October 27, 2025 • 44 mins
Leadership isn’t always loud—it’s earned through humility, consistency, and the kind of listening that makes people feel seen. As Tommy Ahlquist shares in his introduction, this conversation has been a long time coming. Coach Wade Anderson isn’t just another guest—he’s one of Tommy’s greatest mentors, a man he calls a legend, a hero, and a friend. “God broke the mold when he made Wade,” Tommy says—and by the end of this episode, you’ll understand why.
From the hayfields of Rupert to Madison Square Garden, Wade’s story bridges cowboy grit with timeless lessons on teaching, parenting, and leadership. Alongside his son Clay—himself an accomplished real estate professional—they reflect on the kind of character, humility, and faith that shape lives far beyond the game.
Wade shares how setbacks can forge resilience, how faith becomes practical wisdom, and why the best leaders care more about growth than glory. Through stories of small-town roots, college triumphs, and decades of coaching, he reminds us that titles fade but integrity endures. You’ll hear about the class ring that became a lesson in earned respect, the noon-hoops games that broke down hierarchies, and how a stack of Louis L’Amour books turned into a lifelong habit of reflection and perspective.
Wade’s philosophy—family first, encouragement over criticism, and the simple goal of “raising your best friends”—translates far beyond sports. It’s a masterclass in leadership that lasts, delivered by a man who’s spent a lifetime proving that the best mentors don’t just coach—they build people.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Today on the Ever Onward Podcast, I've been
waiting for this one for a long,long time.
Uh, if you told me uh to listthe top five mentors in my life
I've ever had, uh Coach WadeAnderson would be uh right at
the top of that list.
Uh many, many, many years ago uhwhen I was playing college
basketball, Coach Anderson wasmy coach.
Um I've stayed in contact withhim.
(00:22):
Uh, he is a wonderful humanbeing.
There's there's one of one ofWade Anderson.
Uh God broke the mold when he uhuh made Wade.
Um I love this guy with all myheart.
Uh his son Clay Anderson's beenon before.
He's uh a real estateprofessional here in the valley
and an unbelievable guy.
How can you not be when you'recoach Wade's son?
Uh but they're uh both on today.
(00:43):
I can't wait to catch up withone of my mentors, uh, a legend,
a hero, and friend, uh coachWade Anderson.
Coach Wade Anderson, this isawesome.
(01:04):
We've been talking about this,Clay, for a while.
When you came in, you said, Whyme?
That's the easiest answer I'veever given in my life.
I I am so excited.
You uh I was telling I hadanother guest on earlier today,
uh Mike Valentine.
Oh and I said, if you had tostack up top five people in my
life that I look up to, you'reyou're up there, and I love you
(01:27):
so much.
I learned so much from you.
So that's why.
And we've stayed in good touch.
And so I told Clay, I said, wegot to get Coach Anderson on
here to tell some stories andimpart some wisdom.
SPEAKER_01 (01:39):
Well, it's a little lofty on this pedestal you've
placed me on.
I might get dizzy.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
Well, it's all true, it's all true.
I uh uh so I was at Rick'sCollege a long, long time ago uh
and played basketball there, andyou were my coach then.
And um, from the moment I metyou, you just have a way about
you and a way you carriedyourself that was it was uh it
was something else, and uh hadan immediate connection with
(02:06):
you.
Um you taught me a lot.
You taught me taught me a lotabout growing up, how to be a
man, how to be accountable.
Um, and I stayed in touch withyou the whole time.
And uh uh you probably don'tremember a few of the notes
you've sent me over the years ortexts you've sent me.
I've kept them all, or the LouisLamore book you sent me.
(02:26):
Uh so I can't wait for thistoday, coach.
Good.
It'll be fun.
Uh and I got Clay Anderson here.
Clay's been on the podcastbefore, he's one of our local uh
real estate uh professionals,uh, Birkadia now.
Um he's the multifamily expertfor Idaho and the region.
So, Clay, it's nice to have youback.
SPEAKER_04 (02:45):
Glad to be here.
I'm glad to be here with my dad.
He's a good man.
SPEAKER_02 (02:49):
Coach, uh, I I wanted I want to get a little
bit about the man and who youare.
So uh tell us a little bit aboutgrowing up and and uh about your
upbringing.
SPEAKER_01 (03:01):
Well, Tommy, I grew up on a farm in Rupert, Idaho,
and uh we had the cowboyculture, you know, where you did
things on horseback if you couldbecause you didn't want to walk,
or you got a car because youdidn't want to want to walk to
the far end of the farm to chasethe irrigation ditch, so you you
(03:24):
drove the quarter of a mile in acar.
Because walking was just we werein a cowboy culture, and it it
was great.
We played um sports.
We um we had a junior a juniorteam in the church league that
was as good as any team in thetown.
(03:44):
Met tour people and everybody,they all wanted us to play them.
So we had that that uh themementality, just youngsters just
playing on Sunday and playing onMonday, and we just played
sports.
SPEAKER_02 (04:00):
What were your what were your folks like?
Tell us about your parents.
SPEAKER_01 (04:03):
Well, my dad was an old cowboy with mentality, just
kind of reserved, you know, nottoo he he loved us all, but he
didn't display a lot ofaffection.
And um my mother just believedin us, she was positive all the
time, but she didn't complimenta lot because she thought that
(04:26):
you'd get conceited if shecomplimented you.
We talked about this a littlebit about our growing up and how
it affected us.
And the things that when we gotmarried, the things that we
wanted to do a little bitdifferent.
We wanted to support our kids ineverything they did and their
sports and compliment them andtell them they were good looking
(04:48):
even when they weren't.
SPEAKER_02 (04:50):
Clay's pretty good looking, coach.
Oh, I know.
SPEAKER_05 (04:55):
Well, maybe I'd interject a little bit too on
that topic of that theincredibly supportive parents,
always there for us in everyevent.
My mom would call the newspaperevery week and say, Did you know
my son?
Got his Eagle Scout?
And oh, here comes Marylandagain, we better put it in the
paper.
But he the story that I mean, Imay have shared a little bit of
it before, but playingbasketball and he wanted to play
(05:16):
in high school, and his dadsaid, You know, you gotta work
on the farm, we can't get you topractice.
And so he didn't even make thehigh school team, goes and tries
out at Rick's College, and thecoach says, You're pretty good.
Where'd you play high schoolball?
I didn't play, so then the coachsaid, Well, we're gonna have to
cut you.
We don't if you didn't play inhigh school.
And then that year they had anintramural game or they had an
intramural team, and the collegeteam had the they had a visiting
(05:39):
team come in that had to cancelfor weather, and so they invited
this intramural team in, and mydad lit him up and he said, I
don't care if you didn't play inhigh school, we gotta have you
on the team.
So he played years at Riggs andthen at Utah State on a on a
nationally ranked team, playedat Madison Square Garden.
And I think your parents came toat least one of your games in
college once they realized, hey,this is kind of a big deal.
SPEAKER_02 (05:59):
Hey, this guy made it.
SPEAKER_05 (06:00):
I better go to a game.
We've already hit a game.
SPEAKER_01 (06:03):
Well, the neighbors had read about my participation
on the team at Utah State, andso they dragged my parents from
Rupert to Logan to watch a game.
It just happened to be the BYUgame.
And we had had a littleconfrontation with BYU in Provo
about two weeks earlier, andthey had a grudge.
(06:24):
So when they came to Logan, theyretaliated and they ran our star
player into the end zone andinto this into the net at the
end of the court, and uh then abig fight developed.
I mean, cowboy culture.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
Cowboy culture.
But it's also, Coach, you'replaying BYU.
Come on.
Those guys are dirty.
They've they they've got dirtyin their DNA, right?
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Don't get me started.
SPEAKER_02 (06:55):
Every once in a while on this podcast, we talk
about our our our uh love forBYU or other things.
SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
Or I support them when I watch them on TV, I cheer
for BYU.
SPEAKER_02 (07:05):
But when they play Utah State, it's a different
deal, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:08):
That's right.
And when we competed againstthem, you know, we used to
compete with them on their whenthey had a freshman team and we
were Riggs College.
Yeah.
And I we just didn't like themto compete against them.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Yeah.
What was it like Madison SquareGardens?
I hadn't heard that before.
You got to play back there.
SPEAKER_01 (07:28):
Well, it was the first game of the season, and we
had been ranked uh thepreseason, the season before.
So we went out and played atMadison Square Garden and we
played against um New YorkUniversity.
And to come to find out, afterthe game, we got home and found
(07:48):
out that the game had beeninfluenced by the gamblers.
And they were supposed, we weresupposed to win by three and we
won by two.
And their star player wassupposed to influence the score
to the exact margin.
I never heard that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:05):
Gangster days.
Wow.
In New York.
SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
Well, that was the period of time when a lot of the
major universities droppedsports.
University of San Francisco,where Meryl Russell played, they
dropped.
Uh the Ivy League tampered downtheir participation in sports.
And uh a lot of schools droppedsports because of that gambling
(08:29):
scandal.
And then over the years theybrought them back.
But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (08:34):
W was that uh had you been to New York before
then?
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Oh no, that's my first time flying.
I was a country boy.
I was gonna say that's a bigtrip.
SPEAKER_02 (08:43):
We're on an airplane.
So you get on an airplane and goto New York City, that's pretty,
pretty great experience.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
Well, no, it's a funny thing.
We get off the bus for practiceat the Medicine Square Garden
the day before the game, andthere's hundreds of little
teenage girls just cheering forus.
And we're getting off the busand we say, What's going on?
And uh one of our big players,he was 6'8, uh black guy, that
(09:15):
uh he had taken ballet in thesummertime at Utah State, and
they had bussed out or flew outhundreds of little teenage girls
to take a ballet course, and hetook ballet with these girls
from the state.
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (09:31):
And they made instant fans out of it.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
Oh, yeah, and so that when he showed up, they
were did you win?
Yeah, we did.
unknown (09:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
We beat by we won by three.
SPEAKER_02 (09:44):
Oh, that's right.
