a stomp on the instep and then an arm grab into judo flip, but head-over-heels Shaka went. I say 'pretty sure' because it was dusk and Jewel move freaky-fast. Shaka had been completely flipped over onto his back in that final, fluid move.Even though Jewel still had a painful hold of his wrist, it was clear Shaka was out of the fight. Any sane combatant would have stopped at that point. Not Jewel. Up came her foot and down came that heel on his crotch. Shaka hissed like a punctured Zeppelin. Every single guy who witnessed the blow recoiled instinctively in sympathetic agony as well. Not to be outdone though;‘I guess Shaka Zulu is now just another Bushman Brother,' Mikhail quipped jokingly.‘You are useless,' Taliyah began to drag him away.‘How is any of this my fault?' Mikhail laughed. ‘I didn't lay a hand on him.'‘You opened your fool-mouth,' she groused. She was dragging him off though.‘Alright everyone!' Jewel announced. ‘Time to go home.'Quickly enough there were only nine of us left standing there; Jewel, her six posse members, me and Brandy. Alondra had retreated with Taliyah and Mikhail. Shaka was still on the ground, hands cupping his tenderized privates.‘Yes?' Jewel tilted her head as she examined me.‘I'm hanging around to make sure Shaka makes it to his car okay.'‘I'll see to it.'‘I'll wait.'‘I said I'll see to it,' she reiterated as her eyes narrowed.‘Vlad, let's go,' Brandy tugged on my dress jacket.‘I heard you the first time, Ms. Lafontanté. You are also the one who put him in his current incapacitated condition, so I am going to stick around until I know he can take care of himself.'‘Do you think you can take me?' she shifted into a fighting stance; all subtle-like.‘I don't know. It isn't about me thinking I can beat you up. It is about not leaving any person at the mercy of those who would do them harm,' I explained coolly.‘Really?' she blinked.‘Really.'‘And if I tell you to get lost, or else?'I heard a car trunk shut rather gently; it was the 'click' of the lock engaging. Then came the crunch of the loose gravel on asphalt as my brother returned. Jewel's eyes shifted passed me, to him then back to me.‘You were stalling for time?'‘Pretty much,' I relaxed minutely.‘Here you go,' Mikhail handed me a padded, rattan practice broadsword. He had another broadsword plus a targe, a 20' diameter shield of Scottish origin).‘It is still seven on two odds.' from Jewel.‘We'll fight,' Brandy stated defensively.‘You and I ~' Taliyah directly addressed Jewel.‘Means nothing,' Jewel snorted. I could virtually see her work out the fight in her mind, going over and then discarding the various possibilities and resulting outcomes. Too many left her and hers with too many welts and bruises (rattan swords really sting) without a completely positive outcome.‘You don't even like him,' she motioned to the still moaning Shaka.‘That never matters,' Mikhail shrugged. ‘The moment you stomped on Shaky's peanuts, I knew Vlad wouldn't leave him here; at your mercy; so here we are.'‘Vlad?' Jewel searched my eyes for answers.‘Right is right and wrong is wrong,' I responded. ‘There is just and unjust punishment. You had every right to throw Mr. Sneed to the ground.'‘The heel to the groin was excessive,' I could hear myself channeling my Father. ‘At that point, he became a victim too. As my Brother said, I couldn't leave him at your mercy uncertain of your intentions.'‘So you do think you can take me,' she grinned like a Moray eel.‘I was really unsure until my Brother put this practice sword in my hand and returned to my side,' I related. ‘Even now, I'm not 100% positive. I've never witnessed your style of marital arts and you are certainly very good. Tha

Tyler Whitmer is an Assistant Athletic Director of Olympic Sports Performance at Boise State University. Tyler was a high school athlete who became intensely interested in sports performance when he had a unique opportunity to train at the Denver Broncos training center. As he transitioned to college, he discovered that he could have a career in this area and eventually accepted a graduate assistantship at the University of Kansas. Tyler discussed how his experiences at KU and at several small universities helped him grow as a person and coach. We discussed how athletics provides a range of experiences that can be both beneficial and potentially harmful for men, depending on the culture and what is modeled for men by coaches and mentors. Tyler mentioned a personal and professional shift that occurred for him during COVID that led him to develop a program called Get Reps. Get Reps is a group focused on helping male athletes consider what it means to be a good man and targeting some skills deficits that he has noticed in the athletes he works with. Finally, we discuss how helping men helps the entire community and some resources for those interested in the intersection between masculinities and athletics. 

