Every coach dreams of building a winning program—but what defines winning? Is it state championships and trophy cases, or is it developing young athletes into leaders who thrive beyond the game?
In this episode of Coach 360: Beyond The Game, Coach Ben Nicholas, Athletic Director at Village Tech Schools, shares his journey from unexpected coaching opportunities to leading a 3A athletic program in a highly competitive region. Coach Nicholas has spent years shifting his school’s athletic mindset from a club team culture to a championship mentality, proving that resources don’t define success—culture does.
If you’re a coach leading a smaller program, a team facing adversity, or looking to reinforce character development, this episode is packed with insights on leadership, athlete identity, and building a player-led culture that lasts.
Key Takeaways
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Culture Is Greater Than Circumstances – Facilities and budgets don’t make champions—mindset does. Champions find a way, no matter the obstacles.
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Athletes Are More Than Their Sport – 99% of high school athletes don’t play beyond high school, meaning their identity must be built on who they are, not just what they do.
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Relationships Over Dictatorship Coaching – The best programs don’t run on fear-based leadership, but on mutual respect and understanding between athletes and coaches.
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Success Looks Different for Every Team – Progress isn’t always about championships—it’s about personal and team growth, learning to overcome adversity, and consistently improving.
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Coaches Are Still Students – Great coaches never stop learning. Who’s coaching the coaches? Seeking guidance, mentorship, and continuous improvement is essential for leading young athletes.
Quotes from the Episode
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"Champions find a way—no excuses, no shortcuts, just solutions."
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"You are not defined by your sport. You have value beyond the game."
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"Coaching isn’t about telling athletes what to do—it’s about building relationships where they want to follow."
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"We may not have the biggest facilities, but we have the biggest heart—and that’s what wins."
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"Success isn’t measured by trophies, but by growth—on and off the field."
Related Articles & Resources
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The Captain’s Course by 2Words – A leadership development curriculum designed to help student-athletes become leaders on and off the field. Custom-developed by 2Words, this 10-lesson course helps answer the common coach's question "How do I build a player-led team?" and provides coaches with the tools to do it.
CONTACT COACH NICHOLAS: bnicholas@villagetechschools.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:00):
Hey, everyone. My name is Colton, and I'm the host of the Coach 360 podcast. Here, our goal is to come alongside and equip coaches with the resources to help develop character through sports and raise up the next generation of leaders. Not only do we do that through this podcast and interviewing coaches from across the nation about character, culture, and leadership, but we also do it through our two words character development curriculums. If you want to learn more about these or anything else that we offer, visit our website, twowords.tv. That's the number two, words.tv. Or you can always drop me an email, colton at twowords.tv. Thanks for listening today. Let's get into the show. Have you registered for the Texas Way yet? The Texas Way is a collaborative campaign between Texas High School Coaches Association, Texas High School Athletic Directors Association, and Two Words Character Development to improve the level of sportsmanship at UIL sporting events. Decrease the number of ejections at UIL sporting events and strengthen communities and the relationships between coaches, athletes, officials, and fans. Register now for this free resource at www.playthetexasway.com. The Texas Way is powered by Mammoth Sports Construction. Do something big. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Coach 360 Today, I'm hanging out with Coach Ben Nicholas. He's the Athletic Director at Village Tech Schools. Hey, Coach. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for having me. Absolutely. Well, coach, why don't you, uh, start off by telling us just a little bit about your kind of coaching career and background and then tell us a little bit more about village tech and what your programs are like and what the, uh, what the district is like. Yeah, absolutely. Um, to, to make a really long story short, um, I was in a different major in college, um, but I had an opportunity to kind of coach and work with the local high school. Um, and so I started doing that with cross country and track. That's my background. Um, and absolutely just fell in love. Um, I was doing something a little bit different in school and absolutely was like, that's fun, but coaching is absolutely where it's at. Coaching is what my passion is, what I'm good at. This is it. Um, so through kind of a, kind of a longer arduous journey of, uh, me kind of battling within my own, my own self of figuring out like, Hey, I really like coaching. This should be my career. Like I should do this. Um, and kind of letting go of some of those college things. Um, Got into some different jobs and then had an opportunity to come down to Village Tech here in Duncanville. Um, so I've been at Village Tech for seven years. This is my sixth year as athletic director. Um, I had an opportunity to come For a totally different position, um, started off in the communications department, kind of doing the media and all that kind of stuff. Um, and within my first couple of weeks, they had an opportunity to start coaching cross country. They said, Hey, our cross country code left. It's like anybody interested in this thing? Um, Like absolutely just a total, total blessing. Like all signs are this. And I was like, yes, this is for me. Um, so I started coaching cross country. Um, I guess I did a pretty good job to, uh, to earn an opportunity to interview for the director position. Um, so I did that got the athletic director position just kind of in the right spot at the right time. Um, but where village tech is, is we're in Duncanville and we're within the district of doom, if you will, that triangle between Duncanville, Cedar Hill and DeSoto. And so we are a 3A school that is a little, I mean, significantly smaller comparatively. Um, and originally when the school was started, um, athletics was kind of on, um, Not, not the forefront. Um, they, they weren't really planning for athletics. They weren't really planning for that to be, um, Really anything substantial. Um, and so kind of when I took over and we were, we were kind of in this mode of doing sports, but more in this kind of club team mentality. Um, and so kids would come when they wanted to, and we would do things when it was convenient, you know, maybe we're practicing today, maybe we're not. It was kind of just a hobby, um, like you kind of would do at the rec league. So changing that mindset from that kind of club team mentality to A competitor in 3A. Um, and that's, uh, that's been the goal and the work in progress for the last, uh, last six years for sure to kind of get us into that. Yeah. Yeah. Right on. Well, coach, you had, uh, you had mentioned early on, uh, during the college