May 9, 2025 ā¢ 47 mins
šļø Pushing for Greatness, Leading with Heart
In this episode of the Significant Coaching Podcast, host Matt Rogers sits down with Wade Wilson, Head Softball Coach at Texas Lutheran University and one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division III history. With a national championship, over 450 career wins, and the highest DIII softball winning percentage of all time, Wilson has built a powerhouse in Seguin, Texas.
But behind the numbers is a coach who wrestles with the emotional weight of leadership. Coach Wilson opens up about the intense standards he holds for his programāand for himself. In one of the most moving moments of the conversation, he reflects on the toll that drive can take on relationships with his players, and the constant tension between pushing for greatness and making sure his athletes know how deeply he cares.
Matt shares how he sees his own coaching journey in Wilsonās story, and the two discuss what it means to lead with both edge and empathy.
Ā šø What it really takes to sustain excellence year after year
Ā šø The emotional toll of coachingāand the fear of being misunderstood
Ā šø Building a team that performs like a family, not just a roster
Ā šø Lessons from one of Division IIIās most dominant softball programs
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Welcome back to the SignificantCoaching Podcast, where we go
beyond the wins and losses toexplore the heart of coaching,
why we lead, who we lead, andhow we grow along the way.
I'm your host coach Matt Rogers.
Before we dive in, I wannaencourage you to rate, review,
and follow the podcast.
Your support helps more coaches,athletes, and families.
(00:28):
Discover these meaningfulconversations.
And if you haven't yet, visitcoach matt rogers.com.
That's where you can grab a copyof significant recruiting.
Read our weekly blog andschedule a one-on-one strategy
session with me to talk throughyour recruiting journey, whether
you're a coach, a parent, or acollege bound athlete.
Now today's guest is WadeWilson, the legendary head
(00:51):
softball coach at Texas LutheranUniversity.
Entering his 14th season, coachWilson has built TLU into a
division three powerhouseleading the Bulldogs to the 2019
NCAA National Championship and a2021 National Runner up finish.
With a career record of 455 winsto 92 losses and a conference
(01:15):
mark of 246 wins and 20 losses.
Wilson holds the highest winningpercentage in NCAA Division
three softball history, andranks third all time across all
NCAA divisions.
But this conversation isn't justabout the wins.
Coach Wilson is a hard-nosedleader who pushes his players to
(01:36):
be their best and holds himselfto that same high standard.
In one of the most powerfulmoments of the episode, he opens
up about the emotional costs ofthat drive, his concern about
how it affects relationshipswith his players, and his deep
desire for each young woman toknow just how much he cares
about them.
It is honest, it's vulnerable,and it's everything this podcast
(02:00):
stands for.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withCoach Wade Wilson.
All right, coach Wilson, I gottastart with a hardcore question
for you.
do you get Wade Wilson, thefootball player, or Wade Wilson?
Deadpool?
Which one do you get more often?
Earlier it was the quarterback,and I checked into a hotel in
(02:21):
New Orleans one year and it gotcussed out.
I'm like, yeah, that's not me.
And lately it's more Deadpool,and I had never seen the movie
when they were, I had no ideawhat they were talking about,
but that seems lately it's moreDeadpool stuff and I've still
yet to see it, so I probablyneed to check that out.
My last name is Rogers, so I'vegotten Mr.
Rogers in the neighborhood jokesmy whole life, so I had to
Absolutely.
I had to start with that.
(02:42):
coach, thank you so much forbeing on, especially in the
heart of what you're about todo.
start the playoffs, start thenational tournament.
I know you got so much going onwith the conference tournament.
You've built Texas Lutheran intoone of the great stories in all
of D three softball.
When you first took the job, didyou envision this level of
(03:02):
dominance?
Has this journey surprised you?
yes.
I'd be lying if I saidotherwise.
I've always.
thought I was good at what I do,and I don't think it matters
what I'm doing.
I think there's a thin linebetween confidence and cocky.
and you gotta be careful withthat.
And I don't ever wanna comeacross as cocky and sometimes
confidence does, coming in, thefirst year I thought I was gonna
(03:23):
be able to change the world andrealized how hard it was.
I had a pretty tall, and we were19 and 19 my first year here.
And, we just, it's what it was.
looking back on it, we werefortunate to be 19 and 19,
right?
and then the next year we had alittle success, and then it just
rolled from there.
and I've talked with severalcoaches this year about that,
man, I don't know that it's anyeasier now than it was back then
(03:43):
because the pressure that comeswith it, and it's all the
pressure that we've put onourselves, right?
We've asked for this.
it's not any easier.
It's just different,expectations are there.
we talk with our team all thetime about expectations.
Our opponents have expectations.
those programs have expectationsas well.
They may just not be as high asours, it's not necessarily
anything that we've done withthis group.
It's the people before them, thegirls that have come before them
(04:05):
and have laid this down.
it can't last forever.
we're trying to hang onto it aslong as we can.
it's been a great ride.
It sure has.
It's been fun to watch I'mexcited to see all that's coming
down the road for you guys.
We live in a world that'sobsessed with moving up the
ladder.
you've been committed to TexasLutheran and building something,
really significant, reallylegendary, and instead of
(04:28):
chasing other opportunities thatI'm sure have been thrown at
you, what's been at the heart ofbeing a D three coach and
where's that joy come and thatbeing able to wake up every day
and say, I can't wait to do thisagain.
where's that come from all theseyears?
I think, winning is important,right?
And I know the next step, if Iwere gonna leave here,
university of Texas and thosekind of schools are not knocking
on my door, right?
(04:49):
So I've had some opportunities,but most of'em are mid-majors
and mid level, it's.
Rebuilding and doing that stuff.
And now with the landscape ofthe way it if you get any talent
in there, they're gone the nextyear.
So the mid-majors, it's a reallytough place right now.
and I don't envy those guys atall.
and then the older my kids got,the stability of being in the
same spot has been huge.
(05:09):
I've got triplets that are 19and freshmen at TLU that's
great.
and they've got to go theirentire career.
They've lived in Sein and goneto Navarro and grew up in, in
this environment.
I think if things were differenthere on the job part of it, that
then maybe we would've looked.
But I'm, I've been so happy hereand winning's a big part of it.
they take care of me here.
I enjoy my job.
I enjoy the people I work with.
(05:31):
We're able to get really goodstudent athletes in here, great
kids.
And when I was younger Idefinitely wanted to see myself
coaching against the greats.
I just felt like I wanted thatchallenge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I feel that.
I understand that.
the longer it's been and themore people I talk to, they're
like, dude you've got it figuredout.
'cause it's not all about that.
The travel, even the D twolevel, some of the friends that
I have that are coaching at thatlevel, the travel that they do
(05:53):
is relentless.
You just, you're giving that up.
And so I'm fortunate here thatI've got a, we've got a great
president and a great board ofregents and my athletic director
is awesome.
I hope he sticks around as longas he does and gets me through
my career because it's, I havefun coming to work every day.
I feel like I'm respected andsupported and winning's
important and all That's good.
Everything I'm looking for in ajob is here.
(06:14):
Why do I need to go anywhereelse?
I love hearing that'cause veryfew.
Coaches can speak to that levelfrom the president down, the
support they have and thecommitment to athletics.
But, and I think it just startswith, there's so many academics
that are running schools rightnow or fundraisers.
They really don't understand theimpact that a really strong
(06:37):
athletic department has on everyother department, on that
campus.
For sure.
For sure.
You've won championships at boththe high school and college
levels.
How do you describe thedifference to a young coach
that's starting out?
How do you build somethingreally long term to really get
(06:58):
it going?
What is there some DNA that inthat's involved in what a great
program looks like and how youbuild it?
I think there is, and I, I wasfortunate enough to work as a,
under Brent Davis, a youngfootball coach, and he gave me
my first softball job.
and one of the deals I know thatwe were up for a few jobs and I
say we, he was up for a few jobsand we would gone with him as a
football staff.
(07:18):
One of the things that he lookedfor is that he wanted his boss
to be the superintendent as theathletic director, not the
principal.
And so as I started moving up,the things that I'm looking for
is, when I came to TLU, one ofthe things, several of the
things that I was looking for,one, a new facility that was a
good chance of that happening.
Two, the people that were herehad been here a long time,
right?
Whether they were having successor not, they were happy here.
(07:40):
They weren't jumping ship there.
There was some comradery amongstthe coaches.
The athletic director playedhere, coached here now is the
athletic director.
Winning was important, so I knewto be successful, you've gotta
have support both monetary andsupport.
That winning's important, right?
it's easy to try to do the rightthing and support everybody.
if parents come in and have aproblem, I know my athletic
director's got my back.
Granted, I have the right, andmore times than not coaches are.
(08:02):
but all of the things I thinkthat were important for me that
I thought I needed to havebehind me to be successful,
we're here.
then the rest of it is just, yougotta get the right kids in
here.
It doesn't matter how the coach,if you don't have the right
players and students and peoplein here, then it's gonna be hard
to be successful.
So I think there's a lot of luckalong the way, but I think too,
I, this is, you're 28 I think,for coaching softball.
(08:23):
that's a lot of luck.
So we're doing something right.
I don't know what it is, but Iknow that luck's a big part of
it, but we've been awful lucky.
Preparation's the king of thatluck, isn't it though?
No doubt.
And I know you do.
let's talk about, let's talkabout a Texas Lutheran bulldog.
Let's talk about your players.
is there a DNA that you love inyour players?
is there a common thread?
(08:44):
Because I know you've got adiverse group of young women in
your roster, but is there acommon thread through what a
bulldog looks like for you?
I think there is, and it'sgetting tougher to find, because
I coach a little different, andit's more from the seventies
that era, you know?
Yeah.
Old school.
I don't have a filter.
I use a lot of four letterwords.
And in today's society that'stough.
(09:05):
And finding those kids.
And so we have to recruit and.
And we have, we recruitdifferently, and we talk about
that, that it's, you've gottaremember that it's not personal.
I'm gonna coach you hard, and ifI change right now, you would
all see through it.
it wouldn't be genuine.
You'd like this.
What's this dude doing?
Yep.
And so it's not always pretty.
it's, I'm very critical.
and it's getting tougher to dobecause kids now, it's instant
(09:25):
gratification.
They need to be told how greatthey are all the time.
And that's just not me.
right or wrong.
I'm not saying it's right foreverybody, but it's worked for
me, so I've gotta go find thosetough kids, one of the questions
we ask in the interview, duringthe recruiting process is, would
you slap your mom for a w it'sgotta be that important to you,
and I love it.
And another thing we look for iskids, do they share a bathroom
(09:47):
growing up?
And that's teamwork right there.
Because if you have your ownbathroom growing up, you don't
know what it's like to shareanything.
And bathroom is probably thebest thing to have to share with
somebody.
You learn schedules and figuringit out and all that other stuff.
So there's not a right or wronganswer to any of those
questions, but it just gives usa little insight in that.
But biggest thing we're lookingfor is hardnosed kids.
Because when times are tough,and especially this time of the
(10:08):
year, times are tough, and weneed some grit and, I've
questioned my team a lot on thatthis year.
are you tough enough to do whatwe're asking you to do?
And if not, then we got thewrong group in here, and with a
portal now, it's so easy forkids to transfer and we always
leave it open.
Hey, if you're not happy here,go somewhere else and you can be
happy.
A lot of places, it doesn't haveto be just TOU we're looking for
a special kind of kid, and wehaven't had anybody take us up
(10:29):
on that for the most part.
but it's, yeah it's gettingtougher to find those kind of
kids.
I wanted to talk to youspecifically, coach,'cause I
think we're a lot like thethings I've read on you and
listened to you.
I wanted to get your perspectiveon that in this day and age and
where this world of coaching hasgone.
And I think what it's hard toarticulate to kids when you
(10:50):
coach'em hard is listen, youcame here to win.
You picked us to win.
So when I'm pushing you to teachyou how to win and how to
prepare it, it isn't personal.
We practice is over we can talkabout everything.
Yep.
But that two hour, two and ahalf hour window we have, we
(11:11):
gotta get something done.
That's right.
And I want you to get from whereyou think your potential is to
way up here where I know it is.
And we can tell kids that tillthey turn blue in the face or
till we turn blue in the face.
But is there something in afreshman or a sophomore when
that kind of clicks when theyget it?
It's tough as freshmen andespecially with, the thing we
(11:34):
see the most is when we have aJUCO kid come in here because We
have to expedite thatrelationship.
Yeah.
