Matt McGettigan | S&C at Service Academies

At the United States Air Force Academy, time is a commodity. Now entering his 20th season coaching the Falcons, Matt McGettigan explains how he works within the constraints of Division I football at one of the sport’s most distinctive programs. He talks through the reality of the Air Force Academy, where class schedules, military requirements, and sleep routines influence training decisions. A teacher by trade, McGettigan breaks down how the Air Force Academy aligns its performance team and why movement is a separator in its system. He also explains what it means to be the program’s “standard bearer.” McGettigan then walks through a typical day with the team, restorative water-based recovery, and maximizing pre- and post-competition 72-hr windows. Along the way, he reflects on family, mentorship, and preparing athletes for service and life beyond the Academy. Listen for hard-earned lessons to manage cumulative stress, build competition-week readiness, and keep the growth mindset that sustains a long coaching career.

Reach Matt by email at Matthew.McGettigan.ctr@afacademy.af.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

Join the NSCA Football Special Interest Group (SIG) on LinkedIn to connect with other coaches and stay current on football strength and conditioning best practices.

“The other thing here, there's a little bit higher purpose, right? As we're developing leaders, it's a leadership institution that men and women are going out and serve their country in different various areas. But that's the other thing that I take great pride in is seeing these young men that have come in here and have grown as men. And now as they come back and come through the door, what they've done as fathers and as husbands, as Air Force officers, is pretty impactful. And that's why it keeps me coming to work every day.” 11:50

“My recommendation would be find people that can help you along the way and never be afraid to ask for help. Have a continuous growth mindset, a learning mindset. The longer I do this, Eric, the more I learn. I need to know and the more I don't know right? And and have that ability to have a passion for teaching and coaching.” 26:25

“We tell our players this, we're always going to tell you the why. We're always going to have your best interest in mind and we'll always tell you the truth. Those are things that when you have trust, you have truth. And then they know that you're coming from an area that you do care for them. You can still coach them. You can still hold them to a high standard and accountability, because in any organization, there's accountability and getting players again to try to understand the why and the how and then again, let them take the ownership of it and be a get a player led team...” 28:50

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Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast season ten, episode five. My recommendation would be find people that can help you along the way and never be afraid to ask for help. Have a continuous growth mindset a learning mindset. The longer I do this, Eric, the more I learn. I need to know and the more I don't know, right? And have that ability to have a passion for teaching and coaching.

00;00;34;15 - 00;01;08;08

This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast where we talked to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know, but probably didn't learn in school, their strength and conditioning. And then there's everything else. This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon NSCA’s Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager. Today we have a special episode, Matt McGettigan at Air Force Academy in his 20th season with the football team, excited to learn his journey in the field of strength and conditioning and a little bit about strength and conditioning at the service academies, I know that is a very unique area of the field.

00;01;08;09 - 00;01;37;15

Matt, welcome. Thank you Eric. Honor to be here. Appreciate it. Yeah, you're right up the road from me. And it's always fun when I can get up on campus and see what's going on. You have a phenomenal, pretty new training facility up there. And I know your athletes, have some really stringent, unique demands placed on them being service members, being at Air Force Academy and also playing Division I football.

00;01;37;19 - 00;02;00;04

What's the experience been like from a strength and conditioning lens for you over such a long time that Air Force? Yeah, honestly, still probably a work in progress a little bit. You know, you're you're it's adapt. And, the big thing it's all about that I have to look as a coach is logistics. Time is a commodity. We have to maximize the time we have.

00;02;00;04 - 00;02;37;25

We have to be efficient with our time and still provide an opportunity for our players to be the best that they can be. So I think the biggest thing is just how we the logistics of training, how we can be efficient with our time. And again, the other thing is that you learn here is the cumulative effect of stress and their management of their ability to rest and recover, train, practice, play all those variables that again, at this point in time, still trying to find a way to maximize and to get better.

00;02;37;27 - 00;02;59;15

But those are the things that you that you find here that are a little bit more challenging than maybe at most institutions or most Division I programs. Break that down a little bit more. You said cumulative effect of stress. What are some of the big stressors they have outside of Division I football? The one thing obviously the academics, right.

00;02;59;16 - 00;03;28;28

High, high academics, and you're going to be seated in the class a lot of a lot of intelligent people. So that that first of all, managing the time, taking care of their business, being ahead, not getting behind those type things, the militarily, the things militarily that that add into a little bit of stressful as far as what they have to do, what they have to learn, taking those knowledge tests, those type things that they have to prepare for and takes time and put some stress on them.