First Week.Based on a post by FinalStand, in 13 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. I started out the next morning admiring the boarding on the window to the Principal's second story office. The ground and bushes beneath it were pretty trampled up too. That was a good way to start the day. In homeroom, I was talking to Kaelyne again when Princess Brandy announced her entrance and her 'power' over me.‘Hey Vlad,' she greeted me with sugary sweetness. She was working out ways to get me for the whole 'dog not kissing her mouth' thing.‘Hey Skank,' I grinned at her. Her face froze. Taliyah pulled up short.‘What did you say?' Brandy hissed.‘Skank. Are you hard of hearing?' I mused.‘I'm Darius' girl, asshole. You had better accept that right now.'‘Girl? Sure. I imagine that Darius and seven other guys fucking you in all three holes until you are oozing sperm is your ideal dream date,' I chortled.Having the scope of her depravity openly discussed really pissed her off.‘You are jealous,' she sneered. There was a hint of desperation in her voice. I chuckled.‘That's clearly delusional thinking,' I laughed. ‘You look hot, just not enough for me to want to wash my dick in ten other guys' cum. You act like a skank so that is how I will address you, Skank.'She was infuriated. The start of homeroom ended the matter for the moment. The rest of the day was spent with a hundred slights and pin pricks. Darius' crowd would get in jabs from behind as we walked the halls, or projectiles tossed at us during class. We were fine with that. There was no fighting back. The 'niggers' didn't get it.We were scoping out the faces of our enemies and finding blind spots in the school's security camera system. The truth about what happened to the Principal had also gotten out. Mom had already informed us of the series of events, including the spy camera video she took of the entire proceedings.She'd kept up the 'dunce housewife' act even after he whipped out his cock and forced her to suck it, because he was a 'big Black stud', his words recorded for posterity. Finally, he put his hand down her blouse to give her bountiful bosom a good squeeze while shoving his cock past her loudly protesting lips. That was all the excuse Mom needed. She portrayed the frantic housewife really well. We, her family, knew better.She was hamming it up to allay any criminal charges. His pleas for mercy were ignored. It was hard to make out what he was saying after she bashed out half his teeth with his 'African-American Educator of the Year' award. She'd ruptured his scrotum, stabbed his exposed cock repeatedly with a letter opener and cracked half a dozen vertebrae and a dozen ribs.We were pretty sure she'd broken his arms in multiple places, ground up both his hands and shattered his left wrist. She snapped his right leg in two, all the while screaming 'Don't touch me! Don't touch me!' Her last bit of sadism was to toss him out his second story window. The first try, he bounced back, but we were pretty sure he had a concussion.The second try cracked the safety glass. The third time was the charm and down that rapist rat-bastard fell into a modest sized holly bush (ouch!). Mom completed the act by pretending to sob as she crawled into a corner of the office while she dialed 9-1-1. As she gleefully went over the play-by-play for us once home, we knew she was cool about the entire incident, even the groping and forced blowjob.It was Davis County jurisdiction so they were in charge of the investigation. That didn't stop Kingston from sticking their noses in. The Mayor was all about the Principal being a pillar of the community, a Black leader and a church-going man. Then the School's video evidence came out. The Principle had been so full of himself and his immunity, he recorded his attempted violation of my Mom.Did the Negro community accept the obvious? No. This was a racist White lady, from a racist family, framing a good Black man though how she accomplished that was unclear to most of us and undefined by the Black leadership. They claimed that the Principal had yet to give his side of the story. That would take a while. The man had lost most of his teeth and had his jaw wired shut.Both eardrums were ruptured and he could barely see out of his right eye. His left was swollen shut. His nose was pancaked. There was even a rumor that his penis was so badly mauled they had to cut most of it off (which turned out to be true). Big Bob, some deputies (all White) and some Highway Patrol (both colors) raided the Principal's house and found a stockpile of tapes and DVDs depicting previous sexual encounters at school going back almost two decades.Apparently that was nothing more than extra proof of the hateful, bigoted White man framing a decent, hard-working Black man. That any group could be so blinded by their own bigotry that they would embrace such a blatant fiction was appalling to me. At school, the Blacks were indignant and the Whites kept a low profile, as if they'd done something wrong.The one grey cloud in this monsoon of misery was basketball tryouts were on Thursday after school. We picked up consent forms from a furious coach that slathered on the kind of negativity we had come to expect from him and his sick breed. White boys can't jump. White boys can't dunk. White boys can score inside the 'paint'; yep. No racism there (insert maniacal laughter).The Assistant Athletic Director coached the basketball team. He was a short, thin, hyperactive White man and, as we were to learn, a race-hater. He hated White people, or at least White athlete wannabes. More on him later. There were two key developments on my front. First, Alexander informed us he had a side project he couldn't talk about yet.The second thing was that Darius demanded, by way of Brandy, that I took Brandy to an 'after victory' celebration out by the lake Friday night. From 9 p.m. to whenever, I was to sit back and let Brandy be used like a drunk runaway at an outlaw biker rally. Personally, I didn't see how that could be an enjoyable sexual experience.Brandy believed this made her Darius' lady. She certainly embraced the bukkake, sperm baths eagerly. I still chose to ridicule her constantly because I could tell she was having trouble rationalizing her sexual treatment with any style of romance, or affection. She hadn't been honest with me so I was now tormenting her and using her shame to stab at Darius.We could see it in his eyes whenever we mocked his crowd. Darius was plotting out his revenge. His problem was we didn't care what he called us, we didn't care about the teachers he turned against us and we had no spies in our camp, or friends to turn against us. We accepted our social life, for the time being, would be limited to our home.Mom hinted she had a 'plan' in the offing and proved the internet had rendered local belligerence impudent. All our supplies came by parcel delivery from out of town. We wired up a new home security system, engaging a Little Rock private security service instead of putting any faith in the local, Black-run firm. We signed a waiver for the self-install.There were times when we could totally believe that Mom and Uncle Theo were twins. Technically, as the twin born last, Mom was the youngest of the five children. For unspoken reasons, Theo ended up at a military academy for delinquents at fifteen. She only publically saw him three times since then. Once when she broke into his school (and got caught), at his academy graduation and lastly when he finished basic training for the Army.Yet they remained close in ways only multiple birth kids could understand despite the time and distance. It also meant Mom came equipped with (cough) healthy doses of paranoia and vindictiveness. Mom reminded us our battle wasn't limited to the school. We were fighting a secularist religion with a fanatic core.Had Black Americans been fucked over by White America? Yep. That didn't end 150 years ago either. There was Jim Crow legislation after Reconstruction as well as uninvestigated rapes, beatings, whippings, lynching and even being burned alive. All horrors visited on the Black Race by the White Man.Yet it was White men who passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Yes they did, but getting Black people to accept that there were White people who stood with them as equals was impossible. Since 1965, had there been Black councilmen/women, mayors, state legislators, governors, Congressmen/women, Supreme Court Justices and, dare we say, a president?Why yes. Where there Blacks in every aspect of professional life? Damn right there were. Where there Black millionaires? Thousands of them, and even an African-American self-made Billionaire. So exactly what were White Americans supposed to feel guilty about? Crap our parents and grandparents did? Great-grandparents?When was the cut-off date for being held accountable for actions you had no part in? There were poor Black people. There were poor White people and poor Latinos for that matter. As far as my Mom was concerned, racism was racism and it had no exceptions for color, creed, and orientation coming, or going.She'd given the Blacks of Kingston their chance to make things right, to end the cycle of hate. They had declined to rein in their own, so she felt no obligation for her, or her sons, to give obedience to their injustice.There was a pile of evidence that the Principal had done wrong, still Kingston treated him like a hero and martyr. Fuck that noise. Mom didn't want to start some wacked-out guerilla war. She only wanted to punish those responsible for this fucked up situation. Target #1, Darius and by default, Darius' family. That, in turn, was Darius' biggest problem.He didn't realize he was hunting people more than capable of hunting the hunters. We knew he and his supporters were coming for our family, they had tons of advantages and little fear of the four of us (we wouldn't involve Dad since he was in law enforcement and a straight arrow). We weren't aiming for a body count. Our goal was humiliation and breaking their wills to resist.With that accomplished, we could install some truly impartial justice and social order. My family was aided in this quest by the clarity of our enemy's weaknesses. They were proud of their Big Black Cocks and their lack of restraint in using them on whomever they pleased. Basing their Black masculinity on a single bit of mythology rendered them painfully vulnerable to us.They hadn't chosen to base their dominion on anything but their cock and balls. Solidarity, economic output and healthy competitiveness had been tossed aside. The Black community in Kingston accepted Black male predation as the natural course of things. It was revenge for the White Master/Black Slave Girl depredations that happened during Slavery. Did they humble White men by fucking their moms, sisters, wives and daughters? Yeah.That disregard for social bonds and femininity meant Black women were under the same dominion, though they lied to themselves about it and the Black men comforted them in that lie. Black Mammas let their boys run around like dogs then were aghast when their husbands did the same thing. Big Black Cocks were eroding the basis for trust in this town.If BBC wanted a woman, he stuck the cock in and that woman became his cock-slave. Had the woman started out resisting? That didn't matter because now they needed that cock to get her through the week. That was the score. The truth Mom laid out was confirmed by a week of school. How were we going to defeat the BBC menace?Mom just smiled and said she had a 'Secret Weapon' to go along with her battle plan. We took that assurance into Thursday's basketball team tryouts. We rocked. We had the talent and the skills. That didn't matter to the Assistant Coach. He had six Black players returning from last year's team.There was one White guy whose Mom was throwing gobs of new equipment the team's way, so he was on board. That left five spots to fill the twelve man roster. Up against us was one ambitious White junior, seven Black juniors and one Black female senior. Apparently she'd been denied a spot on last year's team based on gender alone and was still pissed about it.The Ass Coach immediately set his sights on five of the Black juniors that fit the profile, Black top (that's outdoor courts that used asphalt) experience, tall, lanky and a willingness to dunk on a moment's notice. Our scrimmages were stupid and biased. The Black players could elbow, trip and punch us without repercussions. Mikhail almost got booted for threatening to toss the next blatant fouler into the bleachers.We caught a break when Ass Coach got called away with a phone call which he couldn't understand because his 'chosen ones' wouldn't shut up and even attempt to be quietly considerate. I had an idea to create our own scrimmage team, but I had a problem. The two Black guys and one White guy not getting on the team sucked. I needed two of the other Black players.I chose an alliance. I went to the angry, dispirited female player and made my offer. We would challenge the current team and, if we beat them, we made a pact that all of us made the team, or none of us did. I could see her weighing screwing me over. The whole school knew Darius was gunning for me and my brothers. She shook my hand. We needed a fifth.The girl, Kaja Woodrow, went over to her cousin, one of the players from last year's team. He didn't want to join us. He had a guaranteed spot and he could blow it by joining his crazy female cousin and the three most hated White boys in school. Kaja threatened to bring their grandmother into this mess. I think that threat plus a strong sense of fair play changed his mind.We were good. Shaquille, Kaja's cousin, knew it. Everyone knew it. He was shorter than us, around 5' 10'. His ball-handling skills were phenomenal, he was a fairly accurate shooter and would happily pass the ball if someone was in a better court possession instead of taking a risky shot.Passing the ball was key and not an art form shared by the rest of his current teammates. With Shaquille on our side, we put our proposal before the Ass Coach. He denied us, but we were ready for that. Our team took to physically and verbally mocking and denigrating the manhood of the current roster. They took our bait.After a quick warm-up, we made our move. Everything worked in our favor. High School courts aren't black top. The courts are wider and there is no turning around at mid-court. You added to that our opponents were ball-hogs and suffered from terminal 'dunk-itis'. Mikhail made the 'paint' his bailiwick (bally-wick?).Dunk attempt after dunk attempt were brutally rejected by him. By their logic, my brothers and I would also keep the ball for ourselves. We passed like crazy. This was doubly painful for them because the White boys and Kaja could nail a jump shot from maybe 18 to 20 feet out, no problem. Shaquille would race behind their screen, catch a pass on the leap and dunk unopposed.Our squad was making their squad and the Ass Coach look like idiots. The All-Black squad didn't regroup and create a new plan. No. We were belittling them. First came the fouls. When that wasn't enough to stop us from outscoring them, they brought out on the egregious fouls and still the Ass Coach did nothing.Finally, after the fifteenth time Kaja humiliated the player supposed to be guarding her with a quick feint-step and a basket, he ran her over. He didn't shove her. He threw a powerful shoulder into her chest and followed up by stepping on her stomach. He smiled. His buddies laughed. Mikhail walked over and broke his jaw.Remember, Mikhail was a big, strong, skilled fighter and had a temper. That message hadn't filtered through the mind of the All-Black squad. They rushed him. Their center took a piston kick to the gut (he had pathetic reflexes) and his closest buddy succumbed to a leg sweep. The Ass Coach went apoplectic. Shaquille rallied to Mikhail and Kaja while we went to our gym bags.Out came the two recording devices (it is the freaking Information Age, you morons). Thanks to the internet, we uploaded the files and then we took the damning evidence to Ass Coach. He and most of his team were in deep shit. Their blatant fouls counted as assault in the real world. Mikhail wasn't in trouble. The dumbass who attacked Kaja was standing over the woman he assaulted when my brother intervened.We also promised to show this video to every school on our schedule for the year as well as any and every athletic authority we could think of. Grudgingly he offered we three Samsonovs a place on the roster. We insisted on all five of our squad. He insisted he would never put a girl on the team.I put my arm around his scrawny shoulders and forcefully walked him away for a private chat. I reminded him keeping Kaja off the team solely because she was female was discrimination. My brothers didn't like discrimination. My Mom really didn't like discrimination.Did he want my Mom to come to school and explain to him how much she disliked it? Kaja was on the team. Ass Coach announced the new roster and promptly uplifted our spirits by declaring this season would be a disaster because we had a girl and four White guys on the team. The next day, she and Shaquille received ten kinds of trouble from their racial compatriots.Mikhail gave Kaja a 'First Alert' bracelet and cautioned her to wear it at all times. It was a testimonial to how screwed up this environment was she put it on without question. Shaquille ended up eating lunch with us as well. The razzing was bad enough. The cracks his former friends were making about Kaja made him want to commit violence on their persons.Shaquille found out what comradery was all about as classes let out that first Friday afternoon. Eight big bucks ambushed him as he prepared to walk home, he lived about a mile way. Recall what I said about identifying our tormentors? We figured out who the 'shot-callers' were so when they started texting their plan around, the Samsonovs began taking counter-measures.Darius was the Capo. Since we had a 'home' game tonight, he couldn't attend to this errand personally, nor could his football-playing associates. He had plenty of non-jock lieutenants to command. In turn, those bozos had the rank and file big and average-sized thugs to follow his orders. This wasn't an army. It was a loose vigilante herd.They also were kind enough to joke about their target when they thought we weren't around. We had to keep out of sight until the eight made a move on Shaquille. We hadn't warned our 'buddy' out of concern he might not want to keep his role as bait. We waited for the shoving to end and the desperate grappling to begin before intervening.We had to film them committing their crime to make our crime non-criminal, if you can understand that reasoning. We should have thanked Darius for giving us his eight best 'B-grade' boys to annihilate. Seven of them went down super-quick. The eighth bolted. We couldn't maintain our legal smoke screen if we ran him down.Instead, we settled for stomping the fuck out of the seven we had. Keeping them on their feet was the key. Kicking a man when he's down looks suspect. Shaquille joined in the 'fun'. Our victims pleaded, cursed, threatened and cried like little babies yet we still beat them raw and bloody.Their superior numbers and initiating the conflict pretty much allowed us to do anything we wanted to them, short of murder. Was this a White racist beat-down? You could look at it that way except for the first minute of the video showed eight Black kids surrounding and shoving around another Black kid.Once we vacated the trashing, I leveled with Shaquille about our actions, we had known what was coming his way, used him to give us an excuse to kick ass; and he was pissed with us. After a few minutes, he shook his head, snorted and agreed while we were total bastards, there had been no other way for that encounter to play out that left the four of us in a better position.Those seven guys would be in no shape to bother him or Kaja for a week, or two, and the message of the pummeling those seven went through would reverberate throughout the school.I touched base with Big Bob, who was attending the game, so that Darius and Brandy could see me being a 'good boy' thus foolishly playing my part in their deceptive scheme. That was living proof the worst deceptions was self-deceptions. Come on now, my brothers and I had beat up seven of Darius' flunkies and now they thought I was cowed enough to be led like a calf to the slaughter?(Football Follies)There was only one unexpected event on that nightmare first date. The score of 42-3 made sense. Darius was an epic running-back with all the natural talent and ambition to make the NFL. The rest of the team was pretty good as well and more than enough to manhandle the mixed race team opposing them.The coach running up the score was par for the course as far as unsportsmanlike conduct went. By now, nil human compassion was what we expected from that crowd. They behaved like brutal thugs. The other team was suitably battered, broken and sullen. Every underhanded blow, discourtesy and disrespect our team exhibited reinforced my sense of my brothers' righteousness.A tractor-trailer sized 'Humble Pie' was coming down the pipeline for those assholes and it was so well deserved. 'Our' team even had the gall to molest the other team's cheerleaders before they could exit the arena. A few dust-ups occurred when fathers and boyfriends of the attacked ladies tried to save their womenfolk. Their coach appealed to our coach.Coach's look said it all; 'to the victors go the spoils'. Big Bob's deputies moved in. It took all of five seconds to see whose side the Black deputies were on. They gleefully aided the monsters struggling with the White men whose sole crime was wanting to get their women out with their virtues intact. All of these shenanigans were anticipated by Mom and us.Three members of the defense managed to steal one terrified White cheerleader away from her side of the field. The boyfriend who tried to get to her was held back by a Black deputy. They would have been home-free except for one thing, my Dad's height and instincts. He spotted the trouble and headed those three off. First they blustered. Dad was unfazed.Next they decided two would block Dad while the third dragged the girl away. They didn't know Dad. The second they put hands on him, out came his collapsible baton. He swung it up and into one antagonists' elbow. Trust me, that hurts. Of greater importance, no one saw it coming. Dad got in a blow to the other guy before he knew why the first guy was cursing in pain.Then Dad fell on the third football player. My favorite lawman was finished talking. He shoved a thumb into the bastard's left eye, trust me; that hurts too. I can also assure you it is horribly distracting. Dad corralled the panicked girl and brought her back to her boyfriend, and the deputy who was arresting him. The White boy was freaking out and the Black officer was gloating.I had never been the recipient of what came next, but I'd heard Dad's family talk about it and witnessed it a few times from a distance, like tonight. Dad, as Senior Deputy, asked the 'plain' Deputy to release the boy. The Deputy said something disrespectful to Dad. My Father grabbed the man's right wrist faster than a rattlesnake. I could almost feel those wrist bones grinding painfully together.Dad, like all the men in our family, was big and bulky, not fat. We packed muscle mass upon muscle mass and I knew that Black man wasn't getting his wrist back until Dad decided to release him. Dad leaned in and whispered a few things to the Deputy. The Black man spat back then nearly crumpled over in pain as my Father ratcheted up the pressure, until the crying man acquiesced.The girl and her boyfriend beat their feet out of there. Dad escorted the rebellious Deputy to a quiet corner to have a chat. That shithead immediately went for the racist angle, White cop picking on rambunctious Black youths. Dad replied that if he ever saw anything like what he saw that night again, he wasn't going to report the deputy, he was going to arrest him on the spot for facilitating an attempted sexual assault.The Deputy made one more stab at the racist smear, proving he had never bother to get to know my Father. Dad's comeback was simple. If the deputy called him a racist one more time, he would bring the Black officer up on State and Federal Hate Crime statutes, creating a racial charged work environment.The Fed would be a 'swing and a miss'. It was the 'Blacks can't be racist' bullshit. The State of Arkansas on the other hand; Dad, Big Bob and the White Deputies would gladly grease the wheels of justice. Nik Samsonov had a flawless 23 year record in law enforcement. All of that was of no surprise.Dad had never come out and said there was a racial divide in the Sheriff's office, but it was clear to us that to a man, the Black Deputies kept the Black power structure in town abreast of all the goings on at the county law enforcement level. Until our arrival, the Black elite had their eyes set on litigating themselves into the office of Sheriff.A man of Dad's background and caliber sort of curtailed those hopes and dreams. This was another reason for them to support Darius and his efforts were to make Dad look bad and even shame him into leaving. Fat chance of that happening. No, none of that was surprising to me. What caught me somewhat off-guard was;‘Why do you hate me?' Brandy asked me out of the blue. We were driving to the lake party site when she finally opened up.‘You've never given me a reason to do anything but hate you,' I replied after some thought.‘That's not so,' she protested. My first thought was to laugh in her face.‘Did it ever occur to you I didn't want to be in a relationship with you either? Did it occur to you that you could have been honest about this and I would have understood? Did you consider my feelings at all before you fed me into Darius' world?' I proffered up my questions.‘You wanted to date me,' she rebutted. ‘I saw the way you looked at me on the deck last Sunday.'‘Nope,' I shook my head. ‘I thought you looked 'hot'. I never wanted to date you. Had my mind ever planned to wander that way, your attitude shut that down pretty quick.'Oh really?' she remained confident in her sex appeal. ‘If you behave tonight, I'll give you a blowjob when you drop me off at home. I'm really good.'‘No thanks,' I shrugged. ‘However Darius and his crowd rate your talent at fellatio is not something I consider reliable. If I want a blowjob, I'll get a pro whom I'm sure is disease-free.'‘You are being such a bastard,' she pouted angrily. I didn't care. ‘You are just jealous.'‘And you are little more than three nameless orifices in a gangbang,' I snorted. ‘If that's what floats your boat; good for you. I prefer to date a girl who doesn't need an orgy to feel erotic and desirable. My problem isn't with how you express your sexuality, Brandy.'‘You deceived me and you don't regret it in the slightest. That's my problem with you.'We rode for a while in silence. Brandy couldn't let the matter rest until I acknowledged she was right; and she was the foxy babe I could never have because my melanin levels weren't high enough.‘You wouldn't have understood Darius and me,' she spouted with certainty.‘Why?'‘What? Why what?' she asked.‘Why would you assume I wouldn't understand you wanting to date the star running back?' I explained.‘He's Black,' she stated.‘So? I don't care about Black and White. Hell, I have cousins who are Native Alaskans, that's Indians to you people,' I responded. ‘The few people of color I did know before coming here were my neighbors and nice people.'‘Liar,' she smirked. ‘White men always get upset when strong, Black men take their women.'‘You are not my woman, so there was never anything to take. Until you and Darius decided to fuck with me and my brothers, we didn't care,' I answered.‘We are not your limp-wristed rich boys, or your rednecks. You both exhibited a painful level of prejudice so here we are.'‘Well; you can watch the party but you can't come down,' she tried a different angle. ‘Darius may send you on a beer-run later.'‘That ain't going to happen,' I chortled.‘You had better do what he says,' she threatened. I gave another amused snort. I drove us to the bottom of the parking lot near the lakeshore. Brandy got out, tried to give me a salacious look. I yawned. There were two other pseudo-boyfriends on the scene and a passel of empty cars most likely belonging to the football crowd.I had taken into account that my family's resistance and Dad's actions had earned me some serious retribution in their minds. That was all part of our strategy. I cut off my headlights then backed my car toward the road. I waited for ten seconds then Alexander appeared at the passenger door of the Mustang.‘Hey Vlad,' he teased me. ‘How are things going on your 'date'?'‘As expected,' I chuckled. I put on the emergency brake and popped the trunk. Five minutes later, Alexander had taken Mom's car and split. I was in a dark maroon ski-mask, the same colored hoody and exercise pants (I already had on Black shoes and socks), night vision goggles and video camera with a really excellent audio system that would allow me to negate things like cricket noises.Dark red and maroon were better than black, or grey, in hiding at night. I was virtually invisible in the darkness. After checking the wireless hook-up, I found my pre-scouted spot to watch and record the festivities. Thirty-two Black football players, ten Black girls and seventeen White girls filled the stage.First came the drinking and pawing. Then came the rough-housing and the screams of the few White girls who were only now realizing they weren't on a 'date' in the classic sense. Then came the orgy. For the Black athletes who didn't bring dates, it didn't matter.Every White girl had three holes, take your pick. Beers, whisky, Red Bulls and Viagra where the diet of choice. The last pleas for mercy were smothered so that only the moaning, groaning and the slapping of hands on flesh and flesh on flesh remained.After an hour, two of the White chicks were fucked up emotionally and mentally. Their obvious distress didn't elicited concern from anyone else in that crowd. They had been turned into Big Black Cock-slaves. The football players gleefully took pictures of their victims and partners in various sex acts.Even for the girls who didn't want to participate, this was a license to shame. After the latest rounds of ejaculations, Darius gathered up some of his niggers and sent them to the parking lot; to find me already departed (my car not being there). The two other White boys hadn't a clue where I had gone.That was their misfortune. They were dragged back down to the lake for Darius to interrogate. Their so-called girlfriends taunted them and added to their degradation. Since BBC's are never homosexually-inclined; the team decided to ass-rape those two saps (yeah, right). Did I pity them?A little, but barring retardation, what did they expect the likely outcome of events to be? Now those two could bask in their home-erotic fantasies while convincing themselves they weren't really gay. Darius and crew didn't view White people as human beings, Whites were subhuman, so the Blacks could do anything to them because sub-humans didn't deserve respect, or have rights.I filmed it all and I wasn't alone in my voyeurism. Undoubtedly, this was blackmail for Darius to use in the future. He also decided to up his game in dealing with me. A Black Deputy Sheriff showed up and began calling my name and looking for me, shining his flashlight around.He was pretending to be helpful, encouraging me to come out, so he could take me home. For fifteen minutes I switched my attention between his futile and false efforts and the (non-)rapes going on at the lakeshore camping grounds.The Deputy eventually made his way down to Darius's area. The two chatted a bit, deciding I really had abandoned Brandy, then the cop partook in some of the party favors, ending his sexcapade with Brandy swallowing his load. He even declared it was partial vengeance against Big Bob (the niggahs laughed) and my Dad (since Brandy was theoretically my date).The festivities died down after the second run at an orgy yet Darius was unsatisfied. First came the throwing of all the ladies into the cool lake waters despite their pleading screams. Then they tossed the two devastated White boys in. After some splashing around and some serious begging and pleading through chattering teeth, they let them out of the water so they could dry off on whatever was handy.The wasted girlfriends of the two boys poured their false dates into their cars and drove away to the chorus of slights and general mockery. Darius had Brandy give me a call (actually Alexander) and requested I (he) come pick her up. I (he) said he would be there in forty-five (lie).Darius' trap was simple but effective. He and four of his linemen would be waiting in a sedan parked at the far, upper-hand corner of the parking lot out of sight. Brandy would wait down on one of the bench-tables in the camping ground for me to arrive. Whether I honked my horn, or got out for her, Darius's team planned to roll down on me, block my car and deliver some well-deserved and overly-delayed vengeance.Once again, Darius was behind in the game. We knew his resources and mindset, he believed he could get away with anything, he would always win and he could intimidate anyone he chose to. From my perspective, Alexander hadn't walked the nearly ten miles from school to get here. I secured my gear, put on my helmet, uncovered my motorcycle and rolled it quietly over to Brandy.‘Here,' I surprised her as I stepped out of the darkness to hand her a motorcycle helmet. ‘Put this on.'‘Vlad,' she squeaked. ‘I thought you had left me.' She was also fiddling with her phone.‘If you make that call, I'll leave you here,' I threatened.‘Leave me here and my Daddy will make you pay,' she countered.‘Brandy, try to think for once,' I taunted her. ‘If I didn't leave, what have I been doing all night?' I let that thought sit there, but she wasn't approaching understanding. ‘I filmed this entire party from start to finish. I'm not the one in serious trouble.'Her fingers hesitantly stopped playing with the phone. I pushed the helmet her way again. She set her phone aside to put it on, allowing me to snatch it up. She hadn't called Darius yet. I pocketed the device then cut it off once she could no longer see it.‘Hey, give me that back,' Brandy insisted.‘You didn't call Darius so I'm not going to toss it into the lake,' I informed her.‘I'll return it to you when I drop you off,' I added. That seemed to mollify her, that and the belief I'd be running into Darius soon. No such luck for her. Mom had spent some of her youth around this place and there were several hiking/biking tracks that also led out of the park the lake was situated in.I lied to Brandy, telling her I had to pick up one more thing. That allowed me to push my motorbike far enough away to put a copse of bushes between me and Darius.‘Get on,' I told her as I mounted and started the engine. She hesitated so I started rolling away. I let her jump on and off we went. Brandy held on tight.Some of her death grip was from the dangerous route I was taking to exit this place. I knew part of it was also the combination of fears that she'd disappointed Darius and I would tell, show, her dad what had happened tonight. I was counting on Option A. I wouldn't tell Big Bob the truth until it suited us Samsonovs. What Brandy suffered for her numerous lies wasn't my concern.‘Here we are,' I told her when I stopped in her driveway. She got off, clearly sore and worn out from her duties as a sperm trough. She gave me the helmet back then held out her hand.‘Oh yeah, phone,' I nodded. I hurled it across her yard. ‘You can find it in the morning. After all, I would hate to run across any of your friends on the way home.'‘Bastard,' she snarled. I could see the clever spark in her eyes. ‘I still owe you a blowjob. You held up your end of the bargain.' She would have succeeded in looking incredibly sexy except she'd already leaked fluids and semen from her over-used holes all over the back of my seat and I had the vivid memories of all the guys who had already made her swallow a gallon of cum.‘No thanks,' I shook my head. ‘One of us needs to keep their self-respect and it sure isn't going to be you. Night-night,' and off I went. My call woke up Big Bob. I let him know I'd dropped off his daughter on his doorstep. I didn't want her to find her phone quite yet. 'Us' triplets had already scouted out an overgrown old timber trail I could use to skirt the Sheriff's speed trap and the blind turn in the road the Kingston cops always used.By my estimation, as I walked up my back steps, Darius was just figuring out I'd missed my forty-five minute arrival time and had called Brandy; and received no response because her phone was turned off in a darkened yard. He'd go looking around the camp site on the off chance her phone battery had run out of juice. No Brandy. As planned, I called Mom telling her I was home safe and Darius was probably hideously pissed at the moment.She told me she'd be home in a few minutes. She had a few things she needed to clean up first. It wasn't until later Mom clued us into her part of the plan. Darius' older brother had been a drug conduit in the county and Brandy's dad put him away for seven years. That was why Darius was going after Brandy in such a bad way.Worse for Big Bob, his wife (a taller, more lush, mature model of Brandy) ran off with a Black Senior Sheriff's Deputy, the man Dad replaced. Apparently he'd been porking the old lady behind Bob's back then been caught joking about it. Brandy had been dating Darius and Big Bob had her break it off, so they were sneaking around behind his back as well.If underhanded was how Darius wanted to play it, so be it. The damage had already been dealt by his older brother. Mom got in touch with Uncle Theo. Uncle Theo knew all kinds of disreputable people and not just drug cartel members, mercenaries, arms dealers and other assorted killers. He also knew information brokers.It didn't take too much money, or effort, on Theo's part, to let the DEA know that Darius' Mom was involved in her elder son's illegal enterprise. First, she went through Darius' parent's trash finding containers that could be used to house cocaine that had his mom and dad's fingerprints all over them.Theo would send her some 'contraband' for Mom to place in those containers. Then she'd sneak into the family home and plant/hide the evidence. Then Theo would have some fool in Mexico send her some trinkets, three or four deliveries would do.Then he'd send a few kilos of cocaine that Theo would ‘acquire' and let the DEA swarm in. Mom would also plant evidence to implicate two of Kingston's police officers; to tarnish the whole department in the DEA's eyes. That would lead to a Federal investigation because everyone knew the Black community lied to protect their own.They would be claiming the Black Man couldn't find justice in the White Man's court system. They would blame the 'White Man' and this time they'd be right; and not even know they were right. They always blamed their problems on the White Man. They did lie and discriminate against White people so often that their knee-jerk reaction would ring hollow to anyone who truly mattered.Furthermore, this wasn't the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department who was bending over backwards to undo centuries of judicial failures were Blacks were concerned. It was the DEA and they were a bit more color-blind concerning matters of illegal drugs.They had the pipeline, previous deliveries, drugs arriving in the mail and drugs stashed in their house. Darius' family had a history of doing this very thing. The DEA wasn't go