We've got two years to make itRight and a lot of times the
trust and What I've been harpingon our kids here late is that
who I am between those lines isa totally different person than
I'm in this office or anywhereelse in my life.
Just out there, it's businessand I'm hardcore and you're
gonna get your feelings hurt offthe field.
(11:55):
That's where you need to developthe relationship.
and my office is always open andI challenge them to come in
because if you get to know mehere there's a relationship
built, then that hour and ahalf, two hours that we're out
on the field, you're gonnaunderstand where I'm coming
from.
'cause you trust me, we have arelationship.
If we don't have that, then it'stough and then it gets real old
real quick, so we challenge ourkids to spend some time with us
off the field and to get to knowus, to develop a relationship
(12:18):
there, because I don't think, ascoaches, I know for a fact that
I can't be as effective as acoach.
And I think I'm speaking for allcoaches.
If there's not trust there, oncethere's a relationship built
there, then I can get away withwhatever I say.
And it's not always pretty,yeah, I understand that.
We had that talk yesterday Itold him after the game when we
played on Saturday, is that it'sreal easy for you guys to get
caught up soft.
You, you are not a softballplayer.
(12:38):
It's what you do.
Yeah.
It's what you do.
It's my livelihood.
But for you, you're just asoftball player.
It's not who you are, it's whatyou do.
So don't get the two confused.
Yeah.
You're great kids.
You're great human beings.
And I trust any of you in myhouse with my kids, with my
pets, but on the field it's ajob.
And for me, it's a job.
We have to remind them of thatoften because it gets caught up
(12:58):
in it.
You'll hear our kids all thetime there's a compliment.
You better put that in your backpocket.
Hang on to it.
'cause you're gonna need it atsome point, that's right.
Absolutely.
it's easy to overlook that andyou have to remind'em of that
they're loved and cared aboutit's tough.
Whether they know it or not,you've given them such a great
gift for the rest of their lifeon what it's gonna be like to be
an adult and the rest of theirlife should be easy.
(13:20):
it should be.
the games should be easy.
That's the plan, Your teamsdon't just win coach, they
dominate, and I'm sure a lot ofthat has to do with how you
recruit for pitching and thingslike that, but what role does
pressure play in maintainingthat excellence year after year
are how do you develop kids thatcan handle that pressure?
(13:41):
I think part of it, and we hadthis talk yesterday as well, is
that it's because it's constantin our practice, right?
there's not a day off out there,right?
There's days where I'm probablya little more relaxed when it
needs to be like right.
The day before a game, I'musually a lot more relaxed
because I want them.
The pop, that's what we call it.
'cause I want them a lot ofenergy and moving and not
(14:02):
thinking and just relaxing andplaying the game.
But other days it's highintensity.
So when they are in thatsituation, you hope that those
practice moments pay off?
Yeah.
in the fall we do a lot ofcompetition.
In the spring, not so much, butit's still high intensity and if
they screw something up, they'regonna hear about it.
So there's always that pressurethere, of performing.
And then when they get in themoment, it's what it is.
(14:22):
sometimes it pays off, sometimesit doesn't, and you always get
to that point.
That's a problem I've struggledwith lately, we're winning, but
at what cost am I damaging inthat?
I hope that five years from nowthey can look back and say this
was a positive influence for'em.
Right now, I think some of'emwould be on the fence, right?
'cause they don't realize thevalue of it.
and so that's, I think theproblem that I've struggled with
lately is because I.
(14:42):
We, I don't know that we have astrong enough relationship with
a few of our younger players yetto where they really trust that,
I think it's coming, but at whatexpense, and that's easy for me
to question as a coach, Iovershare with my team.
I'm never lied to'em.
I'm always who I am, and if youask a question, I'm always gonna
answer it.
And I don't know if that's rightor wrong either, but it's just
worked for us to being honest.
(15:03):
I have no filter.
It's just what I'm thinking iswhat it is.
I don't know if it's right orwrong.
I really don't.
I'm a lot like you.
when you think about freshmen,I, there's a movie in draft day
where he talks about rookiequarterbacks.
He hates rookie quarterbacks.
I've always looked at freshmenif I can get you to get it where
the light bulb's coming on,you're learning how to practice,
(15:27):
you're learning how to show upprepared.
You're learning how to relax inthe box.
You are learning to, to be ableto handle any situation.
If I can get you there in 18months, halfway between your
sophomore year, that's alwaysbeen my goal.
Yep.
Are you, do you see it that waytoo?
And you'll see some kids, we'vegot a few kids that have been
really good as freshmen, yeah.
(15:47):
we've got a freshman right nowthat's been a big time
contributor for us this year,and she's just, from the day
one, it was, it never seemedlike it, the moment was too big
for her.
I don't know that she's alwayshad the success, she didn't have
success early on, but it didn'tfeel like it was too big for
her, she just wasn't havingsuccess.
But it still felt like it was nobig deal, and so you are looking
for those kind of moments.
And then others, it takes awhile.
We've got kids that, we've got acouple juniors right now that
(16:08):
are in the lineup that struggledas freshmen and sophomore and
we're more role players and nowthey're finally seeing their
time and those stories are greattoo.
you love to see that'cause, theinstruction that we're giving,
the drills, the time, theinvesting and all that is paying
off for'em.
So that's always fun to see too.
So I've done a lot of differentstories like that.
Love that.
Love that.
I was a college basketball coachI love teaching kids how to play
(16:30):
fast.
I wanted to press, I wanted theother team to constantly be on
their heels.
Yep.
TLU is synonymous withaggressive base running.
How did that philosophy ofpressure softball become such a
core part of your identity?
I can tell you the moment ithappened, it was in 2003.
We had, I thought we had thebest high school team in the
(16:51):
country.
We had two all Americanpitchers.
One of'em ended up being an AllAmerican at ou and we won games,
one to nothing, two to one.
And we gave up 11 runs thatyear.
That's how dominant our pitchingstaff was.
Wow.
We got into a game where we werelosing one to nothing and their
picture was good as well.
We couldn't, we, we couldn'tstring hits together.
And so we got the second base,with one out.
(17:13):
I tried to still third, it was afoul ball.
I tried to still third.
It was a foul ball.
I tried to still third.
It was a foul ball.
We tried to still, third, we gotthrown out.
And then after the game, theparents lined up.
We lost the game.
It was a one game series.
We lost the game.
Our season was over with.
And the parents, and it was inBrenham, Texas, where it's
Baseball Capital of Texas.
Softball was big there too.
And I was a first year coach atBrenno, and they had just played
(17:34):
the state tournament the yearbefore.
And so I decided right then thatit, and it was my fault because
we didn't do that.
Prior to that.
We didn't have we were stationedto stationed.
And so the next year when we gotto first base, we stole second,
we got to second, we stolethird.
And by the halfway through theseason, the fans, the parents,
the kids expected that.
And so that's just the gamewe're gonna play.
And now when you get thrown out,it's no big deal, right?
(17:55):
We out twice this past weekend.
'cause the dumb third basemancoach, the third base coach was
the dummy.
And that was me.
But It's not the end of theworld because we're gonna play
that aggressive style of That'sright.
We've been doing that for 22years now and it's worked out
well for us.
And I love it.
What it does is it hides someother flaws that you have as
teams.
We don't have to be as good ahitters'cause we're gonna run.
All we gotta do is get on base.
And so now when you face elitepitching, it's not about, boy,
(18:17):
you gotta go up there and get ahit.
It's, you gotta go up there andget on base.
And there's a lot of ways to getto first base.
That's right.
And you can't steal first base.
Unfortunately.
If we could steal first base,we'd be really good.
It does so much.
You used the word trust earlier.
I would imagine when you'regiving these kids so much green
lights and you're letting'em runand letting them be aggressive,
(18:38):
it's a great place to buildtrust, don't you think?
It is.
But with that comes someresponsibility.
Yeah.
We had pinch runner come in thispast weekend and we burned our
first basement.
She was out and she's gone on, Ithink she had eight 50 this
weekend, but she had alreadybeen sub four once.
So we took her outta the gameand put a pinch runner in and
she leaves early.
And I'm like, what are youdoing?
We just take the kid out.
She's outta the lineup for therest of the game and this is
(18:58):
what we get.
She could have left first baseearly.
You gotta be a little better.
You're put in a big situation.
And now this kid and our firstbaseman thinking I could have
left base early if that's allwe're gonna do.
'cause that's an immediate out,yeah.
And so whether she deserved thator not, I don't know.
but I was frustrated and back tothe, I have no filter and she
needed to fill that as well, andwe've had to do some damage
control with that over the lasttwo days, trying to get her back
(19:18):
because we're gonna need her inthe playoffs.
yeah.
It's just part of it, so there'ssome responsibility there.
And, if we get thrown out, it'susually not a good discussion
when we get in the dugout.
'cause you messed up, youweren't fast enough, and that's
not fair either.
But it's.
How much of that next step isthem learning that you love them
even when you're hollering at'em?
That tough, man, that's the partthat's getting harder, and it's,
(19:40):
you just have to remind them.
And I think it helps that my topassistant played for me.
And we butted heads a bunch.
We had some knockdown drag outsout there, and so it helps with
her because she can, she's beenon both sides of it.
She's been in their shoes, sheunderstands it, and it's easy
for them to pick it up.
I've got five, six assistantcoaches that their job, they,
all of them have my personalityfor, they're very competitive,
(20:02):
with the exception of ourpitching coach.
And he's the nicest guy,soft-spoken.
The rest of us are, with theexception of Kyla, have all been
head coaches and, they've hadthat hat and so they had to
change their personalities topick them up, because I'm
usually the one that knocks'emdown.
And if we get more than meknocking'em down, then it's just
too much, yeah.
So it's great that we have.
I have unbelievable assistancethat just counterbalance me and
(20:25):
it takes five or six of'em to dothat, i'm very fortunate to have
that they can love on thosekids.
and that's when they need it iswhen I've been in the middle of
their rear end.
They've got somebody there tosay, Hey, it's gonna be okay.
I used the word luck earlier.
I think that's where the luckcomes in when you have, because
it's so hard to find ace andassistant coach at the D three
level, let alone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5of'em.
(20:48):
That love the game, love thekids as much as you do.
I can't do it by myself.
I've tried that before in yearspast, and it never works.
You can't be good cop and badcop.
It just doesn't work.
I've had some dog crap years andI look back and it's because I
didn't have an assistant coachor had a part-time assistant
coach, or I had an assistantcoach that wasn't there for the
right reasons.
No doubt.
It's tough, man.
It's really tough.
You can't do this job byyourselves.
(21:09):
and there's people in ourconference that are having to do
that man, it really makes ittough.
It does.
loyalty's a big thing.
for me, I don't know, movingforward if I could ever hire
somebody that didn't play for meBecause I know that they know
where I'm coming from.
yeah.
'cause then They're learning youjust like the kids and now
you're going, can I get them totrust me and buy into me and
believe in me?
(21:30):
in under 18 months.
it's a necessity.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Especially in the environmentthat we're in, in society,
because if you ever get in asituation where there's, a
disgruntled player, the firstperson they're gonna go talk to
is the assistant coaches.
That's right.
I'm not saying that I want anyof my coaches to laugh for me,
but I want'em to be honest aboutit.
Yeah.
and if you get, there's so manysituations where coaches have
been burned because theirassistants are not loyal because
(21:52):
they're after that job orwhatever it may be, and you see
it every day.
You read about it all the time,and it's competitive as it is.
And I don't think it's as muchat the D three level, but it's
still competitive.
We still wanna win.
Our athletic director wants towin.
but how baseball coach getsfired yesterday, Mississippi
State baseball coach gets firedyesterday at this point in the
season.
Are you kidding me?
Oh, look at the Denver Nuggets.
Fired their coach three daysbefore the playoffs started.
(22:13):
guy's been coach of the yearthree times.
he won an NBA championship a fewyears ago.
how do you replace that withwhat you think is, you think
there's gonna be somethingbetter out there?
You can't.
So all coach, I wannatransition.
I love talking to D threecoaches'cause I was one for a
long time.
And the balance that you find asa D three coach is so important.
You've coached nationalstatistic champions in softball,
(22:34):
you've coached national academicchampions.
How do you balance pushing thatfor greatness on the field and
off the field without onesuffering?
How do you find that studentathlete balance?
I don't say no.
And it's taken some getting usedto when a kid says, I need to go
do this.
Okay.
(22:54):
You just have to trust them.
And it's part of that, and ifthey take advantage of it, then
that's on them, but we've gotkids.