days when you kind of stumbled into coaching a little bit and just absolutely fell in love with it. What, what is it about coaching that just really, uh, Feeds your heart that really gets you excited. Um, I think in the beginning, um, you know, I was, I was a high school athlete and I was good, but not great. Um, and so I was kind of on that line of. Not really knowing what to do with my life, um, in terms of athletics, um, in the sense that I wanted to keep going, but I wasn't quite good enough. And so it wasn't like, like it was on that fence where it was like, man, If I was just a little bit better, I could do this, but I'm not bad enough to totally give it up. Um, and so I kind of battled back and forth with that a little bit. And so getting into coaching, um, it was like, One, I could share my experiences, um, with what I knew as far as the technical details and all that X's and O's and all that kind of, kind of stuff. Um, But really, I think what really drew me into it is across the board, There are a lot more kids like me that don't know what to do with their lives post high school athletics, and so I think it's what it's like some crazy number like 99% of high school athletes once they graduate high school like. They they're done playing sports, at least in an organized capacity like that. Um, they don't go on to play in college or what have you. And so. It was a really special time for me to kind of like find my own way while helping others find their way of like, you still matter in sports, you still matter on this team, you still matter as an athlete, you still matter as a person. Even if like there is no like higher calling for sports specifically. Um, and so I think that was really kind of what like started drawing me into it. Um, and then just the relationships you build with the kids. Um, like there is something special about working towards a common goal, um, and putting in a lot of sweat and blood and tears and all that. Like there's something special about doing that. Um, With people who are bought into this idea of, of being bigger than themselves. Um, and so that was a really, really fun, exciting thing. And I was, I was a dumb kid just kind of figuring stuff out. Um, but I knew immediately, um, I can, you know, like this sounds a little like self-centered, um, and a little egotistical, but I felt immediately in my heart, like. This is where you belong. Like you were going to be really good at this. Like we can learn the technical stuff later, but like just that relationships with kids, the, the, the ability The art part of coaching I always say the art or that coaching is like part science and part art like you can learn the science but the art part is a little bit harder to kind of get a grasp of and I felt immediately in my heart like. This is what you were made for. This is where you need to be at. Yeah, that's awesome, coach. Um, I love how you broke down that distinction of coaching, how it's part heart and part, uh, or art and part talent and skills. And so, yeah. Yeah. Coach, will you unpack a little bit more how you like in a, in a practical sense, like how you bring that sense of, um, Coaching up the kids and showing them that they have value beyond their sport. Um, because that's something that we see a lot of these days is kids get to that period, just like you described, you know, post athletics. And then all of a sudden, you know, they've been defined by their sport for so long, be it baseball or volleyball or whatever the case may be. They've just, they've just integrated that so deeply into their life. And the next thing they know, they're not playing anymore. And they really face almost. Somewhat of an identity crisis when they when they lose and when they lose that opportunity to play at that level. So tell us more about how you try to instill that in. The kids that they're there's value in them and their identity is not rooted in what they do but instead of who they are and Yeah, I mean, I wish I had like a perfect answer where it was like 100% success rate across the board. Um, the reality is that for like, The majority of athletes, again, some crazy number, like 99%, like your season, your high school career probably ends in a loss and it probably ends in some sort of heartbreak. Um, you know, if you're not winning the state championship, like. You know, it's probably a loss. And so I think it's early to set the tone. I think it's good to set the tone early on, I should say, of Making their worth in something beyond just sport. And so sports is great and we're all trying to compete and win and all that stuff. Um, but it's just the catalyst, I think, for bigger lessons, um, in life. Um, and even, even if they were to go. To the NBA or the NFL or whatever, um. I try to have this mindset of like we're trying to create people first, students second, and then if we have time after those two things are completed, then we'll work on athletes third. Um. And so, again, making sure that they understand that their worth as a person, their worth as a teammate, their worth as an athlete is not defined in results or data or statistics, right? Yeah. It's easier to say, it's easier said than done sometimes. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to You know, it's hard to have on both ends of it. You can have a kid who scores thirty points in a game and it's hard to not celebrate that. Right. Um, but we try to make it an intentional point being like, Hey man, like you scored thirty points in this game and it was super cool. But also. The way that you were, you were hyping up your teammates on the bench, the way that like, you didn't get into it with that official, like, even though you really wanted to, you know, like it's. It's like those things that we try to like continue to push as well. Um, and so again, yeah, just, you're just not defined by the numbers and by the data and trying to make sure that kids understand that. And, um, you know, there's tons of different avenues you can go through that, but. We try in our program, I try in my teams, um, really early on in the season before things get hectic and things get tight and you're worried about playoff races and championship races and all that stuff. To make sure that they know that they're valued and to make sure that they understand that you care about them as people beyond just a sport. So, um, I've got, I've got some athletes who are both I mean, multiple sport athletes, um, but they're also involved in theater or yearbook and all that stuff. And so we try to make it a point as our program to care about those things. Even if we don't necessarily understand it, um, to take an interest and be like, Hey, like, You're the lead of this show. What does that mean? What do you have to do? What's it like, um, to go to practice in the morning and then rehearsal at night? Um, and I think it makes us better coaches too, because we can understand like, yeah, The people we're dealing with as opposed to just the, the like, oh, it's just a point guard. Like, no, he's a good person. Every coach wants a player led team, but how do you build a player led team? That's the question that led to the creation of the captain's course, a ten week customizable leadership development course for student athletes. The captain's course will equip student athletes to lead their teammates, Promote the growth of leadership skills, create alignment on your core values from coach to athlete, and help build player-led teams. Learn more at www.twowords.tv slash captainscourse. Well, coach, why don't you, uh, why don't you keep unpacking some of this for us? Um, tell us more about just, um, the broader culture there at, at, uh, Village Tech and tell us more about kind of like what your expectations are, what your standards are, do you have Any