Send us a textDiscover the hidden intricacies of running a successful collegiate athletic program as we sit down with Kevin Loney, Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Events Management at Bowdoin College. From his remarkable shift from coaching football to orchestrating events for 31 sports teams, Kevin unveils the meticulous planning and teamwork required to ensure flawless sporting events. Ever wonder what it takes to keep things flowing smoothly behind the scenes, even when faced with unexpected hurdles like malfunctioning scoreboards? Kevin's insights reveal the dedication and adaptability that make these events possible. Plus, I share my own tales from the world of sports broadcasting, shedding light on the unseen efforts that ensure spectators and participants alike have unforgettable experiences.Step into the transformative world of coaching with reflections on a journey through football and the profound impact of mentorship at Bethany College. We delve into the personal growth stories of a coach shaped by the innovative strategies of Tim Weaver and the camaraderie within the coaching community. Amusing anecdotes peppered throughout highlight the unique connections made on and off the field. Additionally, the episode takes an unexpected turn into swimming techniques, where a simple adjustment dramatically improved race performance, underscoring the powerful impact of minor changes. Whether you're interested in the management prowess behind athletic events or the finer points of sports performance, this episode offers wisdom and stories that inspire passion and perseverance.• Kevin discusses his transition from coaching to athletic management  • Behind-the-scenes roles in ensuring game day success  • Anecdotes from his time coaching and theSubscribe for exclusive content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1530455/support Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!Start for FREEReaper Apparel Reaper Apparel Co was built for those who refuse to die slowly! Reaper isn't just clothing! Tactical BrotherhoodThe Tactical Brotherhood is a movement to support America.Dubby EnergyFROM GAMERS TO GYM JUNKIES TO ENTREPRENEURS, OUR PRODUCT IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE BETTER.ShankitgolfOur goal here at Shankitgolf is for everyone to have a great time on and off the golf courseSweet Hands SportsElevate your game with Sweet Hands Sports! Our sports gloves are designed for champions,Buddy's Beard CareBuddy's Beard Care provides premium men's grooming products at an affordable price.Deemed FitBe a part of our movement to instill confidence motivation and a willingness to keep pushing forwardDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showFollow us on all social mediaX: @mikebonocomedyInstagram: @mikebonocomedy@tiktok: @mikebono_comedianFacebook: @mikebonocomedy

Voice of the Cardinals Mick Tidrow chats with Assistant Athletic Director for Championship Experiences and Brand Elevation Kevin Mullaney & Football Radio Analyst Chris Radican. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast, Dan is joined by Mark Jamison to discuss the Oro Muscles device and clinical applications in performance and rehab settings. Mark Jamison joined the SIUE staff as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach in June 2016. He was elevated to Assistant Athletic Director for High Performance in August 2019. Jamison came to SIUE after spending the three years as the Assistant Director of Sport Performance at Bradley. He also has experience at two other NCAA Division I institutions – Eastern Washington and Iowa. At Bradley, Jamison designed and implemented all phases of strength and conditioning for several sports. That included working collaboratively with Sports Medicine, Athletic Training and Physical Therapy to provide a holistic approach to student-athlete health and wellness. Prior to joining Bradley, Jamison was a strength and conditioning specialist from 2010 to 2013 at Performance Sport and Speed in Coralville, Iowa, where he designed and implemented strength and speed programs for more than 100 athletes. He implemented functional movement screening and designed corrective interventions.He spent nearly one year in the strength and conditioning department at the University of Iowa where he designed and implemented all phases of strength and conditioning for Iowa women's and men's cross country. He also worked with Iowa's track and field, softball, baseball, soccer and basketball teams. In 2013, he joined Eastern Washington as a graduate assistant. He oversaw and assisted in the strength and conditioning programs for basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis and track and field. Jamison is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as well as a certified Corrective Exercise Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. He earned a bachelor of arts in health and sport studies at Iowa (2010). He did a graduate assistantship at Eastern Washington and obtained his master's in rehabilitation sciences from California University of Pennsylvania (2015). Mark and his wife, Meghan, have two children, Beau and Chase For more on Mark & Oro, be sure to check out @coachjamisonhpc & @oro.muscles *SEASON 5 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is brought to you by Isophit. For more on Isophit, please check out isophit.com and @isophit -BE SURE to use coupon code BraunPR25% to save 25% on your Isophit order! **Season 5 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is also brought to you by Oro Muscles. For more on Oro, please check out www.oromuscles.com Episode Affiliates: MoboBoard: BRAWNBODY10 saves 10% at checkout!AliRx: DBraunRx = 20% off at checkout! https://alirx.health/MedBridge: https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/brawn-body-training or Coupon Code "BRAWN" for 40% off your annual subscription! CTM Band: https://ctm.band/collections/ctm-band coupon code "BRAWN10" = 10% off! Ice shaker affiliate link: https://www.iceshaker.com?sca_ref=1520881.zOJLysQzKeMake sure you SHARE this episode with a friend who could benefit from the information we shared! Check out everything Dan is up to by clicking here: https://linktr.ee/braun_prLiked this episode? Leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/daniel-braun/support