There's a good chance tomorrowwe're playing, or Friday we're
playing in our first conferencegame, and we may have five
starters missing because they'vegot exams, this time of year,
it's not my choice.
it's gotta be their choice.
And then, we tell'em that everyday life's about choices, and I
can't make those choices foryou.
Yep.
We have kids studying atpractice, kids with flashcards
(23:16):
in the outfield and.
I'm okay with that.
it's not ideal, but it is whatit is.
we very seldom have a practicewith all of our kids there.
They're either getting therelate or they're having to leave
early because they've got classor they've got something going
on.
Nursing has become a big issuebecause kids with clinicals and
all that, they can't get out.
we've had to play short.
We've got student teachers thathaven't traveled with us this
year because they couldn't missThursday and Friday.
(23:37):
So it's just what it is.
And I, you don't ever wanna putthat on the kid, but at the end
of the day, they've got to makethat choice, not me.
They've got to work with theirprofessors, they've got to make
those arrangements.
And it works out.
It always does.
And it's just what it is.
Anytime.
This and the kids are paying fortheir education.
They're not giving to'em.
You need to take advantage ofit.
You don't wanna be here anylonger than you have to.
so it's important that you takecare of that.
(23:59):
And then I figured out I'mwasting my time with study
halls.
There's such a, I think everyyear that I've been here, we've
had at least a 3.6 GPA as ateam.
Wow.
And so the peer pressure thatthey have amongst each other.
It's more than I could ever puton them.
They don't wanna let each otherdown.
And I'm not saying everybody's athree six student, but the
majority of our students,education's important to'em.
(24:19):
They're gonna be professionals.
and it helps that our majorshere that are really good are
our nursing and PPT Pre-MedAccountancy, which has got a
master's program.
Here's, the majority of ourstudents are in that and already
coming in with, they're prettygood students.
Yeah.
And I think the D three, youcan't get in here being a dummy,
so that helps.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not saying we're Ivy League,but our kids are pretty sharp.
(24:40):
it's important to'em.
I think that's been the biggestthing for us.
You've had multiple Americans,coach and you've always had team
balance rosters, deep balancerosters.
How do you coach your roleplayers compared to your stars?
Is there a way that you approachthat?
That's something I alwaysstruggled with.
(25:01):
'cause I'm, I was hard on every,I was gonna push you to be your
best, no matter who you were.
I was gonna coach the heck outof you.
But it was those kids that justhad that special ability that
you just, there's something thatyou just know they're a little
bit better than everybody else.
How do you handle that kidcompared to your scrappers and
your role players?
I'm like, how many butt chew inshave you had since you've been
here?
And it's a few.
(25:21):
I'm like, do you think you'vehad as many as so and and Annie
Kay, who I think is a, she's onthe Player of the Year watch.
She's sitting 4 96 right now.
I think she's gonna be theplayer of the year in our
conference.
I think she'll be a first teamAll American, or she should be
anyhow.
She didn't slide it home, thispast weekend.
It was a forced play and shewent in there and didn't slide.
And then I didn't say anythingto her because I thought it was
the fastest way for her to getthere was to run through it.
(25:43):
But she went up to my assistantand she goes, I'm a little
surprised you didn't get on mefor not sliding.
And I wish she would've becauseI don't want the team thinking
I'm not, I'm getting out ofsomething.
I'm like, I wanted her to runthrough.
It was faster for her to do itthat way than it was to slide.
And in a forced situation, youdon't have to slide.
So it worked out and it wasn't,Looking back on it, you wanna
say slide, but at the same timeit was the right thing, move for
her to do at the time.
(26:03):
but yeah, they get our studs getit?
I challenged our All Americansecond baseman who's won the
Golden Shoe Award the last twoyears.
I challenged her after game two.
I'm like, you've gotta be betterin front of the entire team.
You've gotta be better.
I need more out of you.
And she went four for four ingame three.
So it's great to see that.
It's great for the role playersthat, that do end up on the
wrong end of a butt chewing.
And then, but they also see thatyour all Americans are getting
(26:26):
it as well.
We've benched all Americans andall, you're not playing, you're
not performing, you're not doingwhat you need to do.
you're going through themotions.
You're not gonna play justbecause of what you did last
year.
So I think it all boils down towe're putting the team out there
that gives us the best chance towin.
And if, whoever that may be, andI had to love on a kid, that's
been a starter for us most ofthe years.
She's gone through a strugglehere lately, and she handled
(26:48):
herself very well this weekend.
And I sent her a text on Sunday.
It's Hey man, I appreciate youhandling this like a true
professional,'cause it's tough.
I know you're going through it.
I know you want to play, I knowyou want to do well, you're just
struggling right now.
But she's handled herself verywell.
So you have to, when you seethose opportunities, it's always
good to just love on'em a littlebit there because they could
cause you some problems in thatdugout.
A lot of times we don't see thatas coaches, it's behind the
(27:10):
scenes because we're so busy inthe game and Misery's looking
for company, so I think our kidsare aware of it and understand
it.
It's just, yeah, you just coach'em all the same, love it.
You've been doing this a longtime.
You and I have both been doingthis.
I've been doing it about 27, 28years.
You've been doing it for 28years.
Are there things that you'velearned to watch for?
(27:32):
Red flags, non-negotiables,things you're watching in a high
school or a JUCO kid whereyou're like, kids, great.
But I just don't think she's gotwhat we need.
I don't think she's gonna beable to survive here.
Are there things that, like yourhead just there's an alarm that
goes off?
Yes and no, because I've alwaysfelt like I can save a kid,
(27:53):
yeah.
I've always that, that, that'salways been, I'm big believer in
second chances.
Yeah.
I'm a believer in kids makingmistakes and we can help them.
I'm gonna be good enough to helpthem.
It doesn't always work out thatway, but, so I think that's, for
me that's a weakness because Ialways, I believe in people,
yeah.
I want to give them a secondchance.
I think body language is thebiggest thing because it's
something that's, I.
(28:13):
A kid is either confident ornot, and bad body language is a
sure sign of them not beingconfident.
And I say that once again, bodylanguage.
I'll just make a statement, bodylanguage and not necessarily
directed to anybody, but otherthan who I'm talking to.
But you'll see all of them.
is he talking to me?
'Cause body language is the bigthing, especially in the circle.
Our pitchers, it's real easy.
Be frustrated with an umpire, befrustrated with a call, be
(28:35):
frustrated'cause you don't haveany command of a certain pitch,
and all of a sudden your bodylanguage has gone to crap.
but I think that's probably theeasiest thing as coaches for us
to watch and monitor.
I don't enjoy watching when aparent's overly, involved in a
game cheering or positive ornegative.
I just sit there and watch yourkids play, yeah.
and so I think that's probablythe biggest red flag that I look
(28:56):
for in that.
but body language would probablybe the biggest, yeah.
That's a big part of it when youtalk about how you coach.
Correct.
And I and I can say that'cause Ialways like that too.
I wanted talk about saving kids.
I believed in kids so much.
(29:17):
I'm like, let's go.
I see where you're already,where you should already be.
I know you can be there, let'sget you there.
But there has to be a sense ofthat patience, especially on
your roster where you have somuch talent.
They're, you're bringing in kidsthat may not get to play a lot
that first year.
they were first team allconference.
They were all state and they'recoming into your program and
they're sitting behind somebodythat's all American.
(29:39):
How do you instill thatpatience, that development idea,
that trust in the process?
and I know that's probablygetting harder with this age and
where we're at, but is therethings that you're instilling or
you're using your assistantcoach to instill or maybe you
even using your seniors toinstill?
I wish I, I think you can alwaysdo better than that.
I think you have some successstories and we've got several of
(30:02):
them going on right now wherekids that were role players last
year, They were really goodplayers, but they just were
lacking.
They had a deficiency somewherewhere most of it's offensive,
they were lacking offensive andthey couldn't get in the lineup
and stay in the lineup.
They'd play late in the gamedefensively'cause they were so
good.
And then you see them have somesuccess and then they worked
themselves into the lineup atthe cost of somebody else now
being outta the lineup, kidsthat were hitting in the three,
(30:23):
four hole, one of'em on thebench right now.
The other one's down in thelineup.
and so I think, when you get tothat, it's about being fair but
at the end of the day, it's mygut of this kid's gonna help us
win.
senior day was, I hate seniorday,'cause all the seniors feel
like they're, Obligated to play.
And it's just, it's not thatway.
We're trying to win a game, soif kids get in a game, it's not
because I felt sorry for'em,it's because they've earned it.
(30:45):
So when you hold to thatstandard that when they get
there, it's oh, I deserved it.
'cause he is not putting me injust because he's not putting me
in'cause I'm having a badattitude.
He's not putting me in becauseI'm a senior.
He is not putting me in.
He's putting me in because I'veearned it.
And so I think that at the endof the day goes a long way.
I don't care what their parentsdo or if their grandparents are
big contributors.
I'm trying to win softball gamesMore times than not, it's hard
(31:08):
to argue with that.
It's really hard to argue withthat when we're 37 and one,
yeah.
If we were 20 and 20 thenthere's a lot of people in the
peanut gallery saying, I deserveto be playing.
And they're probably right, butif you go, oh, for 12, there's a
good chance you're probably notgonna be in the lineup and sway
it is get figured out, we gottago with somebody that's getting
the job done.
So I, I've been very fortunatewith not having a whole lot of
that in my career.
(31:28):
And I learned that early on.
and we were six and oh my firstyear of coaching softball.
And we had a kid miss, becauseshe was showing an animal, and
her replacement went like sevenfor eight, and then she came
back on Saturday and I'm like,I'm not taking seven for eight
outta the lineup.
Yeah.
It's what it is.
And her parents met me after thegame and wanted to talk and I
talked and then finally I waslike, listen, if you don't like
it, go somewhere else.
This is the way it is.
(31:49):
And.
They're like, okay, I didn'thave any more problems.
my rest of my time at Sentence.
And the word got around he ain'tmessing around.
You might not wanna go talk tohim'cause he's pretty much a
dick.
and so it, it carried over withme at Brenham, my parent
meeting.
I treated the same.
If you don't like the way I'mdoing it, go somewhere else.
He can play something else.
There's other options.
They can play soccer, they cando whatever, be in the band.
Extracurricular.
So I've been pretty fortunatethere, but I think the biggest
(32:10):
part of it is that winning curesa lot of, that.
It solves a lot of thoseproblems.
And, kids who are not gonnaspeak up, who are maybe feel
like they're not getting theopportunity, it's hard for them
to speak up when we're winning.
Yeah.
That makes sense to me.
it's hard for anybody tounderstand that, you are earning
this opportunity if somebody's alittle better than you and can
help us win a little bit more,they're gonna get the
opportunity.
And you're gonna cheer for themjust like they were cheering for
(32:32):
you.
Absolutely.
It's no different in thebusiness world, if they can do
your job better or cheaper,they're going to.
And if they do take your job,that means tomorrow's an
opportunity for you to get itback.
That's right.
Exactly right.
All right.
You brought up your record.
I wanna talk about March 14th.
Was that the one game we lost?
Yes.
How important do you think thatloss is in going into the
(32:54):
national tournament?
'cause you've seen so many teamsin every level, every sport that
goes into the nationaltournament, 30 and oh, 15 and
oh, and they lose in theplayoffs because I never wanna
be an O ever.
It's fine being undefeated, butI don't want that.
How important is that game goinginto these next three weeks?
(33:15):
We don't dwell on that much andwe don't talk about it.
I think it's a lesson learnedand this is the reason we've
done that.
I think the thing that makes, I.
And we've talked about this,I've talked about with our
coaches, talked about with ourteam.
I don't think me being me I tell'em, I'm not trying to sound
egotistical.
I'm, when I talk to my coaches,when I talk to my team, but I
don't think if I'm me, if I'manybody else, that we're not 37
(33:36):
1 right now or whatever, we're30.
I guess we're 37 and one.
We're not 37 and one right now,if I'm not me, right?
Because we've played down to ourcompetition so much this year.
That's what scares me as acoach, right?
We're winning, and we win eightto nothing and still play pretty
shitty.
And that's the thing.
What we're fighting against ascoaches is that we don't want to
do that.
That's not what championshipteams do.
And so I think that.
(33:57):
We're trying to learn thoselessons when we win, because
that's how I am.
usually after losses.
I'm a little more easygoing asfar as, okay, this is what we
did wrong.
This is what we gotta getbetter.
It's not a time to kick'em.
I kick'em more when we win.
Like usually the when we go totalk after a game, the first
three or four things are, thisis what we've gotta get better
at.
This is what you screwed up.
(34:17):
This is what we gotta get betterat.