You won by three, because theywere supposed to win by two.
SPEAKER_01 (09:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (09:47):
That's great.
Covered the spread, and the uhguy on the team on the other
team made the money out of it, Iguess, or something, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
Yes.
He took$700 just from thegamblers to to influence the
score.
What a story.
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Exactly.
What a story.
Um did you get into coachingright after?
Uh when when did you first getinto coaching?
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
Well, that's a long story, but I'll tell it to you.
Good.
That's what we're here for.
At Utah State, we had when I umfinished my eligibility, I just
stayed and did a uh work onmaster's degree and coached at
the freshman team.
Uh I was the assistant freshmancoach.
(10:32):
So then when we graduated, thenI was ready to go teach school
and coach, and then that's soI've been coaching since
graduate days.
Then high school, and then highschool, and then then uh
college.
SPEAKER_02 (10:49):
So it's it's Did you always know you want to be a
coach?
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
No.
No, it's just that was what Idid, and that's where I spent my
spare time, and that's where Idiscovered that I excelled a
little bit, so that's where Iwent.
SPEAKER_02 (11:05):
What one of the things about you, and I've told
Clay this before, um, I rememberas a young kid coming to campus
and meeting you, and uh thefirst time when you when you
would talk to us, you werelocked in.
And I think your ability toconnect with other people is
pretty unique.
Um the way you listen, uh, theway you look into your soul, the
(11:27):
way you connect.
I asked Clay, I said, it didthat was that like that when you
were his son?
Did he like it?
You just you have a commandingpresence in a way that I want to
listen to you, I want to followyou, I want to, I want to be
like you.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
Did you always have that way of connecting with your
No, I'm just discovering thesethings right now.
I teach Sunday school classsometimes, and I think, are you
listening?
And I have one neighbor that's agood friend, he keeps saying he
can't hear a lick.
The only person he can hear ishimself.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
And so he keeps saying, I can't hear you, I
can't hear you.
And he's talk louder, approject,move your mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
So thank you.
Yeah.
No, it was it was a unique uh uhuh like when when you ask what
why why did you make such animpact on me?
That was it.
Your ability to like reallyconnect with people, coach, was
and everyone knew that.
I mean, everyone on the team, uhCoach Anderson was our guy, um,
because of that.
(12:33):
Um I I I imagine how many yearsdid you coach?
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
How many total?
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Oh my gosh.
I I went to third grade, so Idid learn math.
Um probably twenty-five, thirty,or more than that.
It was early.
Let me add them up.
Two, two, nine, twelve, five,and one.
(13:01):
What's that?
Two, five, nine, clays, clays.
SPEAKER_05 (13:06):
25.
He he was one of the pioneeringcoaches.
He coached at at Rigby HighSchool, but then when he went to
the to Rix, it was all hands ondeck.
So you were involved in baseballand football, and he knows a lot
about every sport.
It's amazing, and he's good atevery sport.
So you were involved in baseballand football and did you do
track at all?
Swimming, tennis.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
No, I didn't do track.
SPEAKER_02 (13:28):
How many, how many I I I think 25 is probably shy.
When did you graduate?
I mean, when did you retire?
What year?
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
20 202, I think.
Yeah.
22.
SPEAKER_02 (13:43):
Yeah.
So my point is a lot of years.
If you think back of how manypeople you influence that are
like me, how many how many kidsdo you think you coached over
over your career?
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
I don't know.
When you you start talking aboutuh teams, it's a lot, and then
when you talk about um summercamps, yeah, yeah.
We'd have two or three hundredkids in summer camp every
summer.
SPEAKER_05 (14:09):
We um, you know, we took our kids to several camps
growing up, BYU and other teamcamps and individual camps, and
I don't I've never seen a betterrun camp than the Ricks College
basketball camp.
Yeah.
And back in the day, they'd run,it's pretty much eight in the
morning until nine o'clock atnight.
Hundreds of kids, yeah.
Hundreds of kids.
Yeah.
But I one of the things we movedback to Idaho nearly 20 years
(14:32):
ago, and everywhere you go, yourun into somebody, oh Coach
Anderson, I remember him, and hewas such a good man.
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
This is recorded, I love a nice.
SPEAKER_05 (14:42):
It is recorded, Coach.
Yeah, something about that timewe were walking the bridge at
Twin Falls, and that old he wasthe guy that I think you you
took the ring off.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
Oh no, that wasn't the guy.
SPEAKER_05 (14:54):
Wasn't the guy?
Because he said you he said youhad a lot of influence on me,
and I want to thank you.
And maybe you should tell himthat story though.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
But what?
That guy that took the ring off?
SPEAKER_05 (15:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:06):
This is cowboy culture.
This is back before.
We're gonna get into cowboyculture, because I'm we're gonna
get into Louis Lemour here in aminute, but tell us this story.
It's okay.
It's it's past the statute oflimitations.
SPEAKER_01 (15:18):
There's no I don't want to get sued, but I had a
kid in class.
This is high school.
I had a kid in class that uhcame to school in inebriated.
He was drunk.
And he just was sitting in theback and he would just yak, yak,
yak, yak, yak, and he'sinterrupting and moving his
chair and wrestling withclassmates.
(15:39):
And I said, um his name wasMarty.
I said, Marty, knock it off.
He can't tell me what to do.
I said, Marty, quit it.
And he said, Okay.
Acting up, so I walked back andI said, You're gonna sit by the
(16:00):
window.
And he said, I don't want him.
So I grabbed him by the collarand I said, Marty, you're gonna
sit by the window.
So I drug him up by the window.
And he was wrestling with me.
I said, Marty, knock it off.
And I gave him a little tug andit sounded like his shirt ripped
a little bit.
And then he got mad at me, hestarted cussing me, started
(16:23):
calling me names.
Will you rip my shirt?
Will you rip my shirt?
And so I said, Marty, we'regoing down to the principal's
office.
You're not gonna be in thisclassroom any longer.
Let's go.
So we're walking down the hall,and it's about 50 yards down the
hall to the principal's office.
On the way, he's uh, do I reallyneed to tell this?
SPEAKER_05 (16:46):
Yes, you need to finish it.
Come on, coach.
Come on, coach, finish drawing.
SPEAKER_01 (16:50):
So he's still cussing me.
So I have a big class ring, it'sa heavy one, and I slip it off,
put it in my pocket, and I gowhack across this.
I just smacked him.
And he looked at me and he said,Coach, I'll behave now.
So we went back to class anddidn't go to the principal's
(17:11):
office, and he was my buddy fromthat on.
About ten years later, I saw himat a ball game, and he I'm
coming out of the ball game, andhe he yelled at me, Coach,
coach, I said, Hey, how youdoing, Marty?
He says, Hey, coach, you're myfavorite teacher.
I says, Really?
He says, Yeah.
And he says, and I want to thankyou for taking that ring off.
(17:36):
He says, You're welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (17:39):
Oh, what a great story.
I can't believe he messed withyou.
Because you you were uh one ofthe things about you, coach, is
um you have a presence, you hada presence about you and still
do.
Like when you talk to people,they listen.
And I asked I asked Clay thattoo when he was on.
I said, Hey, were you ever likein and it's not intimidated, but
it was respect.
(17:59):
Is that respect for you, the wayyou carried yourself, um, the
way you talked, the way youinteracted.
So I'm surprised anybody neededto have the ring taken off
because I think the rest of uswere like, yes, coach, yes,
coach.
Maybe the uh inebriationimpaired the guy's judgment.
I don't know.
That could be.
That could be.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout uh cowboy culture.
(18:21):
Um it sounds like uh you reallyconnected with that with your
father, and that's how you grewup.
Um and then uh I remember when Iwas on the campaign trail, we
talked a little bit about yourlove of Louis Lemour and that
culture.
Talk a little bit about that,just the culture, what it means
and what it means in Americatoday.
SPEAKER_01 (18:37):
And well, we grew up in a neighborhood with the with
the farm boys, and they all hadhorses, and we didn't, but my
dad was a was a cowboy, but hedidn't when he moved to the
farm, he got horses for thekids, but he never rode the
horses again.
But he had that mentality, thatthat cowboy culture, you know,
(18:58):
where you don't you don't getaffectionate and you don't talk
about love and and and you'reyou're on your own.
You know, he was a greatathlete, but he really never um
showed us much about it's justyou're on your own, you know.
And so that's the kind of theattitudes that we grew up with.
(19:20):
Just we're on our own, we'reindependent, and then we um I
got started reading LouisLemour, and I liked the
philosophy that he expressedthrough through his novels.
And then um I started collectingthem.
(19:41):
Started collecting the LouisLemour novels and and their
quotes, and I had a book ofquotes that I sent to you.
So I think one of the thingsthat that that experience did
for me is it it developed a alove of reading.
SPEAKER_00 (19:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
So that I could I could read a while and then uh
put a book down and say, hey, Ineed to read something.
So it actually made me it madeit easier for me to read the
scriptures, for example, becauseI I love to read.
Not that I necessarily loved thescriptures at that time, but I
just loved to read.
And I'm like, okay.
And that I think it developedthat love to read by reading
(20:24):
Louis Lemour books.
SPEAKER_02 (20:26):
That's a great connection.
Uh I I know it that book means alot to me, and I have it sitting
right in my office now.
I've I keep it right there.
It's right right front andcenter, uh, just so you know
that.
But it also gives me aconnection to my grandfather,
because my my grandfather was myother hero.
And my fondest memories of him,uh, and there were there are a
lot of them, but it's it's oneparticular.
(20:48):
He had an old weeping willowtree that he that's where he put
his old he had one of those oldfull folding lawn chairs.
And um I would see him underthat tree, and I'd go sit down
and talk to him, and he was healways had a Louis Lemore book
in his hand.
And he was a he was one of thebiggest fans.
So another point of ourconnection is is I've always
(21:09):
I've always had a deep love uhand rem memories of him and
Louis Lemour, and and thenthere's Coach Wade Anderson, and
it's it's this it's a bigconnection for me.