This week we have Kerry Thompson on the CMW. Currently he is the Assistant Athletic Director of Performance Enhancement at Alabama State University. Kerry and I got connected through Coach Dillman and it was a BLAST getting to talk to Kerry. You will love this episode.___FREE EMAIL COURSEAspiring https://strengthcoachnetwork.com/aspiring-leadAssistant https://strengthcoachnetwork.com/assistant-leadDirector https://strengthcoachnetwork.com/director-lead___Strength Coaches CEUs

Basketball Nutrition!  Alyson Onyon joined the Syracuse University Athletics Department as the Director of Performance Nutrition in July 2023. Onyon, spent the previous seven years at Virginia Tech where she began as an assistant director of sports nutrition in 2016 and left the Hokies as the Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Nutrition where she oversaw nutrition services for all 22 sports teams. While at VT, Onyon managed the Student Athlete Performance Center (SAPC), an athlete-only dining facility on campus. She helped design and plan the facility as well as a new men's basketball fueling station. She worked primarily with the Hokies men's basketball and baseball programs and assisted with football nutrition operations. During her time in Blacksburg, Onyon also spent time working primarily with women's basketball, softball, wrestling and golf. She provided and promoted nutrition education through individual counseling sessions, team talks, cooking classes and grocery tours with Hokie student-athletes. Onyon was a member of the ACC Healthcare Administration and Mental Health Task Force. Prior to Virginia Tech, Onyon was a registered dietitian and performance nutrition intern at Texas A&M University in 2016 where she oversaw soccer, softball and men's and women's swimming & diving sports nutrition services while assisting with football, men's basketball, and baseball. Onyon spent six months as a graduate student sports nutrition intern at the University at Buffalo where she counseled UB student-athletes, held drop-in office hours and developed nutrition education materials. Prior to her time in athletics at UB, she did a dietetic internship with a nutrition advanced certificate at Buffalo where she completed 1,200 hours of supervised practice within community wellness, food service and clinical nutrition realms to become a Registered Dietitian. Her first internship was during her undergraduate time at Cornell, where she provided nutrition education for Cornell student-athletes through seminar presentations, posters, and diet assessment. Onyon was a standout softball player at Cornell in nearby Ithaca, N.Y., where she was twice named to the All-Ivy League Softball Team, as a second team honoree in 2012 and honorable mention in 2014. She was named a NFCA Division I All-America Scholar Athlete as a senior in 2014. A 2014 graduate of Cornell, Onyon earned her bachelor's degree in nutritional sciences with a concentration in dietetics and completed a master's degree in nutrition from Buffalo in 2015 where she also completed her dietetic internship. Onyon is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. This episode is sponsored by 2before Performance Nutrition and Cheribundi  ✅ Check out the website www.sportsrdsnippets.com to learn more on how I can help you!  This podcast is sponsored by 2Before Performance Nutrition! Use code SportsRDSnippets30 at checkout for 30% off product online at www.2before.com  Use code RDSNIPPETS20 for 20% off all orders at cheribundi.com.  Sports dietitians and their teams can order at additional reduced team pricing and free shipping online at proshop.cheribundi.com or by contacting Dan Sagers at dan.sagers@nextfoods.net

Part 2 with Nick DiMarco. Nick is the Assistant Athletic Director in Sports Performance at Elon University. In this role he leads S&C staff for all 16 sports teams. Prior to his time at Elon Nick worked as Assistant S&C at Iowa Hawkeyes after playing for the team as an outside linebacker. He also played at the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens. DiMarco has every certification you could want in this field, earned his Masters degree and is about to complete his PhD in Health & Human Performance. A great episode with a great dude! We hope you enjoy! 00:00 Best Timing Gates for Sprinting 04:00 Short to Long protocol 08:30 Low day work/rest ratios 10:40 Protocols specific to Football vs pure speed development 18:45 Coaching team at Elon Football 20:00 Ground contact time 29:20 Making the biggest impact rather than getting lost in the weeds 35:20 Why unilateral? 38:20 Evaluating hamstring risk profiles