Proud of you.
You competed well, you found away to win.
You didn't have your best stuffall.
All the things that we can buildon, but at the same time, this
is what we gotta get better at.
We've had two games this yearwhere I thought we've played
well.
The other games we've playedwell enough to win, but we
haven't played.
We played Trinity the last game.
We had a rain out.
We had to make that game up andit was, I don't remember when we
played'em.
We played'em in March 25th.
(34:40):
Yeah, been that long since we'veplayed well, and after the game,
I'm like, that's what it lookslike.
That's what you're capable of.
That's the standard we're after.
That's what we're trying to get.
and that was nothing butpositive things, and then that's
what it's supposed to look like.
And so we don't dwell too muchon it.
I don't think we've talked aboutit since then.
Oh yeah.
'cause it shows that we'rebeatable.
(35:00):
You've had a, you're at McMurraythis weekend.
You had a couple close games, 7,4, 9, 7.
Are those games where you haveto battle a little bit and you
have to finish when the otherteam's bats are hot?
Maybe your pitching isn't as hotas they've been.
Are those type of wins, can theybe even more valuable than a
loss?
(35:20):
Absolutely.
If you're able to coach throughthose, right?
I think if you just like, oh,great job guys, we broke.
You've gotta get, why did we getin that situation?
We got in that situation becausewe walked people, right?
We, Amanda had a no hitter goinginto the six, we're up seven and
nothing, and you blink, we walka few bats, you make an error
and it's seven to five, right?
Just that quick, we were intotal control of the game.
(35:41):
all of a sudden it's seven tofive and then we had a two run
home run in the top of theseventh to go up nine to five,
but then they scored two moreand got the time run at second
base.
During the game, it's not fun,right?
we're competing and I'm in themiddle, after the game.
Boy, that's gonna come in handy.
That's gonna come in handy downthe road when we need that,
because we need to be in thosesituations.
We need to be challenged.
We need to be in toughsituations.
'cause in the playoffs, thisconference tournament this
(36:03):
weekend, there's gonna be a dogfight.
I don't know that we come out ofit unscathed.
yeah, it's tournament setting,and everybody's after us.
and throw in the weather now andthe change of the schedule and
all that stuff, it's not going,it's not in our favor.
Everything is going against usis the number one seed.
we typically, we had it set upto where we play the winner of a
game, but they have now had tomake a pitching decision.
(36:23):
Do they throw their number onein game one or they say they're
number one against us, and nowthey're getting a day's rest.
So we're gonna be able to,they're gonna throw their number
one in game one, they're gonnathrow their number one against
us in game two the next day.
that's not good, so we're gonnahave to be battle tested and you
hope that the toughness thatthey've been.
We've crumbed down their throat,whether they liked it or not
pays off.
It's too early to tell, but youhope it does.
(36:44):
So it's tough, you just neverknow.
And at the end of it, we maylook back on'em like, wow, we're
probably a little rough on thisgroup, maybe Aida, but, I don't
think that we can, I don't thinkI can do it any other way, yeah.
I think if I have to startchanging too much and it's time
for me to find something else todo, coach, I hope you don't,
'cause I love your authenticity.
I love your passion.
I love your conviction.
For me, I want to have you backon in July.
(37:08):
Okay.
Because I wanna see who you arewhen you're not in the thick of
it.
'cause my question for you is,what does Wade Wilson look like
when he is not neck deep intothe season?
do you relax?
A lot.
I have to, and I've gotten, partof the reason, a big part of the
(37:29):
reason that I've been able tocontinue to do this and why I
love TLU one, my family's happy.
Yeah.
I've, since Covid, I've played alot of golf and it's, it is my
way to just forget abouteverything.
And my wife has been so awesomeabout it.
God dog.
Yeah.
it's been easy for no, nottoday, but she's just, and for
(37:50):
me it's been an escape, and it'sneeded.
I think I'm a pretty tough guy,and I, after Saturday I got home
and just, I lost it, i'm justoverwhelmed and it's, yeah.
It's not the, it's just you wantto do well, you wanna do right
by kids, and it's just youquestion what's too much, at
(38:11):
what expense is it worth that,you know, and you hope that
you're doing the right thing.
And that's the talk we hadyesterday with'em is that I
think I'm doing right by you.
I'm treating you no differentthan I'd treat my own kids.
I genuinely love you.
I genuinely love what I do, butis it worth it?
That only time's gonna tell.
and that's what I told'emyesterday is that five years
from now, if you're stillcalling me, then it was worth
(38:34):
it.
Yeah, that's the true testamentis that there's a relationship
outside of softball, yeah.
and I think this time of year itjust, wears on you a little bit
because of all the other stuff.
We're trying to win.
We're trying to do the rightthing, and it's only the
pressure, I talked Kendra, I'veforgotten to be pretty good.
Source of, I can rely on him totalk me through some things, and
he said, you just blow throughthe victories and every loss
(38:55):
takes a chunk out of you.
And it does Ring.
So true.
it's, we're blessed to do whatwe do.
We really are, were blessed toget to coach.
I get to do this for a living.
how lucky am I that I'm nothaving to go to work nine to
five and do all that otherstuff?
So I know how blessed I am.
I know that God dog, I'm in agreat spot here.
I've got a great job and my bossis great.
(39:15):
It's just, you gotta be able tofind a way to get away from it.
And I've been fortunate enoughto be able to do that.
you mentioned a mentor or afriend that you can count on,
and you talked about your wife.
I think when you have a brainlike yours, and I had a similar
brain in terms of.
I just never turned it off.
Season was over, I could turn itoff a little bit.
(39:36):
I could golf fish, what,whatever that was for you as a
coach.
But it's hard to pause whenyou're in the thick of it.
It is, it's hard.
And I'm a big believer in howyou do anything.
It's how you do everything.
That's right.
And my wife has to remind mequite a bit that, Hey, I'm not
one of your players.
and I try, I've heard that onceor twice.
I get reminded of that.
And so I try not to take any ofthis home with me, but I think
(39:58):
at the same time she recognizesthat I'm under.
Stress right now, So Iconcentrate and I don't feel
stressed necessarily when I'm athome.
but last night I got home and Igot home at six o'clock and I
was on the phone till 10 30,whether I was talking to
recruits or other coaches ortrying to figure out this stuff.
and she's in bed and I took timeoff to go kiss her goodnight and
tuck her in and all that stuff.
(40:19):
and so I got a text from herthis morning like, Hey, I hope
you have a great day.
You're gonna get through it.
And so it, it definitely, she'sbeen with me long enough and
under, she recognizes itprobably before I do.
Yeah.
to have that that in my corneris definitely, oh.
It's a blessing, man.
I love to hear that kidsunderstand that too.
My kids are great and it's just,boy, they get it, all right,
(40:39):
coach, I'm gonna lighten thisup.
I've been making you workemotionally.
I'm gonna do a little rapid firewith you, and these don't have
to be quick answers, but justsome fun stuff.
So any recruits out there, anyparents, any high school coaches
that want to get to know you atdifferent level?
If you weren't coachingsoftball, what would you be
doing?
I don't know.
I wanted to be a doctor.
(41:00):
that's what I started doing, andI realized I wasn't disciplined
enough to go to school thatlong.
my father was a police officer,and I thought I'd have been
really good at that.
I'd probably be in sales,'causeI think I'd be good at it, Yeah.
It's really all coaches are.
we're selling our school,selling our philosophy and,
yeah.
I tell my kids all the time, myplayers that I don't have to do
this.
I could, be successful, whateverI do.
I don't know what it would be,but It's a great role model for
(41:20):
them.
favorite athlete growing up?
Pete Rose, Charlie Huss.
Huel Man.
He just got after Larry Bird wasanother one.
He just played the game theright way.
so those two are probably mybiggest two favorite sports
movie.
Ooh.
we need a good softball movie,don't we?
(41:41):
Haven't made one of those.
Hoosiers is good.
We watchers on the way up.
Yeah.
The day right after Gene Hackmandied and our kids, nobody on our
team had ever seen Hoosiers.
Really?
Are you kidding me?
Bull Durham's great.
A little different kind.
A little more talent is anythingbut, Hoosiers I think is pretty
good.
Have you watched the League ofyour Own with the kids?
Oh yeah.
That's another one I love.
(42:01):
It's funny that one of theladies that was in there when I
was at Sentence, she was awinner Texan right outside of
sentence.
So she got to come and s andtalk to our kids.
Oh, wow.
She was one of the characters inthe movie.
one of the original peachescame.
Wow, that's great.
Our kids had, she got to signtheir the movie jacket.
It was one of the maincharacters and I don't remember
her name.
I memory's terrible.
But yeah, it was pretty cool.
So yeah, that, that's anothergood movie.
(42:22):
Our kids would softball teamreally likes that one.
That's cool.
Is there a hidden gem in SineTexas that every visitor should
go see or eat out?
Is there a hidden gem?
no.
There's so many hole in the walltaco shops here.
Yeah.
It's my go-to.
They, I they take care of you.
It's small owned young guy thatowns it.
I haven't eaten there in awhile, but.
(42:43):
It's a great breakfast spot.
and you wouldn't know it.
It looks like a little house,yeah, it's a good spot.
That's good.
I want you to do this foranother 20 years if you've got
it in you, but if there's oneword or one legacy that you want
people to mention when they hearCoach Wade Wilson, in the end,
what is it?
(43:04):
Passion.
Yeah.
That's one I'd give you.
and what is passion to you?
'cause it's different for all ofus, it's different.
Yeah.
different things, music reallyI'm really influenced by music.
there's songs that just touch meand it just, ugh.
Gets me, you got a favoritegroup band?
No.
No.
I've never had, I've never beenmuch of favorites of anything.
Yeah.
I've never had a favorite team.
(43:25):
I've had a few favorite coachesand I was a big Bob Knight fan
and Mike Zeki and Yeah.
Mike Andre.
The greatest thing aboutsoftball, and I'll say this is
the greatest thing aboutsoftball, is that we, as high
school coaches and D threecoaches have access.
To the big dogs.
Yeah.
We have access to Pat Murphy andMike and Robin, Rhonda Revel and
(43:45):
all those hutch and all the listgoes on and on.
We get to rub elbows with'em andthey're genuine and they'll talk
to you.
If I caught'em right now,they're gonna answer the phone
and Yep.
And football coaches, I wouldbet that Nick Saban's not taking
those calls, for the most part,and I think that's the beautiful
part of softball is that we'reall in this together.
We all get it.
and I've never been big dogged,and just a little OD three or a
(44:09):
high school coach that's tryingto make it, and they are,
they've always been awesome, andI think that's a huge part of
our game.
And the reason that we've seenso much growth here lately is
because of that.
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I tell stories all the timeabout how much I learned as a
basketball coach, that Tom Izzoor Lou Olson or Mike Chesky,
just after they were speaking anevent, took 20 minutes to talk,
(44:30):
rebounding with me or talk aboutpractice development.
I was just like, I can't believeyou just took 20 minutes with
me, some punk D three coach.
Yep.
you gave me everything.
You gave me the world.
Awesome.
And then told me to email youand get more.
I wanna stop this section and Iwanna thank you so much for
sharing and I can tell how muchpressure you put on yourself and
(44:51):
how hard this is on you to bethe coach you want to be.
But just from a guy that.
It gets to be on the outside.
Now looking in, I'm so thankfulthere's coaches, like you still
doing it and still doing it yourway.
'cause the kids need it.
The kids need that challenge.
They need to be pushed, theyneed to be able to look in the
(45:13):
mirror and see something otherthan what everybody's telling'em
to see.
It's good to hear that.
I appreciate it.
That was Wade Wilson headsoftball coach at Texas Lutheran
University.
What stood out most to me wasn'tjust the championship pedigree
or the record setting numbers,it was the raw honesty.
When Coach Wilson got emotionaltalking about the pressure he
(45:35):
puts on his team and the fearthat it might cloud how much he
truly cares, it hit home for me.
I see a lot of myself and CoachWilson, his relentless drive,
the internal tug of war betweenstandards and relationships.
That's something I've lived andhearing him speak with such
vulnerability, remind me justhow personal this profession
(45:56):
really is.
Coaching isn't just about thegame.
It's about who you're becomingwhile you build others.
This conversation impacted me.
Not just as a podcast host, butas a coach, a father, and a
leader who's walked a verysimilar road.
If this episode re resonatedwith you, I'd love for you to
rate the show, leave a commentand hit that follow button so we
(46:19):
can keep these meaningfulconversations going.