sort of core values or anything like that that you guys hold on to? Um, any mantras, any beliefs, any, anything like that? Tell us more. Yeah, um, so Village Deck is a really special place. Um, it is, it is very unique, um, in, for, for several different reasons. Um, Which, which we would have a whole different show to get into, but because we're in this, like this triangle of. DeSoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, these, these great, great high schools, these great powerhouses that have had a lot of athletic success. Um, We get a lot of kids that don't necessarily fit into the mold of those giant power programs and so that could mean a number of different things that could mean that they didn't felt like they were seen that could mean like they felt like they were. Didn't fit into the educational kind of wheels and cogs of that. Um, they need something a little bit different. Um, that could be, you know, that could mean athletically they felt like they were good enough and they didn't get a spot. And now what do I do? You know, and, and, For, for a lot of high school kids, again, if you're only going to play for four years or, you know, your high school career, um, it's tough to not be able to even do that. Um, so we get a lot of kids that. are here that are looking for belonging. Um, and so with that being said, because we are significantly smaller, because we're a 3a, we don't have the funding Um, that some of the bigger programs have. So as far as resources go and facilities and all that stuff, like we have a basketball gym. We don't have baseball fields. We don't really, we have a, I mean, a very, very small weight room about the size of your kitchen. Um, it's, I mean, it's, it's, We make do with what we have. And so our biggest mantra, if you will, um, is that champions find a way and through. Whatever adversity that we're facing, whether that is adversity from another team, adversity from the situation we're in, adversity from like the weather we're about to have, um, champions find a way to find through that. And so that's our biggest thing that we push through. Um, trying, you know, trying to get through our program, through our coaches, through our students, um, that if we want to be successful, We have to find ways that might be out of the norm. It might be different than what other people doing. Um, but it's just kind of that 1% theory of trying to get a little bit better every day. And what are we to do that other people aren't? Um, and so what we found a lot in our, Our program, but even like size school sometimes, um, is they'll say, oh, well, we don't have a baseball field to practice on today. So we're just not going to play. And that's fine. That's, there's, there's tons, there's no, you know, no shade to any of that. That's every, every program has to do with best for their kids. What we found in our thing is like, if we don't have a baseball field to play on today, Um, can we go to a local softball field? Can we go to a park? Can we go to the field up top and just like, just work on, on grounding balls from hitting rocks and whatnot? Like, what can we do today to make us better? And so that kind of mindset is, is kind of where we're at as a program. Um, but again, because we're small and because we have that kind of a lot of adversity, um, it allows us as coaches to To kind of really, really work with our kids in a unique way where I hate dictatorship coaching. I can't stand it because Every kid is different. Every athlete is different. Every situation is different. And so there is no one size fits all to coaching. There's no one size fits all to education. There's no one size fits all for, for people. Um, and so. We, I don't like dictatorship coaching. I like relationship coaching. Um, that's probably not even the right word for it, but like, The athletes can go to a game and be fine without the coaches, but coaches like we can't, we can't go win a game without athletes. And so like, it's, it's this back and forth of like, we've got to be able to work and adjust and adapt with the kids. And vice versa. So it's not this, you go do this and this is going to work point blank period. Like there, there's more to it than that. So. Yeah. Coach, how do you, how do you guys, uh, encourage the kids to buy into that, uh, champions find a way mentality and, and keep them from maybe getting discouraged when. They don't have maybe a field to play on that afternoon or, uh, they don't have somewhere or a good facility or something like that. And they're, they're looking at some of these big powerhouse programs surrounding you guys. How do you keep them motivated and make that more of a rallying cry and something that they can be proud of versus something to be discouraged by? Um, well, winning solves everything. So you can win. No, I'm kidding. Um, that definitely helps. That definitely helps for sure. Um, I think it's I think a lot of it is consistency in messaging, consistency in coaching. I've been really lucky and really, really blessed to have. Really great coaches who have kind of bought into the program, bought into the ideas, bought into our kids. And so it's, it's incredibly helpful when you have a coach Monday through Friday, uh, you know, fifty-two times a year. Is consistent with who they are as a coach and who they are and what their expectations are, who they are as a person. Um, and saying like, this is what we're working towards. This is what we're going to do. Here are these kinds of like measurable goals that we're looking after. Um, But again, like what I tell my coaches a lot is like we, we can lose every single game. But if we're making progress in any, in any capacity, right? We're making progress athletically fine. Sure. We're making progress as people. They're learning the game. They're learning how to be better teammates. They're learning how to communicate better. They're learning how to be responsible. That's a whim. I'll take, I'll take a single, I'll take a loss in every single sport every single year for the rest of my career as long as these kids are becoming better people at the end of the season. Um, and so kind of having that Mentality kind of having that mindset kind of that standard from the top down has been really helpful. So yeah, things definitely get frustrating when we don't have those facilities. You know, the kids feel it. We feel it. Um. It's, it doesn't go unnoticed by any means, but I think addressing that and saying like, yeah, like sometimes this is, this is not fun. Sometimes this is tough. Sometimes it's harder. Bennett, but I just, I mean, just being real the situation, like, yeah, we, we can, we can sit here and we can mope about it and these things can, can be tough and we can go home. That's fine. That's an option. Um, or like we can still compete. Right. Take, take the chance. Like, you know, you, you, you can a hundred percent say we're going to lose. We left this to find us, but maybe what 50%, we have a 50% chance to win. Why don't we take that hope and have that bind and stuff. And so that's been really helpful. And like I said, tangibly, um, setting goals for what we're doing. I think, I think it's, I think it's unrealistic for any coach to say we're going to win the state championship every single year. Like that's a great, that's a great, great goal. And I hope that you're able to do that every single year. Um, but being able to break down and even smaller goals of saying, okay, like this year, we know we're kind of in a rough spot. Maybe we're rebuilding, but. Um, this year we're going to rebound better than any, any team we've ever done. And we're all like, that's going to be what we're going to hang around. We're going to rebound. Um, and so those kinds of things, uh, I've really helped us buy in and saying, okay, like