00;03;29;00 - 00;03;48;02

And then again, just what we put on top of them is, is again trying to prepare a Division I football team in a Division I in Division I players. But I think those are things that look at the other thing again is, is sleep, right? The ability to get consistent quality sleep, they're probably not going to get ten hours of sleep right here.

00;03;48;07 - 00;04;07;27

But can they be can they set their time, can they have a sleep routine and those type things at once? They can learn those things and look at their schedule. How do I prioritize? How do I prioritize my time? Those are things I think, that we try to help them with and that they learn as they as they're here.

00;04;07;29 - 00;04;32;16

Lots of education going into those topics like sleep, nutrition, just overall wellness. And sometimes we get away from that and strength and conditioning because we're so performance focused and we think about, hey, what's that next training movement I'm going to put into my program. But if we don't have those foundations, we're really setting ourselves up for failure. And that can get exposed, especially at a place as rigorous as Air Force.

00;04;32;19 - 00;04;55;05

Going back to the beginning of your career, was it your goal to end up at a place like Air Force Service Academy? What was your path into the field? Yeah, that's a good question. So my upbringing going back, I was I'm a small town Midwest guy, grew up in a small town, Darlington, Wisconsin, small town in southwestern Wisconsin, a little over 2000 people.

00;04;55;07 - 00;05;23;19

So I was fortunate. And then, the all the people that poured into me from a standpoint of coaches and teachers is probably why I'm sitting, you know, talking to you today. And, and I wanted to be a high school coach and teacher. And then my path changed a little bit. Graduated from a Division III school. I'm a Division III guy to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and then got got the opportunity to go to Wisconsin, Platteville, another, another Division III school.

00;05;23;22 - 00;05;51;20

And, and the late George Chris gave me an opportunity and, started there. We were there for three years, and then Eric had the chance, you know, right place, right time. My brother was playing at Wisconsin at the time. His he was playing under Barry Alvarez. Coach Alvarez had brought his strength coach from Notre Dame. And, he allowed or helped me get a spot at Notre Dame and working for Jerry Schmidt.

00;05;51;20 - 00;06;15;27

Jerry still coach in Oklahoma. And Jerry gave me the opportunity then to go to Notre Dame in 1990. So that's aging me a little bit. But we were at Notre Dame from 90 to 95. And, I that's was my apprenticeship. Apprenticeship, you know. And Jerry taught me Jerry came from, Harvard, Nebraska and went through, was a, student assistant for Coach Epley.

00;06;15;29 - 00;06;38;04

So that was Jerry started. So that's where I learned the craft and the trade in those five years. We had the opportunity then to go to Iowa State as the head strength coach in 1995 for coach Dan McCarney. We spent 12 seasons there. That run came to an end, and then we were fortunate to, have the option to come here with Coach Calhoun in 2007.

00;06;38;06 - 00;06;58;22

And, you know, our kids were, our daughter was in junior high. Our son was an elementary. Now, as you fast forward there, 31 and 28. So, that's how time flies. But in a short that's been our journey. I say our you know, I talk about coaching the family business now, and and you're not involved. You're fully committed.

00;06;58;25 - 00;07;22;25

And I've been fortunate, you know, my wife, we've been. We'll be married for 36 years. We've been together for 40. She has the title of head coach and CEO of our family. And, unfortunately, you know, just she's been with us, you know, with me the whole time, the kids. And, we're fortunate that our kids only made one move right where they were born and raised in Ames, Iowa.

00;07;22;27 - 00;07;43;08

We came here in oh seven. And like I said, you know, you we've been fortunate that we've had some pretty good stays and, and, and have been able to here this is team 20 for us coming up this fall. So we've been we've been fortunate and blessed. But but but my family, my wife have made this all possible.

00;07;43;10 - 00;08;09;13

That's that's pretty powerful right there. And I know a lot of coaches out there. You think of all the stops we have to make to get where we want to be, and maybe sometimes we don't know exactly where we want to be, and we just keep chasing great opportunities. When you have an opportunity to be in one place and build, the relationship with the head coach over a long period of time, raise your family in one place.

00;08;09;13 - 00;08;29;16

Have a family with some stability. That's that's really powerful and speaks to maybe the prospects of our field going forward. That hasn't always been the way we thought of this profession. I think it's really challenging. You know, that was a big fear for me getting into strength and conditioning. How am I going to have a family?