And if you're looking for moreresources on coaching,
recruiting, or helping athletesgrow through the college
journey, visit coach mattrogers.com where you can pick up
a copy of my book, significantRecruiting.
You can read my weekly blog.
Subscribe to the free weeklynewsletter for updates and
(46:39):
advice on college recruiting.
Or you can schedule a one-on-onestrategy session with me to talk
through your personal journey.
Thanks again to Coach Wilson forhis transparency, his toughness,
and his heart, and thank you forlistening.
We'll see you next time on TheSignificant Coaching Podcast.
Welcome back to the SignificantCoaching Podcast, where we go
beyond the wins and losses toexplore the heart of coaching,
why we lead, who we lead, andhow we grow along the way.
I'm your host coach Matt Rogers.
Before we dive in, I wannaencourage you to rate, review,
and follow the podcast.
Your support helps more coaches,athletes, and families.
(00:28):
Discover these meaningfulconversations.
And if you haven't yet, visitcoach matt rogers.com.
That's where you can grab a copyof significant recruiting.
Read our weekly blog andschedule a one-on-one strategy
session with me to talk throughyour recruiting journey, whether
you're a coach, a parent, or acollege bound athlete.
Now today's guest is WadeWilson, the legendary head
(00:51):
softball coach at Texas LutheranUniversity.
Entering his 14th season, coachWilson has built TLU into a
division three powerhouseleading the Bulldogs to the 2019
NCAA National Championship and a2021 National Runner up finish.
With a career record of 455 winsto 92 losses and a conference
(01:15):
mark of 246 wins and 20 losses.
Wilson holds the highest winningpercentage in NCAA Division
three softball history, andranks third all time across all
NCAA divisions.
But this conversation isn't justabout the wins.
Coach Wilson is a hard-nosedleader who pushes his players to
(01:36):
be their best and holds himselfto that same high standard.
In one of the most powerfulmoments of the episode, he opens
up about the emotional costs ofthat drive, his concern about
how it affects relationshipswith his players, and his deep
desire for each young woman toknow just how much he cares
about them.
It is honest, it's vulnerable,and it's everything this podcast
(02:00):
stands for.
Let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withCoach Wade Wilson.
All right, coach Wilson, I gottastart with a hardcore question
for you.
do you get Wade Wilson, thefootball player, or Wade Wilson?
Deadpool?
Which one do you get more often?
Earlier it was the quarterback,and I checked into a hotel in
(02:21):
New Orleans one year and it gotcussed out.
I'm like, yeah, that's not me.
And lately it's more Deadpool,and I had never seen the movie
when they were, I had no ideawhat they were talking about,
but that seems lately it's moreDeadpool stuff and I've still
yet to see it, so I probablyneed to check that out.
My last name is Rogers, so I'vegotten Mr.
Rogers in the neighborhood jokesmy whole life, so I had to
Absolutely.
I had to start with that.
(02:42):
coach, thank you so much forbeing on, especially in the
heart of what you're about todo.
start the playoffs, start thenational tournament.
I know you got so much going onwith the conference tournament.
You've built Texas Lutheran intoone of the great stories in all
of D three softball.
When you first took the job, didyou envision this level of
(03:02):
dominance?
Has this journey surprised you?
yes.
I'd be lying if I saidotherwise.
I've always.
thought I was good at what I do,and I don't think it matters
what I'm doing.
I think there's a thin linebetween confidence and cocky.
and you gotta be careful withthat.
And I don't ever wanna comeacross as cocky and sometimes
confidence does, coming in, thefirst year I thought I was gonna
(03:23):
be able to change the world andrealized how hard it was.
I had a pretty tall, and we were19 and 19 my first year here.
And, we just, it's what it was.
looking back on it, we werefortunate to be 19 and 19,
right?
and then the next year we had alittle success, and then it just
rolled from there.
and I've talked with severalcoaches this year about that,
man, I don't know that it's anyeasier now than it was back then
(03:43):
because the pressure that comeswith it, and it's all the
pressure that we've put onourselves, right?
We've asked for this.
it's not any easier.
It's just different,expectations are there.
we talk with our team all thetime about expectations.
Our opponents have expectations.
those programs have expectationsas well.
They may just not be as high asours, it's not necessarily
anything that we've done withthis group.
It's the people before them, thegirls that have come before them
(04:05):
and have laid this down.
it can't last forever.
we're trying to hang onto it aslong as we can.
it's been a great ride.
It sure has.
It's been fun to watch I'mexcited to see all that's coming
down the road for you guys.
We live in a world that'sobsessed with moving up the
ladder.
you've been committed to TexasLutheran and building something,
really significant, reallylegendary, and instead of
(04:28):
chasing other opportunities thatI'm sure have been thrown at
you, what's been at the heart ofbeing a D three coach and
where's that joy come and thatbeing able to wake up every day
and say, I can't wait to do thisagain.
where's that come from all theseyears?
I think, winning is important,right?
And I know the next step, if Iwere gonna leave here,
university of Texas and thosekind of schools are not knocking
on my door, right?
(04:49):
So I've had some opportunities,but most of'em are mid-majors
and mid level, it's.
Rebuilding and doing that stuff.
And now with the landscape ofthe way it if you get any talent
in there, they're gone the nextyear.
So the mid-majors, it's a reallytough place right now.
and I don't envy those guys atall.
and then the older my kids got,the stability of being in the
same spot has been huge.
(05:09):
I've got triplets that are 19and freshmen at TLU that's
great.
and they've got to go theirentire career.
They've lived in Sein and goneto Navarro and grew up in, in
this environment.
I think if things were differenthere on the job part of it, that
then maybe we would've looked.
But I'm, I've been so happy hereand winning's a big part of it.
they take care of me here.
I enjoy my job.
I enjoy the people I work with.
(05:31):
We're able to get really goodstudent athletes in here, great
kids.
And when I was younger Idefinitely wanted to see myself
coaching against the greats.
I just felt like I wanted thatchallenge.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I feel that.
I understand that.
the longer it's been and themore people I talk to, they're
like, dude you've got it figuredout.
'cause it's not all about that.
The travel, even the D twolevel, some of the friends that
I have that are coaching at thatlevel, the travel that they do
(05:53):
is relentless.
You just, you're giving that up.
And so I'm fortunate here thatI've got a, we've got a great
president and a great board ofregents and my athletic director
is awesome.
I hope he sticks around as longas he does and gets me through
my career because it's, I havefun coming to work every day.
I feel like I'm respected andsupported and winning's
important and all That's good.
Everything I'm looking for in ajob is here.
(06:14):
Why do I need to go anywhereelse?
I love hearing that'cause veryfew.
Coaches can speak to that levelfrom the president down, the
support they have and thecommitment to athletics.
But, and I think it just startswith, there's so many academics
that are running schools rightnow or fundraisers.
They really don't understand theimpact that a really strong
(06:37):
athletic department has on everyother department, on that
campus.
For sure.
For sure.
You've won championships at boththe high school and college
levels.
How do you describe thedifference to a young coach
that's starting out?
How do you build somethingreally long term to really get
(06:58):
it going?
What is there some DNA that inthat's involved in what a great
program looks like and how youbuild it?
I think there is, and I, I wasfortunate enough to work as a,
under Brent Davis, a youngfootball coach, and he gave me
my first softball job.
and one of the deals I know thatwe were up for a few jobs and I
say we, he was up for a few jobsand we would gone with him as a
football staff.
(07:18):
One of the things that he lookedfor is that he wanted his boss
to be the superintendent as theathletic director, not the
principal.
And so as I started moving up,the things that I'm looking for
is, when I came to TLU, one ofthe things, several of the
things that I was looking for,one, a new facility that was a
good chance of that happening.
Two, the people that were herehad been here a long time,
right?
Whether they were having successor not, they were happy here.
(07:40):
They weren't jumping ship there.
There was some comradery amongstthe coaches.
The athletic director playedhere, coached here now is the
athletic director.
Winning was important, so I knewto be successful, you've gotta
have support both monetary andsupport.
That winning's important, right?
it's easy to try to do the rightthing and support everybody.
if parents come in and have aproblem, I know my athletic
director's got my back.
Granted, I have the right, andmore times than not coaches are.
(08:02):
but all of the things I thinkthat were important for me that
I thought I needed to havebehind me to be successful,
we're here.
then the rest of it is just, yougotta get the right kids in
here.
It doesn't matter how the coach,if you don't have the right
players and students and peoplein here, then it's gonna be hard
to be successful.
So I think there's a lot of luckalong the way, but I think too,
I, this is, you're 28 I think,for coaching softball.
(08:23):
that's a lot of luck.
So we're doing something right.
I don't know what it is, but Iknow that luck's a big part of
it, but we've been awful lucky.
Preparation's the king of thatluck, isn't it though?
No doubt.
And I know you do.
let's talk about, let's talkabout a Texas Lutheran bulldog.
Let's talk about your players.
is there a DNA that you love inyour players?
is there a common thread?
(08:44):
Because I know you've got adiverse group of young women in
your roster, but is there acommon thread through what a
bulldog looks like for you?
I think there is, and it'sgetting tougher to find, because
I coach a little different, andit's more from the seventies
that era, you know?
Yeah.
Old school.
I don't have a filter.
I use a lot of four letterwords.
And in today's society that'stough.
(09:05):
And finding those kids.
And so we have to recruit and.
And we have, we recruitdifferently, and we talk about
that, that it's, you've gottaremember that it's not personal.
I'm gonna coach you hard, and ifI change right now, you would
all see through it.
it wouldn't be genuine.
You'd like this.
What's this dude doing?
Yep.
And so it's not always pretty.
it's, I'm very critical.
and it's getting tougher to dobecause kids now, it's instant
(09:25):
gratification.
They need to be told how greatthey are all the time.
And that's just not me.
right or wrong.
I'm not saying it's right foreverybody, but it's worked for
me, so I've gotta go find thosetough kids, one of the questions
we ask in the interview, duringthe recruiting process is, would
you slap your mom for a w it'sgotta be that important to you,
and I love it.
And another thing we look for iskids, do they share a bathroom
(09:47):
growing up?
And that's teamwork right there.
Because if you have your ownbathroom growing up, you don't
know what it's like to shareanything.
And bathroom is probably thebest thing to have to share with
somebody.
You learn schedules and figuringit out and all that other stuff.
So there's not a right or wronganswer to any of those
questions, but it just gives usa little insight in that.
But biggest thing we're lookingfor is hardnosed kids.
Because when times are tough,and especially this time of the
(10:08):
year, times are tough, and weneed some grit and, I've
questioned my team a lot on thatthis year.
are you tough enough to do whatwe're asking you to do?
And if not, then we got thewrong group in here, and with a
portal now, it's so easy forkids to transfer and we always
leave it open.
Hey, if you're not happy here,go somewhere else and you can be
happy.
A lot of places, it doesn't haveto be just TOU we're looking for
a special kind of kid, and wehaven't had anybody take us up
(10:29):
on that for the most part.
but it's, yeah it's gettingtougher to find those kind of
kids.
I wanted to talk to youspecifically, coach,'cause I
think we're a lot like thethings I've read on you and
listened to you.
I wanted to get your perspectiveon that in this day and age and
where this world of coaching hasgone.
And I think what it's hard toarticulate to kids when you
(10:50):
coach'em hard is listen, youcame here to win.
You picked us to win.
So when I'm pushing you to teachyou how to win and how to
prepare it, it isn't personal.
We practice is over we can talkabout everything.
Yep.
But that two hour, two and ahalf hour window we have, we
(11:11):
gotta get something done.
That's right.
And I want you to get from whereyou think your potential is to
way up here where I know it is.
And we can tell kids that tillthey turn blue in the face or
till we turn blue in the face.
But is there something in afreshman or a sophomore when
that kind of clicks when theyget it?
It's tough as freshmen andespecially with, the thing we
(11:34):
see the most is when we have aJUCO kid come in here because We
have to expedite thatrelationship.
Yeah.
We've got two years to make itRight and a lot of times the
trust and What I've been harpingon our kids here late is that
who I am between those lines isa totally different person than
I'm in this office or anywhereelse in my life.
Just out there, it's businessand I'm hardcore and you're
gonna get your feelings hurt offthe field.
(11:55):
That's where you need to developthe relationship.
and my office is always open andI challenge them to come in
because if you get to know mehere there's a relationship
built, then that hour and ahalf, two hours that we're out
on the field, you're gonnaunderstand where I'm coming
from.
'cause you trust me, we have arelationship.