Brian Campbell, Assistant Vice President for Athletics Development at the University of Miami, shares his journey from growing up in Columbus, Ohio, to becoming a leader in athletics fundraising, his experiences as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, the challenges he faced, and the resilience he developed.  SUMMARY In this conversation, Brian Campbell, Assistant Vice President for Athletics Development at the University of Miami, shares his journey from growing up in Columbus, Ohio, to becoming a leader in athletics fundraising. He discusses his experiences as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, the challenges he faced, and the resilience he developed. Brian emphasizes the importance of leadership, surrounding oneself with great people, and the impact of private investment in athletics. He also reflects on his transition from military to civilian life and his current role in shaping the future of athletics at UM.   OUR TOP 5 FAVORITE QUOTES   "I think it's important to be really authentic with people, and that has worked. It's worked well for me, especially when those decisions are consistent with being authentic to what we're trying to accomplish."   "I think a lot about the elements that we put into it, because it's hard on a daily basis to know if you're doing a good job being a leader, but if you take those pieces of the fabric that we learned at the Academy, and you keep doing it the right way and thinking about these things and surrounding yourself by people with with surrounding yourself with people of those kinds of values, and people that you can take little pieces of what they do and try to try to bring them with You. I think it's the right road."   "I don't think I've arrived as a leader and I but I started to think that I probably that I would be willing to bet that General Clark might say the same thing, and Coach Calhoun might say the same thing. So I think it's always a work in process."   "If you take those pieces of the fabric that we learned at the Academy, and you keep doing it the right way and thinking about these things and surrounding yourself by people with with surrounding yourself with people of those kinds of values, and people that you can take little pieces of what they do and try to try to bring them with You. I think it's the right road."   "I think it's always a work in process, but I think it's important to be really authentic with people, and that has worked. It's worked well for me, especially when those decisions are consistent with being authentic to what we're trying to accomplish."  - Brian Campbell '08, the Long Blue Leadership Podcast   SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK  |  LINKEDIN   CHAPTERS 00:00: Introduction to Brian Campbell 02:52: Growing Up in Columbus and Early Athletic Influences 06:14: The Journey to the Air Force Academy 08:59: Life as a Cadet: Challenges and Resilience 11:53: Leadership Lessons from the Academy 15:10: Transitioning from Military to Civilian Life 18:06: Fundraising and Philanthropy in Athletics 21:00: The Kutra Legacy Center: A Personal Connection 23:53: Current Role at the University of Miami 27:06: Leadership Philosophy and Key Takeaways   TAKEAWAYS Brian's journey highlights the importance of resilience in overcoming challenges. Authenticity in leadership fosters trust and connection with others. Surrounding yourself with talented individuals can enhance personal growth. Private investment plays a crucial role in the success of athletic programs. Experiences at the Air Force Academy shape leadership philosophies. Fundraising in athletics is about building relationships and trust. Transitioning from military to civilian life requires adaptability and networking. The Kutra Legacy Center represents a significant investment in future cadets. Leadership is a continuous journey of learning and growth. Engaging with alumni can create impactful opportunities for current students.   ABOUT BRIAN CAMPBELL '08BIO Brian Campbell '08 joined the University of Miami in May of 2023 as Assistant Vice President for Athletics Development. In this role, Brian has oversight of fundraising operations, programs, and the development team for Miami Athletics. Brian came to UM from his alma mater, the United States Air Force Academy, where he had spent the previous five years, beginning in 2018 as the Assistant Athletic Director for Development and finishing as the Executive Director of Development for Strategic Programs and Athletic Giving. At Air Force, Brian was responsible for the fundraising strategy and execution for athletic capital projects, endowments, and major giving, in addition to other revenue generating initiatives.  He also served as the liaison to the Air Force Academy Foundation Board of Director's Athletic Committee.  The academy experienced unprecedented fundraising success during Brian's time at USAFA – most notably completing a $270 million campaign nearly 18-months ahead of schedule, headlined by multiple record-breaking years of fundraising. As part of the campaign, Brian led a $37.5 million fundraising effort to support the $90+ million modernization of the east side of Falcon Stadium.  Additionally, he managed the philanthropic component of a $500 million public-private partnership to develop a new hotel and visitors center outside USAFA's north gate.  Other accomplishments during this stretch included a lead gift to launch the renovation of Air Force's baseball venue, Falcon Field, and building the Wayne Baughman Wrestling Endowment, which seeks to provide operational funding for Air Force Wrestling in perpetuity. Brian brings 15 years of organizational leadership experience to UM from multiple sectors.  He rose to the rank of captain in the US Air Force, then climbed to the partner level at Anheuser-Busch InBev   where he led the sales and marketing efforts for the Northwest region, including several of the largest sports and entertainment partnerships in the portfolio. In each of the communities he's lived in, Brian has supported local initiatives – serving on the boards of the National Football Foundation of Colorado, the Missouri Veterans Initiative, and the Boys and Girls Club of Alton, Illinois.  He was a football student-athlete at the Air Force Academy and earned his MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. - Copy Credit:  University of Miami   CONNECT WITH BRIAN LINKEDIN     ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates!          FULL TRANSCRIPT SPEAKERS Guest, Brian Campbell '08  |  Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99   Naviere Walkewicz  00:00 My guest today is the Assistant Vice President for Athletics Development, Brian Campbell, USAFA, class of 2008. Brian joined the University of Miami in 2023 as Assistant Vice President for Athletics Development, where he oversees all fundraising for UM Athletics. In 2018 he served as Assistant Athletic Director for Development for Air Force Athletics, ultimately becoming Executive Director of Development for Strategic Programs and Athletic Giving. Brian led several highly successful, multi-million dollar fundraising campaigns, including playing a significant role in securing funding for the Falcon Stadium's newly open Kucera Legacy Center. While at the Academy, Brian was a football cadet-athlete and later earned his MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He also spent five years in sports marketing with Anheuser Busch. We'll talk with Brian about his life as a young athlete, path to the Air Force Academy, his days as a cadet, leadership opportunities, and how he now uses what he learned to lead and positively impact others. Finally, we'll ask Brian to share advice for developing leaders and those in leadership aspiring to reach similar heights in their careers. Brian, welcome to long blue leadership, and thank you for joining us today.   Brian Campbell  01:18 Thanks, Naviere. I am honored to be on the podcast, and I'm really happy to be back in Doolittle Hall, albeit remotely, and I want to welcome you to the “U.”   Naviere Walkewicz  01:29 Thank you so much. I will take that warm weather. Yeah, well, we're really excited for this. Brian, I think a lot of our listeners love to hear the different paths that our leaders take from getting to the Academy in life after but we like to start by rewinding the clock a little bit. And we'd like to get to know you, Brian, as a young boy. Tell us about what life was like growing up, where you grew up, etc.   Brian Campbell  01:51 Yeah. I mean, I was, I grew up mostly in Columbus, Ohio. My family was from California, but my dad's job took us to Columbus when I was young. And you know, as I've reflected back on some of my career and the things that have led me to different spots, I think being a kid from Columbus, and regardless of people's feelings about Ohio State, which tend to be fairly negative here at the my current institution, the lens at which I grew up in was through a place with a massive presence of college athletics, you know, everything, everything in that community, with the fabric was Ohio State. I played every sport growing up. I'm very grateful to have grown up at a time where, you know, we went out in the yard, in the neighborhood, and did everything all day. We figured out our differences in the backyard. There are a couple other guys in the neighborhood who went on to very successful athletic endeavors as well. So, you know, athletics were very important all throughout and then as we got more serious and into competitive things later on, they become, you know, more and more formal. But you know, sports and the community were tied together, and they very much provided the context at which my career followed.   Naviere Walkewicz  03:14 That's awesome. So, you're really into sports. Did you have siblings as well? Or where was your neighborhood? Kind of the sibling playground for you.   Brian Campbell  03:22 I have two sisters both swam in college, although if one of them listens to this, I think she had like a cup of coffee on the swim team and realized that the rest of the extracurricular activities were a little bit more appealing. But my little sister swam all the way through in a very competitive college program. But there were but outside, in the streets and in the yard were where we spent our time. We would change by season. So, in the fall, we play football in the yard, and then the winter, you know, you'd shovel off and play basketball, and then in the summer, we'd play baseball. So, so all of the above.   Naviere Walkewicz  04:01 I love that. And I noticed you didn't say you ever went to the pool, so I'm sure that your sisters could definitely outswim you.   Brian Campbell  04:06 I went to the pool too. There was plenty of swimming in our family.   Naviere Walkewicz  04:12 Wonderful. So, you know, life as a child, you were really into athletics, and I think it developed your sense of competitor, you know, being a competitor about and winning. But also, it's probably teamwork. You know, what other things as a child could you share with our listeners about what it was like for you in Ohio?   Brian Campbell  04:32 I think all the above. I think, you know, when you have to work things out. You know, we weren't an era then the kids had cell phones or anything like that. You had to knock on someone's door, see if you could form a team, get out in the front yard and go take care of things. But yeah, we did stuff really. I mean, I'm kind of thinking back to one of my neighbors who went on to play some college football. He one time he broke his leg in the yard and kept playing.   Naviere Walkewicz Oh my goodness.   Brian Campbell Yeah, but, you know, you learn to get along with other people. You know the saying of taking your ball and going home, that's, you know, you have to figure out how to get past those things. And I think the social dynamic that you gain from those experiences very much stayed with me, and I think is some of the foundation and the work that I do now, and being able to identify with different people in different situations.   Naviere Walkewicz  05:28 Alright, so I like what you're sharing about kind of you know, the social aspect that you've experienced growing up. Tell me about how it the Academy came into the picture. Then was it, was there someone that you grew up learning from that went to the Air Force Academy. Or how did that happen?   Brian Campbell  05:46 Well, as a sophomore in high school, as I was thinking of thinking back to some of these things, my dad actually took me to visit West Point, and we had a family friend who went to school there, and I remember going to visit him, and he was probably getting close to maybe in the summer before his senior year, and I remember him like getting pulled aside, and there was something that he had been doing wrong. Maybe. Is it related to escorting guests around the campus? It was during Sandhurst, and so we watched Sandhurst, and honestly, I remember thinking like this does not seem like any way to spend college, but as I went back, I was very fortunate to have like really, really good coaches in my life who were very interested in developing me and growing me and pushing out of my comfort zone. My high school football coach was very hard on me at times, but I think he saw something in me. And you know, when I began to look at colleges, and I was thinking about, like, could I play football somewhere? And there was a variety of schools, and I went on, I went on different visits in different places, and I just remember feeling like nowhere really made a lot of sense for me, like I didn't really feel like any of them really fit the things that were important to me. And then I got the chance to go on a visit to the Air Force Academy, and honestly, I was just like, I just, why not go see Colorado? I've never seen the mountains. So we took the trip out, and I was hosted on my visit by Rob McMenamin, who recently, unfortunately passed away, but was like just the greatest person you know, that could have possibly, that I could have come across at that time, and between him and the people I met on my visit, it was more about the fact that I felt like I was at home, and I had found a group of people that seemed so similar to me that I ended up deciding that that's what I wanted to do. Now we got back to Columbus, and my mom wanted me to talk to someone who didn't play football, and so they somehow found some other cadet, and I had, she's like, “You have to call him and ask him.” So, I called this guy, and I don't even remember his name. We'll see if he listens to the podcast. But he told me he's like, “I don't, I wouldn't do it, you know?” He's like, “It's, it's brutal, it's really hard.” And, oh, wow, I just don't think. But I got off the phone, and it didn't matter to me, like and so for me, it was, maybe it was just a feeling. It was the excitement of being part of something like that. I think I did understand how important the academies are, and what a serious opportunity that was. And maybe it was the fact that I never really thought I would have an opportunity to go to a place like that, but once I, it just kind of sat right, you know, I decided to pursue it.   Naviere Walkewicz  08:48 I love that. And I think what was really key about what you said was it felt like family or you're finding others that are like you. And so how did your parents respond to that? I mean, I think I love that your mom said, “Let's look at both sides.” Let's get everything you know, a perspective that's beyond athletics as well. And so, it's kind of a testament to, probably your upbringing, the fact that your parents are like, let's make some really sound decisions. Would you say that that's the case?   Brian Campbell  09:17 Yeah, I think once my mom got over the fact that it was a military academy. I mean, she asked the one of the coaches that came to our house, like, “What's, what happens afterwards?”, you know, but what was instilled in me at a young age, and when we that, my mom valued education a lot, and so that was, that was in me, and candidly, it was probably the best educational opportunity I was going to have, and it was the best athletic opportunity I was going to have. So those two things were really important. I mean, when we got to the Air Force Academy, I remember my dad being like, “Holy cow, this is a really big deal.” And, you know, I just, I sometimes think back to those times. Times where you know before you go through it, and you see the full grind and all the things that are required, you know, to go through our school, you forget how cool it is from the outside, and the mystique and the things that make it so unique. And I remember, I just remember all that and, and obviously the football piece was a big deal, despite how my football career ended up going to be, to be offered an opportunity to be a part of something like that. Just the weight was, you know, it was so significant, it outweighed any other opportunity I had.   Naviere Walkewicz  10:37 That's wonderful. So, let's talk about that transition then. So, you came to the Academy, you recruited football for what position?   Brian Campbell  10:46 Tight end.   Naviere Walkewicz  10:47 Tight end, awesome. And so, what was, do you remember day one? What was it like coming to the Academy for the second time after your recruiting visit?   Brian Campbell  10:55 Yeah. So, you know, as I think back to my time as a cadet, I mean, the things that really weave through everything are the relationships, and it's interesting. I don't know when we'll broadcast this, but right now we're 4 and 0 here. We just beat South Florida and because we're not for here right now. But okay, that doesn't feel good to me either. But you know, when I was, when I was there, I had a call on the way to Tampa with the first person I met on my recruiting visit at Southgate, when they were trying to figure out how to get us on the base.,   Naviere Walkewicz Really.   Brian Campbell Yeah, and it's just, you know, it's completely normal, you know, or, you know, it's not like we're out of touch. But like that, I talked to that person and the person I spent the day with Saturday before the game was the person that I roomed with in basic training and I still talk to the people that I'm very close with every day. But you know, to this day, the two people I probably met first were, I mean, we're just a very significant amount of time last week. So, I mean, I remember everything. I remember going down the shot line, getting all the things in my arm, and then the blazing hot scissors or whatever they put on our head and everything and then I remember standing in the hallway, but I honestly had no idea what was happening. And I'll never forget that the next morning, when they come and start pounding down the doors, and like, my hands were shaking and they're yelling about, like, BD us. And I was like, “What on earth is a BDU?” And then, you know, I'm like, looking around, trying to figure out what people are going to put on. And then the guy that I was telling you about that I just saw in Tampa, you know, he was a Navy Junior ROTC, so he starts saying, like, sir to people. And like, you know, all chaos broke loose, and we were off and running.   Naviere Walkewicz  12:54 Wow. Well, I could say that your roommate was helpful, but until he said, “Ill sir.”, that might not have been too helpful for you. Yeah, he wasn't running.   Brian Campbell  13:02 Yeah, he wasn't. He wasn't all that helpful.   Naviere Walkewicz  13:05 Wow. So off you went into your four-degree year. What was life like as a cadet for you? I mean, I think you know, you obviously were in football and you were having to do all the academics. So, let's talk about that experience a little bit.   Brian Campbell  13:20 Yeah. I mean, the Academy was really hard for me, you know, as the first place where I was around so many talented people, and probably at a different you know, a lot of them were at a different stage in their journey than I think I was. I was really trying to figure things out as I went. You know, I kind of hit some bumps in the road with my health. And, you know, like anybody that your four-degree years, really, really difficult. And, you know, I showed up, I was probably about, you know, 220 pounds. And they, you know, were eating and eating and eating to try to get bigger. And I think I went home for like, winter break, I was already, like, 250 and, and so, you know, I don't know where things would have gone from there, but that spring of my four-degree year, I started to have some health problems and, and it took them a long time to figure out what was going on. And I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and I had lost like, 60 pounds by that point, and it was a really, really difficult period for me, because I was trying to get through school and academics. I tried to keep playing football. Eventually I had to, you know, step away for a little bit and figure out my health. But I learned in that time, a doctor said, like, you can't have Crohn's disease and be in the Air Force. And I remember walking out of the cadet clinic, and I took the elevator up by McDermott, and because it was a doctor's appointment, it's like, everybody's in class, so the place is completely quiet. And I walked out, and it was like just a crystal clear day, like the sky couldn't have been more blue above the Chapel and the Air Gardens are on, and I'm like, I don't want to leave here, you know. And I think that changed my perspective on the entire experience. And it was a really meaningful time for me, because I realized that the things that had already happened there and in a difficult first year were, had made a big impact on me, and I had some, I got some guidance from some other graduates, and they helped me navigate them, the medical process a little bit, and I was able to stay and I just wanted to be there long enough to graduate. And I was fortunate enough to have a little bit more. I managed to blow out both my knees after that. Naviere Walkewicz Oh my goodness!   Brian Campbell Yeah, both ACLs a year apart. So, I kept trying to do stuff, and it kept not working. But, you know, to be a part of the program and the relationships that I have from that, I mean, they still mean the world, even though, even though it was a little bit of a bumpy ride, right?   Naviere Walkewicz  16:03 So, your path, it looked a little different, probably from what you imagined coming to the Academy, especially growing up as the ultra-athlete. You know every sport for every season. Tell us about a little bit how you dealt with some of those challenges, because I think some of our listeners will experience things in life that kind of derail them from what they view as this is my path. And how did you keep your head above the fray and stay in a positive light, I guess, or maybe you didn't. What did that look like as you dealt with each of those challenges throughout the Academy?   Brian Campbell  16:38 Yeah, I mean, I think you learn in basic training there in hard times that you just are making it to the next meal. And I think for me, there was a stretch where I where I did that, and I look back now, and I feel like maybe because of that, there were things the academy offered that I wasn't able to take advantage of. But at the time, you know, I was so focused on just getting through the next thing and being able to kind of maintain my place there. But I think whether I knew it at the time or not, it built a significant resiliency in me, and I was not going to quit. I mean, if they were going to get rid of me, they were going to get rid of me, but I was not going to quit, and I was going to figure out a way to do it. And I think those are, those are elements that are very important in in what I've become and you know how I how I handle things to this day, if you can get through our school and if in everybody has challenges, and everybody has different things in their lives that they face. That's mine just happened to be health related, but I was very fortunate to have a huge support network. I had a great group of friends there. I mean, I had people who were who were rooting for me to be able to be successful and because of that, I was able to, I was able to continue to proceed through it, and all those elements were important for me in being able to do it.   Naviere Walkewicz  18:10 Now that's really, I think, insightful about you, and I think a testament to everyone just kind of finding something next to get to, like, in our case, it was getting to the next meal in basic, you know, you talked about being involved in sports and then having some of these health challenges. What did leadership look like for you at the Academy? Did you find yourself in certain roles where you were leading cadets? Or what did that look like?   Brian Campbell  18:37 Yeah, I mean, maybe this is if any cadets listen. You know, I was not in any, like, significant leadership positions as a cadet. I had, I think, what you would call some of the standard squadron jobs. And as I kind of reflect on, like, what I was learning about myself, you know, I think I tried to do a good job in those but, but, you know, I think I learned that there are formal leadership positions and then there's informal leadership. And what I don't think I appreciated was that, you know, you can still have impact on the people around you, whether or not you know the role dictates it, or your rank dictates it. I recall one time, you know, if you remember the squadron rankings, and we had gone from, like, second to 35th or something like that, and we had the equivalent of what would be like a players only meeting, where they said we were off in the S.A.R., like, trying to figure out, like, why we were in. And really, what you're driven by is there aren't going to be any passes to go anywhere, because at least at that time, it was directly related to how you were doing. And a lot of people talked, and there are a lot of opinions, and I remember finally feeling like I should say something, and I and I talked, and I just remember thinking like everyone seems to be listening. And I kind of noted that at that time, that I wasn't the squadron commander or anything like that, but it seemed like people valued my opinion, and it seemed like it resonated with a large swath of our squadron. And I think I take that with me now, because I believe there's kind of a meritocracy of ideas. You know, we all have rank in our organization, whether it's the military or whether it's something completely different. There's always different people who have different levels of authority. But, you know, I think great teams value ideas that come, that come from anybody.   Naviere Walkewicz  20:38 I think that is just a really important piece of information that you shared, because many times we have some of our developing leaders who may feel that they don't have the ability to share a thought because they think that they're too Junior. And so, what you just said, I think, was really powerful and hopefully empowering for some of our listeners to bring something to the table when they have something to share. So, I really appreciate you sharing that example. That was awesome. So, before we go into graduation, and what that looked like after you graduated, were there any specific people I know you said you had a great network of support. But were there any real like, inspirational leaders that kind of helped shaped you after you left the Academy, or right before you left into your life after the Academy?   Brian Campbell  21:31 Yeah, absolutely. I think that one thing that like means a lot to me are the people that I'm exposed to. I mean, I remember thinking a lot of General Rosa, who was our superintendent at the time. He guided the Academy through a difficult time. My four-degree AOC was just an outstanding leader, Joe Richardson. I have no idea what became of him, but, you know, in a tough year, it was like, every time we went in to our, you know, meet with our squadron, it was always like he had the right thing to say, and his presence was so strong, and we had some bumps in the road in our group that year, and he did everything he could to navigate through it. But, you know, he was, he was the kind of person who was, like, just a strong, inspirational type, type leader, and we needed that. I mean, you know, such a tough year, but you really felt like he was able to give us the energy and the courage to keep going for it, but he was also someone I think we all looked up to. And if you haven't been around the military a lot in your life, and you can see people like he went to our school and look at the kind of person he is now. That's a direction you hope you can follow. And then a completely other style was just being around Coach Deberry who wore his heart on his sleeve and said everything he wanted to say, and it came all out of love and passion. And he just he had that kind of style, and he built an organization that was really family centric and that was important to him. And then even my senior year, when I was just kind of like helping the staff in some different roles there, like when Coach Calhoun came in, it was a completely different style and tactic that he took. So I mean, the great thing about the Academy, I think we all talk about it a lot, is that you're exposed to leadership, you're exposed to cadet leaders, and you see how you respond to those things, too, and you take note of those as you grow, but we have some people who are also, like, very, very, you know, bona fide leaders that we had access to, and that would just be like the beginning of my list. I think now that makes sense.   Naviere Walkewicz  23:53 I'm sure the list is long because of just the exposure that you've had in different in different ways. So, when you graduated, what career field did you go into?   Brian Campbell  24:04 So I went into acquisitions, and my guidance from one of the doctors at the Academy there was, what can we do to take the least amount of grad physicals? So that's what I did.   Naviere Walkewicz  24:16 I was going to ask if that was what your passion was. But it sounds like it well, it teed off into something really well for you, and it also played well into your needs.   Brian Campbell  24:26 For sure, it did. It led me to things down the line, you know, Acquisitions. For me, it was an opportunity to be a part of a great organization. And there were parts of the Air Force that I valued. I also took note that that was probably not the thing that was going to excite me the most, and but I learned a lot about how, how kind of the business side of the Air Force works. And it was, it was still a great experience. I got to go all over the world. I got to be a part of a lot of really cool things that probably even at that age, I didn't really appreciate. I think the challenge for me in that particular career field is that you weren't really around a lot of active-duty Air Force members. And I think I missed that piece a little bit.   Naviere Walkewicz  25:13 Well, I think it's interesting, because one of the things that you've been able to do, I think, is find ways to give back in your career post, you know, military service, so that's probably been really rewarding for you. Can we talk a little bit about, you know, when you decided to transition out of the military? Because we do have listeners that both stay in uniform all the way through retirement and those who don't, who think about transitioning. So, I think it's really relevant. How did you come to that decision, and what did it look like for you?   