we might have not won as many games as we wanted to, but boy, look at these percentages of rebounds. Like we got it this many times and that's what we exceeded our goal. That's, that's kind of how we. Try to continue to get the buy-in for it. Yeah. I like it. Well, coach changing gears a little bit. Uh, you guys got the opportunity to participate with the Texas way initiative this year. And for those listening that aren't familiar, it's a statewide initiative to help improve sportsmanship. Uh, across all sports and we've had a, a huge participation rate, uh, something like well over fifty to 60% of the state of Texas. Has jumped on board with this initiative. And so I'd love to hear some of y'all's experiences with, um, the Texas way and how that's supported y'all's sportsmanship initiatives this year. Yeah, um, the Texas way has been great, um, for us as a program. Um, I think every coach across, um, At least in our district, but I'm sure across the board, um, they are preaching sportsmanship and, you know, you gotta, you gotta do the right things at the right time because the right things to do. Um, and I think sometimes, you know, when you continue to relay that same message to kids, it gets a little. Stale sometimes and you're like, okay, coach is just going on this tangent again. So to have another outlet, let's like, hey, like these things that we're preaching these things that we're teaching you. It's not just us. Like this is coming from a second source. This is coming from like a much bigger than us. Um, it's really good reinforcement too. Um, and as far as coaching, like it's really helped our coaches too. Um, You know, it's really easy to sit there and look at a kid and say like, oh, you know, you've got to, you've got to do the right things and be great. Um, and then we forget as coaches, sometimes when we're in that moment, we get heated, we get hot, we get whatever, and we're just going after it. We, I think every coach kind of does it because they're thinking, well, we have the best mindset for the kids. We're the best interest for the kids. We're doing it for them. And that might be true. Um, but it's still taking it to a different level. And so having that, like, Having that, like, coach's version of that, um, as well has been helpful. It's like, hey, like, I think, I think there was, I think there was one of the, one of the parts and one of the videos, um, he was like, look, if a kid's about to get hurt, like, you have every right to, to kind of get in there. But, um, Other than that, like they're, they're watching you, they're modeling you. Um, so who you are as a person, uh, and who your character is, what they're trying to emulate. Um, and that's been really helpful kind of as a reminder too, because sometimes it's easy to coach the kids, but who's coaching the coaches. Yep. Coach, as we start to bump up against our time here today, uh, last question for you. What is the most important thing that coaches need to hear or know about leading their student athletes these days? Oh man. Um, I think just understanding that like every kid is different. Um, and that, that could mean a number of things, um, from their motivation to play is something that we've seen a lot of. We've got, um, we've got a great basketball player. I think the world of him, um, I think he's really good at basketball. I think he has a future in basketball, but his love is baseball. And so that's cool. Like he does basketball and that's fine, but his love is baseball. Cool. Um, understanding that is like where his mind at is helpful, um, in coaching him. Um, on the flip side of that, um, I have some girls who, who run for me, um, and she loves it and she does it and she's great. She could easily go to college. Um, to, to run and she's like, no, I don't want to do that. I want to go study journalism over here. And that's also fine. So understand that motivation, understand where they're coming from. And then understanding, you know, every kid's situation, I've got great athletes, um, who sometimes don't have a ride, um, whether that's to get to school, whether that's to practice, what have you, um, they're just in a situation where transportation is, is not accessible for them. Um, and so understanding like, Hey, this kid isn't skipping practice or not being here because they're being obstinate. They just can't get here. And so kind of understanding that again, going back to that like relational coaching, um, which I know is a buzzword of like build relationships. Um, but just like, just understanding like who they are, where they're coming from, what the background is, as opposed to dictatorship coaching. Of like, we've done this in the past. This is what we're going to do now. There is no other way. Um, it's my way or the highway. I think that is the coaching mindset that we've got to get like out of as a whole. Um, And it's not and I want to be very clear that is not saying we're not going to have standards we're not going to have expectations we're not going to have like these things that are core to us our principles are non negotiable those are those still exist. But just, I mean, and just understanding like, hey coach, this, this is not working for me. Can we do something about it? And building that community where they're able to be able to express that to you. Like, they feel comfortable to come up to you and say, hey, coach, like, we're doing this work. We're doing this thing. I don't know if it's working. Can you explain it to me or can we change it like. That is, that's the kind of coaching like I want. And maybe it, maybe it's explaining like, Hey, this is why we're doing it. And they say, okay. Or maybe you explain it and they say, oh, well, this is, I, this is why I can't do that. But having those relationships and being able to do that. So that's fundamental to, to everything in my opinion. Yeah. Love it. Well, coach, thank you so much for your time today. If our listeners want to connect with you, uh, maybe, you know, deep dive something more that they heard on the podcast or anything like that, uh, what would be the best way for them to connect? Definitely shoot me an email. I'm on the email all the time, but it's B-N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S At village tech schools, schools is plural, um, dot org. Um, and if they're on a social media, I have to look real quick. Um, but if they're on social media, I am big on, what are we calling it now? X I'm on X all the time. Um, I have a lot of coaching contacts on there that I'm just like constantly, you know, hawking stuff from, um, but it's been Nicholas forty-seven Um, is my handle on, on X. So definitely I'm on there a lot. Um, I think I'm hilarious. So I'm tweeting. But, uh, yeah, those, those two things are great. And I'm, I'm, I'd be happy to explain what little I know. I know I don't know that much. Um, but, uh, I do feel like we've had kind of a unique situation at Village Tech and especially for smaller programs. Um, I'm happy to help, um, Again, it's, it's, I love the women everything all the time. Um, but I'm, I'm here to help kids, um, whether that's my kids or, you know, kids halfway across the state, like I'm here for it. So. Love it. Awesome. Well, coach, thank you again for your time. It was absolutely great talking to you. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time and have me on. Hey guys, one last note before you head off your day. Over 1400 schools across the nation have or are using one of our curriculums. Are you ready to jump on board? If you want a turnkey program to develop character in your athletes, give us a call at 281-723-9943. We will work with you and your budget to make it as easy as possible. Thanks again for listening to the coach 360 podcast. Now let's have a good one today.