If we don't have that, then it'stough and then it gets real old
real quick, so we challenge ourkids to spend some time with us
off the field and to get to knowus, to develop a relationship
(12:18):
there, because I don't think, ascoaches, I know for a fact that
I can't be as effective as acoach.
And I think I'm speaking for allcoaches.
If there's not trust there, oncethere's a relationship built
there, then I can get away withwhatever I say.
And it's not always pretty,yeah, I understand that.
We had that talk yesterday Itold him after the game when we
played on Saturday, is that it'sreal easy for you guys to get
caught up soft.
You, you are not a softballplayer.
(12:38):
It's what you do.
Yeah.
It's what you do.
It's my livelihood.
But for you, you're just asoftball player.
It's not who you are, it's whatyou do.
So don't get the two confused.
Yeah.
You're great kids.
You're great human beings.
And I trust any of you in myhouse with my kids, with my
pets, but on the field it's ajob.
And for me, it's a job.
We have to remind them of thatoften because it gets caught up
(12:58):
in it.
You'll hear our kids all thetime there's a compliment.
You better put that in your backpocket.
Hang on to it.
'cause you're gonna need it atsome point, that's right.
Absolutely.
it's easy to overlook that andyou have to remind'em of that
they're loved and cared aboutit's tough.
Whether they know it or not,you've given them such a great
gift for the rest of their lifeon what it's gonna be like to be
an adult and the rest of theirlife should be easy.
(13:20):
it should be.
the games should be easy.
That's the plan, Your teamsdon't just win coach, they
dominate, and I'm sure a lot ofthat has to do with how you
recruit for pitching and thingslike that, but what role does
pressure play in maintainingthat excellence year after year
are how do you develop kids thatcan handle that pressure?
(13:41):
I think part of it, and we hadthis talk yesterday as well, is
that it's because it's constantin our practice, right?
there's not a day off out there,right?
There's days where I'm probablya little more relaxed when it
needs to be like right.
The day before a game, I'musually a lot more relaxed
because I want them.
The pop, that's what we call it.
'cause I want them a lot ofenergy and moving and not
(14:02):
thinking and just relaxing andplaying the game.
But other days it's highintensity.
So when they are in thatsituation, you hope that those
practice moments pay off?
Yeah.
in the fall we do a lot ofcompetition.
In the spring, not so much, butit's still high intensity and if
they screw something up, they'regonna hear about it.
So there's always that pressurethere, of performing.
And then when they get in themoment, it's what it is.
(14:22):
sometimes it pays off, sometimesit doesn't, and you always get
to that point.
That's a problem I've struggledwith lately, we're winning, but
at what cost am I damaging inthat?
I hope that five years from nowthey can look back and say this
was a positive influence for'em.
Right now, I think some of'emwould be on the fence, right?
'cause they don't realize thevalue of it.
and so that's, I think theproblem that I've struggled with
lately is because I.
(14:42):
We, I don't know that we have astrong enough relationship with
a few of our younger players yetto where they really trust that,
I think it's coming, but at whatexpense, and that's easy for me
to question as a coach, Iovershare with my team.
I'm never lied to'em.
I'm always who I am, and if youask a question, I'm always gonna
answer it.
And I don't know if that's rightor wrong either, but it's just
worked for us to being honest.
(15:03):
I have no filter.
It's just what I'm thinking iswhat it is.
I don't know if it's right orwrong.
I really don't.
I'm a lot like you.
when you think about freshmen,I, there's a movie in draft day
where he talks about rookiequarterbacks.
He hates rookie quarterbacks.
I've always looked at freshmenif I can get you to get it where
the light bulb's coming on,you're learning how to practice,
(15:27):
you're learning how to show upprepared.
You're learning how to relax inthe box.
You are learning to, to be ableto handle any situation.
If I can get you there in 18months, halfway between your
sophomore year, that's alwaysbeen my goal.
Yep.
Are you, do you see it that waytoo?
And you'll see some kids, we'vegot a few kids that have been
really good as freshmen, yeah.
(15:47):
we've got a freshman right nowthat's been a big time
contributor for us this year,and she's just, from the day
one, it was, it never seemedlike it, the moment was too big
for her.
I don't know that she's alwayshad the success, she didn't have
success early on, but it didn'tfeel like it was too big for
her, she just wasn't havingsuccess.
But it still felt like it was nobig deal, and so you are looking
for those kind of moments.
And then others, it takes awhile.
We've got kids that, we've got acouple juniors right now that
(16:08):
are in the lineup that struggledas freshmen and sophomore and
we're more role players and nowthey're finally seeing their
time and those stories are greattoo.
you love to see that'cause, theinstruction that we're giving,
the drills, the time, theinvesting and all that is paying
off for'em.
So that's always fun to see too.
So I've done a lot of differentstories like that.
Love that.
Love that.
I was a college basketball coachI love teaching kids how to play
(16:30):
fast.
I wanted to press, I wanted theother team to constantly be on
their heels.
Yep.
TLU is synonymous withaggressive base running.
How did that philosophy ofpressure softball become such a
core part of your identity?
I can tell you the moment ithappened, it was in 2003.
We had, I thought we had thebest high school team in the
(16:51):
country.
We had two all Americanpitchers.
One of'em ended up being an AllAmerican at ou and we won games,
one to nothing, two to one.
And we gave up 11 runs thatyear.
That's how dominant our pitchingstaff was.
Wow.
We got into a game where we werelosing one to nothing and their
picture was good as well.
We couldn't, we, we couldn'tstring hits together.
And so we got the second base,with one out.
(17:13):
I tried to still third, it was afoul ball.
I tried to still third.
It was a foul ball.
I tried to still third.
It was a foul ball.
We tried to still, third, we gotthrown out.
And then after the game, theparents lined up.
We lost the game.
It was a one game series.
We lost the game.
Our season was over with.
And the parents, and it was inBrenham, Texas, where it's
Baseball Capital of Texas.
Softball was big there too.
And I was a first year coach atBrenno, and they had just played
(17:34):
the state tournament the yearbefore.
And so I decided right then thatit, and it was my fault because
we didn't do that.
Prior to that.
We didn't have we were stationedto stationed.
And so the next year when we gotto first base, we stole second,
we got to second, we stolethird.
And by the halfway through theseason, the fans, the parents,
the kids expected that.
And so that's just the gamewe're gonna play.
And now when you get thrown out,it's no big deal, right?
(17:55):
We out twice this past weekend.
'cause the dumb third basemancoach, the third base coach was
the dummy.
And that was me.
But It's not the end of theworld because we're gonna play
that aggressive style of That'sright.
We've been doing that for 22years now and it's worked out
well for us.
And I love it.
What it does is it hides someother flaws that you have as
teams.
We don't have to be as good ahitters'cause we're gonna run.
All we gotta do is get on base.
And so now when you face elitepitching, it's not about, boy,
(18:17):
you gotta go up there and get ahit.
It's, you gotta go up there andget on base.
And there's a lot of ways to getto first base.
That's right.
And you can't steal first base.
Unfortunately.
If we could steal first base,we'd be really good.
It does so much.
You used the word trust earlier.
I would imagine when you'regiving these kids so much green
lights and you're letting'em runand letting them be aggressive,
(18:38):
it's a great place to buildtrust, don't you think?
It is.
But with that comes someresponsibility.
Yeah.
We had pinch runner come in thispast weekend and we burned our
first basement.
She was out and she's gone on, Ithink she had eight 50 this
weekend, but she had alreadybeen sub four once.
So we took her outta the gameand put a pinch runner in and
she leaves early.
And I'm like, what are youdoing?
We just take the kid out.
She's outta the lineup for therest of the game and this is
(18:58):
what we get.
She could have left first baseearly.
You gotta be a little better.
You're put in a big situation.
And now this kid and our firstbaseman thinking I could have
left base early if that's allwe're gonna do.
'cause that's an immediate out,yeah.
And so whether she deserved thator not, I don't know.
but I was frustrated and back tothe, I have no filter and she
needed to fill that as well, andwe've had to do some damage
control with that over the lasttwo days, trying to get her back
(19:18):
because we're gonna need her inthe playoffs.
yeah.
It's just part of it, so there'ssome responsibility there.
And, if we get thrown out, it'susually not a good discussion
when we get in the dugout.
'cause you messed up, youweren't fast enough, and that's
not fair either.
But it's.
How much of that next step isthem learning that you love them
even when you're hollering at'em?
That tough, man, that's the partthat's getting harder, and it's,
(19:40):
you just have to remind them.
And I think it helps that my topassistant played for me.
And we butted heads a bunch.
We had some knockdown drag outsout there, and so it helps with
her because she can, she's beenon both sides of it.
She's been in their shoes, sheunderstands it, and it's easy
for them to pick it up.
I've got five, six assistantcoaches that their job, they,
all of them have my personalityfor, they're very competitive,
(20:02):
with the exception of ourpitching coach.
And he's the nicest guy,soft-spoken.
The rest of us are, with theexception of Kyla, have all been
head coaches and, they've hadthat hat and so they had to
change their personalities topick them up, because I'm
usually the one that knocks'emdown.
And if we get more than meknocking'em down, then it's just
too much, yeah.
So it's great that we have.
I have unbelievable assistancethat just counterbalance me and
(20:25):
it takes five or six of'em to dothat, i'm very fortunate to have
that they can love on thosekids.
and that's when they need it iswhen I've been in the middle of
their rear end.
They've got somebody there tosay, Hey, it's gonna be okay.
I used the word luck earlier.
I think that's where the luckcomes in when you have, because
it's so hard to find ace andassistant coach at the D three
level, let alone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5of'em.
(20:48):
That love the game, love thekids as much as you do.
I can't do it by myself.
I've tried that before in yearspast, and it never works.
You can't be good cop and badcop.
It just doesn't work.
I've had some dog crap years andI look back and it's because I
didn't have an assistant coachor had a part-time assistant
coach, or I had an assistantcoach that wasn't there for the
right reasons.
No doubt.
It's tough, man.
It's really tough.
You can't do this job byyourselves.
(21:09):
and there's people in ourconference that are having to do
that man, it really makes ittough.
It does.
loyalty's a big thing.
for me, I don't know, movingforward if I could ever hire
somebody that didn't play for meBecause I know that they know
where I'm coming from.
yeah.
'cause then They're learning youjust like the kids and now
you're going, can I get them totrust me and buy into me and
believe in me?
(21:30):
in under 18 months.
it's a necessity.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Especially in the environmentthat we're in, in society,
because if you ever get in asituation where there's, a
disgruntled player, the firstperson they're gonna go talk to
is the assistant coaches.
That's right.
I'm not saying that I want anyof my coaches to laugh for me,
but I want'em to be honest aboutit.
Yeah.
and if you get, there's so manysituations where coaches have
been burned because theirassistants are not loyal because
(21:52):
they're after that job orwhatever it may be, and you see
it every day.
You read about it all the time,and it's competitive as it is.
And I don't think it's as muchat the D three level, but it's
still competitive.
We still wanna win.
Our athletic director wants towin.
but how baseball coach getsfired yesterday, Mississippi
State baseball coach gets firedyesterday at this point in the
season.
Are you kidding me?
Oh, look at the Denver Nuggets.
Fired their coach three daysbefore the playoffs started.
(22:13):
guy's been coach of the yearthree times.
he won an NBA championship a fewyears ago.
how do you replace that withwhat you think is, you think
there's gonna be somethingbetter out there?
You can't.
So all coach, I wannatransition.
I love talking to D threecoaches'cause I was one for a
long time.
And the balance that you find asa D three coach is so important.
You've coached nationalstatistic champions in softball,
(22:34):
you've coached national academicchampions.
How do you balance pushing thatfor greatness on the field and
off the field without onesuffering?
How do you find that studentathlete balance?
I don't say no.
And it's taken some getting usedto when a kid says, I need to go
do this.
Okay.
(22:54):
You just have to trust them.
And it's part of that, and ifthey take advantage of it, then
that's on them, but we've gotkids.
There's a good chance tomorrowwe're playing, or Friday we're
playing in our first conferencegame, and we may have five
starters missing because they'vegot exams, this time of year,
it's not my choice.
it's gotta be their choice.
And then, we tell'em that everyday life's about choices, and I
can't make those choices foryou.
Yep.
We have kids studying atpractice, kids with flashcards
(23:16):
in the outfield and.
I'm okay with that.
it's not ideal, but it is whatit is.
we very seldom have a practicewith all of our kids there.
They're either getting therelate or they're having to leave
early because they've got classor they've got something going
on.
Nursing has become a big issuebecause kids with clinicals and
all that, they can't get out.
we've had to play short.
