April 18, 2025 • 56 mins
🎙️We're Going to Handle Hard Better
How do you build a program that thrives under pressure, embraces high standards, and leads with care? University of Chicago Head Volleyball Coach Mitchell McPartland joins the show to break it all down.
This conversation is packed with insight on how to lead a high-achieving team, manage expectations, and coach with both poise and purpose. Mitchell shares his journey from NAIA libero to D1 assistant to DIII Head Coach, and how his mindset has evolved along the way.
We also explore what it looks like to coach in the UAA, recruit at a high-academic institution, and create a culture where "handling hard better" becomes the team’s competitive advantage.
🎧 In this episode, we cover:
- Building and sustaining success in DIII volleyball
- Coaching defensive specialists with a libero’s mindset
- The impact of high-academic recruiting
- Leading with calm, clarity, and consistency
- What it means to “handle hard better” as a team
🛠️ Explore more tools, resources, and my book Significant Recruiting at coachmattrogers.com
🎙️ Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this episode brought you value. It helps us reach more coaches, families, and student-athletes chasing significance over success.
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome back to The SignificantCoaching Podcast, the show where
we have real conversations withcollege coaches about
leadership, team culture, andthe human side of the coaching
journey.
I'm your host, coach MattRogers.
And today's episode features acoach who brings authenticity,
strategic brilliance, and a calmconfidence to the court.
Mitchell McPartland, headvolleyball coach at the
(00:30):
University of Chicago.
Mitchell's rise to the coachingranks from a volunteer assistant
at South Florida to leading oneof the most respected division
three programs in the country isa masterclass in growth, trust,
and staying true to your roots.
We'll talk about what it meansto lead with humility.
How to build a culture ofconsistency and significance in
(00:51):
one of the toughest conferencesin NCAA division three.
We're also gonna talk about hisexperience as a back row player
at Libero shaped the way he seesthe entire game.
Before we get started, a quickreminder to check out coach matt
rogers.com for all your collegerecruiting and leadership
resources.
You'll find my weekly blog infoabout speaking events, free
(01:12):
tools for families, and my book,significant recruiting, the
playbook for prospective collegeathletes.
You can also schedule one-on-onerecruiting strategy sessions or
book me to speak at your schoolorganization.
And hey, if you enjoy thepodcast, do me a favor,
subscribe on your favoriteplatform, leave a rating or
review.
Send me a message with yourthoughts, and don't forget to
(01:34):
share this episode with a coach,an athlete, or a parent who
needs to hear it.
You can always follow me on mostsocial media platforms at Coach
Matt Rogers and check me out.
Send me a message.
All right.
Let's dive into my conversationwith Coach Mitchell McPartland.
Coach McPartland, thank you somuch for being on the show.
(01:57):
I wanna start a little bittalking about University of
Chicago.
When I think of.
Some of the great universitiesin the history of the United
States, university of Chicagopops in my head and for all the
right reasons.
I think you've had 40 NobelPrize winners, 25 Pulitzer Prize
winners, four alum have wonAcademy Awards.
(02:19):
The list of all these greataccomplishments goes on and on
for University of Chicago alums.
How has that been for you to beat that type of place?
Do you feel that sense ofhistory?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's pretty hard to missjust being on campus.
there's certainly an atmosphereor a feel for that kind of
history.
(02:39):
as someone who doesn't come froma high academic background like
U Chicago, I think sometimes I'mnot as in tune to some of it as
others on campus.
But obviously the type of womenwe recruit and, just being
around all the athletes, knowingother people across campus.
There's certainly a huge senseof pride across campus to be
here.
Even if, for me, I'm not a,faculty member.
(03:00):
I don't teach or anything likethat.
But obviously there's a senseof, greatness.
And, I think a huge sense ofpride for being who we are as an
institution.
And I think, credit to U Chicagofor, I think they continually
what they represent.
And, they've, continued to dothat for a long time now.
it's, what attracts students tobe here.
you've been such a greatinclusion in that and what
(03:23):
you've done with the team andhow you're building that
program.
it's been really impressive andfun to watch.
you spend time at South Floridaand at Drake and now University
of Chicago, three, very diverseStops for you.
what has that been like, thatjourney and how would you
compare the three, when you'retalking to families and
recruits.
I think, obviously Drake inSouth Florida being division one
(03:46):
institutions, but very differentdivision one institutions, from
a location size, they're verydifferent from another, I think
the biggest thing for me hasbeen, division three is just the
balance and, the academicpriority not to say that some of
our athletes at Drake or SouthFlorida, were not, academics.
Were not a priority for them perse, but obviously the way
(04:07):
division three is set up and thelimitations we have, I think
it's, I just so appreciate thatI get to coach women who are
really passionate aboutvolleyball, passionate about
competing for nationalchampionship, competing to be
the best at their sport, butthey are just incredible.
People, very passionate abouttheir, obviously their academic
endeavors, other extracurricularactivities.
(04:29):
And I just love that.
I think that's why I really havefound, I feel like I found my
fit personally in coaching indivision three is'cause I feel
like that's how I view life aswell is that, it's great to have
that balance and thatopportunity to pursue what you
are passionate about.
And, I think at a place likeyou, Chicago or other division
three institutions you reallyget that opportunity.
(04:49):
and that's not to say that therearen't great opportunities at
institutions like Drake or SouthFlorida.
We talked about the recruitingprocess and is, being in a place
like UChicago it's a 40 yearplan, not a four year plan.
and I think because obviouslythe students here are here to
get an incredible education andto be challenged, but it's
something that's gonna set themup for the rest of their life to
(05:10):
be successful.
And, I just really appreciate,Being at an institution that in
a department that reallyprioritizes that.
I'm gonna be at a high schoolspeaking to a bunch of families
tomorrow night, and it's one ofthe things I always talk about
is I wish I could give everyparent the experience of being
on a University of Chicagocampus on a beautiful campus.
(05:31):
Yeah.
and really what is differentthan a Drake and a South Florida
or wherever we're talking about,because.
the size is immense, and they'vegot south Florida's got a great
reputation.
Drake's got a great reputation.
But what you get in terms ofone-on-one, and that experience
is so unique and so good foryour soul.
(05:53):
Have you found that?
Have you, is that a sense ofyours?
And do you use that as amarketing tool with your
recruits?
Yeah, for sure.
And I think it's something thatadmissions certainly, makes a
priority is that studentprofessor relationship, and I
know that, in talking to ourplayers, that's, I think it's
not the only reason obviously,that they came here, but it was
a big reason Why is that those,oftentimes the professors of our
(06:16):
players are incrediblyexperienced in the field in
which that they teach.
and oftentimes, that they didthat first, whether it's, hey,
obviously we're really wellknown for our econ we have
professors who are, incrediblyjust experienced in the econ
world, and then they Yeah.
Just having that, I think the,just the connections there, is
(06:37):
really valuable.
And not just like theinformation that they're
learning, but the real life,work experience that they're
getting.
And, so I think that's,definitely something that is a
huge plus something that wetalk, in the recruiting process,
a lot of our players talk abouthow a lot of our classes are
very discussion based and,UChicago obviously talks a lot
(06:59):
about free thinking, freespeech.
Yeah.
And so I think it's really coolfor our players to have the
opportunity to.
Listen and hear and be a part ofconversations with people from
all different backgrounds.
And obviously all of ourexperiences shape our, whatever
our reality is, our ownindividual reality.
(07:19):
So I think it's really cool forthem, to have that experience.
and a lot of their classes arereally small.
one of our players last quarterhad a class, it was a class of
five people as a first year.
So just, that's great.
And people at Uch Chicago arenot intimidated by that
experience.
just being a first year, I, theylook at it as, wow, this is a
really opportunity for me tohave really intimate, high
(07:40):
quality conversations abouttopics that we're passionate
about.
And I think that's, somethingthat obviously they, they really
love about being here.
Not everybody, right?
Some, some people that's maybenot their thing, but for the
most part I think they, maybe ifthey don't realize it in the
moment, it's something that theyreally appreciate.
A part of their academic journeyhere and just how that's gonna
(08:01):
translate to them, or translatefor them in whatever they do,
for the rest of their life.
And I'm a small private schoolkid.
I went to co college.
So for me, I have a very uniqueperspective on this in terms of,
I know what it did for me Ireally look at it, and again,
maybe this is my ego, maybe thisis just my personal perspective,
but I think it forces you to beauthentic and figure out who
(08:22):
your authentic self is.
Yeah.
Do you get a sense of that too?
Absolutely.
I went to, I'm from Iowaoriginally, I went to Grandview
in Iowa.
I do think live in a societyright now where we are fed
opinions and not necessarily,encouraged to think for
ourselves all the time Thestudents here, I think they're
encouraged to really, Hey,you're gonna hear other people's
(08:43):
opinions.
You're gonna hear my opinion,but I really want you to
formulate your own opinion andthink, about, your own
experiences and how that'sshaped who you are.
and yeah, I certainly think thatsmaller, more intimate
experience does allow you to bemaybe more authentically you and
(09:04):
not maybe hide behind otherpeople.
And that's obviously gonna helpyou, as you enter into the
workplace and just.
Become a great human being.
Yeah.
And in a lecture hall with 300kids, you can hide in a
classroom with five kids, youbetter be engaged or, yeah,
absolutely.
For sure.
And that's why some peoplethat's terrifying obviously.
(09:25):
and but that's, it's okay tohave that discomfort that, that
uncomfortability'cause it'sobviously gonna just create
growth and opportunities for youto learn a lot about yourself.
Absolutely.
I'm talking to universitypresence, recently the
conversation always goes back tohow do we better prepare these
kids to be adults?
What are we doing?
Not just teach them abouteconomics and physics and
(09:46):
biology and English, but whatare we doing to help them become
better adults and learn how tolive in this world?
So I think those things all gohand in hand.
The more they get thatone-on-one contact with adults,
with professors, with staffmembers, they can build
relationships.
they can see, wow, I really likehow coach handles himself.
I really like how this professorhandles himself and how they
(10:07):
treat me.
Yeah.
that to me, that's the value ofgoing to a college, right?
A hundred percent.
the life experience is, and I dothink, it is such a formative
time of your life, It's likereally for most people, it's the
first time they are living ontheir own.
They're independent and youstart to, maybe separate, those
experiences you had with yourparents or just growing up in
(10:29):
the community you did.
And you start to learn aboutother people's experiences.
And I think that.
I hope that more people, andmaybe it's not just college,
that's a opportunity, but thatwe all look to have more of
those opportunities to learnfrom other people and try to put
ourselves in their shoes and,try to understand where they are
(10:51):
coming from.
And, yeah, I certainly thinkcollege obviously is a great,
formula for that happening.
That's great.
I wanna really get into you'cause you've done such great
work in Chicago.
I was named the interim athleticdirector.
I was the head basketball coachand they named me interim
athletic director when I was 26,27 years old.
(11:11):
25 years ago.
Yes.
And I just remember the weightof that interim word and how it.
I was, is this gonna be my job?
Am I gonna be, am I, they gonnakeep me?
You've done such great work withit.
You took that interim tag andyou turned it into something
really great.
And I wanted to ask you aboutthe identity that you really saw
(11:34):
for the program back then, andhas it become what you hoped it
would be?
Yeah.
Or has it changed as you movedinto that full-time role?
I think first and foremost,before I get into that, I have
to give a lot of credit to thecoaches, the head coaches of
this program before me.
The Sharon, who I worked for,who's at Colorado College now,
(11:56):
Vanessa Wabe, who was here, andnow she's at Wash U.
both, both are, I'm really closewith.
So I think they did a lot ofheavy lifting to get the program
to where it was when I took overas the interim.
I think.
For me, I got to coach, be anassistant in 2019 where we had a
lot of success.
we were number one in thecountry.
that was obviously reallyincredible Sharon has, coached
(12:18):
for a really long time, a lot ofdivision one experience.
I saw, what she did and how itwas put in place.
I thought, wow, okay, I justhave to do this.
and I realized that while Sharonand I are not the same human
beings in the way that ourbrains work and the way that we
see things.
So I think that first year, asthe interim, it was challenging
'cause I think I was battlinginside myself.
(12:40):
Okay, Sharon did it this way,but maybe I don't, that doesn't
fully resonate with me, or I'mnot gonna be able to lead that
way'cause that's just not who Iam.
So I think, to your point, thatpressure of.
I'm the interim.
So in a way you're trying toprove yourself that, hey, I can
do this job.
This is a job that I want.
so maybe that was a little bitof extra pressure, in hindsight
(13:01):
that's, almost four years ago, alot younger then, A lot of
growth since then.
so yeah I think there was,certainly it was interesting
and, it was right after thepandemic.
so that obviously had challengesof itself.
so yeah, it was a reallyincredibly valuable experience.
Sharon had said, Hey, if youwanna come to CC with me, but
she was like, but I think, Iwanted to be a head coach.
(13:23):
She said, I think you, havingthis experience as the interim,
even if you don't get the job,is gonna be incredibly valuable.
And, it was fortunate to, keepthe role, Yeah, it just
certainly, yeah, what I mean,didn't have a full-time
assistant.
my assistant was, is still ourvolunteer assistant he had a
full-time job.