Brian Campbell  25:44 Well, the Air Force came to the decision for me. So, I was going to PCS to my next station, and I'll never forget when the phone rang in my squadron commander's office. He came. It was like I knew what was going to happen, and the clock had run out on this whole Crohn's disease thing, and I was going to see a medical board and all that, all that kind of stuff. I ended up just saying that that's okay and I'll, I'm not. It was going to be like a year until I could go through that process, which didn't seem like very prudent at the time. I knew I was kind of proverbially playing with house money at that point, I was just so glad to have had my time in the Air Force and to be a part of the organization, you know, at least get to be a captain, but I didn't even fulfill my service commitment. So, it's really about the four and a half year point that that happened. And so, it was a little sudden, because I didn't know that that was going to happen. And so, I decided to kind of step away from the career field the you know, from work, I guess, altogether, and go to business school full time. So I went back to my desk, and I went through all the I got on US News and World Report and started going down the list of business schools and finding out who still had an application deadline available. And like three of the top 25 responded. And from there, I was able to do that. But the great thing for me was that I was able to spend two years away in a fully immersive environment, learning about the business side of management, which is different than the Air Force leadership style that we have in the in the military, and putting those two things together and thinking about some of my initial aspirations of, you know, maybe there's A career in sports. What might that look like? And you just get so, so many opportunities there to get exposed to people in different career fields. And those two years at “Wash U” for me were, were, I'm very, very fortunate to have those. They had a target of getting 10% of the class to be veterans, so I called the right school at the right time, and they were like, hey, just we'll help you. We'll help you figure this out. And they did everything they could to give me that opportunity.   Naviere Walkewicz  28:10 That's amazing. And I was going to ask, did you see the value of what you'd experienced at the Academy coming to play in your program there, that you were able to share with others, and what did leadership look like for you there?   Brian Campbell  28:23 Yeah, so, you know, in business school, it's a constant. I think balance between everything is about shareholder maximization and wealth creation, and they have to teach you those fundamentals. I think Olin did a good job reminding us about character-based management and leadership, and we had classes about critical decisions in leadership and management and things like that. And they brought some very senior business leaders in to talk about key inflection points of things that they had, and then, you know, we had, there's a professor there whose areas, area of study is, you know, economics with a higher purpose, and that's blending, like, how does being doing the right thing, and having something that's beyond just, you know, running your operation to the most efficient manner possible, and he's been able to show that organizations who do that and have a higher purpose are more successful. And so, for me, that is kind of the philosophy that I moved forward with in my career. So very different, very business fundamentals, but as you got towards the end, it was important to them that we understood that it wasn't always everything. Wasn't always about the near-term dollar and that things could your organizations are rewarded for doing the right thing and making decisions in the right way.   Naviere Walkewicz  30:00 Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like you absolutely picked the right program that really aligned with your own core values, you know, your own kind of, I think, navigational system as well as you know where you're wanting to go with things. So, what did that look like? Then, after you graduated, I know you spent some time at Anheuser Busch. Was that kind of just the next part of that journey?       Brian Campbell  30:20 Yeah, so I wanted to get back into sports right away, and so I started a networking process of I tried to meet with NFL teams. I didn't, I just didn't know how or what I was going to do, but I knew that that was my opportunity, a mentor of mine that I did a project for while I was at all. And he well, first of all, I started to find out also what jobs in sports pay. So, anybody listening to this guy's aspirations, just get that part settled for yourself right away. But it didn't matter to me. But I did have a bill I needed to figure out from business school. And his recommendation was, you know, you're down the street from essentially the biggest sports marketer in the world, you know, go there, you know, pursue that, and then figure out down the line if you still want to come back. And that ended up being the perfect step for me. You know, not only did I go to a place that ended up being a bridge back into this work, but Anheuser Busch, and the way that company is run is incredibly efficient and driven and lean and everything there is about value, and it's run by a set of Investment bankers who brought their philosophies into consumer goods, and, and, and they're extremely market share based, but it was, it was really cool to be a part of an organization that does things that way. And candidly, it was probably the other end of the spectrum than just being in the military. And both should operate in the way that they do, but that was such a valuable experience for me to work for an organization like that. I could not have done it forever. So, and I did get over into sports marketing, I ended up having what I think a lot of people would think is like maybe the coolest job of all time. I had the chance to run our whole northwest marketing portfolio. So, I had, you know, our Broncos partnerships and Vail Resorts. It took me back to Colorado to be in that office from, from being in New York City, we had the Seahawks, but it also we had a little college down the street that we had a partnership with called the Air Force Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz  32:39 I was wondering, how you direct to Colorado? That's where it was, yeah.   Brian Campbell  32:43 So, we had an office in Denver, and after a few years of doing that, Anheuser-Busch wants you to move around. They want you to grow. You can't stay in a lot of these jobs forever. And so, I knew there was a point where if I really wanted to do this, and I still felt such a calling to come and do this kind of work, and I kind of felt like I'd never forgive myself if I didn't try. So, I started making a lot of calls and knocking down doors. And eventually, eventually, a position opened back at the Academy, and I, like borderline forced them to hire me,   Naviere Walkewicz  33:15 Brian, I'm seeing a theme. I mean, as a kid, you would knock down doors come play. You know, when you were, got out of the military, when you were when you had to go, you were knocking down doors, “What's open for me?” So, I think the theme for you is, don't be afraid to knock down some doors and just see what's available. You went back to the Academy. Let's talk about your time there and what kind of evolved since then.   Brian Campbell  33:39 So, I came back to the Academy, we had a had the chance to learn a little bit about raising money in our athletic department, and we were coming up on a campaign like the first real significant campaign that had happened at the at the Air Force Academy. I mean, before I got back, I didn't even really know what a campaign was, to give people some context and where I was there, but General Gould said, “Hey, we're going to do this project on Falcon Stadium.” And, you know, and I thought to myself, hey, if I'm going to be here at the Academy, I need to be a part of this project. And so, I transitioned from our athletic department over to our foundation in about in 20-, early 2020, and had the chance to work on the projects that were that were happening there.   Naviere Walkewicz  34:27 So, I think this is helpful. Many of our listeners may not be aware of the ways that some of our foundations support the Academy, and I think through athletics is certainly one way. Can you talk a little bit about what that looks like, so that we can share more about the context of a campaign and giving back?   Brian Campbell  34:45 Yeah, I mean, I think my, my reflection on it is like the government's going to do enough to keep the doors open and provide a basic, solid experience. I think the US News and World Report rankings came out like today, we're number two. We're not number two without private investment. And I hear a lot from young grads about like they're asking me for money. They're asking me for money, and what they're asking you for is to invest in the experience and for us and on our resumes and the prevalence of our of our institution, and this is a competitive world that stuff matters and allows us at the Academy to keep professors that the government wouldn't necessarily be able to keep, to give very enriching research opportunities to cadets that otherwise I don't think we're really there when we were around. And it allows us, you know, militarily and then athletically, to be competitive at the highest level. And you know, when we say excellence in all we do, we're talking about being, you know, excellent in every facet of this of the Academy. And so, we're very fortunate that people have stepped forward at the Academy to invest in these areas and help us shape what they what they've created, and what they've become. And so private investment is a, is a real factor in our success there. And I got the chance to be in the middle of it and have a lot of those discussions and meet people who wanted to help. And it's an opportunity for them to kind of, you know, provide their passion or something they're particularly interested in, to shape the experience of the cadets. So, it's a very enriching process, and it's a really wonderful thing to be a part of.   Naviere Walkewicz  36:47 Well, I can share that, you know, I had the ability to work with you briefly when you came here, and then I joined in 2021 and there was so much that I learned. But I think what was really rewarding for me was to understand that to what you just said, you can actually invest in ways that you feel really compelled and what's important to you at the Academy. And so maybe you can share with our listeners what was something really rewarding, aside from the Kucera Legacy Center coming to life now, and we can talk about that. But what was something really rewarding to you that you were part of in the philanthropic side of our business?   Brian Campbell  37:20 Yeah, I mean not just being a fundraiser there, but I mean the chance to give myself and make the commitments that I could to the Academy that meant a lot to me to be able to help, but I enjoyed seeing like the little grassroots campaigns that were put together that gave cadets reprieve from life and rewarded them for different things. You know, NCLS is an amazing thing that happens there, that you get to take a step back from every year and appreciate the kind of people we bring back and put in front of the cadets. So, I mean, aside from the big projects, there's just stuff every single day, and you get emails from the cadets and ask like, “Hey, can we do this? Can we, what would it take to change our squadron to something else?” And you can help weigh out a little plan. And those aren't the dollars that necessarily drive campaign totals, but they matter because they matter to the cadets and the way that, you know those finances work there it's, you know, so many people have invested in the Foundation and the Association in a way that, you know, all these resources can get directly poured into cadets and because the government keeps the doors open, we can do things that are additionally impactful. You know, at other schools, like where I'm at now, we have to fill an endowment because of how we have to continue to operate the school. So that's not something we, I mean, there's ways that are that's helpful at the Academy too, but it's not as critical at the Academy, because the lights are on and we can be extremely effective in the investments through donors to impact cadets directly.   Naviere Walkewicz  39:06 No, that makes sense. I really like what you said about you got to give yourself. And I think part of what I've been picking up in our conversation is a lot of I think giving and investing is through relationships. And so I think some of the biggest pieces that come from that is the trust and relationships you build with people. Would you agree? Is that kind of how you feel about things?   Brian Campbell  39:26 Yeah, I do. And I you know, if I didn't go to the Air Force Academy, I'm not sure I would be doing this kind of work, even though the Air Force Academy is not designed to put you into this kind of work. But the relationships that I had from the academy and then throughout my time back there, are as important to me as just about anything you just the school exposes you to just such outstanding people. And I'm just very. Be grateful for, for all of those relationships that, that I've had the privilege to have.   Naviere Walkewicz  40:06 So, Brian, we've been talking about the ways we give back and relationships built. Let's, talk a little bit about the Kucera Legacy Center, because we just were able to the ribbon cutting and just beautiful experience with Jack and Vianne. What did it mean to you?   Brian Campbell  40:21 You know, being back at the Academy during the time that I was back, and maybe a lot of the people who listen to this maybe know what has happened on our Academy over the last three years, but the investment that's gone back into our school is just staggering. You know, not only the Kucera Legacy Center, but the Madeira Center, the hotel that's going up, the visitors center, the expansion to do it all, but the Kucera Legacy Center was kind of near and dear to my heart, and it was an opportunity given to me to be a really significant part of the entire project. Was one thing that took every piece of the institution to make happen. But it took Jack and Vianne really specifically. And it wasn't just their investment, but it was like a vision from Jack that I think got us through some times, that you know, maybe in years past, the project would not have, would not have continued on. And you know what I'll remember most is not just working on the gift that they made with them, but like working on the elements that were important to them to see in the facility. And the unique thing about that project is it's not just a facility. It is a way that we can invest back into our Academy and cadets. It's one of the few things on the Academy that can be commercialized and a positive return on investment. So, it's going to be used for a lot of things, but I'll never forget of the groundbreaking. Jack does so much for our school. And he was talking about, you know, why he flies Coach Calhoun around to recruit, and for coach, it's hugely helpful for him to get, you know, Division One coaches essentially have to fly in that manner. They have to fly private to be able to recruit effectively. That's a that's not an easy thing for our school to provide, and so Jack flies coach around a lot. And you know, I know Jack wants us to win football games, because I've watched some football games with him, and he's like one of the few people that can match as tense and nervous as I am, but he talked about the fact that everywhere they go, they knock on a door, and Coach Calhoun is giving some young person an opportunity to change their life. And you know, for them, we have this beautiful facility. Now, I can't wait to come back and see it, but I think that's what it is for them, is that's maybe the physical manifestation of their gift is knowing that, you know when, when, when young people accept that opportunity to come to the Air Force Academy, and they probably wouldn't have gotten it for this particular subset without a sport, that they can change their lives. And you know, watch being a part of that, even the small little part that I was is something that I think is a really, really significant part of my career and my journey.   Naviere Walkewicz  43:30 Wow. I mean, that's almost a 360 for you, right? You were someone who was given that opportunity, and now thinking about the future cadets that are going to be given a similar opportunity with something that you were part of in such a legacy and visionary manner, from Jack and Vianne. I mean, it's just incredible.   Brian Campbell  43:48 Yeah, absolutely.   Naviere Walkewicz  43:51 So, Brian, you have taken a role at the University of Miami, and let's talk a little bit about that. So, you were able to do some things here at the Academy. How's it been in the transition for you there at UM?   Brian Campbell  44:04 I mean, it's been, it's been crazy. So, you know, we're in the real battle of college athletics down here at a time that's very dynamic. It's an unbelievable opportunity to be a part of a traditional powerhouse with really, really significant aspirations, but a big part of it for me as I had the chance to come down here and work for a really high level team at a time that the school wanted to invest in athletics. And you know, the athletic director that I work for here, he won two national titles at Clemson. We have multiple other former division one athletic directors on our staff, and we do transformational things around this campus through athletics, but for other areas, our medical system and our academic side as well. So, it's been a challenge for me to get to learn the dynamic here. You know, at the Air Force Academy, a lot of people have a lot of thoughts on a lot of things. Miami supporters have a lot of thoughts on one thing, and that's winning football games. But, you know, the fundamentals remain the same, and I've been given a chance to kind of reshape the way we do this work. And for those that follow college athletics, it's been at a very, very fascinating time where there's huge change in the industry. There's a ton of uncertainty, and it's really forced me to think a lot about how we do our work and why we do it. And I think as a lot of people probably think that with Nio and possible rev-share and things like that, that we're losing the fabric of college athletics. There are little instances of that, but we are able to kind of double down on other ways to make an impact on our student athletes here and invest in their lives. So, it's been it's a challenge. We have a lot of work to do, but we're on the road, having some successes is really helpful. And being in a place that has really, really high expectations is really special to be a part of.   Naviere Walkewicz  46:16 So, you talked a bit about the fundamentals, and so what have you taken from your time at the Academy throughout your career to bring to UM now?   Brian Campbell  46:27 Yeah, I think the noise in college athletics and our work has become more complex. I took the opportunity to kind of distill things back down to the core mission of what we do, and that's to positively impact lives through excellence in athletics and our team, our role in that effort is to is to invest in those areas. So, we focus on, you know, kind of three key areas to do that. One of them is performance, kind of elite performance. The next one is what we call champions for life, which is investing in academics and in student athlete development. And then the last one is competitive excellence, and that's acknowledging that there's an area now with Nio and possible revenue share with athletes that we also have to be competitive in. But I've encouraged our team to think about, like, what the real purpose of our work is, and like what we do every day. And I think I kind of touched on a little bit of that earlier, when things got really confusing in the industry and stuff like that, understanding that, like our job really is simply to enrich an experience for our student athletes here, and best prepare them for the world. And if we do that really well, we're going to be really successful. And when we talk about that purpose on our team, you know, I try to find people to join our team who are going to resonate with that. And for me, I think when you identify with that purpose and kind of the core elements of it, it also makes me better at what I do, and better at leading and being authentic with the team that there are challenges but in there, and we're in a we're in an environment with headwinds and high expectations and high levels of competitiveness. But if we can focus on doing those things, we're going to make we're going to make every bit the kind of impact that has always been made in college athletics.   Naviere Walkewicz  48:33 So, what have you learned about yourself as a leader throughout this journey? It sounds like you've had just various opportunities to understand who you are in different roles. How does that translate in your leadership? What does that look like to our listeners?   Brian Campbell  48:49 Yeah, I think what I've learned over time is that in the Air Force, you are in the people business, and everything we do is kind of by for and through people. And I'm not sure if I understood it, even when I was in the beer business, but really, you're in the beer business, you're in the beer business, or you're in the people business, and your product is beer. And then now I'm kind of in the in the middle of this now, where we have a product, but our product, once again, is people. Now we have to be, you know, commercially viable, and there's a there's a significant financial side of what we do. But I think back to my time at the Academy, and I think one thing you can't escape at the Academy is that you know you're bringing your whole self every day to what we're doing. You know you are you're in it. You don't go home anywhere else. So, your squadron is where you live, and, and you realize that you know what's happening in your life, and, and, and for anybody that's on the team, like they're going to bring it with them, and, for me, I've thought, I think we talk a lot in business and leadership about acknowledging that and being there for people and being empathetic. But the other side of it is, you know, if our people are our most important asset, then what are we doing to invest in them and through, you know, this is a really busy kind of work, and authentically making sure that my team knows, and I hope that they do that we're going to try to grow them, and we're going to try to reward them for being successful, because it matters to the bottom line. It's not just the right thing to do. It helps move us forward, because if we're improving the conditions that they can go home to and spend with their families, we're going to get a better version of them, and it's going to improve the work that we do. So I think being in such an immersive type of place like the Air Force Academy, you realize that there is no turning it off when you leave or go somewhere, we go through difficult times, but we also have the opportunity in these kinds of roles to improve that and make sure people are fulfilled and finding their purpose in our work. And inevitably, I really do believe that that impacts our bottom line.   Naviere Walkewicz  51:21 What fulfills you and your work as a leader?   Brian Campbell  51:26 I mean, there's so much. This is what I love to do. And I love to be around the competition side of things, and I love to see when we're able to make something happen, a donor's vision to invest in our student athletes. And, you know, you see some of the things that they go on to accomplish, and you see what it means to the institution. I mean, you know, here, I think sometimes we think like, wow, college football in America is just bonkers, and it's crazy. It's gone off the rails, you know. But here at the University of Miami, you know, we have a we have a really, we have the biggest research based health system in South Florida, and it's the same logo that's on our helmet and that health system is successful because we have a very strong brand through football mostly, and In so I think we take that very seriously, that you know our work is directly tied to things that happen, not only on our campus, but in the healthcare system here as well. But you know, the true where the rubber meets the road is seeing the success that you know our student athletes have and enriching their experience and being able to tie that back to the people that make that possible.   Naviere Walkewicz  52:45 So, if we have any listeners that are interested in getting into the gift officer kind of role, the ability to help others invest, what would you share with them as maybe just a path or things to be considering?   Brian Campbell  52:59 Yeah, I mean, fundraising and development's a whole it's a whole industry, and it would be great to have more grads that would come into this kind of work. I mean, I was often asked by donors at the academy, why more people? Why more grads aren't doing it? And it's a unique it's a unique career path, but if there's elements of things that are meaningful to you, and you think that you know, nonprofit work might be appealing. Fundraising is a great way to do it. There's ups and downs. It's challenging. There's a bit of a craft to learn to it, but it's, this is not rocket science in any way. But if I really thought I was going to do it, I'd pick up the phone and call a grad who does it. I can think of a couple names off the top of my head and just ask and start to network. And when I moved over into college athletics in order to do that, I mean, I probably made 500 phone calls, and I always ask someone for the next name and network that way. And I received tremendous advice, and it was really good practice for what I ended up doing. I would encourage. I would love it if more would come into this line of work. You heard it here first friends, yeah, we'll see how effective it is.   Naviere Walkewicz  54:15 That is wonderful. Well, we're going to get into a couple more things before, before our podcast ends. So, Brian, I just want to ask you in advance so you have some time to think about this. Our listeners want to know something unique about you, maybe something that you haven't shared with anybody you know, something fun or some kind of talent you have. So, I'll give you a little bit of time to think about that, and then we're also going to want to hear your takeaways. So, before we get there, we're going to ask for Brian's final thoughts next. Before we do that, I'd like to take a moment and thank you our listener for listening to long blue leadership. The podcast publishes Tuesdays in both video and audio, and is available on all your favorite podcast platforms. Be sure to watch or listen to all episodes of Long blue leadership@longblueleadership.org All right, so Brian, welcome back, and we're really excited. Our listeners love to learn things here on Long Blue Leadership that they can only hear here. So, would you mind sharing with us something that is unique about you?   Brian Campbell  55:15 Well, I think before the break, you mentioned a talent, so I'm going to take credit for this being a talent during covid, I started getting into, like, amateur mixology, and so, yeah, at home. Now this is maybe a dangerous habit to have, but I do, I do share some of my work with some of the administration there still so, so it's definitely bled into Doolittle Hall a little bit, but I've learned to make, like, very specific cocktails and stuff like that. And I love doing it. I love trying something new all the time. So, I don't know if that's a talent or not. People can come have a have a drink with me at my house and decide to do when you have, when you have two little kids, you need to bring the fun. Needs to be at home. That's right, yeah, so, so, so that's, that's kind of my unique interest, I guess, more than a talent.   Naviere Walkewicz  56:13 We love that. So maybe we'll see a line down the road of a series of Campbell drinks. Or…   Brian Campbell  56:21 …yes, yeah, I do name some of them after things at the Academy.   Naviere Walkewicz  56:25 Just so, you know, okay yeah, I guess I could ask you to share one of them, maybe one name.   Brian Campbell  56:30 Well, you know, a lot of good supporters were in the class of '75 so I changed French '75 to '75 Best Alive.   Naviere Walkewicz  56:39 Love that.   Brian Campbell  56:43 People have no idea what I'm talking about.   Naviere Walkewicz  56:45 I would want to twist to that. I would want to twist that and skip it. So that's fantastic. Thank you for sharing that well. Before we close, we really like to leave our listeners with just a couple of key leadership nuggets that you'd like them to have. What would you leave our listeners with, Brian?   Brian Campbell  57:03 Yeah, you know, I think as I look at some of the people that were on this podcast, I mean, you have some folks who are very, very accomplished and at the top of their fields, and then you have some others who are at the beginning of their careers and heading down that, that road. You know, for me, I'm probably in the middle of it. And as I look at the arc of my career, I don't think I've arrived as a leader and I, but I started to think that I probably that I would be willing to bet that General Clark might say the same thing, and Coach Calhoun might say the same thing. So, I think it's always a work in process, but I think it's important to be really authentic with people, and that has worked. It's worked well for me, especially when those decisions are consistent with being authentic to what we're trying to accomplish. And the other thing that's meant the most to me, and is just surrounding myself with the best people possible, and that has continued to help me grow and evolve, and not just the people I hire, but I think back to my time working there at the academy and how cool it is in a you know, couple year period I was around, you know, Mark Welsh and Dana born, and Jack Kucera and Paul Madera and the Brunies (SP?) and Mike Gould and these kinds of people. And that's who I had the chance to surround myself with, and I, think that that has more to do with me having other opportunities in my career to go grow and learn at a different place and hopefully be successful here as much as anything that I did. And so I think a lot about the elements that we put into it, because it's hard on a daily basis to know if you're doing a good job being a leader, but if you take those pieces of the fabric that we learned at the Academy, and you keep doing it the right way and thinking about these things and surrounding yourself by people with surrounding yourself with people of those kinds of values, and people that you can take little pieces of what they do and try to try to bring them with You. I think it's the right road.   Naviere Walkewicz  59:22 Well, Brian, it's been a pleasure. I know I've just taken away some things, and in our time together here, learning about you, but also just inspiring me thinking about how we can give and it really is a pleasure. I can't wait to see where your trajectory of your career takes you and the ways that you'll continue to make an impact.   Brian Campbell  59:39 Wow. Thank you. Naviere, it was great to be a part of it. Thank you everyone at the Association and the Foundation. I'm glad that we have a podcast. I know that there's so many efforts that are happening to connect with grads at all stages in their careers and their journey, and I just really appreciate that. Audience to be on and all the incredible work that's happening back there at our school.   Naviere Walkewicz  1:00:06 Thank you. So, we can end with the Go Falcons, right?   Brian Campbell  1:00:08 Yeah. Beat Army, sink Navy!   KEYWORDS Brian Campbell, Air Force Academy, leadership, growth, development, athletics, fundraising, University of Miami, Kucera Legacy Center, resilience, sports marketing, philanthropy       The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation        