We've got student teachers thathaven't traveled with us this
year because they couldn't missThursday and Friday.
(23:37):
So it's just what it is.
And I, you don't ever wanna putthat on the kid, but at the end
of the day, they've got to makethat choice, not me.
They've got to work with theirprofessors, they've got to make
those arrangements.
And it works out.
It always does.
And it's just what it is.
Anytime.
This and the kids are paying fortheir education.
They're not giving to'em.
You need to take advantage ofit.
You don't wanna be here anylonger than you have to.
so it's important that you takecare of that.
(23:59):
And then I figured out I'mwasting my time with study
halls.
There's such a, I think everyyear that I've been here, we've
had at least a 3.6 GPA as ateam.
Wow.
And so the peer pressure thatthey have amongst each other.
It's more than I could ever puton them.
They don't wanna let each otherdown.
And I'm not saying everybody's athree six student, but the
majority of our students,education's important to'em.
(24:19):
They're gonna be professionals.
and it helps that our majorshere that are really good are
our nursing and PPT Pre-MedAccountancy, which has got a
master's program.
Here's, the majority of ourstudents are in that and already
coming in with, they're prettygood students.
Yeah.
And I think the D three, youcan't get in here being a dummy,
so that helps.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm not saying we're Ivy League,but our kids are pretty sharp.
(24:40):
it's important to'em.
I think that's been the biggestthing for us.
You've had multiple Americans,coach and you've always had team
balance rosters, deep balancerosters.
How do you coach your roleplayers compared to your stars?
Is there a way that you approachthat?
That's something I alwaysstruggled with.
(25:01):
'cause I'm, I was hard on every,I was gonna push you to be your
best, no matter who you were.
I was gonna coach the heck outof you.
But it was those kids that justhad that special ability that
you just, there's something thatyou just know they're a little
bit better than everybody else.
How do you handle that kidcompared to your scrappers and
your role players?
I'm like, how many butt chew inshave you had since you've been
here?
And it's a few.
(25:21):
I'm like, do you think you'vehad as many as so and and Annie
Kay, who I think is a, she's onthe Player of the Year watch.
She's sitting 4 96 right now.
I think she's gonna be theplayer of the year in our
conference.
I think she'll be a first teamAll American, or she should be
anyhow.
She didn't slide it home, thispast weekend.
It was a forced play and shewent in there and didn't slide.
And then I didn't say anythingto her because I thought it was
the fastest way for her to getthere was to run through it.
(25:43):
But she went up to my assistantand she goes, I'm a little
surprised you didn't get on mefor not sliding.
And I wish she would've becauseI don't want the team thinking
I'm not, I'm getting out ofsomething.
I'm like, I wanted her to runthrough.
It was faster for her to do itthat way than it was to slide.
And in a forced situation, youdon't have to slide.
So it worked out and it wasn't,Looking back on it, you wanna
say slide, but at the same timeit was the right thing, move for
her to do at the time.
(26:03):
but yeah, they get our studs getit?
I challenged our All Americansecond baseman who's won the
Golden Shoe Award the last twoyears.
I challenged her after game two.
I'm like, you've gotta be betterin front of the entire team.
You've gotta be better.
I need more out of you.
And she went four for four ingame three.
So it's great to see that.
It's great for the role playersthat, that do end up on the
wrong end of a butt chewing.
And then, but they also see thatyour all Americans are getting
(26:26):
it as well.
We've benched all Americans andall, you're not playing, you're
not performing, you're not doingwhat you need to do.
you're going through themotions.
You're not gonna play justbecause of what you did last
year.
So I think it all boils down towe're putting the team out there
that gives us the best chance towin.
And if, whoever that may be, andI had to love on a kid, that's
been a starter for us most ofthe years.
She's gone through a strugglehere lately, and she handled
(26:48):
herself very well this weekend.
And I sent her a text on Sunday.
It's Hey man, I appreciate youhandling this like a true
professional,'cause it's tough.
I know you're going through it.
I know you want to play, I knowyou want to do well, you're just
struggling right now.
But she's handled herself verywell.
So you have to, when you seethose opportunities, it's always
good to just love on'em a littlebit there because they could
cause you some problems in thatdugout.
A lot of times we don't see thatas coaches, it's behind the
(27:10):
scenes because we're so busy inthe game and Misery's looking
for company, so I think our kidsare aware of it and understand
it.
It's just, yeah, you just coach'em all the same, love it.
You've been doing this a longtime.
You and I have both been doingthis.
I've been doing it about 27, 28years.
You've been doing it for 28years.
Are there things that you'velearned to watch for?
(27:32):
Red flags, non-negotiables,things you're watching in a high
school or a JUCO kid whereyou're like, kids, great.
But I just don't think she's gotwhat we need.
I don't think she's gonna beable to survive here.
Are there things that, like yourhead just there's an alarm that
goes off?
Yes and no, because I've alwaysfelt like I can save a kid,
(27:53):
yeah.
I've always that, that, that'salways been, I'm big believer in
second chances.
Yeah.
I'm a believer in kids makingmistakes and we can help them.
I'm gonna be good enough to helpthem.
It doesn't always work out thatway, but, so I think that's, for
me that's a weakness because Ialways, I believe in people,
yeah.
I want to give them a secondchance.
I think body language is thebiggest thing because it's
something that's, I.
(28:13):
A kid is either confident ornot, and bad body language is a
sure sign of them not beingconfident.
And I say that once again, bodylanguage.
I'll just make a statement, bodylanguage and not necessarily
directed to anybody, but otherthan who I'm talking to.
But you'll see all of them.
is he talking to me?
'Cause body language is the bigthing, especially in the circle.
Our pitchers, it's real easy.
Be frustrated with an umpire, befrustrated with a call, be
(28:35):
frustrated'cause you don't haveany command of a certain pitch,
and all of a sudden your bodylanguage has gone to crap.
but I think that's probably theeasiest thing as coaches for us
to watch and monitor.
I don't enjoy watching when aparent's overly, involved in a
game cheering or positive ornegative.
I just sit there and watch yourkids play, yeah.
and so I think that's probablythe biggest red flag that I look
(28:56):
for in that.
but body language would probablybe the biggest, yeah.
That's a big part of it when youtalk about how you coach.
Correct.
And I and I can say that'cause Ialways like that too.
I wanted talk about saving kids.
I believed in kids so much.
(29:17):
I'm like, let's go.
I see where you're already,where you should already be.
I know you can be there, let'sget you there.
But there has to be a sense ofthat patience, especially on
your roster where you have somuch talent.
They're, you're bringing in kidsthat may not get to play a lot
that first year.
they were first team allconference.
They were all state and they'recoming into your program and
they're sitting behind somebodythat's all American.
(29:39):
How do you instill thatpatience, that development idea,
that trust in the process?
and I know that's probablygetting harder with this age and
where we're at, but is therethings that you're instilling or
you're using your assistantcoach to instill or maybe you
even using your seniors toinstill?
I wish I, I think you can alwaysdo better than that.
I think you have some successstories and we've got several of
(30:02):
them going on right now wherekids that were role players last
year, They were really goodplayers, but they just were
lacking.
They had a deficiency somewherewhere most of it's offensive,
they were lacking offensive andthey couldn't get in the lineup
and stay in the lineup.
They'd play late in the gamedefensively'cause they were so
good.
And then you see them have somesuccess and then they worked
themselves into the lineup atthe cost of somebody else now
being outta the lineup, kidsthat were hitting in the three,
(30:23):
four hole, one of'em on thebench right now.
The other one's down in thelineup.
and so I think, when you get tothat, it's about being fair but
at the end of the day, it's mygut of this kid's gonna help us
win.
senior day was, I hate seniorday,'cause all the seniors feel
like they're, Obligated to play.
And it's just, it's not thatway.
We're trying to win a game, soif kids get in a game, it's not
because I felt sorry for'em,it's because they've earned it.
(30:45):
So when you hold to thatstandard that when they get
there, it's oh, I deserved it.
'cause he is not putting me injust because he's not putting me
in'cause I'm having a badattitude.
He's not putting me in becauseI'm a senior.
He is not putting me in.
He's putting me in because I'veearned it.
And so I think that at the endof the day goes a long way.
I don't care what their parentsdo or if their grandparents are
big contributors.
I'm trying to win softball gamesMore times than not, it's hard
(31:08):
to argue with that.
It's really hard to argue withthat when we're 37 and one,
yeah.
If we were 20 and 20 thenthere's a lot of people in the
peanut gallery saying, I deserveto be playing.
And they're probably right, butif you go, oh, for 12, there's a
good chance you're probably notgonna be in the lineup and sway
it is get figured out, we gottago with somebody that's getting
the job done.
So I, I've been very fortunatewith not having a whole lot of
that in my career.
(31:28):
And I learned that early on.
and we were six and oh my firstyear of coaching softball.
And we had a kid miss, becauseshe was showing an animal, and
her replacement went like sevenfor eight, and then she came
back on Saturday and I'm like,I'm not taking seven for eight
outta the lineup.
Yeah.
It's what it is.
And her parents met me after thegame and wanted to talk and I
talked and then finally I waslike, listen, if you don't like
it, go somewhere else.
This is the way it is.
(31:49):
And.
They're like, okay, I didn'thave any more problems.
my rest of my time at Sentence.
And the word got around he ain'tmessing around.
You might not wanna go talk tohim'cause he's pretty much a
dick.
and so it, it carried over withme at Brenham, my parent
meeting.
I treated the same.
If you don't like the way I'mdoing it, go somewhere else.
He can play something else.
There's other options.
They can play soccer, they cando whatever, be in the band.
Extracurricular.
So I've been pretty fortunatethere, but I think the biggest
(32:10):
part of it is that winning curesa lot of, that.
It solves a lot of thoseproblems.
And, kids who are not gonnaspeak up, who are maybe feel
like they're not getting theopportunity, it's hard for them
to speak up when we're winning.
Yeah.
That makes sense to me.
it's hard for anybody tounderstand that, you are earning
this opportunity if somebody's alittle better than you and can
help us win a little bit more,they're gonna get the
opportunity.
And you're gonna cheer for themjust like they were cheering for
(32:32):
you.
Absolutely.
It's no different in thebusiness world, if they can do
your job better or cheaper,they're going to.
And if they do take your job,that means tomorrow's an
opportunity for you to get itback.
That's right.
Exactly right.
All right.
You brought up your record.
I wanna talk about March 14th.
Was that the one game we lost?
Yes.
How important do you think thatloss is in going into the
(32:54):
national tournament?
'cause you've seen so many teamsin every level, every sport that
goes into the nationaltournament, 30 and oh, 15 and
oh, and they lose in theplayoffs because I never wanna
be an O ever.
It's fine being undefeated, butI don't want that.
How important is that game goinginto these next three weeks?
(33:15):
We don't dwell on that much andwe don't talk about it.
I think it's a lesson learnedand this is the reason we've
done that.
I think the thing that makes, I.
And we've talked about this,I've talked about with our
coaches, talked about with ourteam.
I don't think me being me I tell'em, I'm not trying to sound
egotistical.
I'm, when I talk to my coaches,when I talk to my team, but I
don't think if I'm me, if I'manybody else, that we're not 37
(33:36):
1 right now or whatever, we're30.
I guess we're 37 and one.
We're not 37 and one right now,if I'm not me, right?
Because we've played down to ourcompetition so much this year.
That's what scares me as acoach, right?
We're winning, and we win eightto nothing and still play pretty
shitty.
And that's the thing.
What we're fighting against ascoaches is that we don't want to
do that.
That's not what championshipteams do.
And so I think that.
(33:57):
We're trying to learn thoselessons when we win, because
that's how I am.
usually after losses.
I'm a little more easygoing asfar as, okay, this is what we
did wrong.
This is what we gotta getbetter.
It's not a time to kick'em.
I kick'em more when we win.
Like usually the when we go totalk after a game, the first
three or four things are, thisis what we've gotta get better
at.
This is what you screwed up.
(34:17):
This is what we gotta get betterat.
Proud of you.
You competed well, you found away to win.
You didn't have your best stuffall.
All the things that we can buildon, but at the same time, this
is what we gotta get better at.
We've had two games this yearwhere I thought we've played
well.
The other games we've playedwell enough to win, but we
haven't played.
We played Trinity the last game.
We had a rain out.
We had to make that game up andit was, I don't remember when we
played'em.
We played'em in March 25th.
(34:40):
Yeah, been that long since we'veplayed well, and after the game,
I'm like, that's what it lookslike.
That's what you're capable of.