So it was just honestly a blurof a season, to honest.
But I can relate to that.
(13:44):
it's a lot.
But anyway, at the same time, Iwouldn't change it for anything.
And I certainly think the way I,try to run the program is
certainly different than it wasin 2021.
The advice you got from Sharonwas, Hey, come with me if you
want, but whether you get thisjob or not, the experience,
being able to dive in and runyour program and really run it
your way is so valuable.
(14:05):
'cause you know you're gonnamake mistakes.
It's just inevitable.
You're gonna recruit the wrongkids.
You're gonna regret the practiceplan.
You're gonna regret asubstitution you made.
You know it.
You have to go through that toget where you are.
Yep.
I want to go back to that wordidentity.
When you think about theidentity of where your program
(14:27):
is now, what is it that you'retalking to your girls about?
Because.
It doesn't matter who I'mwatching.
I can watch you play.
I can watch Platteville play, Ican watch Oshkosh, I can watch
Hope.
Yep.
And it's just, you can justsense really clearly.
Yeah.
This is something they reallystress.
Yeah.
It's so important to them.
What are those things that arereally important to you?
(14:49):
Yeah.
The way you play, the way yourgirls interact.
Are there things like that youguys talk about all the time?
Yeah, for sure.
I think, culture is reallyimportant to our, to our team,
to our women especially.
I think that they first andforemost want to be in an
environment where they feelsupported by one another.
Obviously, that's support looks,different in many ways.
but I think that's ultimatelyreally incredibly important just
(15:12):
because, the academic challengesthat are presented at a place
like UChicago with how fasteverything goes there, it's
really stressful.
we talk about how volleyball.
We want it to be an opportunityfor our players to really just
be present at practice,competing, whatever it is, and
let some of that stress go.
(15:32):
and part of that is being inthat environment where I have,
18 women around me who reallylove me and respect me, and,
regardless of our upbringings,we really value one another.
So that's super, super importantto our current team.
in terms of I'd say maybe moreon the court stuff, we really,
communication is a really bigone for us.
doesn't mean you need to be,when we're recruiting, we're not
(15:55):
always looking for the loudestperson per se, But gosh, your
ability to communicate with yourteammates is.
Not just important in the sportof volleyball, as you continue
in life being able to understandthat people communicate
differently and need differentfeedback.
We try to have a conversation atthe beginning of the season with
(16:16):
the team, but also, the teamthemselves has a conversation
with one another of, Hey, how doyou best give feedback?
And how do you best receivefeedback?
and how can we best help you inthat area?
That doesn't mean that, okay,you think this way or you
receive feedback this way.
And maybe I'm gonna push that alittle bit and maybe, let's say
(16:38):
for example, we have a playerthat's, a little more sensitive
to feedback or, takes things alittle bit more personally.
I can be that way.
And maybe we're gonna challengethat, right?
Okay, hey, yeah, maybe you are alittle bit more sensitive and
hey, you know this player who Icould yell at, scream at?
And they'd be like, whatever.
All good, you're not, obviously,maybe I'm gonna communicate with
(17:00):
you differently, but I'm alsogonna challenge you in that when
you are in your work environmentone day, not everybody is gonna
have this conversation with you.
They're just gonna expect thathowever I communicate with you
is how I'm gonna communicatewith you.
And you have to figure it out, Ithink communication is a big one
for us.
Not just'cause it makes usbetter volleyball players and
(17:22):
helps us have better chemistryon the court, but also just what
does it do for you?
Outside of volleyball and yourrelationships and your career.
So that's really important.
And then we just really talk.
Communication is one of thesethings ultimately it's how do
you control the controllablesfor us is, that's a big one for
us, right?
So like our, how do we show upevery day?
(17:44):
Just our attitude, ourmentality, our effort, how we
communicate with our teammates,how we treat our teammates, our
coaches, our support staff, thewaiter at the restaurant.
Those are all things that, are,super, super important.
Whether we win or lose, we'regonna be a program of high
integrity and people that treatother people the right way.
because, winning is great and wewanna win a national
(18:06):
championship and that's awesome,but most likely people are gonna
remember how you treated themand how they made you feel.
And so if we can be a programthat is, hey, we treat everyone
we interact with respect.
We, just be great humans, Iguess at the end of the day.
So we try to, incorporate, someof those volleyball things and
(18:27):
how do we translate that to lifeand through your four years in
our program, how can we help younot only become a great
volleyball player, but also agreat human being, and someone
that's gonna go out into theworld and make a positive impact
at the end of the day.
Yeah.
You're going into year five,right?
Yes.
This will be season five.
So you've got seniors that havebeen with you from day one.
(18:51):
Know who you are, know yourexpectations.
Have you seen a change from yearone to year five and how those
seniors become the voice of thatidentity and how they teach the
freshmen that they come in thedoor?
Are you see that?
Yeah, now?
Yeah, I think so.
Like our current rising seniors,they were seniors in high school
during my first season.
(19:12):
So I think them especially, havereally, I think, taken that
message and run with it, andjust in how they are going to
treat their teammatesultimately.
At the end of the day, I thinkit's for myself and my staff.
We're all different and we allhave different experiences, but
(19:34):
it's just really important thatwe still just treat humans like
humans I think ultimately I wantit to come from a place of love
and respect and that, hey, I'msaying this to you, or we're
having this conversation'cause Ilove you and I want you.
I think that because I'm olderand have more experience, I
think that I can see, thislesson in your ability to grow
(19:58):
in this area.
And I think our current, ourrising seniors who are, who will
be our captains or who are ourcaptains, they're both very
different.
And with both of them we've haddifferent challenges.
Especially I think about howthey were as first years and
just how much they've grownsince or now.
And I certainly don't take allthe credit for that.
But we've had difficult andtough conversations and it's
(20:21):
really, I think I.
Maybe in the moment.
It wasn't always super wellreceived, but I think if you
probably ask them now, they'd belike, okay.
But they were right or Iunderstood where they were
coming from.
I see, what they were trying tosell.
It's been really fun to see, ourteam.
evolve as I've evolved and, Ithink as a leader, you just try
(20:42):
to be really consistent in howyou show up and how you treat
people and, the energy that youbring every day.
And I think if you areconsistent, your team will also
be consistent in how they showup every day as well.
Coach as a dad of a almost16-year-old volleyball player it
makes me feel so good to hearnot what you're saying, but how
(21:04):
you're saying it because you sayit with so much passion.
It really sounds like yourprogram is such a safe place to
be in terms of your growth andyour development and being able
to take chances and being ableto figure out who you are as a
human being.
it just sounds like you'vecreated that culture where if
(21:24):
you're mature enough to justopen your eyes for a second and
say, this is pretty good, I'mprobably not gonna get this at
every place.
And I think that's an important,I think for us, it, how, that's
how we try to differentiateourselves through the recruiting
process is, we are, yeah.
we are ultimately trying to,help you grow and become the
(21:44):
best version of yourself.
And those lessons can be taughtthrough, on the court and off
the court.
and that's why obviously sportis such an incredible, avenue
for people to learn so muchabout themselves.
But yeah, it hasn't always beengreat.
Like you said, there've been alot of mistakes, things you
reflect upon and you say, okay,moving forward, I can be better
in this.
(22:04):
And I think a big thing for mehas been, as an assistant for a
long time, you aren't in thehead coaching role.
You make ultimately everydecision, right?
you get the credit whether youdeserve it.
You get the blame whether youdeserve it.
And that's been a challenge forme.
I want people to be in anenvironment where they feel
really happy or they feel safeand inclusive.
at the same time, I can alsocreate that environment while
(22:27):
still being direct and, havingtough conversations and,
ultimately not telling peoplewhat they want to hear, but what
I think is gonna help them growand become better.
I love it.
there's not a better way toreally self-analyze yourself and
see your growth from year one toyear two to year three than
being a college coach.
I tell people all the time, Istill have all my folders from
(22:49):
2001, and I remember my firstyear as a head college coach, 25
years ago, I had one folder inmy computer.
Year two I had four folders.
By the time I got to year 10, Ihad 50 folders.
'cause I learned there's so manythings that I have to be
responsible for.
(23:09):
Yeah.
I don't want to have to recreatethis every year.
Yeah.
I don't want to have to rebuild,so it's not was just my maturity
and my in learning patience andlearning how to, take the good
with the bad, but it was just,yep.
How do I get myself organized?
are there things you look backat the five year older version
of yourself and go, gosh, I'veimproved so much in those
(23:31):
categories.
Yeah.
Do you see that?
Yeah, for sure.
It's obviously, it's a littlebit harder to recognize in the
moment sometime.
Yeah.
I think, like I was saying, Ithink my ability to be, maybe a
little bit more direct in mycommunication with our athletes
when, I feel like there's, anopportunity for them to grow.
Whether it's, hey, your attitudeor the way that you're
responding to mistakes, I thinkis harming yourself and the
(23:53):
team.
I think, ultimately it's my jobto be honest and direct with my
athletes, with our women.
it is not my job to try toappease everybody or make
everybody happy with playingtime or whatnot.
it's my job to, create anexperience that is, Unparalleled
(24:15):
that they would get anywhereelse.
And I think part of that is, ourplayers wanna be challenged and
they do wanna grow, even if, inthe moment there's pushback I
know that ultimately, at the endof the day, that's what they
want.
and it is nice because I thinkit's something we talk about in
the recruiting process.
And so I think when our athletesnow get here, that's the
expectation is that, okay, ifyou know my coaches, see
(24:38):
something that I could be doingbetter, they're gonna tell me.
And it's not, always gonna maybebe in the moment that is best
per se, when it's right.
but they're gonna tell me andthey're gonna help me grow.
So I definitely think mycommunication has grown a lot.
'cause it is different, frombeing an assistant to a head
coach.
I think organization iscertainly a place of growth
still for sure.
(24:58):
I think it's, to your point,it's like creating, creating a
system that you're workingsmarter, not harder.
And I think there's this likenotion with coaching that, and
I'm challenged with this, is ifyou're not grinding, you're not,
responding to emails till 11:00PM you're not gonna win.
And I don't want that life formyself personally.
so I think it's trying to findways that you can, work smarter
(25:19):
and not harder all the time.
And, and I went through that myfirst 12 years of coaching.
I was married and we didn't haveany kids, so it was really easy
for me to just get sucked intoan 80 hour week and, and see my
wife at 10 o'clock.
You, and I love the fact thatyou're feeling that already.
I gotta, I gotta see my husband.
Have time for myself.
(25:40):
I gotta have time for the girls.
It's so important.
Absolutely.
I want to get into, playerdevelopment with you.
'cause you've done such a greatjob of really developing your
kids from the ground up andfinding those right kids.
you were a lib in college,right?
You played lib.
Yeah, I did, For two years.
I love talking about thepositions, because I was a point
guard.
I had to teach.
Yeah.
I had to teach all these bigkids as a basketball coach, 6,
(26:00):
7, 6, 8 kids.
And I was always a little guy.
Yeah.
So when you think about that,when you think about the work
you've done at the D one leveland the D three level, working
with dss, working with outsideshow do you go about tailoring
your player development acrossthose different positions?
'cause you got, what, 18 girlson your roster typically?
15, 18?
(26:20):
Yeah.
How do you go about formulatingthat two hour practice that,
five hour practice, five daypractice week?
How do you go about it so thosekids really get the teaching
they need to grow?
Yeah, that's a great question.
yeah, I think it's, so for me.
(26:41):
It's important to obviously havecertain, whether it's drills or
concepts that are, you stay trueto in, in the things that you
teach kind of year in and yearout.
It's also and my staff, that welook at the players we currently
have and we tailor things toobviously, what their needs are,
right?
So if we have, maybe we havemiddles that are maybe less
(27:04):
experienced, or just need, theyneed more work in this area,
compared to maybe some otherteams we've had, obviously we're
gonna make that more of apriority.
You could tailor that across allpositions and whatnot.
as a head coach, it's important.
You have to be pretty proficientin every, skill or position, per
se, especially at our level,right?
I don't have.
Three full-time assistants who Icould, designate, Yeah, I think
(27:26):
for myself and Jen, myassistant, we do a pretty good
job of balancing one anotherthat we both feel really
confident in taking, libs, dss,attackers, setters, and we can
depending on the day, be able totake whatever position it is
ultimately I decide where Iwanna be, obviously.
Yeah.
a lot of times that ends upbeing set or hitter things just
because offense and volleyballis so obviously incredibly
(27:48):
crucial.
So a lot of times, Jen does alot of defensive stuff, first
contact with our DS Liberos.
we typically like to practice ontwo ports.
'cause it does give us theopportunity to do some sort of
positional breakout every singleday.
Even if that's 10, 15 minutes ofwhatever little thing that we
wanna get better at.
Then oftentimes we really try tothen translate that skill work
(28:11):
into, okay, now we're playingsix on six, we're playing live.
And how do we then tailor thedrill?
Let's say we just, for 10minutes we worked on, set our
middle connection when, the passis, eight, 10 feet off the net.
Okay, now that's gonna be thepriority in the six on six play.
So that way our players can say,Hey, I just worked on this.