This week on Inside Southern Miss Athletics, John Cox, the Voice of the Golden Eagles is joined by Jeff Mason, the Associate Athletics Director for Revenue Generation who joined the Athletic Department last spring. Also stopping by to visit are men's golf coach Eddie Brescher to talk about a number of topics including the brand new Giddis Golf Center located at the Hattiesburg Country Club and Ryan Lee, the Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode 199: Rick Franzblau (Clemson University Assistant AD and Olympic Sports Performance) In this episode, we sit down with the Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance at Clemson University to dive deep into the world of human movement and high-level performance training. From bone structure and biomechanics to cutting-edge weight room strategies, this conversation unpacks […]

Send us a textThe views and opinions shared by coaches and other professionals on this podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Hoops Through Life. Hoops Through Life is an independent entity, not affiliated with any school or coach, and is not responsible for the opinions expressed by these individuals.On today's episode we have Coach Jon Silver. Jon has experience on the scout team, video coordinator, and staff associate for the UCLA's women's basketball program. He's served as a director of basketball operations or assistant coach at both LSU and the University of Vermont. While at Vermont, Jon was named a Women's Basketball Coaches Association "Thirty Under 30" honoree. Since 2016, he's been with the San Diego State University women's basketball program, where he currently serves as an assistant coach and Assistant Athletic Director of Women's Basketball Operations. In 2024, he was recognized as one of the 50 most impactful assistant coaches by Silver Waves Media.On this episode we discuss:The power of high-five'sCoaches and their playing style and how it affects the recruiting processThe importance of having different types of workoutsWhat recruiting during the school year looks likeThe basketball analytics important at the college levelHow sports, art, and music are all alikeAnd much more!San Diego State University WBB "X"San Diego State University WBB InstagramSan Diego State University WBB Recruiting QuestionnaireWhen you work with me you can expect a 360-degree player development plan designed specifically for young female basketball players. The comprehensive program includes a skills assessment and action plan, basketball IQ and mental toughness development, injury prevention, and personalized guidance through the college recruiting process.If this sounds interesting, let's have a conversation - sign up for a free Consultation Today!Check out Hoops Through Life on: Hoops Through Life WebsiteXInstagramFacebookIf you have any questions for me or our future guests email el@hoopsthroughlife.com

Episode 199: Rick Franzblau (Clemson University Assistant AD and Olympic Sports Performance) In this episode, we sit down with the Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance at Clemson University to dive deep into the world of human movement and high-level performance training. From bone structure and biomechanics to cutting-edge weight room strategies, this conversation unpacks […]

Season 6 Episode 5 of the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Chasing MacNaughton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Podcast from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Hockey Guide⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, "Destigmatize" This week Tim Braun, Rob Gilreath, and Matt Cavender were joined by Assistant Athletic Director of Counseling and Sport Psychology, Sarah Dowd. We talk Sport Psychology and Mental Health at Michigan Tech for students and student athletes. Mitch's Misfits Amazon wishlist is still having items added as we figure it out but you can take a look by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠clicking here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and a reminder, if you rate the Podcast 5-stars, we'll read your review on the podcast and thanks to all our sponsors, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Arcadia Insurance Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Livonia Technical Services⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠PsychoBobTB⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fiebke Dental⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Follow us on twitter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ChasingMacPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and you can submit questions through our email address, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ChasingMac@techhockeyguide.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate and review which will help us reach more people, and tell your friends. Please check out Jonathan Zamaites ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠series previews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ every Friday. Also, keep an eye out for new ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠recruiting articles⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Tuesdays. As always, special thanks to our patron saint Doc McResin for his generous donation to get this thing running, we hope you enjoy. Also, thanks to The Thank You Notes for all the bumpers in today's episode. If you like what you hear, check them out at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thethankyounotes.bandcamp.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RAW AUDIO⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: This post is for patrons at the Silver Level ($25 or $15/mo) or above which includes unedited audio and usually drops the night the podcast is recorded or on Sundays. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RAW VIDEO⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: This post is for patrons at the Gold Level ($10 or $6/mo) or above which includes unedited video and usually drops the morning after the podcast is record or on Mondays. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EXTENDED AUDIO⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: This post is for patrons at the Black Level ($5 or $3/mo) or above which includes extended audio content and usually drops the day before the public podcast on Tuesdays. NEW PATREON FEATURE: If you want to hear the full patreon version of a podcast, they are now available for purchase individually on patreon for about the same price as one month without the auto recurring renewal. PUBLIC PODCAST: For additional information and more episode liner notes, check out our episode overview on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tech Hockey Guide⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To make sure we can afford all our fancy equipment we purchased for the podcast and the THG website in general, please check out our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and consider joining. Patrons at our Black Level or above receive an authentic MTU jersey patch and access to extra podcast content including extended versions of our other episodes. This week's extended version was over 95 minutes. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chasingmacpod/support

Junior Katie Russell from Holy Cross Volleyball and Assistant Athletic Director for Student Athlete Development Aaron Dashiell speak on Katie's journey as this year's Engaged Fellow. Russell has been working to register Holy Cross student athletes to vote ahead of this year's election. Dashiell also talks about how Holy Cross student athletes plan to engage with the community on Civic Engagement Day on November 5th.