00;08;29;16 - 00;08;59;23

How am I going to settle down? How in and maybe it's not settle down as the best way to think about it, but just the stability needed to raise kids in this world today. It's it's a wild concept with some of the moves we make as strength and conditioning coaches. So speaking to that longevity a little bit more, what do you think are the biggest challenges you see for coaches when it comes to longevity in the field?

00;08;59;26 - 00;09;20;04

And then maybe some of the things that have benefited you and being able to be in one place, as long as you have. I think we've been fortunate and we've made that choice probably from a standpoint of our family, you know, looking at family first. But I've been very fortunate to work for some, you know, outstanding men Coach McCarney, Coach Calhoun.

00;09;20;04 - 00;09;38;22

And we've had success. Right. You have to and, you know, and and being at Notre Dame for five seasons to learn the trade, learn the craft. And here's a story. You know, here's a story for you though. We went to Notre Dame in 90. It was a position where at that time restricted earnings, whatever however they called it or phrased it.

00;09;38;22 - 00;10;11;02

But, my wife had to work three jobs for us to make ends meet. And again, unfortunately, about a year's time, I moved into more of a full time position and it went from there. But she the sacrifices she made for us to do what we did and be able to do that, and then but to answer the question, I think there's times you have to take a chance on yourself and take an opportunity that you think can help you grow.

00;10;11;09 - 00;10;28;04

And we did that. And by, you know, fortune blessed that it worked out that we were able to get to Iowa State. I was able to give her back a little bit because she grew up in the state of Iowa. So we were there again. Our kids were born and raised there. We spent 12 great seasons in Ames.

00;10;28;06 - 00;10;51;27

You know, she was she grew up in northeast Iowa. So her parents were close. And I that was a blessing, right? I became a head strength coach, started a program that we built. The program took a five years to turn that program around. We were fortunate. Our AD at the time, Gene Smith, who hired Coach McCarney, was patient because that no longer the the landscape in college football.

00;10;51;29 - 00;11;25;16

We turned the program. We brought it back to a rivalry with the University of Iowa and those things. And then and then being able to come here and I think now is, is college football has evolved into being something a little bit different that you can come here, you can do things the right way, you can do things and work with people that are that are high integrity, high character, high achievers and get to coach those same type of people is extremely rewarding for me as a as a, as a coach, as a man.

00;11;25;18 - 00;11;49;17

And that's where we've been very, very fortunate. Also and to have some sustained success. And again, it's there's challenges obviously challenges anywhere. But I think those are the rewarding things. And and like you said the relationships. Right. College football's become pretty transactional. Not you can't develop relationships here. We can still build a team. We can still develop relationships and we can.

00;11;49;17 - 00;12;14;14

And the other thing here, there's a little bit higher purpose, right? As we're developing leaders, it's a leadership institution that, that, that men and women are going out and serve their country in, in different various, you know, areas. But that's the other thing that I take great pride in. We take great pride in, is seeing these young men that have come in here and have grown as men.

00;12;14;16 - 00;12;43;21

And now as they come back and come through the door, what they've done as fathers and as husbands, as Air Force officers, is pretty impactful. And that's why it keeps, you know, keeps me coming to work every day. But, we've been really fortunate with that. I really enjoy your values come through loud and clear when you're talking about just the relationships and the work you get to do and the impact you get to have.

00;12;43;24 - 00;13;08;21

And in coaching, our values get tested all the time. We're working with so many different types of people coaches, challenging situations, you know, just to be able to, in our mind, do the right type of training with our athletes, keep athletes accountable, and that can put a lot of pressure on us at various career stages. I want to get into the training a little bit.

00;13;08;24 - 00;13;30;15

Obviously, on the unique demands of the service academies. How how does training look from a traditional strength and conditioning standpoint at the service academies? Is it any different than how you've seen it at other places? Maybe. How has it evolved over the years as well? What we've what we've our goal here is to create a high performance environment.

00;13;30;15 - 00;14;12;23

And we've been very fortunate in in the fact that the resources, what we put forth in facilities, what we put forth in in nutrition, what we put forth and in sport science dedication has helped us create a high performance environment and looking at a big picture, we're very fortunate here to have, you know, a relationship was with our head trainer, Eric Kozlowski, you know, and, and the alignment of what we want to accomplish from a standpoint of performance, from a technical and tactical standpoint with the coaching staff, with our sports medicine group, our sport science group, sports nutrition, all those areas, even, you know, sports equipment, everybody that's involved, everybody in the building we

00;14;12;23 - 00;14;35;12

talked about really there's there's three things help them develop, continue to develop as men, help them develop as again, leaders and future officers, and then do in the window of opportunity. We have helped them become the best that they can be as an athlete, mainly our responsibility, athletic development, and then help them be the best Division I football player they can be.