(28:31):
Now I'm going into a morechaotic, uncontrolled
environment, but I feelconfident that, I just worked on
this.
I think, Making sure that thereis a reason and a progression to
everything that we're doing.
And certainly at a place like UChicago, other high academics,
our players wanna know, why arewe doing this?
What's the purpose?
I can't just have a drill andsay, I just felt like doing this
today.
(28:51):
Like I, there needs to be, whenwe're planning practice, we
wanna make sure that everythingthat we are doing has a reason.
we are able to tell our players,this is why we're doing this.
This is the rep count or, we'replaying to this point or
whatever.
And, so I think that's beenreally great being at a place
like Uch Chicago.
'cause it forces you to itreally forces you to be you.
(29:14):
Our staff, we have to be greatin practice every day.
Because if we are not great, ourplayers are going to, be
disappointed because they'reobviously really high achieving.
They have high expectations, wehave high expectations.
So if we have high expectationsfor them.
We have to hold ourselves to thesame standard as well.
so we really try to, have adecent balance.
(29:35):
I think we try to compete a lot,as much as possible.
Even if it's not six on six,obviously competition is where
they're going to, feeluncomfortable.
They're going to be challengedthe most.
certainly like in our fallseason, we try to compete in as
much as we can.
Whilst, while knowing, hey,there's a time and a place to
maybe slow something down andbreak something down and just
(29:57):
rep something out without the.
The outside noise of competing.
But, ultimately we compete, therecord shows winning or losing
in competition.
So we need to practice that asmuch as possible.
and then the last thing I wannaadd on quickly is we talk a lot.
my assistant Jen, she has hermaster's in mental performance,
so that's another big componentthat we try to incorporate into
(30:20):
our practices.
Huge.
Yeah.
But then that's before practice,we talk a lot about like
mindfulness and just reallybeing present, big quote our
team likes is be where your feetare.
and that's, so that's a big onefor us just because, our players
are really high achieving andthey have found success in just
about everything that they'vedone.
sometimes our challenge is howdo we get our players to Sit
(30:44):
with the discomfort of, Hey, welost that match.
Or we, and not, it's not the endof the world, but okay, hey,
what do we learn from thisexperience?
How do we grow from thisexperience?
And that's what we can focus onmoving forward.
because it can become veryanalytical and that we, like
every, oh, I missed, I attackedthat ball out.
What did I do?
(31:05):
Sometimes you just miss it moveon.
Like it is what it is.
It's okay.
I love, it's a great, it's agreat problem for us to have,
that our players are, they.
They are they're attentive todetail that they, really they
want.
And again, that's the reason whywe have to be great.
'cause they really want to knowand do as much as they can to be
the best.
(31:25):
but some of it's, we're, again,life skills, trying to teach
them how do we move on frommistakes?
How do we accept that we aregoing to make mistakes and be
okay with that and not let it,dictate, how we're gonna perform
the next point, the next match.
whatever it might be, it's okayto not be okay.
Yeah, Absolutely.
And as someone who comes from,both my parents are teachers,
(31:48):
come from rural Iowa, I think,in that environment you're you
sometimes you gotta figurethings out yourself.
there's not always someone thereto, clean up the mess sometimes
you just go through tough timesand, I've tried to take that
experience and, allow ourplayers to try to learn from
that as well.
That's great.
And it's so important for uscoaches to understand that.
(32:11):
'cause oftentimes we know it'cause we're older and more
experienced, but, it's makingsure the kids understand, yeah,
we're working hard, we're gonnabe disappointed when we don't do
great things, but that doesn'tmean the world's gonna end.
We can be upset and not be.
Ready to jump off a building.
Exactly.
(32:32):
You know what I mean?
For sure.
Yeah.
I think it does help being at aplace like U Chicago because
volleyball is not like the beall, end all.
Yeah.
To them.
And that doesn't mean that theydon't care by any means, or
they're not upset when we, maybedon't achieve goals or win or
whatever it might be.
they also, I think, dounderstand that, there is more
to life than winning and losinga volleyball match or, whatever
(32:54):
it might be.
they understand that there'smore success for them to be had,
we try to tell'em, hey, for alot of them, getting a B or a C
on a test is the first timethat's ever happened, in their
whole academic life.
it happens here at U Chicago.
so like, how do you respond tothat, failure per se, right?
It's not really a failure, buthow do you respond to that
failure or that, falling shortof something and that's, you
(33:16):
just keep moving on.
you keep going and keep givingit your best and that's all you
can do.
My word is significance.
My book is called SignificantRecruiting.
my business is calledSignificant Coaching.
So I talk about significance alot and everything you're saying
is screaming significance at mebecause you don't want things to
(33:39):
rely on mere chance, and that'sthe whole concept of
significance.
Anybody can come in a gym andget a ball spiked off their
face, and that ball could goback over the net and land and
get a point.
But it's teaching them how to beprepared for every situation so
they know how to drop step andget their frame right.
They're always being able tocontrol where that ball goes
more and more.
I wanna talk about your leaguebecause your league is a
(34:01):
frigging gauntlet.
There's no weak sisters, there'sno puppies in your league.
So with all that, the idea ofsignificance and how you prepare
your team, how do you prepareyour team for the physicality
and the mentality of goingthrough that gauntlet?
Because when I look at yourrecords, man, and you're winning
all, you're winning 20 gamesalmost every year in that
league, it's, how do you do it?
(34:23):
It's tough.
I tell you what, it's tough.
And every year I'm like, huh,when is it gonna get, it's just
gotten better since I've, in2019, it has gotten
significantly better.
When I first started in 2019, usEmery Wash, were pretty good.
and not to say that other teamsweren't great, but just the
level from three through six andeven, seven and eight has.
(34:49):
Significantly jumped.
so yeah, I think how we preparethem, I think we're in a really
fortunate spot in the Midwest inthat it's a pretty, great area
for division three volleyball inthat we don't have to travel
very far to play, some of thebest teams in the country,
outside of our conference, andwe only play seven regular
season conference matches, andthen we have our conference
(35:11):
tournament.
So we don't, we only playeverybody once, maybe twice if
we see'em in the conferencetournament.
So it's my job to, okay, we havethis gauntlet of a league, how
do we, I think in order for usto, the UAA is winning a UAA
championship is really importantand to our team, and that's a
big goal that we have.
But ultimately the goal is towin a national championship.
(35:31):
You know how for me, okay, if wewanna be the best, you have to
play against the best.
Every year we play Hope who,last two years has been national
runner up.
We play a lot of the Yacschools, which is Yeah.
You talk about a gauntlet there.
Yeah.
So like this fall we'll play,Oshkosh Whitewater, Platteville,
Eau Claire, so four of four ofthe best team in the Yac.
(35:52):
You are a glutton for punishmentcoach.
I know.
And oh my gosh, every year, thisis my dilemma in scheduling is I
wanna play the best.
Yeah.
But it doesn't really prepareus.
Ultimately for what our goalsare at the end of the season.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I'm 100%.
I was the same way as a coach.
(36:12):
Yeah.
So now I do think there is abalance there.
Yeah.
We can't play a top 25 teamevery single match outside of
our conference.
It sounds like you're tryingthough.
Yeah, I think what's so great, Ithink in division three,
especially, the programs thatare in the top 25 consistently.
Yeah.
They all have that sim they havevery similar mindsets and so a
(36:33):
lot of times we all wanna playone another because we know
that, hey, even if my re likelast year we were, 25 and 11.
Okay, those 11 losses don't lookgreat, but all 11 of those
losses are teams that make theNCA tournament, it's, to me,
it's not about the record per seand having, oh, I want to have
the highest winning percentageor win the most matches.
(36:54):
It's really about how do weproduce the best team by the end
of the season and yeah.
you gotta go through hard timesto get there.
certainly scheduling tough is abig one, for us.
And, one other thing that isimportant is, and I get this
from our women's tennis coach,who's now won, multiple national
championships with our tennisteams.
And one thing that he said hespoke at a student athlete
(37:14):
event, we had.
And it really resonated with me.
And he just said that, hiswomen's tennis team had finished
national runner up, I think twoor three years in a row, right?
Rough problem to have, right?
but you're almost like, you'rejust, right there and like
multiple years in a row.
And he said that his team justdecided that we're gonna stop
waiting for it to get easier,right?
Oh, we're gonna wait for CMS tolose this player, or we're
(37:36):
gonna, wait for, this nascaschool to lose this good player.
And they just decided, you knowwhat?
We just have to handle hard,better.
And I think that reallyresonated with me because in the
UAA, D three volleyball is sogood.
you just have to stop waitingfor things to get easier.
It's not going to get easier.
you just have to handle hard,better than other people.
(37:57):
You just gotta, you gotta pushthrough things not really make
excuses or, oh they were justreally good.
Yeah, they were really good.
So what are we gonna do aboutit?
We gotta, control what we cancontrol and, not make excuses.
Yeah, the hard schedule,certainly helps us though.
Yeah, absolutely.
you want your kids to get tothat national tournament and go.
We've been here and done this.
Yep.
We're not afraid of you.
(38:18):
Exactly.
For sure.
We, everybody we played lookslike you.
Exactly.
Everybody we played has got asix two front line.
everybody we played has got alittle barrel that could get
every ball up.
Yep.
We know how to beat you.
We're not afraid.
Yep.
And it's great for ourconfidence to be able to look
back on those situations and,we, as coaches can, point out
exactly what you're saying.
Hey, we've done this many timesthroughout the season.
(38:38):
So what's another one?
I think we found the title ofyour podcast, and I'm definitely
gonna steal that from you.
We're going to handle hard,better.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's Not my quote, so I'm notgonna claim it, but gosh has it
really resonated with me.
it's because it's really just,there's a really great Netflix
documentary out there, and it's,I can't remember the actor, but
he's talking with his therapistand his therapist is talking
(39:02):
about how even in life there arethings that we can't avoid.
And one of them is, shit hittingthe fan hard stuff.
Like it's ultimately it's goingto keep happening.
And I think there is this notionin our society that like, oh
when I get to this age, it justgets easier.
Or when I get my job, it getseasier.
And it's nope.
It just presents new challenges,so that's where you know, hey,
(39:24):
just, yeah, handle hard, better,or try.
I love it.
It's the blessing of the curseof being a coach.
Because you want to be great,you want to grow your kids and
there's so many ways to do that,but at the end of the day, the
faster you can throw'em in thefire, they learn how to
extinguish that fire.
They learn how to deal with theheat.
Yeah.
I love your approach with that.
(39:46):
if one of your players was onthe podcast, what do you think
they would say about you?
Oh gosh.
I think they would say that,Hey, our coaches really care
about us as human beings.
And I think that's, I willalways take pride in that.
And whether or not I'm the bestvolleyball coach or whatnot,
(40:08):
that can be your opinion,whatever.
But I want our players to knowthat we really value them as
humans and as people first andforemost.
I think that all of our playerscould say, when we have
individual meetings, we talk alittle bit about volleyball, but
it's mostly about life, Butthat, to me, that's, I want them
to feel as though we're reallyinvested in the relationship
(40:28):
that we have with them.
And it's not a, yes, it's coachplayer, but it's also, it's
human to human.
I think for our women, that's,gonna help them perform at the
highest level if they know that,hey, first and foremost, my
coaches, really love me whetheror not I'm a great volleyball
player that isn't ultimatelywhat decides how they feel about
(40:50):
me, as a person.
See, I think they would saythat.
Mitchell, he really cares aboutus and he, at least I hope
that's what they would say.
that doesn't surprise me in theleast coach, but, I guess we had
a recruit here a couple weeksago and, we asked oh, how was
your time with the players?
And they were like, oh, it'sgreat.
They said that, you and Jen arelike their aunt and uncle.
And I was like, oh, that'sgreat.
(41:11):
I love that.
For a lot of our players,obviously they're from across
the country or, whatnot.
they're plane right away fromhome.
So it's important for us to be,a good support system for them.
I love it.
I love it.
let's talk about recruiting alittle bit.
Yeah.
'cause and that's why I askedyou that question.
I wanted to lead into recruitinga little bit.
Yeah.
What are some of the things thatyou've gotta have?
Are there non-negotiables foryou when you're, and obviously a
(41:34):
22 a CT and a 3.0 is anon-negotiable for University of
Chicago, but what are some ofthose characteristics that
you're looking for?
Effort.
Skillset?
Are there things that you justgotta have When you bring a
recruit in the door?
Yeah, it's a great question.
yeah, I think, yeah, I think wereally try to make sure that
(41:57):
they are people of highintegrity.
I think that's super important,and obviously, having a lot of
conversations with them, butalso talking to, the people that
they are around a lot, right?
So they're, whether it's theirhigh school coach, their club
coach, whomever it might be, Ialways start the conversation
with that person.
I don't want fluff.
I want, give me, be honest, bedirect.
This is someone that ultimately,these are people that we are
(42:20):
around a lot.
And I like, I wanna enjoy thetime that I spend with the team.
And that doesn't mean that,obviously there aren't gonna be
challenges and whatnot, but Iwanna be around people that I
enjoy being around, we have somepeople that are, highly
extroverted, but we also have,few players that are, more
introverted, more quiet,whatnot.