Episode 199: Rick Franzblau (Clemson University Assistant AD and Olympic Sports Performance) In this episode, we sit down with the Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Performance at Clemson University to dive deep into the world of human movement and high-level performance training. From bone structure and biomechanics to cutting-edge weight room strategies, this conversation unpacks […]

This week we are joined by Nick DiMarco. Nick is the Assistant Athletic Director in Sports Performance at Elon University. In this role he leads S&C staff for all 16 sports teams. Prior to his time at Elon Nick worked as Assistant S&C at Iowa Hawkeyes after playing for the team as an outside linebacker. He also played at the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens. DiMarco has every certification you could want in this field, earned his Masters degree and is about to complete his PhD in Health & Human Performance. A great episode with a great dude! We hope you enjoy! 00:00 Intro 01:00 Managerial roles in athletic performance 02:20 Changing perspectives - Career stability vs climbing ladder 07:52 What do we want from life? 18:30 Praising Mike Boyle - how to do it right 21:45 How to improve acceleration 27:10 Using contrast sprints 28:35 Short to Long specific protocols 30:50 Mishap with Exer-genie

Tai Dillard & Carlesa Dixon In this episode, Carlese Dixon, Assistant Athletic Director at Humble ISD and former Girls Basketball Coach at Summer Creek High School interviews Tai Dillard, Associate Head Coach for the University of Houston Women's Basketball, about basketball recruiting. Some of the things covered: Qualities coaches look for in recruits Observing players […]

Ron Dickson is the Assistant Athletic Director for Strength & Conditioning for Olympic Sports at Virginia Tech. At Tech, he directly oversees the department as well as designs and implements S&C programs for men's soccer, women's lacrosse, and men's golf.  Previously, Dickson spent five years at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where in addition to his coaching duties, he was in charge of the nutrition and sleep student-athlete education program and directed the athletic performance internship program. Prior to that, he served as an S&C coach at Wofford College during the 2012-2013 academic year. Dickson began his career as a graduate assistant coach at Emory University. From there he went on to become an assistant strength coach at Merrimack College for one year. Outside of coaching, Dickson has also been an adjunct professor at multiple schools teaching everything from energy system development, to anatomy/physiology courses, to clinical exercise prescription and intro to athletic performance classes.A former four year letterman for the University of West Georgia football team. Dickson continues to train and has been participating in endurance races as of late, most recently completing his first marathon.Samson EquipmentSamson Equipment provides Professional Weight Room Solutions for all your S&C needs.Sport KiltUse Code: TSG at SportKilt.comCerberus StrengthUse Code: STRENGTH_GAME at Cerberus-Strength.comDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Byron Burt is an aspiring G-League/NBA Coach who previously served as the Head Boys' Basketball Coach at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Illinois. He also spent two seasons as the Head Coach at his alma mater, Stephen T. Mather High School before landing the job at St. Laurence. Byron also worked at Beacon Academy in Chicago as the Head Boys' Basketball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director from 2017 to 2018.Coach Burt has worked as a coach at the youth level since his playing days and currently helps to oversee Chicago Hoops, the AAU Program he started back in 2016.Byron played college basketball at Loyola of Chicago for Coach Porter Moser.Follow us on social media @hoopheadspod on Twitter and Instagram and be sure to check out the Hoop Heads Podcast Network for more great basketball content.Take some notes as you listen to this episode with Coach Byron Burt.Website – https://www.upnextathletics.org/Email – byronbrt13@yahoo.comTwitter – @Burt3030Visit our Sponsors!Dr. Dish BasketballOur friends at Dr. Dish Basketball are doing things a little differently this month with $3,000 Off the Dr. Dish Rebel+, $3,000 Off the Dr. Dish All-Stat+, AND $3,000 Off the Dr. Dish CT+ during their first ever Semi-Annual Sales Event. Shop now and have your team more ready for the upcoming season than ever before.Fast Model SportsFastModel Sports has the most compelling and intuitive basketball software out there! In addition to a great product, they also provide basketball coaching content and resources through their blog and playbank, which features over 8,000 free plays and drills from their online coaching community. For access to these plays and more information, visit fastmodelsports.com or follow them on Twitter @FastModel. Use Promo code HHP15 to save 15%GameChangerIntroducing GameChanger, a free app that provides you with data to make strategic coaching decisions and to deliver memorable moments to your team and its fans. Engage your players, empower your coaching decisions, and give parents the thrill of watching every play unfold in real time this season. Download GameChanger now on iOS or Android. GameChanger equips your team with the tools they need to succeed. Download it today and make this season one for the books. GameChanger. Stream. Score. Connect. Learn more at gc.com/hoopheads.Get automated highlight clips for all scoring plays as well as rebounds, steals, assists, and more. Plus free live streaming, advanced scorekeeping, and team management. The Coaching PortfolioYour first impression is everything when applying for a new coaching job. A professional coaching portfolio is the tool that highlights your coaching achievements and philosophies and, most of all, helps separate you and your abilities from the other applicants. Special Price of just $25 for all Hoop Heads...

Assistant Athletic Director of Strategic Communications for Badgers football at UW-Madison Patrick Herb talks about the changes coming to Camp Randall Stadium and the excitement around the first game of the Badgers' season tomorrow.

Wisconsin's Midday News has your Three Big Things. Guests include ABC News Correspondent Cheri Preston, Assistant Athletic Director of Strategic Communications for Badgers football at UW-Madison Patrick Herb, and Dr. Amy Zosel from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

From demanding time commitments to the need to think quickly on your feet, promoting sporting events can be a whirlwind. Ryan Anderson, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at the University of Central Missouri (UCM), provides an inside look into sports marketing during our latest episode. Utilizing traditional advertising and innovative social media strategies, the UCM Athletics communications team pulls out all the stops to engage students and attract fans. Their collaborations with university marketing and the use of platforms like Instagram and Facebook are truly next level. Tune in to learn about the multifaceted role of sports communications, the challenges and rewards of the job and the marketing strategies employed to promote collegiate athletics.

Overcoming setbacks in law school is something our next guest is very familiar with. Judge Derwin L. Webb is the first African-American male Family Court Judge in the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A first-generation attorney, Webb was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, but later moved to Louisville where he has lived for more than twenty-five years. A former standout basketball player at the University of Louisville for Hall of Fame basketball coach Denny Crum, Webb was a captain his senior year, and earned the respect of his peers both on and off the basketball court. As an undergraduate, he was elected as a senator in the Student Government Association. In this role he represented the interests of the student population and discovered the importance of public service. He joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. After receiving his B.S. in Political Science, he attended the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. Upon graduation, he began his legal career with the prestigious law firm, Stites & Harbison, where he learned all aspects of business and corporate law. He then returned to his alma mater to work as an Assistant Athletic Director where he supported the athletic department in areas of compliance, academics, and diversity. He was appointed by the president to serve on the University's Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality, the president's chief policy advisor on issues of diversity. He also served on numerous non-profit boards dedicated to improving the lives of individuals within the Kentuckiana region. This work earned Derwin the Business First “Forty Under Forty” Award for outstanding Louisville young professionals. In episode 478 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out what it was like being bussed to other districts for school as a kid, how we can solve the gun violence in this country, why he decided to play basketball for the University of Louisville, why he's the only player who had to pay admission to his own basketball game, why he joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., how he was able to overcome the setbacks at law school, why his road to becoming a judge wasn't easy either, what it is like to be the first African-American man to serve as judge in Louisville's Family Court, and what is The Chronicles of the Traveling Bookbag Tour. Enjoy!

This week on Inside Southern Miss Athletics, the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, visits with Lee Applewhite, the Associate Athletic Director for Development, to discuss a number of things that are happening in and around Golden Eagle athletics. Cox also sits down to talk with Damien Duff, the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and head basketball coach Jay Ladner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Duff Tittle, Senior Assistant Athletic Director for Broadcast Relations, and Brett Pyne, Assistant Athletic Director for Football Strategic Communications, stop by the studio to discuss their new book "100 Years of BYU Football" with Mitch Harper and Matt Baiamonte.   Hear some of the untold stories from BYU football players and coaches in its 100-year history.

In this episode, I interview Chris Kerr from Liberty University on how to maximize our physical training in the offseason. We discuss how to get faster, stronger, put on weight, and increase conditioning level. We also address best practices for pro athletes, college, and youth. In his first year Chris was on staff to see the first two National Championships captured in the Liberty University Club Sports department's history in both Wrestling and the Women's D1 Hockey team. He has continued to coach teams that have gone deep into their respective National Tournaments, some coming away with more National Titles.   Chris holds several certifications: United States Weightlifting Level 1: 2019 Reflexive Performance Reset: 2018 Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist: 2015 Functional Movement Systems: 2013 For more from Chris Kerr: Maximizing the Offseason Virtual Webinar Email at coachchriskerr@gmail.com Twitter @coachchriskerr Instagram @coachchriskerr YouTube @coachchriskerr For more resources on soul care, confidence, and leadership, visit the Pure Encouragement Website

In this super informative Episode 7 of the BIG LIFE, Jordyn and Sam delve into the rapid changes within NCAA athletics, particularly focusing on the evolving NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) policies. Joined by Darien Harris, Assistant Athletic Director for Business Development and NIL Strategy at Michigan State University, the discussion covers recent NCAA settlements, the intricacies of NIL, and the impact on college athletes. Harris provides valuable insights into building personal brands, the role of social media, and the challenges and opportunities for athletes in both revenue and non-revenue sports, specifically women's soccer. The conversation aims to educate current and prospective college athletes on leveraging NIL opportunities while maintaining a focus on community and academic priorities. Subscribe to the BIG LIFE wherever you love to listen!   Subscribe to Girls Soccer Network's GSN Newsletter to stay posted about upcoming episodes.  Find Jordyn and Sam on their Insta's @sam.cary @jordyn_wickes Follow us on Instagram (@girlssoccernetwork) Follow us on Twitter @girlssoccernet Subscribe to our YouTube channel @girlssoccernetwork6137

A new series hosted by Pacifica Christian's Assistant Athletic Director of Sports Medicine and Campus Health and Head Athletic Trainer, Ron Samson as he walks our athletes through the athletic registration packet and makes sure they are cleared to participate!

Navigating the Coaching World: Darnell Harris' JourneyIn this episode of the Contacts Coaching Podcast, the host is joined by Darnell Harris, the Assistant Athletic Director at Mission College Prep in San Luis Obispo, California. Harris shares his extensive journey in the sports world, starting from his early days as a student and athlete at Mission Prep, transitioning into coaching and eventually stepping into athletic administration. Throughout the conversation, Harris explains the pivotal moments of his career, his coaching philosophy, the value of mentorship, and the importance of creating a positive team culture. He also delves into his personal challenges and successes, including managing a restaurant while coaching, fostering relationships with players, and the significance of acknowledging both failures and achievements in personal growth and team development. This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠! Spelled LMNT. What is LMNT? It's a ⁠⁠⁠⁠delicious, sugar-free electrolyte drink-mix⁠⁠⁠⁠. I tried this recently after hearing about it on another podcast, and since then, I've stocked up on boxes and boxes of this and usually use it 1–2 times per day. ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a great alternative to other commercial recovery and performance drinks. As a coach or an athlete, you will not find a better product that focuses on the essential electrolyte your body needs during competition. LMNT has become a staple in my own training and something we are excited to offer to our coaches and student-athletes as well. LMNT is used by Military Special Forces teams, Team USA weightlifting, At least 5 NFL teams, and more than half the NBA. You can try it risk-free. If you don't like it, LMNT will give you your money back no questions asked. They have extremely low return rates. ⁠⁠⁠⁠LMNT⁠⁠⁠⁠ came up with a very special offer for you as a listener to this podcast. For a limited time, you can claim ⁠⁠⁠⁠a free LMNT Sample Pack⁠⁠⁠⁠—you only cover the cost of shipping. For US customers, this means you can receive an 8-count sample pack for only $5. Simply go to⁠⁠⁠⁠ DrinkLMNT.com/contacts ⁠⁠⁠⁠to claim your free 8-count sample pack. Taking a bunch of pills and capsules is hard on the stomach and hard to keep up with. To help each of us be at our best, we at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Athletic Greens⁠⁠⁠⁠ developed a better approach to providing your body with everything it needs for optimal performance. 75 vitamins, minerals, whole-food sourced superfoods, probiotics, and adaptogens in one convenient daily serving to bring you the nutrition you need. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://athleticgreens.com/contacts/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠for more.  00:00 Welcome to the Contacts Coaching Podcast with Darnell Harris00:24 Diving into Darnell Harris's Coaching Journey02:47 The Legacy of Men's Basketball at Mission College Prep03:55 Transitioning from Coaching to the Restaurant Business04:45 Returning to Coaching and Embracing New Roles08:14 Reflecting on Coaching Philosophy and Mentorship10:18 Navigating Family Dynamics in Coaching16:17 Insights on Coaching Across Different Sports17:08 Transitioning Skills from Player to Coach17:37 The Power of Positivity and Finding Talent18:45 Building a Culture of Support and Excellence21:28 Embracing the 'Why' in Coaching22:25 Adapting to the Digital Age and Its Impact on Coaching24:29 Advice for Off-Campus Coaches: Building Relationships27:52 Lessons from the Business World to Coaching31:20 Embracing Failure and Learning from It34:19 Evolving Perspectives: A Personal Reflection --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justin-clymo30/support