Hey, everyone. My name is Colton, and I'm the host of the Coach 360 podcast. Here, our goal is to come alongside and equip coaches with the resources to help develop character through sports and raise up the next generation of leaders. Not only do we do that through this podcast and interviewing coaches from across the nation about character, culture, and leadership, but we also do it through our two words character development curriculums. If you want to learn more about these or anything else that we offer, visit our website, twowords.tv. That's the number two, words.tv. Or you can always drop me an email, colton at twowords.tv. Thanks for listening today. Let's get into the show. Have you registered for the Texas Way yet? The Texas Way is a collaborative campaign between Texas High School Coaches Association, Texas High School Athletic Directors Association, and Two Words Character Development to improve the level of sportsmanship at UIL sporting events. Decrease the number of ejections at UIL sporting events and strengthen communities and the relationships between coaches, athletes, officials, and fans. Register now for this free resource at www.playthetexasway.com. The Texas Way is powered by Mammoth Sports Construction. Do something big. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Coach 360 Today, I'm hanging out with Coach Ben Nicholas. He's the Athletic Director at Village Tech Schools. Hey, Coach. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for having me. Absolutely. Well, coach, why don't you, uh, start off by telling us just a little bit about your kind of coaching career and background and then tell us a little bit more about village tech and what your programs are like and what the, uh, what the district is like. Yeah, absolutely. Um, to, to make a really long story short, um, I was in a different major in college, um, but I had an opportunity to kind of coach and work with the local high school. Um, and so I started doing that with cross country and track. That's my background. Um, and absolutely just fell in love. Um, I was doing something a little bit different in school and absolutely was like, that's fun, but coaching is absolutely where it's at. Coaching is what my passion is, what I'm good at. This is it. Um, so through kind of a, kind of a longer arduous journey of, uh, me kind of battling within my own, my own self of figuring out like, Hey, I really like coaching. This should be my career. Like I should do this. Um, and kind of letting go of some of those college things. Um, Got into some different jobs and then had an opportunity to come down to Village Tech here in Duncanville. Um, so I've been at Village Tech for seven years. This is my sixth year as athletic director. Um, I had an opportunity to come For a totally different position, um, started off in the communications department, kind of doing the media and all that kind of stuff. Um, and within my first couple of weeks, they had an opportunity to start coaching cross country. They said, Hey, our cross country code left. It's like anybody interested in this thing? Um, Like absolutely just a total, total blessing. Like all signs are this. And I was like, yes, this is for me. Um, so I started coaching cross country. Um, I guess I did a pretty good job to, uh, to earn an opportunity to interview for the director position. Um, so I did that got the athletic director position just kind of in the right spot at the right time. Um, but where village tech is, is we're in Duncanville and we're within the district of doom, if you will, that triangle between Duncanville, Cedar Hill and DeSoto. And so we are a 3A school that is a little, I mean, significantly smaller comparatively. Um, and originally when the school was started, um, athletics was kind of on, um, Not, not the forefront. Um, they, they weren't really planning for athletics. They weren't really planning for that to be, um, Really anything substantial. Um, and so kind of when I took over and we were, we were kind of in this mode of doing sports, but more in this kind of club team mentality. Um, and so kids would come when they wanted to, and we would do things when it was convenient, you know, maybe we're practicing today, maybe we're not. It was kind of just a hobby, um, like you kind of would do at the rec league. So changing that mindset from that kind of club team mentality to A competitor in 3A. Um, and that's, uh, that's been the goal and the work in progress for the last, uh, last six years for sure to kind of get us into that. Yeah. Yeah. Right on. Well, coach, you had, uh, you had mentioned early on, uh, during the college days when you kind of stumbled into coaching a little bit and just absolutely fell in love with it. What, what is it about coaching that just really, uh, Feeds your heart that really gets you excited. Um, I think in the beginning, um, you know, I was, I was a high school athlete and I was good, but not great. Um, and so I was kind of on that line of. Not really knowing what to do with my life, um, in terms of athletics, um, in the sense that I wanted to keep going, but I wasn't quite good enough. And so it wasn't like, like it was on that fence where it was like, man, If I was just a little bit better, I could do this, but I'm not bad enough to totally give it up. Um, and so I kind of battled back and forth with that a little bit. And so getting into coaching, um, it was like, One, I could share my experiences, um, with what I knew as far as the technical details and all that X's and O's and all that kind of, kind of stuff. Um, But really, I think what really drew me into it is across the board, There are a lot more kids like me that don't know what to do with their lives post high school athletics, and so I think it's what it's like some crazy number like 99% of high school athletes once they graduate high school like. They they're done playing sports, at least in an organized capacity like that. Um, they don't go on to play in college or what have you. And so. It was a really special time for me to kind of like find my own way while helping others find their way of like, you still matter in sports, you still matter on this team, you still matter as an athlete, you still matter as a person. Even if like there is no like higher calling for sports specifically. Um, and so I think that was really kind of what like started drawing me into it. Um, and then just the relationships you build with the kids. Um, like there is something special about working towards a common goal, um, and putting in a lot of sweat and blood and tears and all that. Like there's something special about doing that. Um, With people who are bought into this idea of, of being bigger than themselves. Um, and so that was a really, really fun, exciting thing. And I was, I was a dumb kid just kind of figuring stuff out. Um, but I knew immediately, um, I can, you know, like this sounds a little like self-centered, um, and a little egotistical, but I felt immediately in my heart, like. This