And I think that's important tome to bring in a diverse, array
(42:41):
of players.
Whether that's personality,race, that's where they come
from.
Socioeconomic, I want ourplayers to have, an experience
that they are around differentpeople than them.
I don't wanna recruit 18 of thesame person, but they need to be
great.
First and foremost, and theywant to see other people, with
(43:02):
respect and whatnot.
I think when we're watchingrecruits play, I think the
effort piece is important,right?
Because I don't really want toteach effort.
I, that's, something I, when youfigure out how to do that, what
you let know you, right?
So I think, just, are theygiving their best on the court?
But also a big one for us is howare, how do they act when
(43:23):
they're not playing?
And whether that's, oh hey, amiddle plays through rotations
and they come out, right?
But maybe they're not playingthat set, they're not playing
that match.
A big one for us is what arethey like on the bench?
Are they really engaged?
Are they really, are theysupporting their teammates?
or are they, are they pouting?
(43:43):
Talking to the person next to'emand not really paying attention.
That's super, super important tome.
'cause like our bench, we callit like our bench culture is
really important.
and how that can have a hugeimpact just the match and how we
do.
can that change your perspectiveon a kid that you're like, wow,
that athleticism is somethingelse.
And then you see what happens onthe bench?
Sure.
Can you go on 80 degrees reallyquickly?
(44:05):
A hundred percent.
my sister, I could too checkedoff many people that we've been
interested in, that we walk upto their court, they're not
playing.
And I can't tell you, there'smultiple times where I, we look
for the,'cause we walk up totheir court, we look for their
number.
Oh, okay, they're not playing.
Okay, lemme look over on thebench.
And they are totally disengaged.
Totally, just not present.
(44:28):
Obviously.
Maybe they're upset that they'renot playing.
and I immediately am like, Nope,I don't.
I just don't wanna deal withthat.
I don't wanna deal with that.
I don't want to deal, I don'twant to try to motivate our
players to support theirteammates.
That is a given, being a part ofa team sport is that whether you
are playing or not, you supportyour teammates.
and that's by being engaged,giving feedback to them that
(44:51):
those that are playing, you'recheering, whatever it is, there
has to be some sign of.
and so if they're doing it, ifthey're not engaged now, it's
just a culture issue that we'vehad, that's, been an issue for
us a couple years ago.
It's just not something that I.
Personally want to deal with asa head coach.
Yeah.
And yeah, it's that off thecourt stuff is super important.
(45:12):
but really, yeah, I think Ipersonally am a little more
attracted to an athlete that's,maybe sometimes a little bit
smaller, jumps really well or isreally fast.
That's more of the style that Ilike now.
we have two first year middlescoming in that are six three and
six two it's not always thecase, but that certainly helped.
Well done.
They're both, super athleticand, they both move really well.
(45:33):
And, yeah, I like a player who,you try to look at obviously the
potential that they have from avolleyball perspective and,
sometimes we have players thatare maybe a little bit more raw
and just not as experienced, butwe feel confident in our
training that, we can catch'emup to speed Get them to be, even
if it's not, hey, first yearyou're starting and playing.
but by, second, third, fourthyear, that's the expectation is,
(45:57):
yeah.
That, that you're competing fora spot.
I love it.
I tell kids all the time, thelonger you're college coach, the
more recruiting becomes likeshopping.
Shopping for clothes.
If you're gonna walk through aRoss or TJ Maxx or a, you name
it, you know really quickly,okay.
That's not gonna wash well,that's not gonna fit me well.
That's, that is gonna beuncomfortable.
(46:17):
I don't like that material.
And the more you do more you'rerecruiting, the more you can
look at a kid and go, I'm notgonna enjoy coaching her.
She's not gonna enjoy playingfor me.
She's not gonna be able to keepup.
Absolutely.
And I think that's important.
It's important that you mentionthey're not gonna enjoy me,
because I do think that.
While we are obviouslyrecruiting an athlete, they are
(46:37):
also recruiting us.
Like they are trying to figureout, hey, is this a good fit?
Are you a good fit for me as acoach?
And, we don't want therecruiting process to feel like,
we are just recruiting theathlete.
We want it to feel like atwo-way street in that, we are
both mutually recruiting oneanother.
Yeah.
Trying to figure out is this thebest fit, for, and we know that
we are not the only part oftheir experience in college, but
(46:59):
we hope that obviously we can beone that's, really impactful,
absolutely.
Yeah.
they're gonna get a world-classeducation at University of
Chicago, but they're getting aworld-class education on your
court too.
That's what hope.
That, but, it's the goodchallenge that we have is, yeah.
Mediocrity is not an Acceptableway for us to go at our job
here, especially from ourplayers.
(47:20):
again, parents and teenagersseem to understand this.
If they want somebody like youto recruit them, you've gotta
show Coach McPartland, allright, what am I bringing to his
program?
what am I gonna do to make itbetter?
Yeah.
Okay.
this isn't just, I'm buying aticket to go to the show.
What am I gonna do to make hisprogram better?
Because I'm gonna leave hisschool with this, and this.
(47:40):
What can I bring to the table?
It's like a job interview.
As soon as you start talkingabout, Hey, what can you do for
me?
you're not a very goodcandidate.
For sure.
'cause we want, yeah, we wantthem to know, Hey, this is what
we can do for you, but what areyou gonna bring to our culture?
That'ss different, or what areyou gonna enhance?
Or, whether that's volleyballoff the court, always looking
for people that are gonna add.
(48:03):
Something new or different toour program.
And that's what kids need tounderstand too, is the better
the school and the better theprogram.
The more options you have, themore you can say no a lot more,
you can walk away a lot more, alot faster because there's
another 20 girls that wanna goto the University of Chicago.
Yeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
And some not, we don't use, wedon't say this very often, once
(48:24):
in a blue moon it's, hey, Ithink it's, we talk a good
amount about like gratitude andjust, yeah.
you can get lost in the stressand chaos of everything, but
just being like, Hey, we'rereally grateful that we have
this opportunity because thereare a lot of people at U
Chicago, UA, nescac, whateverthat.
They would love to be in yourposition because they want to
(48:46):
have that experience you'rehaving, and yeah.
For sure.
Cool.
Coach, I so enjoyed talking toyou, and I really appreciate
your time.
Would you mind, would you do alittle rapid fire with me?
Sure.
Absolutely.
Fire questions for you?
These are fun.
I think you'll like'em.
Yeah, for sure.
All right.
Lobero or setter, which positionis more underrated?
Ooh, underrated.
(49:07):
Oh my gosh, that's a hard one,because they're really the
hardest to recruit, aren't they?
Yeah.
Which you gotta put the mosttime into those kids.
I would agree that those are thetwo positions that are, you
can't just watch someone warm upand go, oh wow, that's, okay.
Yeah.
There'll be, we can work withthat.
it does take more time.
Underrated, I wanna say I feellike Ero because a really good
(49:32):
libero.
Not that a really good setterdoesn't make a difference too,
but I almost feel like it'sunder maybe a little more
undervalued Impact that they canhave.
And maybe I'm just being alittle biased as a former Loro
myself, but, I think a novicewould tell you that too, if
you're watching volleyball andyou're like, that ball never
hits the floor on that side.
It seems like 80% of the timeit's the same kid that's getting
(49:52):
the ball up.
Yeah, for sure.
It's always that lib for, and Ithink the eros get more, like
they have more of those wow,what an amazing dig, or, wow,
that was incredible.
The centers, I think go a littlemore like under the radar and
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're, but as someone who's,as coached for a while now, I
think that setters are, I thinkthe way volleyball is evolving
(50:13):
in our country, I think settersare getting more and more
recognition for what they do.
And I still think the arrows areunderappreciated.
Yeah.
Just as a whole.
Yeah.
they're also typically the lastones to get recruited too,
right?
In our class.
it probably depends.
I don't know what it's like theD one level, but if you have a
really good libero, gosh, thatYeah.
Makes a big difference.
Obviously just your ability towin matches, but yeah, they are
(50:35):
typically last in the recruitingprocess.
there's a lot of great five fourliberos out there, but it's
really hard to find that six twooutside with the huge gun and
can really rip it, touch tenfive and, yeah.
Ultimately your hitters are theones that are, they gotta put
the ball away, so They do.
Favorite away Jim in the UAA?
Ooh, good question.
let me think.
(50:57):
I really, so Carnegie Mellon hasa new facility, which is
beautiful.
NYU has a new facility, which isbeautiful.
So they're really nice.
Honestly, though, I have to say,I really like playing in
Rochester's gym.
I don't know if you've beenthere, but I've seen the
pictures.
I don't think I've been in thatgym.
it's older.
yeah, like that, like a circle,it's different.
It's old, a little like IllinoisWesleyan even smaller than that.
(51:20):
Really small.
I love those old gyms.
it reminds me of high school.
It's just like intimate, I enjoytheir gym and I think Rochester
is such a cool city, Yeah, itis.
That's great.
All right.
One book, podcast, ordocumentary.
Every coach should consume.
That's okay.
anything that you're like, gosh,that really made a difference
for me.
It really opened my eyes.
Anything like that.
(51:41):
Yeah, that's a really goodquestion.
The documentary on Netflix, Ibelieve it's called, I'm trying
to think.
it's the one I was talking aboutearlier.
the way the therapist talksabout, the way our brain
processes things was reallyimpactful for me.
The way our brain works is sofascinating and how that impacts
our sport is also reallyfascinating.
(52:02):
when you think of it, text it tome later today.
Yes.
I wanna check it out.
I love that stuff.
it's really interesting.
Good, good.
is there a volleyball hill thatyou're willing to die on?
Is there something you're like,if I could get that done, or if
I could get to that, thataccomplishment, is there one of
those that you're like, oh yeah.
Anything personally for yourteam, anything like that?
(52:24):
Yeah.
I think for our program rightnow, I think like winning a UA
championship is super importantbecause I think it's, obviously
a conference championship isreally great, but like with how
good our conferences, I think,yeah.
Maybe what a confidence boosterthat gives you that.
Oh wow, we can win ourconference championship.
I think that's a, and for mepersonally, I think that's a big
one.
'cause we, my first year here asan assistant, we finished first
(52:46):
in the regular season, then welost in five in the finals.
So that was like, we were soclose.
so I think that's a big, a bigone.
And then ultimately, I almostwon a national championship as a
player.
And so that would be, that wouldreally be the, that would
ultimately be the goal.
Just that, that incrediblefeeling.
but, one step at a time.
(53:08):
Absolutely.
And my niece is going throughthe same thing.
Yeah.
She, that league is just a beartwo.
And there's, yeah.
My gosh.
Good.
And it's gracious and it justseems and I'm seeing you do the
same thing like every year.
It's just like you're gettingone more notch in that ladder,
right?
Yeah.
But so does everyone else, andthat's the heart again.
But that's, I can't wait foreveryone else to get worse.
you just gotta keep raising thelevel you do.
(53:28):
And you're doing it.
you're gonna get there.
I put you in a room with 300volleyball parents.
What's the one piece of adviceyou want them to walk out the
door with about recruiting?
Recruiting?
my always big one is beauthentically you.
and find the fit that is bestfor you.
(53:49):
And, the saying goes, comparisonis the thief of joy.
Stop comparing yourself to otherpeople and their journey in
their recruiting process.
Be be true to your values, betrue to what you want your
experience to be, and go for it.
If you wanna play at thedivision one level, that's
awesome, then, you go for it.
(54:10):
but also there are also otherreally great opportunities
outside of Division one.
And, I think the volleyballcommunity is getting, and that's
why I think D three is gettingbetter and better is more and
more parts of the country arestarting to, send their players
to division three schools andare like, wow, look at that
success that they're having.
(54:30):
Look how much they're winning.
They're competing for a nationalchampionship, and then they get,
a great education or they get tohave experiences that are,
outside of volleyball.
But yeah, I think ultimately.
Be authentically you.
And that's, and whether you'reinteracting with coaches,
players, whatever it is.
I think that's always a big onefor me.
Great advice.
(54:51):
Absolutely Great advice, coach.
It has been such a joy to get toknow you.
I'd love to call if you're upfor it.
I'm gonna call you a friend andYeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
If there's ever anything I cando for you or the women in your
program or your program itself,don't be afraid to ask.
But it was just a joy getting toknow you, and I know great
things are ahead of you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
For having me.
I always love, similar to, whatyou said, it's always really
(55:12):
great talking to other coachesand just getting to hear, what
their philosophies are and whatthey value.
And so it's been a funconversation, so I really
appreciate you asking me to dothis.
it's been great.
My pleasure.
Good luck in 2025.
We'll be cheering for you.
Thanks Matt.
Appreciate it.
Well, that's a wrap for thisweek's Significant Coaching
podcast.
Huge thanks to Coach MitchellMcPartland for joining me and
(55:33):
sharing such thoughtful insightinto his coaching journey, his
philosophy on leadership, andthe incredible work happening at
the University of Chicago.
If this conversation resonatedwith you, whether you're a
coach, a parent, or a studentathlete, I'd love for you to
subscribe and leave a review.