00;14;35;18 - 00;15;01;00

So those are the things that we look at. But the training is pretty much, you know, we're again, we're going to be performance based. How again we can help contribute to the ability or what are the what are the the KPIs we need to address from a standpoint to be successful in regards to the system we run offensively and defensively, and how can we again align those processes and help players again?

00;15;01;00 - 00;15;23;23

One achieve, you know, be the best they can be, be great accelerators. Be able to move really well, be have great relative strength, have great relative power. All the things that we need to be successful here and and then build that system and build those around those principles. But then we've been again, like I said, the alignment here has been the biggest thing.

00;15;23;23 - 00;15;41;23

And everybody everybody's on the same page. We're all moving in the right direction and we all communicate. And that's again because of our leadership, because the Coach Calhoun sets the standard in the culture. My job is to is to be the standard bearer and be the caretaker of the culture. So those are the things that, again, that are unique.

00;15;41;26 - 00;16;08;12

But at any organization, any industry, any any athletic program, those are the things that we've tried to hang our head on. Eric, I love it, I love it. I think it's, I think it's really cool what you get to do, the people you get to pour into, and I go to Air Force games. You guys run the football a lot, and it's a unique system, for college football.

00;16;08;14 - 00;16;35;03

Today does that style of play and how does that come through in your training? And also does it reflect the unique, the unique layout of the institution, maybe the physical demands placed on them as future officers? You know, when you talk about development or athletic development here, we want to be really again, great. Again, the movement is a separator, right?

00;16;35;03 - 00;17;12;28

Our ability to to run, to accelerate, to be able to decelerate efficiently, to hit velocities. And no matter our big guys or big guys that that that have to be mobile and athletic, our skill guys, the ability to be again physical, tough, you know that the quarterback position having a guy that is a great athlete that can run the football can throw the ball, you know, just those things where you're putting a program together defensively, being physical up the front seven in the back end, still be able to again be good with the run, stop the run, be again, again athletic enough in the back end.

00;17;12;28 - 00;17;31;13

You know, those things that you're looking at from a technical and tactical standpoint in our realm to help them prepare athletically again, but again, really trying to help. Can we help guys be strong? Can we help guys move really well and efficiently? Can we keep our, you know, can we keep those guys, you know, from a standpoint of health and welfare?

00;17;31;16 - 00;17;52;02

Can we keep them healthy? Can we keep them fresh? The other thing and the coaches credit is allowing our guys to be at their best in a three hour window on a Saturday afternoon or evening. And that's again, can we get them to that point where they they're able to play at the highest level they can in that, in that, in that window.

00;17;52;02 - 00;18;21;09

And that's what we're judged on. Right? The scoreboard is the end result. But the how do you put that program in place and reverse engineer it from. Does it affect the scoreboard. Does it affect our ability to practice? Does it affect our ability to train? And how can we prepare along those lines. Has that's a really great point you make about okay, this is the time when the game is we need to be at our absolute best in that window.

00;18;21;11 - 00;18;43;00

I know recovery athlete recovery is a huge topic in the field right now. How's your view on that maybe changed over the years or maybe has it impacted practice planning and training now? Really good question. Because I you know, I went back going back and I've been doing this, you know again the recovery probably piece wasn't it was just all training right.

00;18;43;00 - 00;19;06;00

How how hard could you go. Right. And you didn't really look at it. Didn't look at recovery. And then slowly things like, you know, recovery modalities nutrition, hydration came in. And those are again pieces of the puzzle for us really well. And the investment we've made in nutrition, in the support of our student athletes, what we can provide them pre post workout the ability again.

00;19;06;00 - 00;19;25;01

And here's another example is can now you you also you want a period ice training right. You want to have a have an individual performance plan for each player. But now we almost have to look at what's the what's the recovery plan going to be for a guy from Sunday to again when he steps back on the field Saturday?

00;19;25;01 - 00;19;45;09

So again, our job as strength conditioning coaches, when our guys walk off the practice field, it's just the next step in the process of okay, what's your recovery plan today? What what are we going to what are the protocols we've got on your plan to help you? We spent a lot of time and water here. We're lucky we have a facility with a pool.

00;19;45;15 - 00;20;07;09

We've got hot, cold, you know, we can do contrast. We do a lot of soft tissue work, mobility work. So we kind of create a menu and then let the player kind of then based on what how you know, where we're at, I look at two windows of opportunity. I look at post 72 competition and pre 72 competition.