Bigger than life for me, becauseit it it really connects the two
of you and uh two of my heroes,and and uh it reminds me of him.
Uh I don't think I've ever toldyou that, but that that's yeah,
you did.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:29):
One of the things that's surprising to me is that
if you talk about reading LouisLemour books, it's amazing how
many people say, Oh, I I readthose two.
And you had no idea that theybecause everybody kind of keeps
it quiet.
Oh, I'm reading a Louis Lemourbook, you know, and then you get
(21:49):
some um sophisticated literaturepeople, and they say, Oh, those
are like comic books.
SPEAKER_02 (21:55):
He had he had an amazing simple way of of
expressing the American West andideals and morals, and I love
them.
They may be comic, that'sprobably why I like them so
much.
Easy, easy read, easy read forme.
Yeah.
Um that's great.
Hey, uh coach, I I I just readin here um because I had you do
this.
Five kids, 23 grandkids, and uhthree great-grandchildren.
(22:19):
Talk about the importance offamily uh in your life and and
uh what what it means to havethe family you have.
I know I know a few of your kidsand I know what they think of
you too, but but what what doesfamily mean to you?
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
Family is number one to me.
You know, there's importantthings in your life.
You know, your religion, yourconvictions, family's number
one.
Yeah.
And um I we are very fortunate.
We are blessed beyond ourability to deserve it.
(22:53):
To have the family that we do.
We have five children, andthey're all just my wife would
say they're all perfect.
And they're they're great to gettogether.
I mean, it when we sit around ata family reunion in a big room
like this, and just swapstories, it's it's that's heaven
(23:16):
right there.
SPEAKER_02 (23:18):
What what's some of the secrets to having a having a
family like that, a legacy likethat?
What what what what would youwhat advice would you give our
listeners about uh theimportance of being a a father
and a grandfather and connectinguh these generations?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
Well, I think you've got to encourage them to excel
in school and their activities,support them in their games and
in whatever they're doing, theircourtship, you know, you're
interested.
And and I think um we talkedabout this a little bit.
We uh we deviate from ourculture that we grew up in, and
(23:53):
we express our love for eachother.
We're always saying love you,and we always respond by saying,
I love you more, and then thenext response is I love you
most, and and then we finish itby saying, I love you more than
most people do.
So I I it's just it's justgreat.
(24:15):
Yeah, I I go and listen to someother people talk about their
families, and I say, Oh my gosh,we're so blessed.
We are so blessed.
SPEAKER_05 (24:26):
Well, I may interject just a little bit.
You know, they they didprioritize the family and being
there for events, and I thinkthey both not felt overly
neglected, but that in theiractivities growing up, they
didn't see a lot of that, andthey they committed early on in
their marriage, we're gonnasupport our kids and we're gonna
be there for them.
I remember kids in theneighborhood would ring on my
doorbell and say, Hey, is yourdad here to throw the ball to us
(24:48):
and play catch?
And like they knew he'd he'd bearound, and when we'd go shoot
hoops, he'd pass the ball andhe'd just and he was such a good
kind of talk about his presence.
He was such a great listener.
Even early on at Rick's College,I mean they had him on advisory
boards because they knew he'd behonest, um, but that he'd listen
and he understood where peoplewere coming from.
(25:10):
I think I shared this last time,but I one thing that always hit
me hard, we were in theequipment room, kind of
lower-paying employees that werethere.
And my dad would always stop inand check in on them and call
them by name and how you doing,what's going on?
And um, and then he'd left theroom from it, and and I think it
was Neil or Milt, I can'tremember which one, and he said,
Hey, come here.
(25:30):
That's why your dad's special.
He always takes time to talk tous.
When not many people do, and uh,that was a had a big impact on
me that everybody matters, andhe's just uh he he's considerate
of other people, but family wasalways a priority, and we feel
that even now.
SPEAKER_02 (25:49):
I I think when I talk about you, you just hit on
some of the biggest things.
I I don't know that I've everbeen around a better listener
because you're around people allthe time, and when you talk to
them, sometimes you're like, arethey listening to me, right?
I always felt coach, andeveryone I know that knows you
felt like he listens to me.
And I don't know if it'ssomething, I don't know if
you're just born with that orwhat, but but when we talk to
(26:09):
you or we came to you foradvice, or we wanted whether it
was about life or I remember Iremember one time you gave me a
talk about going on a mission.
Uh, you might not even rememberthis, but I remember you sitting
me down and just I thought, man,he just listened to me.
And and then the second part ofthat, I think you just said too,
Clay, is is you always got itstraight from Coach Anderson.
So so when you would listen, andthen and then and then I think
(26:30):
the ability to to listen andthen give it give straight
advice.
I mean, it was clear, yourability to communicate, you
knew.
And I think it meant a lot,right?
Because you knew that youlistened, and then you said you
were able to connect to yourheart and say, hey, here's what
you need to do.
And and it meant a lot that way.
Uh it just is, and then lastly,um the kindness, right?
(26:51):
Just the ability to know thatyou got someone in your corner,
whether you're the guy in theequipment room or you're the
star of the team or you're theguy on the bench, um uh everyone
uh that love was genuine anddeep.
Um was it intentional?
Uh how much of this was helphelp us help us help us be
better, help us be betterpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (27:12):
One of the things that um I really appreciated at
Rick's College is that we usedto play faculty noonhoop.
If you had an hour off atlunchtime, you went to the gym
and you played Noonhoop.
It was faculty, but it was alsocustodians and bus drivers and
carpenters and administratorsand presidents.
(27:32):
And because of that atmosphere,and because we were just in the
game to play, it kind of brokedown barriers between certain
levels of administration andcustodians played with
presidents.
And it just made the atmospheretremendous.
(27:53):
We all knew each other, we allplayed new new, at least at
least from every every level.
Not everybody played, you know,because not everybody plays.
But it was great.
And um I'll tell you the story.
We were um we we played with thewith uh our president at that
(28:14):
time.
Well, Henry Iring was ourpresident, he played a little
bit, and um Bruce Hafen was thepresident and he played a little
bit, and and others played, butthen they wrote a history about
Rick's college, and they weretalking about, they were quoting
Bruce Hafen and how heappreciated playing Noonhoop and
(28:34):
getting to know everybody at alllevels, and he says, I used to
think I was a superstar becauseI'd go to Noonhoop and I could
score at any time I wanted.
And he says, in the book, hesays, and then I went to shoot
one time when Wade Andersonchecked my shot, and he says,
Then I realized the rest of themwere just letting me go.
(28:56):
And because Wade Andersonchecked my shot, I realized I
was finally accepted.
SPEAKER_03 (29:03):
And he can trust you because you weren't gonna give
him a free pass of the lane,you're gonna shut it down.
SPEAKER_02 (29:07):
You're not a guy that's gonna give people a free
pass of the lane, coach.
I know that about you.
Hey, it was uh was Elder Iring?
Was he uh could he play?
Yeah, he played he played.
Well could he play?
Did he have some did he havegame coach?
SPEAKER_01 (29:20):
Um not bad.
Not bad.
Well, he was a high schoolplayer at East High.
And you were talking about theUniversity of Utah and didn't
make it, but um he he he played.
SPEAKER_03 (29:34):
Did you check his shots?
SPEAKER_01 (29:36):
No.
When it got it there were somepeople who didn't know how to
tone it down and got toophysical.
And when they got physical withHenry, he said, This is
distracting from myspirituality.
And so he he he quit playing abit.
SPEAKER_02 (29:53):
He's a great, great man, great guy.
Um advice you would give youngleaders, young coaches, young
businesses.
Professionals, we've hit a lotof them.
Uh, listen, um, honesty, kind oftell it like it is, I'm sure is
one of them.
But what what other kindnesslooking around you?
Any any other any othersuggestions you would give us
(30:13):
that we could glean off of yourwisdom?
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
Yes.
One of the things I discovered,and I'm still discovering, is
that the more you know aboutsomething, the more you discover
that you don't know.
There's still plenty to learn.
And so when I graduated fromcollege, I thought, hey, I've
played college ball, I know alot.
(30:37):
I didn't know very much at all.
In fact, Gary Gardner, yourcoach, taught me a lot.
He was he was kind of anoffensive genius, really.
Not so much on defense, but onoffense, he he he knew schemes
and strategies that were prettygood.
(30:58):
And so I learned a lot.
I thought I knew a lot, but Ilearned a lot.
And because of that, my adviceis if you have someone that has
some experience, listen, theyknow some things that you
haven't discovered yet.
I've got kids in theneighborhood that play high
(31:20):
school ball, and I say, Oh, Icould help you with your shot.
And they say, I don't need anyhelp.
I'm good.
So my advice would be if someonewho has had some experience
offer some suggestions, put yourears on and listen.
Yeah.
That's the one thing I'velearned, and one thing that I've
(31:41):
discovered that is difficult forteenage kids to actually listen.
In fact, my own grandkids have ahard time taking my suggestions.
SPEAKER_05 (31:55):
But one thing I would say with principles and
life and parenting and leading abusiness or anything else, is to
have the security to be able tolisten and take feedback.
Um, but also I I was amazed andsaw somewhat in my life, but
especially in your grandkids'lives, you and mom are both so
(32:15):
optimistic and encouraging.
They see that they're morecheerleaders than critics.
They see things and they're sowhenever they'd come into town,
they would see all the good thatmy kids were doing.
When sometimes as a parent,you're like, Oh, I wish my son
was doing better in school andthat he was managing his
diabetes better, or this.
And they would see all thesepositives and they'd be so
encouraging of, hey, you have agreat voice, why don't you work
(32:35):
on your singing?
And but it was always uhcheerleading more than critic,
criticism.
And our kids felt that love, andwhen they feel loved, they they
respond to you know, um,encouragement, anything else.
And so I think they've I thinkas a coach, as a parent, and as
a person, he's always and my momhave always been just very
encouraging and seeing the goodin people, and it makes you want
(32:58):
to be better.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
Clay's mother is very good at that, way better
than I am.
She's she's a cheerleader.