Your feedback helps us reachmore people who are passionate
about growth, culture, andsignificance support in sports.
(55:56):
And remember, if you'renavigating the college athletics
recruiting process or want tobring me in to speak at your
school or organization, headover to coach matt rogers.com.
You'll find my weekly blogspeaking info and tools to help
families and coaches at everystage of the journey, including
my book, significant Recruiting,the Playbook for prospective
College athletes.
(56:16):
Until next time, keep leadingwith purpose and chasing
significance over success.
Welcome back to The SignificantCoaching Podcast, the show where
we have real conversations withcollege coaches about
leadership, team culture, andthe human side of the coaching
journey.
I'm your host, coach MattRogers.
And today's episode features acoach who brings authenticity,
strategic brilliance, and a calmconfidence to the court.
Mitchell McPartland, headvolleyball coach at the
(00:30):
University of Chicago.
Mitchell's rise to the coachingranks from a volunteer assistant
at South Florida to leading oneof the most respected division
three programs in the country isa masterclass in growth, trust,
and staying true to your roots.
We'll talk about what it meansto lead with humility.
How to build a culture ofconsistency and significance in
(00:51):
one of the toughest conferencesin NCAA division three.
We're also gonna talk about hisexperience as a back row player
at Libero shaped the way he seesthe entire game.
Before we get started, a quickreminder to check out coach matt
rogers.com for all your collegerecruiting and leadership
resources.
You'll find my weekly blog infoabout speaking events, free
(01:12):
tools for families, and my book,significant recruiting, the
playbook for prospective collegeathletes.
You can also schedule one-on-onerecruiting strategy sessions or
book me to speak at your schoolorganization.
And hey, if you enjoy thepodcast, do me a favor,
subscribe on your favoriteplatform, leave a rating or
review.
Send me a message with yourthoughts, and don't forget to
(01:34):
share this episode with a coach,an athlete, or a parent who
needs to hear it.
You can always follow me on mostsocial media platforms at Coach
Matt Rogers and check me out.
Send me a message.
All right.
Let's dive into my conversationwith Coach Mitchell McPartland.
Coach McPartland, thank you somuch for being on the show.
(01:57):
I wanna start a little bittalking about University of
Chicago.
When I think of.
Some of the great universitiesin the history of the United
States, university of Chicagopops in my head and for all the
right reasons.
I think you've had 40 NobelPrize winners, 25 Pulitzer Prize
winners, four alum have wonAcademy Awards.
(02:19):
The list of all these greataccomplishments goes on and on
for University of Chicago alums.
How has that been for you to beat that type of place?
Do you feel that sense ofhistory?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's pretty hard to missjust being on campus.
there's certainly an atmosphereor a feel for that kind of
history.
(02:39):
as someone who doesn't come froma high academic background like
U Chicago, I think sometimes I'mnot as in tune to some of it as
others on campus.
But obviously the type of womenwe recruit and, just being
around all the athletes, knowingother people across campus.
There's certainly a huge senseof pride across campus to be
here.
Even if, for me, I'm not a,faculty member.
(03:00):
I don't teach or anything likethat.
But obviously there's a senseof, greatness.
And, I think a huge sense ofpride for being who we are as an
institution.
And I think, credit to U Chicagofor, I think they continually
what they represent.
And, they've, continued to dothat for a long time now.
it's, what attracts students tobe here.
you've been such a greatinclusion in that and what
(03:23):
you've done with the team andhow you're building that
program.
it's been really impressive andfun to watch.
you spend time at South Floridaand at Drake and now University
of Chicago, three, very diverseStops for you.
what has that been like, thatjourney and how would you
compare the three, when you'retalking to families and
recruits.
I think, obviously Drake inSouth Florida being division one
(03:46):
institutions, but very differentdivision one institutions, from
a location size, they're verydifferent from another, I think
the biggest thing for me hasbeen, division three is just the
balance and, the academicpriority not to say that some of
our athletes at Drake or SouthFlorida, were not, academics.
Were not a priority for them perse, but obviously the way
(04:07):
division three is set up and thelimitations we have, I think
it's, I just so appreciate thatI get to coach women who are
really passionate aboutvolleyball, passionate about
competing for nationalchampionship, competing to be
the best at their sport, butthey are just incredible.
People, very passionate abouttheir, obviously their academic
endeavors, other extracurricularactivities.
(04:29):
And I just love that.
I think that's why I really havefound, I feel like I found my
fit personally in coaching indivision three is'cause I feel
like that's how I view life aswell is that, it's great to have
that balance and thatopportunity to pursue what you
are passionate about.
And, I think at a place likeyou, Chicago or other division
three institutions you reallyget that opportunity.
(04:49):
and that's not to say that therearen't great opportunities at
institutions like Drake or SouthFlorida.
We talked about the recruitingprocess and is, being in a place
like UChicago it's a 40 yearplan, not a four year plan.
and I think because obviouslythe students here are here to
get an incredible education andto be challenged, but it's
something that's gonna set themup for the rest of their life to
(05:10):
be successful.
And, I just really appreciate,Being at an institution that in
a department that reallyprioritizes that.
I'm gonna be at a high schoolspeaking to a bunch of families
tomorrow night, and it's one ofthe things I always talk about
is I wish I could give everyparent the experience of being
on a University of Chicagocampus on a beautiful campus.
(05:31):
Yeah.
and really what is differentthan a Drake and a South Florida
or wherever we're talking about,because.
the size is immense, and they'vegot south Florida's got a great
reputation.
Drake's got a great reputation.
But what you get in terms ofone-on-one, and that experience
is so unique and so good foryour soul.
(05:53):
Have you found that?
Have you, is that a sense ofyours?
And do you use that as amarketing tool with your
recruits?
Yeah, for sure.
And I think it's something thatadmissions certainly, makes a
priority is that studentprofessor relationship, and I
know that, in talking to ourplayers, that's, I think it's
not the only reason obviously,that they came here, but it was
a big reason Why is that those,oftentimes the professors of our
(06:16):
players are incrediblyexperienced in the field in
which that they teach.
and oftentimes, that they didthat first, whether it's, hey,
obviously we're really wellknown for our econ we have
professors who are, incrediblyjust experienced in the econ
world, and then they Yeah.
Just having that, I think the,just the connections there, is
(06:37):
really valuable.
And not just like theinformation that they're
learning, but the real life,work experience that they're
getting.
And, so I think that's,definitely something that is a
huge plus something that wetalk, in the recruiting process,
a lot of our players talk abouthow a lot of our classes are
very discussion based and,UChicago obviously talks a lot
(06:59):
about free thinking, freespeech.
Yeah.
And so I think it's really coolfor our players to have the
opportunity to.
Listen and hear and be a part ofconversations with people from
all different backgrounds.
And obviously all of ourexperiences shape our, whatever
our reality is, our ownindividual reality.
(07:19):
So I think it's really cool forthem, to have that experience.
and a lot of their classes arereally small.
one of our players last quarterhad a class, it was a class of
five people as a first year.
So just, that's great.
And people at Uch Chicago arenot intimidated by that
experience.
just being a first year, I, theylook at it as, wow, this is a
really opportunity for me tohave really intimate, high
(07:40):
quality conversations abouttopics that we're passionate
about.
And I think that's, somethingthat obviously they, they really
love about being here.
Not everybody, right?
Some, some people that's maybenot their thing, but for the
most part I think they, maybe ifthey don't realize it in the
moment, it's something that theyreally appreciate.
A part of their academic journeyhere and just how that's gonna
(08:01):
translate to them, or translatefor them in whatever they do,
for the rest of their life.
And I'm a small private schoolkid.
I went to co college.
So for me, I have a very uniqueperspective on this in terms of,
I know what it did for me Ireally look at it, and again,
maybe this is my ego, maybe thisis just my personal perspective,
but I think it forces you to beauthentic and figure out who
(08:22):
your authentic self is.
Yeah.
Do you get a sense of that too?
Absolutely.
I went to, I'm from Iowaoriginally, I went to Grandview
in Iowa.
I do think live in a societyright now where we are fed
opinions and not necessarily,encouraged to think for
ourselves all the time Thestudents here, I think they're
encouraged to really, Hey,you're gonna hear other people's
(08:43):
opinions.
You're gonna hear my opinion,but I really want you to
formulate your own opinion andthink, about, your own
experiences and how that'sshaped who you are.
and yeah, I certainly think thatsmaller, more intimate
experience does allow you to bemaybe more authentically you and
(09:04):
not maybe hide behind otherpeople.
And that's obviously gonna helpyou, as you enter into the
workplace and just.
Become a great human being.
Yeah.
And in a lecture hall with 300kids, you can hide in a
classroom with five kids, youbetter be engaged or, yeah,
absolutely.
For sure.
And that's why some peoplethat's terrifying obviously.
(09:25):
and but that's, it's okay tohave that discomfort that, that
uncomfortability'cause it'sobviously gonna just create
growth and opportunities for youto learn a lot about yourself.
Absolutely.
I'm talking to universitypresence, recently the
conversation always goes back tohow do we better prepare these
kids to be adults?
What are we doing?
Not just teach them abouteconomics and physics and
(09:46):
biology and English, but whatare we doing to help them become
better adults and learn how tolive in this world?
So I think those things all gohand in hand.
The more they get thatone-on-one contact with adults,
with professors, with staffmembers, they can build
relationships.
they can see, wow, I really likehow coach handles himself.
I really like how this professorhandles himself and how they
(10:07):
treat me.
Yeah.
that to me, that's the value ofgoing to a college, right?
A hundred percent.
the life experience is, and I dothink, it is such a formative
time of your life, It's likereally for most people, it's the
first time they are living ontheir own.
They're independent and youstart to, maybe separate, those
experiences you had with yourparents or just growing up in
(10:29):
the community you did.
And you start to learn aboutother people's experiences.
And I think that.
I hope that more people, andmaybe it's not just college,
that's a opportunity, but thatwe all look to have more of
those opportunities to learnfrom other people and try to put
ourselves in their shoes and,try to understand where they are
(10:51):
coming from.
And, yeah, I certainly thinkcollege obviously is a great,
formula for that happening.
That's great.
I wanna really get into you'cause you've done such great
work in Chicago.
I was named the interim athleticdirector.
I was the head basketball coachand they named me interim
athletic director when I was 26,27 years old.
(11:11):
25 years ago.
Yes.
And I just remember the weightof that interim word and how it.
I was, is this gonna be my job?
Am I gonna be, am I, they gonnakeep me?
You've done such great work withit.
You took that interim tag andyou turned it into something
really great.
And I wanted to ask you aboutthe identity that you really saw
(11:34):
for the program back then, andhas it become what you hoped it
would be?
Yeah.
Or has it changed as you movedinto that full-time role?
I think first and foremost,before I get into that, I have
to give a lot of credit to thecoaches, the head coaches of
this program before me.
The Sharon, who I worked for,who's at Colorado College now,
(11:56):
Vanessa Wabe, who was here, andnow she's at Wash U.
both, both are, I'm really closewith.
So I think they did a lot ofheavy lifting to get the program
to where it was when I took overas the interim.
I think.
For me, I got to coach, be anassistant in 2019 where we had a
lot of success.
we were number one in thecountry.
that was obviously reallyincredible Sharon has, coached
(12:18):
for a really long time, a lot ofdivision one experience.
I saw, what she did and how itwas put in place.
I thought, wow, okay, I justhave to do this.
and I realized that while Sharonand I are not the same human
beings in the way that ourbrains work and the way that we
see things.
So I think that first year, asthe interim, it was challenging
'cause I think I was battlinginside myself.
(12:40):
Okay, Sharon did it this way,but maybe I don't, that doesn't
fully resonate with me, or I'mnot gonna be able to lead that
way'cause that's just not who Iam.
So I think, to your point, thatpressure of.
I'm the interim.
So in a way you're trying toprove yourself that, hey, I can
do this job.
This is a job that I want.
so maybe that was a little bitof extra pressure, in hindsight
(13:01):
that's, almost four years ago, alot younger then, A lot of
growth since then.
so yeah I think there was,certainly it was interesting
and, it was right after thepandemic.
so that obviously had challengesof itself.
so yeah, it was a reallyincredibly valuable experience.
Sharon had said, Hey, if youwanna come to CC with me, but
she was like, but I think, Iwanted to be a head coach.
(13:23):
She said, I think you, havingthis experience as the interim,
even if you don't get the job,is gonna be incredibly valuable.
And, it was fortunate to, keepthe role, Yeah, it just
certainly, yeah, what I mean,didn't have a full-time
assistant.
my assistant was, is still ourvolunteer assistant he had a
full-time job.
So it was just honestly a blurof a season, to honest.
But I can relate to that.
(13:44):
it's a lot.
But anyway, at the same time, Iwouldn't change it for anything.
And I certainly think the way I,try to run the program is
certainly different than it wasin 2021.
The advice you got from Sharonwas, Hey, come with me if you
want, but whether you get thisjob or not, the experience,
being able to dive in and runyour program and really run it
your way is so valuable.
(14:05):
'cause you know you're gonnamake mistakes.
It's just inevitable.