00;20;07;16 - 00;20;34;20

And how can we maximize those two windows. And again looking at recovery nutrition, hydration and all those things again to put them in in the best best physical readiness come Saturday. But that's something we've I, we've I've had to learn more on you know, and spend more time looking at those trying to become a generalist, right. In those areas of nutrition, hydration, recovery and again, learning.

00;20;34;20 - 00;21;00;27

You know, again, the time we spend in water is is restored, water is restorative. And we spent a lot of time in that pre, you know, even post practice, even if, you know, in return to play protocols. It's been very beneficial and helpful to us. Yeah I like that. It I know water based protocols, recovery programs are a big part of the equation.

00;21;00;27 - 00;21;22;22

And you see that at colleges and universities all over, all over the country and pro sports. And sometimes I think it's it's just a great way to get out of your sport. Do something different, feel refreshed, and obviously some of the more therapeutic benefits of it as well. It's it's cool to see an entire program doing that.

00;21;22;24 - 00;21;45;23

And one thing I just to paint a little more clear picture of what your days look like. I know you do most of your training in the afternoon around academic demands. What's the typical day look like for Air Force Academy football? So what we do is, is this, you know, all our players, they get up, they go to breakfast and then they've got class.

00;21;45;23 - 00;22;05;10

Now normally they have four periods of class. Then they'll go to lunch and then they may have a what we call a fifth period, which is which is this the class after lunch? Now during the fall, they don't have any physical education requirements. During the spring they do. So that fifth period is a lot of times a physical education requirement.

00;22;05;10 - 00;22;29;25

So our freshmen take boxing. Our sophomores will take, you know, like, like swimming or and then there's, there's, there's, you know, there's like, like what they'd call like unarmed combat, those type things. But so those are things we have to we have to plan for those and we have to plan. So literally may have a guy treading water for 90 minutes.

00;22;29;29 - 00;23;01;03

Now come in and train. So you you have to have a plan for that now based on when they have the PE, the class schedule, they may have three days a week or two days a week. Now that's a it's a pretty short time period. But while they're in there we've got to take that into effect. But we normally see our guys probably between, you know, 1:30 to 2:30, they get in the building and depending on what time of year it is like during the season, what we do is they'll meet, we lift and we practice and that's pretty much like clockwork.

00;23;01;03 - 00;23;21;06

And we're that way from training camp to, you know, to ball prep. But so that is pretty much lady. And they get in the building, they'll get what they need taking care of. If they need anything from a pre practice standpoint. But literally they'll, they'll meet and then they'll come in. We'll still be in the room four days a week during the season.

00;23;21;09 - 00;23;41;09

Shorter condensed time. But they'll go literally from the weight room, go back the locker room and change their practice and right to the practice field. So we think that's been an advantage for us from standpoint of training, the consistency we call as a superpower here and the ability, again, to kind of prep themselves for practice during the offseason a little bit different.

00;23;41;11 - 00;24;00;17

They may come in a little bit later, but we may normally that get in the building about 230. They need anything with sports medicine. They need anything they can get done. They can they can kind of prepare themselves. But then we normally start about 3 or 3:30 with our training sessions, and we normally again go for about a two hour window each day.

00;24;00;21 - 00;24;20;20

We train four days a week. Normally Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is an off day form recovery day, and then we go Thursday, Friday. But that's kind of the normal window of time. And then we're able to feed them any days we practice, we feed them in the facility. And that's been a big, big part of the nutrition program.

00;24;20;20 - 00;24;38;12

And again, the support that we've been able to give our guys. But but that's kind of a typical day. So it is afternoon based. It's it's pretty you know, we're on the ground running. Once we hit once we hit the afternoon. Yeah. It's full go. It's air force games are a lot of fun to go to.

00;24;38;12 - 00;25;00;05

And it's high energy. From from the field all the way up into the stands where I get to watch you guys. It's really, really great what you get to do. We've talked some training. We've talked about career longevity, a little bit about family, family and sustainability in the profession. A lot of young coaches listen to this podcast and tune in, maybe planning their career steps.

00;25;00;05 - 00;25;43;09

What's some advice you have for them? Just how to get their feet wet and get into the field. And again I'll look back and here's the thing. And what my experience has been is all the people that have poured into me, right. You know, and have helped make me who I am. Right. And from all the again, the impact of all the coaches and teachers in the house I grew up in, coaches and teachers were held in high regard and and that again, the impact they had on me, those coaches and teachers, as great as anybody besides my own, my own family, my my mom and dad.