SPEAKER_02 (33:06):
How many years have you been married now?
Coach?
SPEAKER_01 (33:11):
Sorry to get it right.
Sorry to put you on the spot.
SPEAKER_02 (33:13):
63?
63 years.
Yeah.
63 years.
Wow.
SPEAKER_05 (33:19):
He's also, you know, with listening, he's a great
storyteller.
And um and that ties into a lotof tradition and culture and
identity, too.
SPEAKER_02 (33:29):
But what um so so the other thing, even today,
when you came in today,humility.
Um uh one of the greatest menI've I mean I've ever known, and
you're just humble, coach.
You're the how important ishumility?
Because I think that's the otherthing you would preach and teach
is humility.
(33:50):
And I think your son, I think,you know, I think of Clay
Anderson, anyone knows him,there's a you know, big physical
presence, handsome guys, youknow, could be very dominant
cowboy culture, but there's ahumility about you.
How important is humility?
SPEAKER_01 (34:04):
Pretty important.
It's it is important.
Without it, what could you go onlearning?
Could you go on encouraging?
I mean, you know, if you're ifyou're overconfident and think
you have the world by the tailand know all the answers, you
don't.
SPEAKER_02 (34:25):
Makes you more teachable, right?
I mean, I think they go hand inhand, right?
I mean, one of the things uh Ithink you preach is is being
teachable and learning, and butit but it's humility has to be
part of that.
SPEAKER_05 (34:35):
Yep.
I don't know what it is as thinkabout this now.
He had a great balance, and Ithink it comes a lot from
listening and helping someoneprocess their own, you know,
feelings and thoughts.
But if I had a really big game,he wasn't an overpromoter of it.
You know, he'd hey, you didwell, and he would but if I had
a bad game, he was really goodat listening and helping me
(34:58):
process, hey, it wasn't that badas you think.
And so there was a lot ofbalance in him helping be
grounded to what reality was,not overinflating and oh, you
could do anything in the world,you could be Michael Jordan.
It was encouraging, but but youknow, in a in a balanced way
that I think was always healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (35:16):
If I listen to this podcast, I'm gonna get the big
head, I think.
Hey, coach, how how old are younow?
I'm trying to add them up, 86.
SPEAKER_02 (35:26):
86 years old, 86 years young.
You can get a big head at 86,Coach.
You can listen to these thingsbecause you've been so
influential.
SPEAKER_01 (35:34):
One of the favorite things I have to say in this
life is have you ever been 86?
And if you say no, then I get tosay, well, pay attention then.
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (35:46):
You use it a lot.
I love that.
Yeah, and then yeah, that'sgreat.
SPEAKER_01 (35:50):
It's not that I have a lot of more wisdom, it's just
that I have a differentperspective from having been
here, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:57):
Sure.
You brought up Gary Gardner, andum uh you were a good you were a
good team because I think a lotof your strengths were his weak.
He was he was he was a littlebit of a hot head coach, as you
as you know.
Uh and I I just want to bring upone story.
There's a couple great GaryGardner stories, but we were
playing North Idaho, and um itwas a close game, and you know,
(36:18):
we had some great guys on ourteam, Trent Shippen, and uh, you
know, he he was he was kind ofthe star of the team, Gerald
Reddick.
If you remember Gerald Reddickand uh housekeeper, uh we had a
great team, but we we lost atthe last second of that game,
and I think we blew a lead.
Um and they were it was a toughenvironment to play in.
We were ahead, we were gonnawin, then we lost, and we went
(36:40):
into the locker room and um hegrabbed his, he took his tie and
he threw it off, and he wasscreaming and yelling after the
game was over, and then hegrabbed his shirt.
It's one of the best stories.
I didn't know if this waspossible to, but if you pull a
dress shirt hard enough, you canpump all the buttons off it.
So I remember him standing thereand he popped his popped his
buttons off his shirt and hethrew his shirt down and then he
(37:01):
went out in the and he went outin the hallway with his
underwear and just went up anddid his did his uh so if you
remember we had that littleChristmas party when we played
down in Salt Lake and uh and wegot him a shirt with the Velcro.
He said, Coach, here's yourhere's your here, you know.
That was his Christmas gift, wasthe was the Velcro shirt.
And anyway, you were a great mypoint of bringing him up, he was
a great guy, but but you were agreat, you complimented each
(37:23):
other so well.
You probably have even betterstories, but he was uh he could
go off, right?
SPEAKER_01 (37:30):
He could.
We went out to your house,didn't we?
Yeah, yeah, I remember that.
SPEAKER_02 (37:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:33):
We went out and had lunch or something.
SPEAKER_02 (37:35):
Yeah, dinner or something.
I can't remember.
Yeah, it was great.
It was great.
SPEAKER_01 (37:38):
Taylorsville or somewhere out.
SPEAKER_02 (37:40):
Magna.
Yeah magna, yeah.
Um a lot of great memories, alot of great teams over the
years.
Uh a lot of a lot of people thatI'm sure are still in contact uh
with you, a lot of greatstories.
Have you written all this down?
SPEAKER_01 (37:56):
No.
I'm humble.
SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
Coach, we need a we need a book.
We need a collection.
We need it down because I thinkuh it just uh is amazing.
A couple other things I wantedto get to, uh uh, coach, is you
86, um uh the importance of Godin your life, the importance of
um moral codes and kind ofliving uh to your potential.
(38:20):
Uh another thing you taught me,uh, how important that is.
How important is that as you asnow you look back on your life?
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Well, as I mentioned, family's number one,
and religion is right there witha but uh it's amazing to me,
this is an amazing to me, thatpeople cannot apply logic and
reasoning and observation moreinto their life, and they cling
(38:51):
to these false narratives andconcepts.
Look around.
Who's happiest?
Who's most successful?
Who is healthier?
What are they doing?
Whatever they're doing, you needto follow a suit and do some of
the same things.
(39:12):
And um that's how I feel aboutreligion.
It's a major influence for goodin your life, and it influences
your family, your presence, andof course, the hereafter.
And you better be thinking aboutthose things with not just blind
(39:32):
faith, but with insert a littlebit of logical thinking and
reasoning power.
It's a gift that God gave usall.
SPEAKER_02 (39:44):
And and and in our experiences, we have those those
things that happen over time,and with God involved in those,
uh, it it it uh man, it just uhit'd be tough to live if you
didn't have that faith in inyour in your day-to-day and with
your family and as you raisekids and 23 grandkids and three
(40:06):
great grandkids now, right,Coach.
What are some of your memories,uh uh Clay, that that uh that
just uh I mean the good the Imean have him on, but to to have
a relationship and friendshipwith you as long as I've had I
asked you when you were on howis it being Coach Anderson's
son?
I mean it's what what a specialtime for you.
SPEAKER_05 (40:25):
It's it's been awesome.
Yeah, I the connection of uh mebeing the ball boy for years at
Rick's College with Tommy andthen and then playing at Rick's,
and so my dad being in a role asmy father and um and as a leader
in church as well at differenttimes, and then as my coach, and
um it's been a great blessingfor me.
It's been a lot of fun.
(40:46):
We we followed the same conceptwith our kids as we're raising
our best friends, and I thinkthat's what they did.
We we played a lot at the parks,and it was if we had interest in
tennis, we were at the tenniscourts, and he he also did a
good job at helping me see um mydirection in life.
I remember like junior high, Iwas a pretty good basketball
(41:08):
player and pretty competitive,but I also got into
skateboarding.
I had this skateboarding crowdof friends, and then I had my
basketball group of friends, andand he would never criticize,
but he would ask me questions,just thought-provoking questions
about hey, what did you dotonight and how did that go?
And well, where what are thosekids, you know, not like those
kids are losers, but where arethey heading in life?
(41:28):
What are they, you know, whatand it just he did it in a way
that caused me to think aboutwhere my where I was going in
life without me saying, Oh mydad's telling what I need to do
in my life.
And that's been a great thing.
We um and yeah, just the the thetraditions of of being together,
they they always seem to taketime to to be around and and be
(41:50):
with us.
And I think humor plays a lotin.
SPEAKER_02 (41:53):
I think you just said something that I I never
had I never heard it put thatway.
Um that if you're you're you'reraising your best friends, um
that's uh that that's probablyhow we all ought to look at
every day with our own kids andour own grandkids.
You're raising your bestfriends, right?
Well, and nothing's more truethan that.
I think as you get older too,coach, right?
I mean, the circle kind of getssmaller, but the family
(42:14):
connections and your bestfriends that are the ones that
are there every day in, day out,or I mean that's that's just so
critical, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
Yes, I I love that statement too.
That's exactly true.
Yeah, I think of this.
We're raising our best friends.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (42:28):
We just had our union this summer and siblings
around and grandkids, andthere's no better testament to
that than just observation,right?
You can preach things, but theysee us interacting together and
they see my parents beingencouraging in the relationship
they have with the kids, and andso that's been our motto is
we're raising our best friends,and um, it's a great it's a it's
a thing that's perpetually movesforward and and and goes on and
(42:51):
on.
SPEAKER_02 (42:51):
But well, coach, that hour went really, really
fast.
I uh I knew it would.
Um, but I I want to end with uhyou know, when Clay was on, I
said, You think your dad couldcome over again on this thing?
I this is a highlight for me.
Thank you for making the timeand being here.
SPEAKER_01 (43:07):
And well, I'm gonna leave here thinking I'm way
special.
I'm gonna I'm gonna shed myhumility.
SPEAKER_02 (43:15):
You can shed it, shed it for a while.
I I I I speak on behalf of uh Idon't know how many thousands of
people that you've influenced ina significant way.
There are people all over thiscountry like me that have on
their top of their list thatWade Anderson's their mentor,
their friend.
Their so thank you for uh livinga life that's so incredible.
(43:35):
And teaching, um, you never stopteaching.
And I hope that you know whoeverlistens to this podcast and can
understand the value oflistening, speaking with truth,
and and and and then and thenleading the way you've led, uh
living a life that that peoplewanted to be like you.
Uh, thank you, coach.