You're gonna recruit the wrongkids.
You're gonna regret the practiceplan.
You're gonna regret asubstitution you made.
You know it.
You have to go through that toget where you are.
Yep.
I want to go back to that wordidentity.
When you think about theidentity of where your program
(14:27):
is now, what is it that you'retalking to your girls about?
Because.
It doesn't matter who I'mwatching.
I can watch you play.
I can watch Platteville play, Ican watch Oshkosh, I can watch
Hope.
Yep.
And it's just, you can justsense really clearly.
Yeah.
This is something they reallystress.
Yeah.
It's so important to them.
What are those things that arereally important to you?
(14:49):
Yeah.
The way you play, the way yourgirls interact.
Are there things like that youguys talk about all the time?
Yeah, for sure.
I think, culture is reallyimportant to our, to our team,
to our women especially.
I think that they first andforemost want to be in an
environment where they feelsupported by one another.
Obviously, that's support looks,different in many ways.
but I think that's ultimatelyreally incredibly important just
(15:12):
because, the academic challengesthat are presented at a place
like UChicago with how fasteverything goes there, it's
really stressful.
we talk about how volleyball.
We want it to be an opportunityfor our players to really just
be present at practice,competing, whatever it is, and
let some of that stress go.
(15:32):
and part of that is being inthat environment where I have,
18 women around me who reallylove me and respect me, and,
regardless of our upbringings,we really value one another.
So that's super, super importantto our current team.
in terms of I'd say maybe moreon the court stuff, we really,
communication is a really bigone for us.
doesn't mean you need to be,when we're recruiting, we're not
(15:55):
always looking for the loudestperson per se, But gosh, your
ability to communicate with yourteammates is.
Not just important in the sportof volleyball, as you continue
in life being able to understandthat people communicate
differently and need differentfeedback.
We try to have a conversation atthe beginning of the season with
(16:16):
the team, but also, the teamthemselves has a conversation
with one another of, Hey, how doyou best give feedback?
And how do you best receivefeedback?
and how can we best help you inthat area?
That doesn't mean that, okay,you think this way or you
receive feedback this way.
And maybe I'm gonna push that alittle bit and maybe, let's say
(16:38):
for example, we have a playerthat's, a little more sensitive
to feedback or, takes things alittle bit more personally.
I can be that way.
And maybe we're gonna challengethat, right?
Okay, hey, yeah, maybe you are alittle bit more sensitive and
hey, you know this player who Icould yell at, scream at?
And they'd be like, whatever.
All good, you're not, obviously,maybe I'm gonna communicate with
(17:00):
you differently, but I'm alsogonna challenge you in that when
you are in your work environmentone day, not everybody is gonna
have this conversation with you.
They're just gonna expect thathowever I communicate with you
is how I'm gonna communicatewith you.
And you have to figure it out, Ithink communication is a big one
for us.
Not just'cause it makes usbetter volleyball players and
(17:22):
helps us have better chemistryon the court, but also just what
does it do for you?
Outside of volleyball and yourrelationships and your career.
So that's really important.
And then we just really talk.
Communication is one of thesethings ultimately it's how do
you control the controllablesfor us is, that's a big one for
us, right?
So like our, how do we show upevery day?
(17:44):
Just our attitude, ourmentality, our effort, how we
communicate with our teammates,how we treat our teammates, our
coaches, our support staff, thewaiter at the restaurant.
Those are all things that, are,super, super important.
Whether we win or lose, we'regonna be a program of high
integrity and people that treatother people the right way.
because, winning is great and wewanna win a national
(18:06):
championship and that's awesome,but most likely people are gonna
remember how you treated themand how they made you feel.
And so if we can be a programthat is, hey, we treat everyone
we interact with respect.
We, just be great humans, Iguess at the end of the day.
So we try to, incorporate, someof those volleyball things and
(18:27):
how do we translate that to lifeand through your four years in
our program, how can we help younot only become a great
volleyball player, but also agreat human being, and someone
that's gonna go out into theworld and make a positive impact
at the end of the day.
Yeah.
You're going into year five,right?
Yes.
This will be season five.
So you've got seniors that havebeen with you from day one.
(18:51):
Know who you are, know yourexpectations.
Have you seen a change from yearone to year five and how those
seniors become the voice of thatidentity and how they teach the
freshmen that they come in thedoor?
Are you see that?
Yeah, now?
Yeah, I think so.
Like our current rising seniors,they were seniors in high school
during my first season.
(19:12):
So I think them especially, havereally, I think, taken that
message and run with it, andjust in how they are going to
treat their teammatesultimately.
At the end of the day, I thinkit's for myself and my staff.
We're all different and we allhave different experiences, but
(19:34):
it's just really important thatwe still just treat humans like
humans I think ultimately I wantit to come from a place of love
and respect and that, hey, I'msaying this to you, or we're
having this conversation'cause Ilove you and I want you.
I think that because I'm olderand have more experience, I
think that I can see, thislesson in your ability to grow
(19:58):
in this area.
And I think our current, ourrising seniors who are, who will
be our captains or who are ourcaptains, they're both very
different.
And with both of them we've haddifferent challenges.
Especially I think about howthey were as first years and
just how much they've grownsince or now.
And I certainly don't take allthe credit for that.
But we've had difficult andtough conversations and it's
(20:21):
really, I think I.
Maybe in the moment.
It wasn't always super wellreceived, but I think if you
probably ask them now, they'd belike, okay.
But they were right or Iunderstood where they were
coming from.
I see, what they were trying tosell.
It's been really fun to see, ourteam.
evolve as I've evolved and, Ithink as a leader, you just try
(20:42):
to be really consistent in howyou show up and how you treat
people and, the energy that youbring every day.
And I think if you areconsistent, your team will also
be consistent in how they showup every day as well.
Coach as a dad of a almost16-year-old volleyball player it
makes me feel so good to hearnot what you're saying, but how
(21:04):
you're saying it because you sayit with so much passion.
It really sounds like yourprogram is such a safe place to
be in terms of your growth andyour development and being able
to take chances and being ableto figure out who you are as a
human being.
it just sounds like you'vecreated that culture where if
(21:24):
you're mature enough to justopen your eyes for a second and
say, this is pretty good, I'mprobably not gonna get this at
every place.
And I think that's an important,I think for us, it, how, that's
how we try to differentiateourselves through the recruiting
process is, we are, yeah.
we are ultimately trying to,help you grow and become the
(21:44):
best version of yourself.
And those lessons can be taughtthrough, on the court and off
the court.
and that's why obviously sportis such an incredible, avenue
for people to learn so muchabout themselves.
But yeah, it hasn't always beengreat.
Like you said, there've been alot of mistakes, things you
reflect upon and you say, okay,moving forward, I can be better
in this.
(22:04):
And I think a big thing for mehas been, as an assistant for a
long time, you aren't in thehead coaching role.
You make ultimately everydecision, right?
you get the credit whether youdeserve it.
You get the blame whether youdeserve it.
And that's been a challenge forme.
I want people to be in anenvironment where they feel
really happy or they feel safeand inclusive.
at the same time, I can alsocreate that environment while
(22:27):
still being direct and, havingtough conversations and,
ultimately not telling peoplewhat they want to hear, but what
I think is gonna help them growand become better.
I love it.
there's not a better way toreally self-analyze yourself and
see your growth from year one toyear two to year three than
being a college coach.
I tell people all the time, Istill have all my folders from
(22:49):
2001, and I remember my firstyear as a head college coach, 25
years ago, I had one folder inmy computer.
Year two I had four folders.
By the time I got to year 10, Ihad 50 folders.
'cause I learned there's so manythings that I have to be
responsible for.
(23:09):
Yeah.
I don't want to have to recreatethis every year.
Yeah.
I don't want to have to rebuild,so it's not was just my maturity
and my in learning patience andlearning how to, take the good
with the bad, but it was just,yep.
How do I get myself organized?
are there things you look backat the five year older version
of yourself and go, gosh, I'veimproved so much in those
(23:31):
categories.
Yeah.
Do you see that?
Yeah, for sure.
It's obviously, it's a littlebit harder to recognize in the
moment sometime.
Yeah.
I think, like I was saying, Ithink my ability to be, maybe a
little bit more direct in mycommunication with our athletes
when, I feel like there's, anopportunity for them to grow.
Whether it's, hey, your attitudeor the way that you're
responding to mistakes, I thinkis harming yourself and the
(23:53):
team.
I think, ultimately it's my jobto be honest and direct with my
athletes, with our women.
it is not my job to try toappease everybody or make
everybody happy with playingtime or whatnot.
it's my job to, create anexperience that is, Unparalleled
(24:15):
that they would get anywhereelse.
And I think part of that is, ourplayers wanna be challenged and
they do wanna grow, even if, inthe moment there's pushback I
know that ultimately, at the endof the day, that's what they
want.
and it is nice because I thinkit's something we talk about in
the recruiting process.
And so I think when our athletesnow get here, that's the
expectation is that, okay, ifyou know my coaches, see
(24:38):
something that I could be doingbetter, they're gonna tell me.
And it's not, always gonna maybebe in the moment that is best
per se, when it's right.
but they're gonna tell me andthey're gonna help me grow.
So I definitely think mycommunication has grown a lot.
'cause it is different, frombeing an assistant to a head
coach.
I think organization iscertainly a place of growth
still for sure.
(24:58):
I think it's, to your point,it's like creating, creating a
system that you're workingsmarter, not harder.
And I think there's this likenotion with coaching that, and
I'm challenged with this, is ifyou're not grinding, you're not,
responding to emails till 11:00PM you're not gonna win.
And I don't want that life formyself personally.
so I think it's trying to findways that you can, work smarter
(25:19):
and not harder all the time.
And, and I went through that myfirst 12 years of coaching.
I was married and we didn't haveany kids, so it was really easy
for me to just get sucked intoan 80 hour week and, and see my
wife at 10 o'clock.
You, and I love the fact thatyou're feeling that already.
I gotta, I gotta see my husband.
Have time for myself.
(25:40):
I gotta have time for the girls.
It's so important.
Absolutely.
I want to get into, playerdevelopment with you.
'cause you've done such a greatjob of really developing your
kids from the ground up andfinding those right kids.
you were a lib in college,right?
You played lib.
Yeah, I did, For two years.
I love talking about thepositions, because I was a point
guard.
I had to teach.
Yeah.
I had to teach all these bigkids as a basketball coach, 6,
(26:00):
7, 6, 8 kids.
And I was always a little guy.
Yeah.
So when you think about that,when you think about the work
you've done at the D one leveland the D three level, working
with dss, working with outsideshow do you go about tailoring
your player development acrossthose different positions?
'cause you got, what, 18 girlson your roster typically?
15, 18?
(26:20):
Yeah.
How do you go about formulatingthat two hour practice that,
five hour practice, five daypractice week?
How do you go about it so thosekids really get the teaching
they need to grow?
Yeah, that's a great question.
yeah, I think it's, so for me.
(26:41):
It's important to obviously havecertain, whether it's drills or
concepts that are, you stay trueto in, in the things that you
teach kind of year in and yearout.
It's also and my staff, that welook at the players we currently
have and we tailor things toobviously, what their needs are,
right?
So if we have, maybe we havemiddles that are maybe less
(27:04):
experienced, or just need, theyneed more work in this area,
compared to maybe some otherteams we've had, obviously we're
gonna make that more of apriority.
You could tailor that across allpositions and whatnot.
as a head coach, it's important.
You have to be pretty proficientin every, skill or position, per
se, especially at our level,right?
I don't have.
Three full-time assistants who Icould, designate, Yeah, I think
(27:26):
for myself and Jen, myassistant, we do a pretty good
job of balancing one anotherthat we both feel really
confident in taking, libs, dss,attackers, setters, and we can
depending on the day, be able totake whatever position it is
ultimately I decide where Iwanna be, obviously.
Yeah.
a lot of times that ends upbeing set or hitter things just
because offense and volleyballis so obviously incredibly
(27:48):
crucial.
So a lot of times, Jen does alot of defensive stuff, first
contact with our DS Liberos.
we typically like to practice ontwo ports.
'cause it does give us theopportunity to do some sort of
positional breakout every singleday.
Even if that's 10, 15 minutes ofwhatever little thing that we
wanna get better at.
Then oftentimes we really try tothen translate that skill work
(28:11):
into, okay, now we're playingsix on six, we're playing live.
And how do we then tailor thedrill?
Let's say we just, for 10minutes we worked on, set our
middle connection when, the passis, eight, 10 feet off the net.
Okay, now that's gonna be thepriority in the six on six play.
So that way our players can say,Hey, I just worked on this.
(28:31):
Now I'm going into a morechaotic, uncontrolled
environment, but I feelconfident that, I just worked on
this.
I think, Making sure that thereis a reason and a progression to
everything that we're doing.
And certainly at a place like UChicago, other high academics,
our players wanna know, why arewe doing this?
What's the purpose?
I can't just have a drill andsay, I just felt like doing this
today.
(28:51):
Like I, there needs to be, whenwe're planning practice, we
wanna make sure that everythingthat we are doing has a reason.
we are able to tell our players,this is why we're doing this.