is where you belong. Like you were going to be really good at this. Like we can learn the technical stuff later, but like just that relationships with kids, the, the, the ability The art part of coaching I always say the art or that coaching is like part science and part art like you can learn the science but the art part is a little bit harder to kind of get a grasp of and I felt immediately in my heart like. This is what you were made for. This is where you need to be at. Yeah, that's awesome, coach. Um, I love how you broke down that distinction of coaching, how it's part heart and part, uh, or art and part talent and skills. And so, yeah. Yeah. Coach, will you unpack a little bit more how you like in a, in a practical sense, like how you bring that sense of, um, Coaching up the kids and showing them that they have value beyond their sport. Um, because that's something that we see a lot of these days is kids get to that period, just like you described, you know, post athletics. And then all of a sudden, you know, they've been defined by their sport for so long, be it baseball or volleyball or whatever the case may be. They've just, they've just integrated that so deeply into their life. And the next thing they know, they're not playing anymore. And they really face almost. Somewhat of an identity crisis when they when they lose and when they lose that opportunity to play at that level. So tell us more about how you try to instill that in. The kids that they're there's value in them and their identity is not rooted in what they do but instead of who they are and Yeah, I mean, I wish I had like a perfect answer where it was like 100% success rate across the board. Um, the reality is that for like, The majority of athletes, again, some crazy number, like 99%, like your season, your high school career probably ends in a loss and it probably ends in some sort of heartbreak. Um, you know, if you're not winning the state championship, like. You know, it's probably a loss. And so I think it's early to set the tone. I think it's good to set the tone early on, I should say, of Making their worth in something beyond just sport. And so sports is great and we're all trying to compete and win and all that stuff. Um, but it's just the catalyst, I think, for bigger lessons, um, in life. Um, and even, even if they were to go. To the NBA or the NFL or whatever, um. I try to have this mindset of like we're trying to create people first, students second, and then if we have time after those two things are completed, then we'll work on athletes third. Um. And so, again, making sure that they understand that their worth as a person, their worth as a teammate, their worth as an athlete is not defined in results or data or statistics, right? Yeah. It's easier to say, it's easier said than done sometimes. Um, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to You know, it's hard to have on both ends of it. You can have a kid who scores thirty points in a game and it's hard to not celebrate that. Right. Um, but we try to make it an intentional point being like, Hey man, like you scored thirty points in this game and it was super cool. But also. The way that you were, you were hyping up your teammates on the bench, the way that like, you didn't get into it with that official, like, even though you really wanted to, you know, like it's. It's like those things that we try to like continue to push as well. Um, and so again, yeah, just, you're just not defined by the numbers and by the data and trying to make sure that kids understand that. And, um, you know, there's tons of different avenues you can go through that, but. We try in our program, I try in my teams, um, really early on in the season before things get hectic and things get tight and you're worried about playoff races and championship races and all that stuff. To make sure that they know that they're valued and to make sure that they understand that you care about them as people beyond just a sport. So, um, I've got, I've got some athletes who are both I mean, multiple sport athletes, um, but they're also involved in theater or yearbook and all that stuff. And so we try to make it a point as our program to care about those things. Even if we don't necessarily understand it, um, to take an interest and be like, Hey, like, You're the lead of this show. What does that mean? What do you have to do? What's it like, um, to go to practice in the morning and then rehearsal at night? Um, and I think it makes us better coaches too, because we can understand like, yeah, The people we're dealing with as opposed to just the, the like, oh, it's just a point guard. Like, no, he's a good person. Every coach wants a player led team, but how do you build a player led team? That's the question that led to the creation of the captain's course, a ten week customizable leadership development course for student athletes. The captain's course will equip student athletes to lead their teammates, Promote the growth of leadership skills, create alignment on your core values from coach to athlete, and help build player-led teams. Learn more at www.twowords.tv slash captainscourse. Well, coach, why don't you, uh, why don't you keep unpacking some of this for us? Um, tell us more about just, um, the broader culture there at, at, uh, Village Tech and tell us more about kind of like what your expectations are, what your standards are, do you have Any sort of core values or anything like that that you guys hold on to? Um, any mantras, any beliefs, any, anything like that? Tell us more. Yeah, um, so Village Deck is a really special place. Um, it is, it is very unique, um, in, for, for several different reasons. Um, Which, which we would have a whole different show to get into, but because we're in this, like this triangle of. DeSoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, these, these great, great high schools, these great powerhouses that have had a lot of athletic success. Um, We get a lot of kids that don't necessarily fit into the mold of those giant power programs and so that could mean a number of different things that could mean that they didn't felt like they were seen that could mean like they felt like they were. Didn't fit into the educational kind of wheels and cogs of that. Um, they need something a little bit different. Um, that could be, you know, that could mean athletically they felt like they were good enough and they didn't get a spot. And now what do I do? You know, and, and, For, for a lot of high school kids, again, if you're only going to play for four years or, you know, your high school career, um, it's tough to not be able to even do that. Um, so we get a lot of kids that. are here that are looking for belonging. Um, and so with that being said, because we are significantly smaller, because we're a 3a, we don't have the funding Um, that some of the bigger programs have. So as far as resources go and facilities and all that stuff, like we have a basketball gym. We don't have