SPEAKER_01 (43:55):
Well, thank you, Tommy.
That's a great compliment.
Thank you, too.
SPEAKER_02 (44:00):
Thanks for being my dad.
Thanks, coach.
We love you so much.
Thanks for coming over and doingthis.
Thanks, everybody.
Thanks, Adam.
Today on the Ever Onward Podcast, I've been
waiting for this one for a long,long time.
Uh, if you told me uh to listthe top five mentors in my life
I've ever had, uh Coach WadeAnderson would be uh right at
the top of that list.
Uh many, many, many years ago uhwhen I was playing college
basketball, Coach Anderson wasmy coach.
Um I've stayed in contact withhim.
(00:22):
Uh, he is a wonderful humanbeing.
There's there's one of one ofWade Anderson.
Uh God broke the mold when he uhuh made Wade.
Um I love this guy with all myheart.
Uh his son Clay Anderson's beenon before.
He's uh a real estateprofessional here in the valley
and an unbelievable guy.
How can you not be when you'recoach Wade's son?
Uh but they're uh both on today.
(00:43):
I can't wait to catch up withone of my mentors, uh, a legend,
a hero, and friend, uh coachWade Anderson.
Coach Wade Anderson, this isawesome.
(01:04):
We've been talking about this,Clay, for a while.
When you came in, you said, Whyme?
That's the easiest answer I'veever given in my life.
I I am so excited.
You uh I was telling I hadanother guest on earlier today,
uh Mike Valentine.
Oh and I said, if you had tostack up top five people in my
life that I look up to, you'reyou're up there, and I love you
(01:27):
so much.
I learned so much from you.
So that's why.
And we've stayed in good touch.
And so I told Clay, I said, wegot to get Coach Anderson on
here to tell some stories andimpart some wisdom.
SPEAKER_01 (01:39):
Well, it's a little lofty on this pedestal you've
placed me on.
I might get dizzy.
SPEAKER_02 (01:45):
Well, it's all true, it's all true.
I uh uh so I was at Rick'sCollege a long, long time ago uh
and played basketball there, andyou were my coach then.
And um, from the moment I metyou, you just have a way about
you and a way you carriedyourself that was it was uh it
was something else, and uh hadan immediate connection with
(02:06):
you.
Um you taught me a lot.
You taught me taught me a lotabout growing up, how to be a
man, how to be accountable.
Um, and I stayed in touch withyou the whole time.
And uh uh you probably don'tremember a few of the notes
you've sent me over the years ortexts you've sent me.
I've kept them all, or the LouisLamore book you sent me.
(02:26):
Uh so I can't wait for thistoday, coach.
Good.
It'll be fun.
Uh and I got Clay Anderson here.
Clay's been on the podcastbefore, he's one of our local uh
real estate uh professionals,uh, Birkadia now.
Um he's the multifamily expertfor Idaho and the region.
So, Clay, it's nice to have youback.
SPEAKER_04 (02:45):
Glad to be here.
I'm glad to be here with my dad.
He's a good man.
SPEAKER_02 (02:49):
Coach, uh, I I wanted I want to get a little
bit about the man and who youare.
So uh tell us a little bit aboutgrowing up and and uh about your
upbringing.
SPEAKER_01 (03:01):
Well, Tommy, I grew up on a farm in Rupert, Idaho,
and uh we had the cowboyculture, you know, where you did
things on horseback if you couldbecause you didn't want to walk,
or you got a car because youdidn't want to want to walk to
the far end of the farm to chasethe irrigation ditch, so you you
(03:24):
drove the quarter of a mile in acar.
Because walking was just we werein a cowboy culture, and it it
was great.
We played um sports.
We um we had a junior a juniorteam in the church league that
was as good as any team in thetown.
(03:44):
Met tour people and everybody,they all wanted us to play them.
So we had that that uh themementality, just youngsters just
playing on Sunday and playing onMonday, and we just played
sports.
SPEAKER_02 (04:00):
What were your what were your folks like?
Tell us about your parents.
SPEAKER_01 (04:03):
Well, my dad was an old cowboy with mentality, just
kind of reserved, you know, nottoo he he loved us all, but he
didn't display a lot ofaffection.
And um my mother just believedin us, she was positive all the
time, but she didn't complimenta lot because she thought that
(04:26):
you'd get conceited if shecomplimented you.
We talked about this a littlebit about our growing up and how
it affected us.
And the things that when we gotmarried, the things that we
wanted to do a little bitdifferent.
We wanted to support our kids ineverything they did and their
sports and compliment them andtell them they were good looking
(04:48):
even when they weren't.
SPEAKER_02 (04:50):
Clay's pretty good looking, coach.
Oh, I know.
SPEAKER_05 (04:55):
Well, maybe I'd interject a little bit too on
that topic of that theincredibly supportive parents,
always there for us in everyevent.
My mom would call the newspaperevery week and say, Did you know
my son?
Got his Eagle Scout?
And oh, here comes Marylandagain, we better put it in the
paper.
But he the story that I mean, Imay have shared a little bit of
it before, but playingbasketball and he wanted to play
(05:16):
in high school, and his dadsaid, You know, you gotta work
on the farm, we can't get you topractice.
And so he didn't even make thehigh school team, goes and tries
out at Rick's College, and thecoach says, You're pretty good.
Where'd you play high schoolball?
I didn't play, so then the coachsaid, Well, we're gonna have to
cut you.
We don't if you didn't play inhigh school.
And then that year they had anintramural game or they had an
intramural team, and the collegeteam had the they had a visiting
(05:39):
team come in that had to cancelfor weather, and so they invited
this intramural team in, and mydad lit him up and he said, I
don't care if you didn't play inhigh school, we gotta have you
on the team.
So he played years at Riggs andthen at Utah State on a on a
nationally ranked team, playedat Madison Square Garden.
And I think your parents came toat least one of your games in
college once they realized, hey,this is kind of a big deal.
SPEAKER_02 (05:59):
Hey, this guy made it.
SPEAKER_05 (06:00):
I better go to a game.
We've already hit a game.
SPEAKER_01 (06:03):
Well, the neighbors had read about my participation
on the team at Utah State, andso they dragged my parents from
Rupert to Logan to watch a game.
It just happened to be the BYUgame.
And we had had a littleconfrontation with BYU in Provo
about two weeks earlier, andthey had a grudge.
(06:24):
So when they came to Logan, theyretaliated and they ran our star
player into the end zone andinto this into the net at the
end of the court, and uh then abig fight developed.
I mean, cowboy culture.
SPEAKER_02 (06:42):
Cowboy culture.
But it's also, Coach, you'replaying BYU.
Come on.
Those guys are dirty.
They've they they've got dirtyin their DNA, right?
SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Don't get me started.
SPEAKER_02 (06:55):
Every once in a while on this podcast, we talk
about our our our uh love forBYU or other things.
SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
Or I support them when I watch them on TV, I cheer
for BYU.
SPEAKER_02 (07:05):
But when they play Utah State, it's a different
deal, right?
SPEAKER_01 (07:08):
That's right.
And when we competed againstthem, you know, we used to
compete with them on their whenthey had a freshman team and we
were Riggs College.
Yeah.
And I we just didn't like themto compete against them.
SPEAKER_02 (07:23):
Yeah.
What was it like Madison SquareGardens?
I hadn't heard that before.
You got to play back there.
SPEAKER_01 (07:28):
Well, it was the first game of the season, and we
had been ranked uh thepreseason, the season before.
So we went out and played atMadison Square Garden and we
played against um New YorkUniversity.
And to come to find out, afterthe game, we got home and found
(07:48):
out that the game had beeninfluenced by the gamblers.
And they were supposed, we weresupposed to win by three and we
won by two.
And their star player wassupposed to influence the score
to the exact margin.
I never heard that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:05):
Gangster days.
Wow.
In New York.
SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
Well, that was the period of time when a lot of the
major universities droppedsports.
University of San Francisco,where Meryl Russell played, they
dropped.
Uh the Ivy League tampered downtheir participation in sports.
And uh a lot of schools droppedsports because of that gambling
(08:29):
scandal.
And then over the years theybrought them back.
But uh yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (08:34):
W was that uh had you been to New York before
then?
SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Oh no, that's my first time flying.
I was a country boy.
I was gonna say that's a bigtrip.
SPEAKER_02 (08:43):
We're on an airplane.
So you get on an airplane and goto New York City, that's pretty,
pretty great experience.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
Well, no, it's a funny thing.
We get off the bus for practiceat the Medicine Square Garden
the day before the game, andthere's hundreds of little
teenage girls just cheering forus.
And we're getting off the busand we say, What's going on?
And uh one of our big players,he was 6'8, uh black guy, that
(09:15):
uh he had taken ballet in thesummertime at Utah State, and
they had bussed out or flew outhundreds of little teenage girls
to take a ballet course, and hetook ballet with these girls
from the state.
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_02 (09:31):
And they made instant fans out of it.
SPEAKER_01 (09:33):
Oh, yeah, and so that when he showed up, they
were did you win?
Yeah, we did.
unknown (09:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
We beat by we won by three.
SPEAKER_02 (09:44):
Oh, that's right.
You won by three, because theywere supposed to win by two.
SPEAKER_01 (09:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (09:47):
That's great.
Covered the spread, and the uhguy on the team on the other
team made the money out of it, Iguess, or something, huh?
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
Yes.
He took$700 just from thegamblers to to influence the
score.
What a story.
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Exactly.
What a story.
Um did you get into coachingright after?
Uh when when did you first getinto coaching?
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
Well, that's a long story, but I'll tell it to you.
Good.
That's what we're here for.
At Utah State, we had when I umfinished my eligibility, I just
stayed and did a uh work onmaster's degree and coached at
the freshman team.
Uh I was the assistant freshmancoach.
(10:32):
So then when we graduated, thenI was ready to go teach school
and coach, and then that's soI've been coaching since
graduate days.
Then high school, and then highschool, and then then uh
college.
SPEAKER_02 (10:49):
So it's it's Did you always know you want to be a
coach?