This is the rep count or, we'replaying to this point or
whatever.
And, so I think that's beenreally great being at a place
like Uch Chicago.
'cause it forces you to itreally forces you to be you.
(29:14):
Our staff, we have to be greatin practice every day.
Because if we are not great, ourplayers are going to, be
disappointed because they'reobviously really high achieving.
They have high expectations, wehave high expectations.
So if we have high expectationsfor them.
We have to hold ourselves to thesame standard as well.
so we really try to, have adecent balance.
(29:35):
I think we try to compete a lot,as much as possible.
Even if it's not six on six,obviously competition is where
they're going to, feeluncomfortable.
They're going to be challengedthe most.
certainly like in our fallseason, we try to compete in as
much as we can.
Whilst, while knowing, hey,there's a time and a place to
maybe slow something down andbreak something down and just
(29:57):
rep something out without the.
The outside noise of competing.
But, ultimately we compete, therecord shows winning or losing
in competition.
So we need to practice that asmuch as possible.
and then the last thing I wannaadd on quickly is we talk a lot.
my assistant Jen, she has hermaster's in mental performance,
so that's another big componentthat we try to incorporate into
(30:20):
our practices.
Huge.
Yeah.
But then that's before practice,we talk a lot about like
mindfulness and just reallybeing present, big quote our
team likes is be where your feetare.
and that's, so that's a big onefor us just because, our players
are really high achieving andthey have found success in just
about everything that they'vedone.
sometimes our challenge is howdo we get our players to Sit
(30:44):
with the discomfort of, Hey, welost that match.
Or we, and not, it's not the endof the world, but okay, hey,
what do we learn from thisexperience?
How do we grow from thisexperience?
And that's what we can focus onmoving forward.
because it can become veryanalytical and that we, like
every, oh, I missed, I attackedthat ball out.
What did I do?
(31:05):
Sometimes you just miss it moveon.
Like it is what it is.
It's okay.
I love, it's a great, it's agreat problem for us to have,
that our players are, they.
They are they're attentive todetail that they, really they
want.
And again, that's the reason whywe have to be great.
'cause they really want to knowand do as much as they can to be
the best.
(31:25):
but some of it's, we're, again,life skills, trying to teach
them how do we move on frommistakes?
How do we accept that we aregoing to make mistakes and be
okay with that and not let it,dictate, how we're gonna perform
the next point, the next match.
whatever it might be, it's okayto not be okay.
Yeah, Absolutely.
And as someone who comes from,both my parents are teachers,
(31:48):
come from rural Iowa, I think,in that environment you're you
sometimes you gotta figurethings out yourself.
there's not always someone thereto, clean up the mess sometimes
you just go through tough timesand, I've tried to take that
experience and, allow ourplayers to try to learn from
that as well.
That's great.
And it's so important for uscoaches to understand that.
(32:11):
'cause oftentimes we know it'cause we're older and more
experienced, but, it's makingsure the kids understand, yeah,
we're working hard, we're gonnabe disappointed when we don't do
great things, but that doesn'tmean the world's gonna end.
We can be upset and not be.
Ready to jump off a building.
Exactly.
(32:32):
You know what I mean?
For sure.
Yeah.
I think it does help being at aplace like U Chicago because
volleyball is not like the beall, end all.
Yeah.
To them.
And that doesn't mean that theydon't care by any means, or
they're not upset when we, maybedon't achieve goals or win or
whatever it might be.
they also, I think, dounderstand that, there is more
to life than winning and losinga volleyball match or, whatever
(32:54):
it might be.
they understand that there'smore success for them to be had,
we try to tell'em, hey, for alot of them, getting a B or a C
on a test is the first timethat's ever happened, in their
whole academic life.
it happens here at U Chicago.
so like, how do you respond tothat, failure per se, right?
It's not really a failure, buthow do you respond to that
failure or that, falling shortof something and that's, you
(33:16):
just keep moving on.
you keep going and keep givingit your best and that's all you
can do.
My word is significance.
My book is called SignificantRecruiting.
my business is calledSignificant Coaching.
So I talk about significance alot and everything you're saying
is screaming significance at mebecause you don't want things to
(33:39):
rely on mere chance, and that'sthe whole concept of
significance.
Anybody can come in a gym andget a ball spiked off their
face, and that ball could goback over the net and land and
get a point.
But it's teaching them how to beprepared for every situation so
they know how to drop step andget their frame right.
They're always being able tocontrol where that ball goes
more and more.
I wanna talk about your leaguebecause your league is a
(34:01):
frigging gauntlet.
There's no weak sisters, there'sno puppies in your league.
So with all that, the idea ofsignificance and how you prepare
your team, how do you prepareyour team for the physicality
and the mentality of goingthrough that gauntlet?
Because when I look at yourrecords, man, and you're winning
all, you're winning 20 gamesalmost every year in that
league, it's, how do you do it?
(34:23):
It's tough.
I tell you what, it's tough.
And every year I'm like, huh,when is it gonna get, it's just
gotten better since I've, in2019, it has gotten
significantly better.
When I first started in 2019, usEmery Wash, were pretty good.
and not to say that other teamsweren't great, but just the
level from three through six andeven, seven and eight has.
(34:49):
Significantly jumped.
so yeah, I think how we preparethem, I think we're in a really
fortunate spot in the Midwest inthat it's a pretty, great area
for division three volleyball inthat we don't have to travel
very far to play, some of thebest teams in the country,
outside of our conference, andwe only play seven regular
season conference matches, andthen we have our conference
(35:11):
tournament.
So we don't, we only playeverybody once, maybe twice if
we see'em in the conferencetournament.
So it's my job to, okay, we havethis gauntlet of a league, how
do we, I think in order for usto, the UAA is winning a UAA
championship is really importantand to our team, and that's a
big goal that we have.
But ultimately the goal is towin a national championship.
(35:31):
You know how for me, okay, if wewanna be the best, you have to
play against the best.
Every year we play Hope who,last two years has been national
runner up.
We play a lot of the Yacschools, which is Yeah.
You talk about a gauntlet there.
Yeah.
So like this fall we'll play,Oshkosh Whitewater, Platteville,
Eau Claire, so four of four ofthe best team in the Yac.
(35:52):
You are a glutton for punishmentcoach.
I know.
And oh my gosh, every year, thisis my dilemma in scheduling is I
wanna play the best.
Yeah.
But it doesn't really prepareus.
Ultimately for what our goalsare at the end of the season.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I'm 100%.
I was the same way as a coach.
(36:12):
Yeah.
So now I do think there is abalance there.
Yeah.
We can't play a top 25 teamevery single match outside of
our conference.
It sounds like you're tryingthough.
Yeah, I think what's so great, Ithink in division three,
especially, the programs thatare in the top 25 consistently.
Yeah.
They all have that sim they havevery similar mindsets and so a
(36:33):
lot of times we all wanna playone another because we know
that, hey, even if my re likelast year we were, 25 and 11.
Okay, those 11 losses don't lookgreat, but all 11 of those
losses are teams that make theNCA tournament, it's, to me,
it's not about the record per seand having, oh, I want to have
the highest winning percentageor win the most matches.
(36:54):
It's really about how do weproduce the best team by the end
of the season and yeah.
you gotta go through hard timesto get there.
certainly scheduling tough is abig one, for us.
And, one other thing that isimportant is, and I get this
from our women's tennis coach,who's now won, multiple national
championships with our tennisteams.
And one thing that he said hespoke at a student athlete
(37:14):
event, we had.
And it really resonated with me.
And he just said that, hiswomen's tennis team had finished
national runner up, I think twoor three years in a row, right?
Rough problem to have, right?
but you're almost like, you'rejust, right there and like
multiple years in a row.
And he said that his team justdecided that we're gonna stop
waiting for it to get easier,right?
Oh, we're gonna wait for CMS tolose this player, or we're
(37:36):
gonna, wait for, this nascaschool to lose this good player.
And they just decided, you knowwhat?
We just have to handle hard,better.
And I think that reallyresonated with me because in the
UAA, D three volleyball is sogood.
you just have to stop waitingfor things to get easier.
It's not going to get easier.
you just have to handle hard,better than other people.
(37:57):
You just gotta, you gotta pushthrough things not really make
excuses or, oh they were justreally good.
Yeah, they were really good.
So what are we gonna do aboutit?
We gotta, control what we cancontrol and, not make excuses.
Yeah, the hard schedule,certainly helps us though.
Yeah, absolutely.
you want your kids to get tothat national tournament and go.
We've been here and done this.
Yep.
We're not afraid of you.
(38:18):
Exactly.
For sure.
We, everybody we played lookslike you.
Exactly.
Everybody we played has got asix two front line.
everybody we played has got alittle barrel that could get
every ball up.
Yep.
We know how to beat you.
We're not afraid.
Yep.
And it's great for ourconfidence to be able to look
back on those situations and,we, as coaches can, point out
exactly what you're saying.
Hey, we've done this many timesthroughout the season.
(38:38):
So what's another one?
I think we found the title ofyour podcast, and I'm definitely
gonna steal that from you.
We're going to handle hard,better.
I love that.
Yeah.
It's Not my quote, so I'm notgonna claim it, but gosh has it
really resonated with me.
it's because it's really just,there's a really great Netflix
documentary out there, and it's,I can't remember the actor, but
he's talking with his therapistand his therapist is talking
(39:02):
about how even in life there arethings that we can't avoid.
And one of them is, shit hittingthe fan hard stuff.
Like it's ultimately it's goingto keep happening.
And I think there is this notionin our society that like, oh
when I get to this age, it justgets easier.
Or when I get my job, it getseasier.
And it's nope.
It just presents new challenges,so that's where you know, hey,
(39:24):
just, yeah, handle hard, better,or try.
I love it.
It's the blessing of the curseof being a coach.
Because you want to be great,you want to grow your kids and
there's so many ways to do that,but at the end of the day, the
faster you can throw'em in thefire, they learn how to
extinguish that fire.
They learn how to deal with theheat.
Yeah.
I love your approach with that.
(39:46):
if one of your players was onthe podcast, what do you think
they would say about you?
Oh gosh.
I think they would say that,Hey, our coaches really care
about us as human beings.
And I think that's, I willalways take pride in that.
And whether or not I'm the bestvolleyball coach or whatnot,
(40:08):
that can be your opinion,whatever.
But I want our players to knowthat we really value them as
humans and as people first andforemost.
I think that all of our playerscould say, when we have
individual meetings, we talk alittle bit about volleyball, but
it's mostly about life, Butthat, to me, that's, I want them
to feel as though we're reallyinvested in the relationship
(40:28):
that we have with them.
And it's not a, yes, it's coachplayer, but it's also, it's
human to human.
I think for our women, that's,gonna help them perform at the
highest level if they know that,hey, first and foremost, my
coaches, really love me whetheror not I'm a great volleyball
player that isn't ultimatelywhat decides how they feel about
(40:50):
me, as a person.
See, I think they would saythat.
Mitchell, he really cares aboutus and he, at least I hope
that's what they would say.
that doesn't surprise me in theleast coach, but, I guess we had
a recruit here a couple weeksago and, we asked oh, how was
your time with the players?
And they were like, oh, it'sgreat.
They said that, you and Jen arelike their aunt and uncle.
And I was like, oh, that'sgreat.
(41:11):
I love that.
For a lot of our players,obviously they're from across
the country or, whatnot.
they're plane right away fromhome.
So it's important for us to be,a good support system for them.
I love it.
I love it.
let's talk about recruiting alittle bit.
Yeah.
'cause and that's why I askedyou that question.
I wanted to lead into recruitinga little bit.
Yeah.
What are some of the things thatyou've gotta have?
Are there non-negotiables foryou when you're, and obviously a
(41:34):
22 a CT and a 3.0 is anon-negotiable for University of
Chicago, but what are some ofthose characteristics that
you're looking for?
Effort.
Skillset?
Are there things that you justgotta have When you bring a
recruit in the door?
Yeah, it's a great question.
yeah, I think, yeah, I think wereally try to make sure that
(41:57):
they are people of highintegrity.
I think that's super important,and obviously, having a lot of
conversations with them, butalso talking to, the people that
they are around a lot, right?
So they're, whether it's theirhigh school coach, their club
coach, whomever it might be, Ialways start the conversation
with that person.
I don't want fluff.
I want, give me, be honest, bedirect.
This is someone that ultimately,these are people that we are
(42:20):
around a lot.
And I like, I wanna enjoy thetime that I spend with the team.
And that doesn't mean that,obviously there aren't gonna be
challenges and whatnot, but Iwanna be around people that I
enjoy being around, we have somepeople that are, highly
extroverted, but we also have,few players that are, more
introverted, more quiet,whatnot.
And I think that's important tome to bring in a diverse, array
(42:41):
of players.
Whether that's personality,race, that's where they come
from.
Socioeconomic, I want ourplayers to have, an experience
that they are around differentpeople than them.
I don't wanna recruit 18 of thesame person, but they need to be
great.
First and foremost, and theywant to see other people, with
(43:02):
respect and whatnot.
I think when we're watchingrecruits play, I think the
effort piece is important,right?
Because I don't really want toteach effort.