That's the standard we're after.
That's what we're trying to get.
and that was nothing butpositive things, and then that's
what it's supposed to look like.
And so we don't dwell too muchon it.
I don't think we've talked aboutit since then.
Oh yeah.
'cause it shows that we'rebeatable.
(35:00):
You've had a, you're at McMurraythis weekend.
You had a couple close games, 7,4, 9, 7.
Are those games where you haveto battle a little bit and you
have to finish when the otherteam's bats are hot?
Maybe your pitching isn't as hotas they've been.
Are those type of wins, can theybe even more valuable than a
loss?
(35:20):
Absolutely.
If you're able to coach throughthose, right?
I think if you just like, oh,great job guys, we broke.
You've gotta get, why did we getin that situation?
We got in that situation becausewe walked people, right?
We, Amanda had a no hitter goinginto the six, we're up seven and
nothing, and you blink, we walka few bats, you make an error
and it's seven to five, right?
Just that quick, we were intotal control of the game.
(35:41):
all of a sudden it's seven tofive and then we had a two run
home run in the top of theseventh to go up nine to five,
but then they scored two moreand got the time run at second
base.
During the game, it's not fun,right?
we're competing and I'm in themiddle, after the game.
Boy, that's gonna come in handy.
That's gonna come in handy downthe road when we need that,
because we need to be in thosesituations.
We need to be challenged.
We need to be in toughsituations.
'cause in the playoffs, thisconference tournament this
(36:03):
weekend, there's gonna be a dogfight.
I don't know that we come out ofit unscathed.
yeah, it's tournament setting,and everybody's after us.
and throw in the weather now andthe change of the schedule and
all that stuff, it's not going,it's not in our favor.
Everything is going against usis the number one seed.
we typically, we had it set upto where we play the winner of a
game, but they have now had tomake a pitching decision.
(36:23):
Do they throw their number onein game one or they say they're
number one against us, and nowthey're getting a day's rest.
So we're gonna be able to,they're gonna throw their number
one in game one, they're gonnathrow their number one against
us in game two the next day.
that's not good, so we're gonnahave to be battle tested and you
hope that the toughness thatthey've been.
We've crumbed down their throat,whether they liked it or not
pays off.
It's too early to tell, but youhope it does.
(36:44):
So it's tough, you just neverknow.
And at the end of it, we maylook back on'em like, wow, we're
probably a little rough on thisgroup, maybe Aida, but, I don't
think that we can, I don't thinkI can do it any other way, yeah.
I think if I have to startchanging too much and it's time
for me to find something else todo, coach, I hope you don't,
'cause I love your authenticity.
I love your passion.
I love your conviction.
For me, I want to have you backon in July.
(37:08):
Okay.
Because I wanna see who you arewhen you're not in the thick of
it.
'cause my question for you is,what does Wade Wilson look like
when he is not neck deep intothe season?
do you relax?
A lot.
I have to, and I've gotten, partof the reason, a big part of the
(37:29):
reason that I've been able tocontinue to do this and why I
love TLU one, my family's happy.
Yeah.
I've, since Covid, I've played alot of golf and it's, it is my
way to just forget abouteverything.
And my wife has been so awesomeabout it.
God dog.
Yeah.
it's been easy for no, nottoday, but she's just, and for
(37:50):
me it's been an escape, and it'sneeded.
I think I'm a pretty tough guy,and I, after Saturday I got home
and just, I lost it, i'm justoverwhelmed and it's, yeah.
It's not the, it's just you wantto do well, you wanna do right
by kids, and it's just youquestion what's too much, at
(38:11):
what expense is it worth that,you know, and you hope that
you're doing the right thing.
And that's the talk we hadyesterday with'em is that I
think I'm doing right by you.
I'm treating you no differentthan I'd treat my own kids.
I genuinely love you.
I genuinely love what I do, butis it worth it?
That only time's gonna tell.
and that's what I told'emyesterday is that five years
from now, if you're stillcalling me, then it was worth
(38:34):
it.
Yeah, that's the true testamentis that there's a relationship
outside of softball, yeah.
and I think this time of year itjust, wears on you a little bit
because of all the other stuff.
We're trying to win.
We're trying to do the rightthing, and it's only the
pressure, I talked Kendra, I'veforgotten to be pretty good.
Source of, I can rely on him totalk me through some things, and
he said, you just blow throughthe victories and every loss
(38:55):
takes a chunk out of you.
And it does Ring.
So true.
it's, we're blessed to do whatwe do.
We really are, were blessed toget to coach.
I get to do this for a living.
how lucky am I that I'm nothaving to go to work nine to
five and do all that otherstuff?
So I know how blessed I am.
I know that God dog, I'm in agreat spot here.
I've got a great job and my bossis great.
(39:15):
It's just, you gotta be able tofind a way to get away from it.
And I've been fortunate enoughto be able to do that.
you mentioned a mentor or afriend that you can count on,
and you talked about your wife.
I think when you have a brainlike yours, and I had a similar
brain in terms of.
I just never turned it off.
Season was over, I could turn itoff a little bit.
(39:36):
I could golf fish, what,whatever that was for you as a
coach.
But it's hard to pause whenyou're in the thick of it.
It is, it's hard.
And I'm a big believer in howyou do anything.
It's how you do everything.
That's right.
And my wife has to remind mequite a bit that, Hey, I'm not
one of your players.
and I try, I've heard that onceor twice.
I get reminded of that.
And so I try not to take any ofthis home with me, but I think
(39:58):
at the same time she recognizesthat I'm under.
Stress right now, So Iconcentrate and I don't feel
stressed necessarily when I'm athome.
but last night I got home and Igot home at six o'clock and I
was on the phone till 10 30,whether I was talking to
recruits or other coaches ortrying to figure out this stuff.
and she's in bed and I took timeoff to go kiss her goodnight and
tuck her in and all that stuff.
(40:19):
and so I got a text from herthis morning like, Hey, I hope
you have a great day.
You're gonna get through it.
And so it, it definitely, she'sbeen with me long enough and
under, she recognizes itprobably before I do.
Yeah.
to have that that in my corneris definitely, oh.
It's a blessing, man.
I love to hear that kidsunderstand that too.
My kids are great and it's just,boy, they get it, all right,
(40:39):
coach, I'm gonna lighten thisup.
I've been making you workemotionally.
I'm gonna do a little rapid firewith you, and these don't have
to be quick answers, but justsome fun stuff.
So any recruits out there, anyparents, any high school coaches
that want to get to know you atdifferent level?
If you weren't coachingsoftball, what would you be
doing?
I don't know.
I wanted to be a doctor.
(41:00):
that's what I started doing, andI realized I wasn't disciplined
enough to go to school thatlong.
my father was a police officer,and I thought I'd have been
really good at that.
I'd probably be in sales,'causeI think I'd be good at it, Yeah.
It's really all coaches are.
we're selling our school,selling our philosophy and,
yeah.
I tell my kids all the time, myplayers that I don't have to do
this.
I could, be successful, whateverI do.
I don't know what it would be,but It's a great role model for
(41:20):
them.
favorite athlete growing up?
Pete Rose, Charlie Huss.
Huel Man.
He just got after Larry Bird wasanother one.
He just played the game theright way.
so those two are probably mybiggest two favorite sports
movie.
Ooh.
we need a good softball movie,don't we?
(41:41):
Haven't made one of those.
Hoosiers is good.
We watchers on the way up.
Yeah.
The day right after Gene Hackmandied and our kids, nobody on our
team had ever seen Hoosiers.
Really?
Are you kidding me?
Bull Durham's great.
A little different kind.
A little more talent is anythingbut, Hoosiers I think is pretty
good.
Have you watched the League ofyour Own with the kids?
Oh yeah.
That's another one I love.
(42:01):
It's funny that one of theladies that was in there when I
was at Sentence, she was awinner Texan right outside of
sentence.
So she got to come and s andtalk to our kids.
Oh, wow.
She was one of the characters inthe movie.
one of the original peachescame.
Wow, that's great.
Our kids had, she got to signtheir the movie jacket.
It was one of the maincharacters and I don't remember
her name.
I memory's terrible.
But yeah, it was pretty cool.
So yeah, that, that's anothergood movie.
(42:22):
Our kids would softball teamreally likes that one.
That's cool.
Is there a hidden gem in SineTexas that every visitor should
go see or eat out?
Is there a hidden gem?
no.
There's so many hole in the walltaco shops here.
Yeah.
It's my go-to.
They, I they take care of you.
It's small owned young guy thatowns it.
I haven't eaten there in awhile, but.
(42:43):
It's a great breakfast spot.
and you wouldn't know it.
It looks like a little house,yeah, it's a good spot.
That's good.
I want you to do this foranother 20 years if you've got
it in you, but if there's oneword or one legacy that you want
people to mention when they hearCoach Wade Wilson, in the end,
what is it?
(43:04):
Passion.
Yeah.
That's one I'd give you.
and what is passion to you?
'cause it's different for all ofus, it's different.
Yeah.
different things, music reallyI'm really influenced by music.
there's songs that just touch meand it just, ugh.
Gets me, you got a favoritegroup band?
No.
No.
I've never had, I've never beenmuch of favorites of anything.
Yeah.
I've never had a favorite team.
(43:25):
I've had a few favorite coachesand I was a big Bob Knight fan
and Mike Zeki and Yeah.
Mike Andre.
The greatest thing aboutsoftball, and I'll say this is
the greatest thing aboutsoftball, is that we, as high
school coaches and D threecoaches have access.
To the big dogs.
Yeah.
We have access to Pat Murphy andMike and Robin, Rhonda Revel and
(43:45):
all those hutch and all the listgoes on and on.
We get to rub elbows with'em andthey're genuine and they'll talk
to you.
If I caught'em right now,they're gonna answer the phone
and Yep.
And football coaches, I wouldbet that Nick Saban's not taking
those calls, for the most part,and I think that's the beautiful
part of softball is that we'reall in this together.
We all get it.
and I've never been big dogged,and just a little OD three or a
(44:09):
high school coach that's tryingto make it, and they are,
they've always been awesome, andI think that's a huge part of
our game.
And the reason that we've seenso much growth here lately is
because of that.
Yeah, I'm the same way.
I tell stories all the timeabout how much I learned as a
basketball coach, that Tom Izzoor Lou Olson or Mike Chesky,
just after they were speaking anevent, took 20 minutes to talk,
(44:30):
rebounding with me or talk aboutpractice development.
I was just like, I can't believeyou just took 20 minutes with
me, some punk D three coach.
Yep.
you gave me everything.
You gave me the world.
Awesome.
And then told me to email youand get more.
I wanna stop this section and Iwanna thank you so much for
sharing and I can tell how muchpressure you put on yourself and
(44:51):
how hard this is on you to bethe coach you want to be.
But just from a guy that.
It gets to be on the outside.
Now looking in, I'm so thankfulthere's coaches, like you still
doing it and still doing it yourway.
'cause the kids need it.
The kids need that challenge.
They need to be pushed, theyneed to be able to look in the
(45:13):
mirror and see something otherthan what everybody's telling'em
to see.
It's good to hear that.
I appreciate it.
That was Wade Wilson headsoftball coach at Texas Lutheran
University.
What stood out most to me wasn'tjust the championship pedigree
or the record setting numbers,it was the raw honesty.
When Coach Wilson got emotionaltalking about the pressure he
(45:35):
puts on his team and the fearthat it might cloud how much he
truly cares, it hit home for me.
I see a lot of myself and CoachWilson, his relentless drive,
the internal tug of war betweenstandards and relationships.
That's something I've lived andhearing him speak with such
vulnerability, remind me justhow personal this profession
(45:56):
really is.
Coaching isn't just about thegame.
It's about who you're becomingwhile you build others.
This conversation impacted me.
Not just as a podcast host, butas a coach, a father, and a
leader who's walked a verysimilar road.
If this episode re resonatedwith you, I'd love for you to
rate the show, leave a commentand hit that follow button so we
(46:19):
can keep these meaningfulconversations going.
And if you're looking for moreresources on coaching,
recruiting, or helping athletesgrow through the college
journey, visit coach mattrogers.com where you can pick up
a copy of my book, significantRecruiting.
You can read my weekly blog.
Subscribe to the free weeklynewsletter for updates and
(46:39):
advice on college recruiting.
Or you can schedule a one-on-onestrategy session with me to talk
through your personal journey.
Thanks again to Coach Wilson forhis transparency, his toughness,
and his heart, and thank you forlistening.
We'll see you next time on TheSignificant Coaching Podcast.
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