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
No.
No, it's just that was what Idid, and that's where I spent my
spare time, and that's where Idiscovered that I excelled a
little bit, so that's where Iwent.
SPEAKER_02 (11:05):
What one of the things about you, and I've told
Clay this before, um, I rememberas a young kid coming to campus
and meeting you, and uh thefirst time when you when you
would talk to us, you werelocked in.
And I think your ability toconnect with other people is
pretty unique.
Um the way you listen, uh, theway you look into your soul, the
(11:27):
way you connect.
I asked Clay, I said, it didthat was that like that when you
were his son?
Did he like it?
You just you have a commandingpresence in a way that I want to
listen to you, I want to followyou, I want to, I want to be
like you.
SPEAKER_01 (11:39):
Did you always have that way of connecting with your
No, I'm just discovering thesethings right now.
I teach Sunday school classsometimes, and I think, are you
listening?
And I have one neighbor that's agood friend, he keeps saying he
can't hear a lick.
The only person he can hear ishimself.
SPEAKER_00 (12:01):
And so he keeps saying, I can't hear you, I
can't hear you.
And he's talk louder, approject,move your mouth.
SPEAKER_02 (12:12):
So thank you.
Yeah.
No, it was it was a unique uh uhuh like when when you ask what
why why did you make such animpact on me?
That was it.
Your ability to like reallyconnect with people, coach, was
and everyone knew that.
I mean, everyone on the team, uhCoach Anderson was our guy, um,
because of that.
(12:33):
Um I I I imagine how many yearsdid you coach?
SPEAKER_01 (12:38):
How many total?
SPEAKER_02 (12:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:40):
Oh my gosh.
I I went to third grade, so Idid learn math.
Um probably twenty-five, thirty,or more than that.
It was early.
Let me add them up.
Two, two, nine, twelve, five,and one.
(13:01):
What's that?
Two, five, nine, clays, clays.
SPEAKER_05 (13:06):
25.
He he was one of the pioneeringcoaches.
He coached at at Rigby HighSchool, but then when he went to
the to Rix, it was all hands ondeck.
So you were involved in baseballand football, and he knows a lot
about every sport.
It's amazing, and he's good atevery sport.
So you were involved in baseballand football and did you do
track at all?
Swimming, tennis.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
No, I didn't do track.
SPEAKER_02 (13:28):
How many, how many I I I think 25 is probably shy.
When did you graduate?
I mean, when did you retire?
What year?
SPEAKER_01 (13:37):
20 202, I think.
Yeah.
22.
SPEAKER_02 (13:43):
Yeah.
So my point is a lot of years.
If you think back of how manypeople you influence that are
like me, how many how many kidsdo you think you coached over
over your career?
SPEAKER_01 (13:56):
I don't know.
When you you start talking aboutuh teams, it's a lot, and then
when you talk about um summercamps, yeah, yeah.
We'd have two or three hundredkids in summer camp every
summer.
SPEAKER_05 (14:09):
We um, you know, we took our kids to several camps
growing up, BYU and other teamcamps and individual camps, and
I don't I've never seen a betterrun camp than the Ricks College
basketball camp.
Yeah.
And back in the day, they'd run,it's pretty much eight in the
morning until nine o'clock atnight.
Hundreds of kids, yeah.
Hundreds of kids.
Yeah.
But I one of the things we movedback to Idaho nearly 20 years
(14:32):
ago, and everywhere you go, yourun into somebody, oh Coach
Anderson, I remember him, and hewas such a good man.
SPEAKER_01 (14:40):
This is recorded, I love a nice.
SPEAKER_05 (14:42):
It is recorded, Coach.
Yeah, something about that timewe were walking the bridge at
Twin Falls, and that old he wasthe guy that I think you you
took the ring off.
SPEAKER_01 (14:53):
Oh no, that wasn't the guy.
SPEAKER_05 (14:54):
Wasn't the guy?
Because he said you he said youhad a lot of influence on me,
and I want to thank you.
And maybe you should tell himthat story though.
SPEAKER_01 (15:02):
But what?
That guy that took the ring off?
SPEAKER_05 (15:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (15:06):
This is cowboy culture.
This is back before.
We're gonna get into cowboyculture, because I'm we're gonna
get into Louis Lemour here in aminute, but tell us this story.
It's okay.
It's it's past the statute oflimitations.
SPEAKER_01 (15:18):
There's no I don't want to get sued, but I had a
kid in class.
This is high school.
I had a kid in class that uhcame to school in inebriated.
He was drunk.
And he just was sitting in theback and he would just yak, yak,
yak, yak, yak, and he'sinterrupting and moving his
chair and wrestling withclassmates.
(15:39):
And I said, um his name wasMarty.
I said, Marty, knock it off.
He can't tell me what to do.
I said, Marty, quit it.
And he said, Okay.
Acting up, so I walked back andI said, You're gonna sit by the
(16:00):
window.
And he said, I don't want him.
So I grabbed him by the collarand I said, Marty, you're gonna
sit by the window.
So I drug him up by the window.
And he was wrestling with me.
I said, Marty, knock it off.
And I gave him a little tug andit sounded like his shirt ripped
a little bit.
And then he got mad at me, hestarted cussing me, started
(16:23):
calling me names.
Will you rip my shirt?
Will you rip my shirt?
And so I said, Marty, we'regoing down to the principal's
office.
You're not gonna be in thisclassroom any longer.
Let's go.
So we're walking down the hall,and it's about 50 yards down the
hall to the principal's office.
On the way, he's uh, do I reallyneed to tell this?
SPEAKER_05 (16:46):
Yes, you need to finish it.
Come on, coach.
Come on, coach, finish drawing.
SPEAKER_01 (16:50):
So he's still cussing me.
So I have a big class ring, it'sa heavy one, and I slip it off,
put it in my pocket, and I gowhack across this.
I just smacked him.
And he looked at me and he said,Coach, I'll behave now.
So we went back to class anddidn't go to the principal's
(17:11):
office, and he was my buddy fromthat on.
About ten years later, I saw himat a ball game, and he I'm
coming out of the ball game, andhe he yelled at me, Coach,
coach, I said, Hey, how youdoing, Marty?
He says, Hey, coach, you're myfavorite teacher.
I says, Really?
He says, Yeah.
And he says, and I want to thankyou for taking that ring off.
(17:36):
He says, You're welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (17:39):
Oh, what a great story.
I can't believe he messed withyou.
Because you you were uh one ofthe things about you, coach, is
um you have a presence, you hada presence about you and still
do.
Like when you talk to people,they listen.
And I asked I asked Clay thattoo when he was on.
I said, Hey, were you ever likein and it's not intimidated, but
it was respect.
(17:59):
Is that respect for you, the wayyou carried yourself, um, the
way you talked, the way youinteracted.
So I'm surprised anybody neededto have the ring taken off
because I think the rest of uswere like, yes, coach, yes,
coach.
Maybe the uh inebriationimpaired the guy's judgment.
I don't know.
That could be.
That could be.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout uh cowboy culture.
(18:21):
Um it sounds like uh you reallyconnected with that with your
father, and that's how you grewup.
Um and then uh I remember when Iwas on the campaign trail, we
talked a little bit about yourlove of Louis Lemour and that
culture.
Talk a little bit about that,just the culture, what it means
and what it means in Americatoday.
SPEAKER_01 (18:37):
And well, we grew up in a neighborhood with the with
the farm boys, and they all hadhorses, and we didn't, but my
dad was a was a cowboy, but hedidn't when he moved to the
farm, he got horses for thekids, but he never rode the
horses again.
But he had that mentality, thatthat cowboy culture, you know,
(18:58):
where you don't you don't getaffectionate and you don't talk
about love and and and you'reyou're on your own.
You know, he was a greatathlete, but he really never um
showed us much about it's justyou're on your own, you know.
And so that's the kind of theattitudes that we grew up with.
(19:20):
Just we're on our own, we'reindependent, and then we um I
got started reading LouisLemour, and I liked the
philosophy that he expressedthrough through his novels.
And then um I started collectingthem.
(19:41):
Started collecting the LouisLemour novels and and their
quotes, and I had a book ofquotes that I sent to you.
So I think one of the thingsthat that that experience did
for me is it it developed a alove of reading.
SPEAKER_00 (19:59):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
So that I could I could read a while and then uh
put a book down and say, hey, Ineed to read something.
So it actually made me it madeit easier for me to read the
scriptures, for example, becauseI I love to read.
Not that I necessarily loved thescriptures at that time, but I
just loved to read.
And I'm like, okay.
And that I think it developedthat love to read by reading
(20:24):
Louis Lemour books.
SPEAKER_02 (20:26):
That's a great connection.
Uh I I know it that book means alot to me, and I have it sitting
right in my office now.
I've I keep it right there.
It's right right front andcenter, uh, just so you know
that.
But it also gives me aconnection to my grandfather,
because my my grandfather was myother hero.
And my fondest memories of him,uh, and there were there are a
lot of them, but it's it's oneparticular.
(20:48):
He had an old weeping willowtree that he that's where he put
his old he had one of those oldfull folding lawn chairs.
And um I would see him underthat tree, and I'd go sit down
and talk to him, and he was healways had a Louis Lemore book
in his hand.
And he was a he was one of thebiggest fans.
So another point of ourconnection is is I've always
(21:09):
I've always had a deep love uhand rem memories of him and
Louis Lemour, and and thenthere's Coach Wade Anderson, and
it's it's this it's a bigconnection for me.
Bigger than life for me, becauseit it it really connects the two
of you and uh two of my heroes,and and uh it reminds me of him.
Uh I don't think I've ever toldyou that, but that that's yeah,
you did.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:29):
One of the things that's surprising to me is that
if you talk about reading LouisLemour books, it's amazing how
many people say, Oh, I I readthose two.
And you had no idea that theybecause everybody kind of keeps
it quiet.
Oh, I'm reading a Louis Lemourbook, you know, and then you get
(21:49):
some um sophisticated literaturepeople, and they say, Oh, those
are like comic books.