I, that's, something I, when youfigure out how to do that, what
you let know you, right?
So I think, just, are theygiving their best on the court?
But also a big one for us is howare, how do they act when
(43:23):
they're not playing?
And whether that's, oh hey, amiddle plays through rotations
and they come out, right?
But maybe they're not playingthat set, they're not playing
that match.
A big one for us is what arethey like on the bench?
Are they really engaged?
Are they really, are theysupporting their teammates?
or are they, are they pouting?
(43:43):
Talking to the person next to'emand not really paying attention.
That's super, super important tome.
'cause like our bench, we callit like our bench culture is
really important.
and how that can have a hugeimpact just the match and how we
do.
can that change your perspectiveon a kid that you're like, wow,
that athleticism is somethingelse.
And then you see what happens onthe bench?
Sure.
Can you go on 80 degrees reallyquickly?
(44:05):
A hundred percent.
my sister, I could too checkedoff many people that we've been
interested in, that we walk upto their court, they're not
playing.
And I can't tell you, there'smultiple times where I, we look
for the,'cause we walk up totheir court, we look for their
number.
Oh, okay, they're not playing.
Okay, lemme look over on thebench.
And they are totally disengaged.
Totally, just not present.
(44:28):
Obviously.
Maybe they're upset that they'renot playing.
and I immediately am like, Nope,I don't.
I just don't wanna deal withthat.
I don't wanna deal with that.
I don't want to deal, I don'twant to try to motivate our
players to support theirteammates.
That is a given, being a part ofa team sport is that whether you
are playing or not, you supportyour teammates.
and that's by being engaged,giving feedback to them that
(44:51):
those that are playing, you'recheering, whatever it is, there
has to be some sign of.
and so if they're doing it, ifthey're not engaged now, it's
just a culture issue that we'vehad, that's, been an issue for
us a couple years ago.
It's just not something that I.
Personally want to deal with asa head coach.
Yeah.
And yeah, it's that off thecourt stuff is super important.
(45:12):
but really, yeah, I think Ipersonally am a little more
attracted to an athlete that's,maybe sometimes a little bit
smaller, jumps really well or isreally fast.
That's more of the style that Ilike now.
we have two first year middlescoming in that are six three and
six two it's not always thecase, but that certainly helped.
Well done.
They're both, super athleticand, they both move really well.
(45:33):
And, yeah, I like a player who,you try to look at obviously the
potential that they have from avolleyball perspective and,
sometimes we have players thatare maybe a little bit more raw
and just not as experienced, butwe feel confident in our
training that, we can catch'emup to speed Get them to be, even
if it's not, hey, first yearyou're starting and playing.
but by, second, third, fourthyear, that's the expectation is,
(45:57):
yeah.
That, that you're competing fora spot.
I love it.
I tell kids all the time, thelonger you're college coach, the
more recruiting becomes likeshopping.
Shopping for clothes.
If you're gonna walk through aRoss or TJ Maxx or a, you name
it, you know really quickly,okay.
That's not gonna wash well,that's not gonna fit me well.
That's, that is gonna beuncomfortable.
(46:17):
I don't like that material.
And the more you do more you'rerecruiting, the more you can
look at a kid and go, I'm notgonna enjoy coaching her.
She's not gonna enjoy playingfor me.
She's not gonna be able to keepup.
Absolutely.
And I think that's important.
It's important that you mentionthey're not gonna enjoy me,
because I do think that.
While we are obviouslyrecruiting an athlete, they are
(46:37):
also recruiting us.
Like they are trying to figureout, hey, is this a good fit?
Are you a good fit for me as acoach?
And, we don't want therecruiting process to feel like,
we are just recruiting theathlete.
We want it to feel like atwo-way street in that, we are
both mutually recruiting oneanother.
Yeah.
Trying to figure out is this thebest fit, for, and we know that
we are not the only part oftheir experience in college, but
(46:59):
we hope that obviously we can beone that's, really impactful,
absolutely.
Yeah.
they're gonna get a world-classeducation at University of
Chicago, but they're getting aworld-class education on your
court too.
That's what hope.
That, but, it's the goodchallenge that we have is, yeah.
Mediocrity is not an Acceptableway for us to go at our job
here, especially from ourplayers.
(47:20):
again, parents and teenagersseem to understand this.
If they want somebody like youto recruit them, you've gotta
show Coach McPartland, allright, what am I bringing to his
program?
what am I gonna do to make itbetter?
Yeah.
Okay.
this isn't just, I'm buying aticket to go to the show.
What am I gonna do to make hisprogram better?
Because I'm gonna leave hisschool with this, and this.
(47:40):
What can I bring to the table?
It's like a job interview.
As soon as you start talkingabout, Hey, what can you do for
me?
you're not a very goodcandidate.
For sure.
'cause we want, yeah, we wantthem to know, Hey, this is what
we can do for you, but what areyou gonna bring to our culture?
That'ss different, or what areyou gonna enhance?
Or, whether that's volleyballoff the court, always looking
for people that are gonna add.
(48:03):
Something new or different toour program.
And that's what kids need tounderstand too, is the better
the school and the better theprogram.
The more options you have, themore you can say no a lot more,
you can walk away a lot more, alot faster because there's
another 20 girls that wanna goto the University of Chicago.
Yeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
And some not, we don't use, wedon't say this very often, once
(48:24):
in a blue moon it's, hey, Ithink it's, we talk a good
amount about like gratitude andjust, yeah.
you can get lost in the stressand chaos of everything, but
just being like, Hey, we'rereally grateful that we have
this opportunity because thereare a lot of people at U
Chicago, UA, nescac, whateverthat.
They would love to be in yourposition because they want to
(48:46):
have that experience you'rehaving, and yeah.
For sure.
Cool.
Coach, I so enjoyed talking toyou, and I really appreciate
your time.
Would you mind, would you do alittle rapid fire with me?
Sure.
Absolutely.
Fire questions for you?
These are fun.
I think you'll like'em.
Yeah, for sure.
All right.
Lobero or setter, which positionis more underrated?
Ooh, underrated.
(49:07):
Oh my gosh, that's a hard one,because they're really the
hardest to recruit, aren't they?
Yeah.
Which you gotta put the mosttime into those kids.
I would agree that those are thetwo positions that are, you
can't just watch someone warm upand go, oh wow, that's, okay.
Yeah.
There'll be, we can work withthat.
it does take more time.
Underrated, I wanna say I feellike Ero because a really good
(49:32):
libero.
Not that a really good setterdoesn't make a difference too,
but I almost feel like it'sunder maybe a little more
undervalued Impact that they canhave.
And maybe I'm just being alittle biased as a former Loro
myself, but, I think a novicewould tell you that too, if
you're watching volleyball andyou're like, that ball never
hits the floor on that side.
It seems like 80% of the timeit's the same kid that's getting
(49:52):
the ball up.
Yeah, for sure.
It's always that lib for, and Ithink the eros get more, like
they have more of those wow,what an amazing dig, or, wow,
that was incredible.
The centers, I think go a littlemore like under the radar and
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're, but as someone who's,as coached for a while now, I
think that setters are, I thinkthe way volleyball is evolving
(50:13):
in our country, I think settersare getting more and more
recognition for what they do.
And I still think the arrows areunderappreciated.
Yeah.
Just as a whole.
Yeah.
they're also typically the lastones to get recruited too,
right?
In our class.
it probably depends.
I don't know what it's like theD one level, but if you have a
really good libero, gosh, thatYeah.
Makes a big difference.
Obviously just your ability towin matches, but yeah, they are
(50:35):
typically last in the recruitingprocess.
there's a lot of great five fourliberos out there, but it's
really hard to find that six twooutside with the huge gun and
can really rip it, touch tenfive and, yeah.
Ultimately your hitters are theones that are, they gotta put
the ball away, so They do.
Favorite away Jim in the UAA?
Ooh, good question.
let me think.
(50:57):
I really, so Carnegie Mellon hasa new facility, which is
beautiful.
NYU has a new facility, which isbeautiful.
So they're really nice.
Honestly, though, I have to say,I really like playing in
Rochester's gym.
I don't know if you've beenthere, but I've seen the
pictures.
I don't think I've been in thatgym.
it's older.
yeah, like that, like a circle,it's different.
It's old, a little like IllinoisWesleyan even smaller than that.
(51:20):
Really small.
I love those old gyms.
it reminds me of high school.
It's just like intimate, I enjoytheir gym and I think Rochester
is such a cool city, Yeah, itis.
That's great.
All right.
One book, podcast, ordocumentary.
Every coach should consume.
That's okay.
anything that you're like, gosh,that really made a difference
for me.
It really opened my eyes.
Anything like that.
(51:41):
Yeah, that's a really goodquestion.
The documentary on Netflix, Ibelieve it's called, I'm trying
to think.
it's the one I was talking aboutearlier.
the way the therapist talksabout, the way our brain
processes things was reallyimpactful for me.
The way our brain works is sofascinating and how that impacts
our sport is also reallyfascinating.
(52:02):
when you think of it, text it tome later today.
Yes.
I wanna check it out.
I love that stuff.
it's really interesting.
Good, good.
is there a volleyball hill thatyou're willing to die on?
Is there something you're like,if I could get that done, or if
I could get to that, thataccomplishment, is there one of
those that you're like, oh yeah.
Anything personally for yourteam, anything like that?
(52:24):
Yeah.
I think for our program rightnow, I think like winning a UA
championship is super importantbecause I think it's, obviously
a conference championship isreally great, but like with how
good our conferences, I think,yeah.
Maybe what a confidence boosterthat gives you that.
Oh wow, we can win ourconference championship.
I think that's a, and for mepersonally, I think that's a big
one.
'cause we, my first year here asan assistant, we finished first
(52:46):
in the regular season, then welost in five in the finals.
So that was like, we were soclose.
so I think that's a big, a bigone.
And then ultimately, I almostwon a national championship as a
player.
And so that would be, that wouldreally be the, that would
ultimately be the goal.
Just that, that incrediblefeeling.
but, one step at a time.
(53:08):
Absolutely.
And my niece is going throughthe same thing.
Yeah.
She, that league is just a beartwo.
And there's, yeah.
My gosh.
Good.
And it's gracious and it justseems and I'm seeing you do the
same thing like every year.
It's just like you're gettingone more notch in that ladder,
right?
Yeah.
But so does everyone else, andthat's the heart again.
But that's, I can't wait foreveryone else to get worse.
you just gotta keep raising thelevel you do.
(53:28):
And you're doing it.
you're gonna get there.
I put you in a room with 300volleyball parents.
What's the one piece of adviceyou want them to walk out the
door with about recruiting?
Recruiting?
my always big one is beauthentically you.
and find the fit that is bestfor you.
(53:49):
And, the saying goes, comparisonis the thief of joy.
Stop comparing yourself to otherpeople and their journey in
their recruiting process.
Be be true to your values, betrue to what you want your
experience to be, and go for it.
If you wanna play at thedivision one level, that's
awesome, then, you go for it.
(54:10):
but also there are also otherreally great opportunities
outside of Division one.
And, I think the volleyballcommunity is getting, and that's
why I think D three is gettingbetter and better is more and
more parts of the country arestarting to, send their players
to division three schools andare like, wow, look at that
success that they're having.
(54:30):
Look how much they're winning.
They're competing for a nationalchampionship, and then they get,
a great education or they get tohave experiences that are,
outside of volleyball.
But yeah, I think ultimately.
Be authentically you.
And that's, and whether you'reinteracting with coaches,
players, whatever it is.
I think that's always a big onefor me.
Great advice.
(54:51):
Absolutely Great advice, coach.
It has been such a joy to get toknow you.
I'd love to call if you're upfor it.
I'm gonna call you a friend andYeah, for sure.
Absolutely.
If there's ever anything I cando for you or the women in your
program or your program itself,don't be afraid to ask.
But it was just a joy getting toknow you, and I know great
things are ahead of you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
For having me.
I always love, similar to, whatyou said, it's always really
(55:12):
great talking to other coachesand just getting to hear, what
their philosophies are and whatthey value.
And so it's been a funconversation, so I really
appreciate you asking me to dothis.
it's been great.
My pleasure.
Good luck in 2025.
We'll be cheering for you.
Thanks Matt.
Appreciate it.
Well, that's a wrap for thisweek's Significant Coaching
podcast.
Huge thanks to Coach MitchellMcPartland for joining me and
(55:33):
sharing such thoughtful insightinto his coaching journey, his
philosophy on leadership, andthe incredible work happening at
the University of Chicago.
If this conversation resonatedwith you, whether you're a
coach, a parent, or a studentathlete, I'd love for you to
subscribe and leave a review.
Your feedback helps us reachmore people who are passionate
about growth, culture, andsignificance support in sports.
(55:56):
And remember, if you'renavigating the college athletics
recruiting process or want tobring me in to speak at your
school or organization, headover to coach matt rogers.com.
You'll find my weekly blogspeaking info and tools to help
families and coaches at everystage of the journey, including
my book, significant Recruiting,the Playbook for prospective
College athletes.
(56:16):
Until next time, keep leadingwith purpose and chasing
significance over success.
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