baseball fields. We don't really, we have a, I mean, a very, very small weight room about the size of your kitchen. Um, it's, I mean, it's, it's, We make do with what we have. And so our biggest mantra, if you will, um, is that champions find a way and through. Whatever adversity that we're facing, whether that is adversity from another team, adversity from the situation we're in, adversity from like the weather we're about to have, um, champions find a way to find through that. And so that's our biggest thing that we push through. Um, trying, you know, trying to get through our program, through our coaches, through our students, um, that if we want to be successful, We have to find ways that might be out of the norm. It might be different than what other people doing. Um, but it's just kind of that 1% theory of trying to get a little bit better every day. And what are we to do that other people aren't? Um, and so what we found a lot in our, Our program, but even like size school sometimes, um, is they'll say, oh, well, we don't have a baseball field to practice on today. So we're just not going to play. And that's fine. That's, there's, there's tons, there's no, you know, no shade to any of that. That's every, every program has to do with best for their kids. What we found in our thing is like, if we don't have a baseball field to play on today, Um, can we go to a local softball field? Can we go to a park? Can we go to the field up top and just like, just work on, on grounding balls from hitting rocks and whatnot? Like, what can we do today to make us better? And so that kind of mindset is, is kind of where we're at as a program. Um, but again, because we're small and because we have that kind of a lot of adversity, um, it allows us as coaches to To kind of really, really work with our kids in a unique way where I hate dictatorship coaching. I can't stand it because Every kid is different. Every athlete is different. Every situation is different. And so there is no one size fits all to coaching. There's no one size fits all to education. There's no one size fits all for, for people. Um, and so. We, I don't like dictatorship coaching. I like relationship coaching. Um, that's probably not even the right word for it, but like, The athletes can go to a game and be fine without the coaches, but coaches like we can't, we can't go win a game without athletes. And so like, it's, it's this back and forth of like, we've got to be able to work and adjust and adapt with the kids. And vice versa. So it's not this, you go do this and this is going to work point blank period. Like there, there's more to it than that. So. Yeah. Coach, how do you, how do you guys, uh, encourage the kids to buy into that, uh, champions find a way mentality and, and keep them from maybe getting discouraged when. They don't have maybe a field to play on that afternoon or, uh, they don't have somewhere or a good facility or something like that. And they're, they're looking at some of these big powerhouse programs surrounding you guys. How do you keep them motivated and make that more of a rallying cry and something that they can be proud of versus something to be discouraged by? Um, well, winning solves everything. So you can win. No, I'm kidding. Um, that definitely helps. That definitely helps for sure. Um, I think it's I think a lot of it is consistency in messaging, consistency in coaching. I've been really lucky and really, really blessed to have. Really great coaches who have kind of bought into the program, bought into the ideas, bought into our kids. And so it's, it's incredibly helpful when you have a coach Monday through Friday, uh, you know, fifty-two times a year. Is consistent with who they are as a coach and who they are and what their expectations are, who they are as a person. Um, and saying like, this is what we're working towards. This is what we're going to do. Here are these kinds of like measurable goals that we're looking after. Um, But again, like what I tell my coaches a lot is like we, we can lose every single game. But if we're making progress in any, in any capacity, right? We're making progress athletically fine. Sure. We're making progress as people. They're learning the game. They're learning how to be better teammates. They're learning how to communicate better. They're learning how to be responsible. That's a whim. I'll take, I'll take a single, I'll take a loss in every single sport every single year for the rest of my career as long as these kids are becoming better people at the end of the season. Um, and so kind of having that Mentality kind of having that mindset kind of that standard from the top down has been really helpful. So yeah, things definitely get frustrating when we don't have those facilities. You know, the kids feel it. We feel it. Um. It's, it doesn't go unnoticed by any means, but I think addressing that and saying like, yeah, like sometimes this is, this is not fun. Sometimes this is tough. Sometimes it's harder. Bennett, but I just, I mean, just being real the situation, like, yeah, we, we can, we can sit here and we can mope about it and these things can, can be tough and we can go home. That's fine. That's an option. Um, or like we can still compete. Right. Take, take the chance. Like, you know, you, you, you can a hundred percent say we're going to lose. We left this to find us, but maybe what 50%, we have a 50% chance to win. Why don't we take that hope and have that bind and stuff. And so that's been really helpful. And like I said, tangibly, um, setting goals for what we're doing. I think, I think it's, I think it's unrealistic for any coach to say we're going to win the state championship every single year. Like that's a great, that's a great, great goal. And I hope that you're able to do that every single year. Um, but being able to break down and even smaller goals of saying, okay, like this year, we know we're kind of in a rough spot. Maybe we're rebuilding, but. Um, this year we're going to rebound better than any, any team we've ever done. And we're all like, that's going to be what we're going to hang around. We're going to rebound. Um, and so those kinds of things, uh, I've really helped us buy in and saying, okay, like we might have not won as many games as we wanted to, but boy, look at these percentages of rebounds. Like we got it this many times and that's what we exceeded our goal. That's, that's kind of how we. Try to continue to get the buy-in for it. Yeah. I like it. Well, coach changing gears a little bit. Uh, you guys got the opportunity to participate with the Texas way initiative this year. And for those listening that aren't familiar, it's a statewide initiative to help improve sportsmanship. Uh, across all sports and we've had a, a huge participation rate, uh, something like well over fifty to 60% of the state of Texas. Has jumped on board with this initiative. And so I'd love to hear some of y'all's experiences with, um, the Texas way and how that's supported y'all's sportsmanship