SPEAKER_02 (21:55):
He had he had an amazing simple way of of
expressing the American West andideals and morals, and I love
them.
They may be comic, that'sprobably why I like them so
much.
Easy, easy read, easy read forme.
Yeah.
Um that's great.
Hey, uh coach, I I I just readin here um because I had you do
this.
Five kids, 23 grandkids, and uhthree great-grandchildren.
(22:19):
Talk about the importance offamily uh in your life and and
uh what what it means to havethe family you have.
I know I know a few of your kidsand I know what they think of
you too, but but what what doesfamily mean to you?
SPEAKER_01 (22:32):
Family is number one to me.
You know, there's importantthings in your life.
You know, your religion, yourconvictions, family's number
one.
Yeah.
And um I we are very fortunate.
We are blessed beyond ourability to deserve it.
(22:53):
To have the family that we do.
We have five children, andthey're all just my wife would
say they're all perfect.
And they're they're great to gettogether.
I mean, it when we sit around ata family reunion in a big room
like this, and just swapstories, it's it's that's heaven
(23:16):
right there.
SPEAKER_02 (23:18):
What what's some of the secrets to having a having a
family like that, a legacy likethat?
What what what what would youwhat advice would you give our
listeners about uh theimportance of being a a father
and a grandfather and connectinguh these generations?
SPEAKER_01 (23:32):
Well, I think you've got to encourage them to excel
in school and their activities,support them in their games and
in whatever they're doing, theircourtship, you know, you're
interested.
And and I think um we talkedabout this a little bit.
We uh we deviate from ourculture that we grew up in, and
(23:53):
we express our love for eachother.
We're always saying love you,and we always respond by saying,
I love you more, and then thenext response is I love you
most, and and then we finish itby saying, I love you more than
most people do.
So I I it's just it's justgreat.
(24:15):
Yeah, I I go and listen to someother people talk about their
families, and I say, Oh my gosh,we're so blessed.
We are so blessed.
SPEAKER_05 (24:26):
Well, I may interject just a little bit.
You know, they they didprioritize the family and being
there for events, and I thinkthey both not felt overly
neglected, but that in theiractivities growing up, they
didn't see a lot of that, andthey they committed early on in
their marriage, we're gonnasupport our kids and we're gonna
be there for them.
I remember kids in theneighborhood would ring on my
doorbell and say, Hey, is yourdad here to throw the ball to us
(24:48):
and play catch?
And like they knew he'd he'd bearound, and when we'd go shoot
hoops, he'd pass the ball andhe'd just and he was such a good
kind of talk about his presence.
He was such a great listener.
Even early on at Rick's College,I mean they had him on advisory
boards because they knew he'd behonest, um, but that he'd listen
and he understood where peoplewere coming from.
(25:10):
I think I shared this last time,but I one thing that always hit
me hard, we were in theequipment room, kind of
lower-paying employees that werethere.
And my dad would always stop inand check in on them and call
them by name and how you doing,what's going on?
And um, and then he'd left theroom from it, and and I think it
was Neil or Milt, I can'tremember which one, and he said,
Hey, come here.
(25:30):
That's why your dad's special.
He always takes time to talk tous.
When not many people do, and uh,that was a had a big impact on
me that everybody matters, andhe's just uh he he's considerate
of other people, but family wasalways a priority, and we feel
that even now.
SPEAKER_02 (25:49):
I I think when I talk about you, you just hit on
some of the biggest things.
I I don't know that I've everbeen around a better listener
because you're around people allthe time, and when you talk to
them, sometimes you're like, arethey listening to me, right?
I always felt coach, andeveryone I know that knows you
felt like he listens to me.
And I don't know if it'ssomething, I don't know if
you're just born with that orwhat, but but when we talk to
(26:09):
you or we came to you foradvice, or we wanted whether it
was about life or I remember Iremember one time you gave me a
talk about going on a mission.
Uh, you might not even rememberthis, but I remember you sitting
me down and just I thought, man,he just listened to me.
And and then the second part ofthat, I think you just said too,
Clay, is is you always got itstraight from Coach Anderson.
So so when you would listen, andthen and then and then I think
(26:30):
the ability to to listen andthen give it give straight
advice.
I mean, it was clear, yourability to communicate, you
knew.
And I think it meant a lot,right?
Because you knew that youlistened, and then you said you
were able to connect to yourheart and say, hey, here's what
you need to do.
And and it meant a lot that way.
Uh it just is, and then lastly,um the kindness, right?
(26:51):
Just the ability to know thatyou got someone in your corner,
whether you're the guy in theequipment room or you're the
star of the team or you're theguy on the bench, um uh everyone
uh that love was genuine anddeep.
Um was it intentional?
Uh how much of this was helphelp us help us help us be
better, help us be betterpeople.
SPEAKER_01 (27:12):
One of the things that um I really appreciated at
Rick's College is that we usedto play faculty noonhoop.
If you had an hour off atlunchtime, you went to the gym
and you played Noonhoop.
It was faculty, but it was alsocustodians and bus drivers and
carpenters and administratorsand presidents.
(27:32):
And because of that atmosphere,and because we were just in the
game to play, it kind of brokedown barriers between certain
levels of administration andcustodians played with
presidents.
And it just made the atmospheretremendous.
(27:53):
We all knew each other, we allplayed new new, at least at
least from every every level.
Not everybody played, you know,because not everybody plays.
But it was great.
And um I'll tell you the story.
We were um we we played with thewith uh our president at that
(28:14):
time.
Well, Henry Iring was ourpresident, he played a little
bit, and um Bruce Hafen was thepresident and he played a little
bit, and and others played, butthen they wrote a history about
Rick's college, and they weretalking about, they were quoting
Bruce Hafen and how heappreciated playing Noonhoop and
(28:34):
getting to know everybody at alllevels, and he says, I used to
think I was a superstar becauseI'd go to Noonhoop and I could
score at any time I wanted.
And he says, in the book, hesays, and then I went to shoot
one time when Wade Andersonchecked my shot, and he says,
Then I realized the rest of themwere just letting me go.
(28:56):
And because Wade Andersonchecked my shot, I realized I
was finally accepted.
SPEAKER_03 (29:03):
And he can trust you because you weren't gonna give
him a free pass of the lane,you're gonna shut it down.
SPEAKER_02 (29:07):
You're not a guy that's gonna give people a free
pass of the lane, coach.
I know that about you.
Hey, it was uh was Elder Iring?
Was he uh could he play?
Yeah, he played he played.
Well could he play?
Did he have some did he havegame coach?
SPEAKER_01 (29:20):
Um not bad.
Not bad.
Well, he was a high schoolplayer at East High.
And you were talking about theUniversity of Utah and didn't
make it, but um he he he played.
SPEAKER_03 (29:34):
Did you check his shots?
SPEAKER_01 (29:36):
No.
When it got it there were somepeople who didn't know how to
tone it down and got toophysical.
And when they got physical withHenry, he said, This is
distracting from myspirituality.
And so he he he quit playing abit.
SPEAKER_02 (29:53):
He's a great, great man, great guy.
Um advice you would give youngleaders, young coaches, young
businesses.
Professionals, we've hit a lotof them.
Uh, listen, um, honesty, kind oftell it like it is, I'm sure is
one of them.
But what what other kindnesslooking around you?
Any any other any othersuggestions you would give us
(30:13):
that we could glean off of yourwisdom?
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
Yes.
One of the things I discovered,and I'm still discovering, is
that the more you know aboutsomething, the more you discover
that you don't know.
There's still plenty to learn.
And so when I graduated fromcollege, I thought, hey, I've
played college ball, I know alot.
(30:37):
I didn't know very much at all.
In fact, Gary Gardner, yourcoach, taught me a lot.
He was he was kind of anoffensive genius, really.
Not so much on defense, but onoffense, he he he knew schemes
and strategies that were prettygood.
(30:58):
And so I learned a lot.
I thought I knew a lot, but Ilearned a lot.
And because of that, my adviceis if you have someone that has
some experience, listen, theyknow some things that you
haven't discovered yet.
I've got kids in theneighborhood that play high
(31:20):
school ball, and I say, Oh, Icould help you with your shot.
And they say, I don't need anyhelp.
I'm good.
So my advice would be if someonewho has had some experience
offer some suggestions, put yourears on and listen.
Yeah.
That's the one thing I'velearned, and one thing that I've
(31:41):
discovered that is difficult forteenage kids to actually listen.
In fact, my own grandkids have ahard time taking my suggestions.
SPEAKER_05 (31:55):
But one thing I would say with principles and
life and parenting and leading abusiness or anything else, is to
have the security to be able tolisten and take feedback.
Um, but also I I was amazed andsaw somewhat in my life, but
especially in your grandkids'lives, you and mom are both so
(32:15):
optimistic and encouraging.
They see that they're morecheerleaders than critics.
They see things and they're sowhenever they'd come into town,
they would see all the good thatmy kids were doing.
When sometimes as a parent,you're like, Oh, I wish my son
was doing better in school andthat he was managing his
diabetes better, or this.
And they would see all thesepositives and they'd be so
encouraging of, hey, you have agreat voice, why don't you work
(32:35):
on your singing?
And but it was always uhcheerleading more than critic,
criticism.
And our kids felt that love, andwhen they feel loved, they they
respond to you know, um,encouragement, anything else.
And so I think they've I thinkas a coach, as a parent, and as
a person, he's always and my momhave always been just very
encouraging and seeing the goodin people, and it makes you want
(32:58):
to be better.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
Clay's mother is very good at that, way better
than I am.
She's she's a cheerleader.
SPEAKER_02 (33:06):
How many years have you been married now?
Coach?
SPEAKER_01 (33:11):
Sorry to get it right.
Sorry to put you on the spot.
SPEAKER_02 (33:13):
63?
63 years.
Yeah.
63 years.
Wow.
SPEAKER_05 (33:19):
He's also, you know, with listening, he's a great
storyteller.
And um and that ties into a lotof tradition and culture and
identity, too.
SPEAKER_02 (33:29):
But what um so so the other thing, even today,
when you came in today,humility.
Um uh one of the greatest menI've I mean I've ever known, and
you're just humble, coach.
You're the how important ishumility?
Because I think that's the otherthing you would preach and teach
is humility.
(33:50):
And I think your son, I think,you know, I think of Clay
Anderson, anyone knows him,there's a you know, big physical
presence, handsome guys, youknow, could be very dominant
cowboy culture, but there's ahumility about you.
How important is humility?
SPEAKER_01 (34:04):
Pretty important.
It's it is important.
Without it, what could you go onlearning?
Could you go on encouraging?
I mean, you know, if you're ifyou're overconfident and think
you have the world by the tailand know all the answers, you
don't.
SPEAKER_02 (34:25):
Makes you more teachable, right?
I mean, I think they go hand inhand, right?
I mean, one of the things uh Ithink you preach is is being
teachable and learning, and butit but it's humility has to be
part of that.
SPEAKER_05 (34:35):
Yep.
I don't know what it is as thinkabout this now.
He had a great balance, and Ithink it comes a lot from
listening and helping someoneprocess their own, you know,
feelings and thoughts.
But if I had a really big game,he wasn't an overpromoter of it.
You know, he'd hey, you didwell, and he would but if I had
a bad game, he was really goodat listening and helping me
(34:58):
process, hey, it wasn't that badas you think.
And so there was a lot ofbalance in him helping be
grounded to what reality was,not overinflating and oh, you
could do anything in the world,you could be Michael Jordan.
It was encouraging, but but youknow, in a in a balanced way
that I think was always healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (35:16):
If I listen to this podcast, I'm gonna get the big
head, I think.
Hey, coach, how how old are younow?
I'm trying to add them up, 86.
SPEAKER_02 (35:26):
86 years old, 86 years young.
You can get a big head at 86,Coach.
You can listen to these thingsbecause you've been so
influential.
SPEAKER_01 (35:34):
One of the favorite things I have to say in this
life is have you ever been 86?
And if you say no, then I get tosay, well, pay attention then.
I love that.
SPEAKER_02 (35:46):
You use it a lot.
I love that.
Yeah, and then yeah, that'sgreat.
SPEAKER_01 (35:50):
It's not that I have a lot of more wisdom, it's just
that I have a differentperspective from having been
here, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:57):
Sure.
You brought up Gary Gardner, andum uh you were a good you were a
good team because I think a lotof your strengths were his weak.
He was he was he was a littlebit of a hot head coach, as you
as you know.
Uh and I I just want to bring upone story.
There's a couple great GaryGardner stories, but we were
playing North Idaho, and um itwas a close game, and you know,
(36:18):
we had some great guys on ourteam, Trent Shippen, and uh, you
know, he he was he was kind ofthe star of the team, Gerald
Reddick.
If you remember Gerald Reddickand uh housekeeper, uh we had a
great team, but we we lost atthe last second of that game,
and I think we blew a lead.
Um and they were it was a toughenvironment to play in.
We were ahead, we were gonnawin, then we lost, and we went
(36:40):
into the locker room and um hegrabbed his, he took his tie and
he threw it off, and he wasscreaming and yelling after the
game was over, and then hegrabbed his shirt.
It's one of the best stories.
I didn't know if this waspossible to, but if you pull a
dress shirt hard enough, you canpump all the buttons off it.
So I remember him standing thereand he popped his popped his
buttons off his shirt and hethrew his shirt down and then he
(37:01):
went out in the and he went outin the hallway with his
underwear and just went up anddid his did his uh so if you
remember we had that littleChristmas party when we played
down in Salt Lake and uh and wegot him a shirt with the Velcro.
He said, Coach, here's yourhere's your here, you know.
That was his Christmas gift, wasthe was the Velcro shirt.
And anyway, you were a great mypoint of bringing him up, he was
a great guy, but but you were agreat, you complimented each
(37:23):
other so well.
You probably have even betterstories, but he was uh he could
go off, right?
SPEAKER_01 (37:30):
He could.
We went out to your house,didn't we?
Yeah, yeah, I remember that.
SPEAKER_02 (37:33):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:33):
We went out and had lunch or something.
SPEAKER_02 (37:35):
Yeah, dinner or something.
I can't remember.
Yeah, it was great.
It was great.
SPEAKER_01 (37:38):
Taylorsville or somewhere out.
SPEAKER_02 (37:40):
Magna.
Yeah magna, yeah.
Um a lot of great memories, alot of great teams over the
years.
Uh a lot of a lot of people thatI'm sure are still in contact uh
with you, a lot of greatstories.
Have you written all this down?
SPEAKER_01 (37:56):
No.
I'm humble.
SPEAKER_02 (37:59):
Coach, we need a we need a book.
We need a collection.
We need it down because I thinkuh it just uh is amazing.
A couple other things I wantedto get to, uh uh, coach, is you
86, um uh the importance of Godin your life, the importance of
um moral codes and kind ofliving uh to your potential.
(38:20):
Uh another thing you taught me,uh, how important that is.
How important is that as you asnow you look back on your life?
SPEAKER_01 (38:29):
Well, as I mentioned, family's number one,
and religion is right there witha but uh it's amazing to me,
this is an amazing to me, thatpeople cannot apply logic and
reasoning and observation moreinto their life, and they cling
(38:51):
to these false narratives andconcepts.
Look around.
Who's happiest?
Who's most successful?
Who is healthier?
What are they doing?
Whatever they're doing, you needto follow a suit and do some of
the same things.
(39:12):
And um that's how I feel aboutreligion.
It's a major influence for goodin your life, and it influences
your family, your presence, andof course, the hereafter.
And you better be thinking aboutthose things with not just blind
(39:32):
faith, but with insert a littlebit of logical thinking and
reasoning power.
It's a gift that God gave usall.
SPEAKER_02 (39:44):
And and and in our experiences, we have those those
things that happen over time,and with God involved in those,
uh, it it it uh man, it just uhit'd be tough to live if you
didn't have that faith in inyour in your day-to-day and with
your family and as you raisekids and 23 grandkids and three
(40:06):
great grandkids now, right,Coach.
What are some of your memories,uh uh Clay, that that uh that
just uh I mean the good the Imean have him on, but to to have
a relationship and friendshipwith you as long as I've had I
asked you when you were on howis it being Coach Anderson's
son?
I mean it's what what a specialtime for you.
SPEAKER_05 (40:25):
It's it's been awesome.
Yeah, I the connection of uh mebeing the ball boy for years at
Rick's College with Tommy andthen and then playing at Rick's,
and so my dad being in a role asmy father and um and as a leader
in church as well at differenttimes, and then as my coach, and
um it's been a great blessingfor me.
It's been a lot of fun.
(40:46):
We we followed the same conceptwith our kids as we're raising
our best friends, and I thinkthat's what they did.
We we played a lot at the parks,and it was if we had interest in
tennis, we were at the tenniscourts, and he he also did a
good job at helping me see um mydirection in life.
I remember like junior high, Iwas a pretty good basketball
(41:08):
player and pretty competitive,but I also got into
skateboarding.
I had this skateboarding crowdof friends, and then I had my
basketball group of friends, andand he would never criticize,
but he would ask me questions,just thought-provoking questions
about hey, what did you dotonight and how did that go?
And well, where what are thosekids, you know, not like those
kids are losers, but where arethey heading in life?
(41:28):
What are they, you know, whatand it just he did it in a way
that caused me to think aboutwhere my where I was going in
life without me saying, Oh mydad's telling what I need to do
in my life.
And that's been a great thing.
We um and yeah, just the the thetraditions of of being together,
they they always seem to taketime to to be around and and be
(41:50):
with us.
And I think humor plays a lotin.
SPEAKER_02 (41:53):
I think you just said something that I I never
had I never heard it put thatway.
Um that if you're you're you'reraising your best friends, um
that's uh that that's probablyhow we all ought to look at
every day with our own kids andour own grandkids.
You're raising your bestfriends, right?
Well, and nothing's more truethan that.
I think as you get older too,coach, right?
I mean, the circle kind of getssmaller, but the family
(42:14):
connections and your bestfriends that are the ones that
are there every day in, day out,or I mean that's that's just so
critical, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
Yes, I I love that statement too.
That's exactly true.
Yeah, I think of this.
We're raising our best friends.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (42:28):
We just had our union this summer and siblings
around and grandkids, andthere's no better testament to
that than just observation,right?
You can preach things, but theysee us interacting together and
they see my parents beingencouraging in the relationship
they have with the kids, and andso that's been our motto is
we're raising our best friends,and um, it's a great it's a it's
a thing that's perpetually movesforward and and and goes on and
(42:51):
on.
SPEAKER_02 (42:51):
But well, coach, that hour went really, really
fast.
I uh I knew it would.
Um, but I I want to end with uhyou know, when Clay was on, I
said, You think your dad couldcome over again on this thing?
I this is a highlight for me.
Thank you for making the timeand being here.
SPEAKER_01 (43:07):
And well, I'm gonna leave here thinking I'm way
special.
I'm gonna I'm gonna shed myhumility.
SPEAKER_02 (43:15):
You can shed it, shed it for a while.
I I I I speak on behalf of uh Idon't know how many thousands of
people that you've influenced ina significant way.
There are people all over thiscountry like me that have on
their top of their list thatWade Anderson's their mentor,
their friend.
Their so thank you for uh livinga life that's so incredible.
(43:35):
And teaching, um, you never stopteaching.
And I hope that you know whoeverlistens to this podcast and can
understand the value oflistening, speaking with truth,
and and and and then and thenleading the way you've led, uh
living a life that that peoplewanted to be like you.
Uh, thank you, coach.
SPEAKER_01 (43:55):
Well, thank you, Tommy.
That's a great compliment.
Thank you, too.
SPEAKER_02 (44:00):
Thanks for being my dad.
Thanks, coach.
We love you so much.
Thanks for coming over and doingthis.
Thanks, everybody.
Thanks, Adam.
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