initiatives this year. Yeah, um, the Texas way has been great, um, for us as a program. Um, I think every coach across, um, At least in our district, but I'm sure across the board, um, they are preaching sportsmanship and, you know, you gotta, you gotta do the right things at the right time because the right things to do. Um, and I think sometimes, you know, when you continue to relay that same message to kids, it gets a little. Stale sometimes and you're like, okay, coach is just going on this tangent again. So to have another outlet, let's like, hey, like these things that we're preaching these things that we're teaching you. It's not just us. Like this is coming from a second source. This is coming from like a much bigger than us. Um, it's really good reinforcement too. Um, and as far as coaching, like it's really helped our coaches too. Um, You know, it's really easy to sit there and look at a kid and say like, oh, you know, you've got to, you've got to do the right things and be great. Um, and then we forget as coaches, sometimes when we're in that moment, we get heated, we get hot, we get whatever, and we're just going after it. We, I think every coach kind of does it because they're thinking, well, we have the best mindset for the kids. We're the best interest for the kids. We're doing it for them. And that might be true. Um, but it's still taking it to a different level. And so having that, like, Having that, like, coach's version of that, um, as well has been helpful. It's like, hey, like, I think, I think there was, I think there was one of the, one of the parts and one of the videos, um, he was like, look, if a kid's about to get hurt, like, you have every right to, to kind of get in there. But, um, Other than that, like they're, they're watching you, they're modeling you. Um, so who you are as a person, uh, and who your character is, what they're trying to emulate. Um, and that's been really helpful kind of as a reminder too, because sometimes it's easy to coach the kids, but who's coaching the coaches. Yep. Coach, as we start to bump up against our time here today, uh, last question for you. What is the most important thing that coaches need to hear or know about leading their student athletes these days? Oh man. Um, I think just understanding that like every kid is different. Um, and that, that could mean a number of things, um, from their motivation to play is something that we've seen a lot of. We've got, um, we've got a great basketball player. I think the world of him, um, I think he's really good at basketball. I think he has a future in basketball, but his love is baseball. And so that's cool. Like he does basketball and that's fine, but his love is baseball. Cool. Um, understanding that is like where his mind at is helpful, um, in coaching him. Um, on the flip side of that, um, I have some girls who, who run for me, um, and she loves it and she does it and she's great. She could easily go to college. Um, to, to run and she's like, no, I don't want to do that. I want to go study journalism over here. And that's also fine. So understand that motivation, understand where they're coming from. And then understanding, you know, every kid's situation, I've got great athletes, um, who sometimes don't have a ride, um, whether that's to get to school, whether that's to practice, what have you, um, they're just in a situation where transportation is, is not accessible for them. Um, and so understanding like, Hey, this kid isn't skipping practice or not being here because they're being obstinate. They just can't get here. And so kind of understanding that again, going back to that like relational coaching, um, which I know is a buzzword of like build relationships. Um, but just like, just understanding like who they are, where they're coming from, what the background is, as opposed to dictatorship coaching. Of like, we've done this in the past. This is what we're going to do now. There is no other way. Um, it's my way or the highway. I think that is the coaching mindset that we've got to get like out of as a whole. Um, And it's not and I want to be very clear that is not saying we're not going to have standards we're not going to have expectations we're not going to have like these things that are core to us our principles are non negotiable those are those still exist. But just, I mean, and just understanding like, hey coach, this, this is not working for me. Can we do something about it? And building that community where they're able to be able to express that to you. Like, they feel comfortable to come up to you and say, hey, coach, like, we're doing this work. We're doing this thing. I don't know if it's working. Can you explain it to me or can we change it like. That is, that's the kind of coaching like I want. And maybe it, maybe it's explaining like, Hey, this is why we're doing it. And they say, okay. Or maybe you explain it and they say, oh, well, this is, I, this is why I can't do that. But having those relationships and being able to do that. So that's fundamental to, to everything in my opinion. Yeah. Love it. Well, coach, thank you so much for your time today. If our listeners want to connect with you, uh, maybe, you know, deep dive something more that they heard on the podcast or anything like that, uh, what would be the best way for them to connect? Definitely shoot me an email. I'm on the email all the time, but it's B-N-I-C-H-O-L-A-S At village tech schools, schools is plural, um, dot org. Um, and if they're on a social media, I have to look real quick. Um, but if they're on social media, I am big on, what are we calling it now? X I'm on X all the time. Um, I have a lot of coaching contacts on there that I'm just like constantly, you know, hawking stuff from, um, but it's been Nicholas forty-seven Um, is my handle on, on X. So definitely I'm on there a lot. Um, I think I'm hilarious. So I'm tweeting. But, uh, yeah, those, those two things are great. And I'm, I'm, I'd be happy to explain what little I know. I know I don't know that much. Um, but, uh, I do feel like we've had kind of a unique situation at Village Tech and especially for smaller programs. Um, I'm happy to help, um, Again, it's, it's, I love the women everything all the time. Um, but I'm, I'm here to help kids, um, whether that's my kids or, you know, kids halfway across the state, like I'm here for it. So. Love it. Awesome. Well, coach, thank you again for your time. It was absolutely great talking to you. Absolutely. Thank you so much for your time and have me on. Hey guys, one last note before you head off your day. Over 1400 schools across the nation have or are using one of our curriculums. Are you ready to jump on board? If you want a turnkey program to develop character in your athletes, give us a call at 281-723-9943. We will work with you and your budget to make it as easy as possible. Thanks again for listening to the coach 360 podcast. Now let's have a good one today.
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