00;25;43;12 - 00;26;06;17

But to see people dedicated to helping in a profession and however you, however you want to evolve that, like I said, my goal is to be a high school teacher and coach. And then. Then it worked in a chance where I got an opportunity to. I was on the field early in my career and then and then became a strength conditioning coach and went full time into that because I really had a a passion for training.

00;26;06;17 - 00;26;26;15

I had a passion for being around a player year round and being around a team and and being part of a team. Know I've been part of teams since, you know, probably eight years old. Right. And, and and that there's a lot of fulfillment in that being part of a program, a process and and working together towards something.

00;26;26;17 - 00;26;50;22

But my recommendation would be find people that can help you along the way and never be afraid to ask for help. Have a continuous growth mindset, a learning mindset. The longer I do this, Eric, the more I learn. I need to know and the more I don't know right? And and have that ability to have a passion for teaching and coaching.

00;26;50;25 - 00;27;12;18

And that's where I think we've lost a little bit is the preparation of coaches. Now again, my background is different. When I came through college. I'm a physical education teacher by trade. I'm a teacher by trade. I student taught, I taught a little bit of in grad school when I was going to get my master's. I taught some classes, but I never I haven't been in the classroom.

00;27;12;18 - 00;27;48;01

I didn't end up going into that high school or, or, junior high classroom, but I think that's what I go back to is my ability to teach, my ability to be, again, organized and find those and work on those traits, not only the again and now apply the, the, the knowledge from an exercise science standpoint, which I didn't didn't have the opportunity to do, I learned that probably on my own as I evolved in my career, but be able to coach and teach, be able to communicate and, you know, the blending of the science and the art, you have to have the knowledge.

00;27;48;03 - 00;28;17;13

But now it doesn't matter what we know or I know, it's what can we get to apply and what can we teach and communicate. So I think those are the things for upcoming coaches is to really be able to to stand in front of a group right. You build coach, correct, teach movement, see movement. Now you can apply the, you know, whatever analytics or whatever sport science or whatever metrics you want to use and blend that together to create a performance program.

00;28;17;15 - 00;28;46;20

But I would think just again, there's ability to again, to find great people, to find people that'll help you along the way. And mentors, which I've been extremely fortunate. But then again, work on your craft and trade as far as being a great teacher and an a great coach. And again, I'm biased because that is my background. But then put that together with the ability again to provide the science, the knowledge and the and the experience and the evidence to create a program.

00;28;46;22 - 00;29;04;26

And again, and we tell our players this, we're always going to tell you the why. We're always going to have your best interest in mind. And we'll always going to tell you the truth. Right. And those are things that when you have trust, you know, you have truth. And then they know that you're coming from an area that you do care for them.

00;29;04;28 - 00;29;35;07

You can still coach them. You can still hold them to a high standard and accountability, because in any organization, there's accountability and, and and getting players again to try to understand the why and the how and then again, let them take the ownership of it and be a get a player led team is the other things that that here working at a service academy that I think again are really something that's rewarding is to see these, see these young men and women develop as leaders.

00;29;35;10 - 00;29;56;26

Yeah. So much, so many takeaways there. And one thing that stands out to me, teaching and coaching are both service professions. You got into. You went to college thinking you were going to help people. You were going to teach people. You didn't go with an exercise science mindset or had that background that maybe coaches come out of school with today.

00;29;56;26 - 00;30;20;20

But growth mindset got you to a point where you were able to learn those things, and then you had that backbone of teaching and instructional skills to be able to now give give your new knowledge to the athletes you're working with. So no surprise to me, you're at a service academy. You got your beginnings looking towards a service profession.

00;30;20;20 - 00;30;52;08

I think it's really, powerful what what you've done throughout your career. And just any time I meet a coach that's been at a place for two decades or more, just a long period of time, we know you're doing something right there. You're an asset to the profession of strength and conditioning. And I think that advice of getting out of your shell, making connections for young coaches, meet people you know, listen to this podcast if you like what you heard from Matt today, reach out to him.

00;30;52;08 - 00;31;19;09

And, what would be the best way for them to do that? Eric, any time just you can include my email at any time. You know, you know, I'll, I'll reach out and, I promise I'll get back to them, but they can reach to my email and, Yeah, look forward to that. Any any questions, any way that, you know, like so many people have again, have helped me on, on, on my journey and, yeah, please reach out.

00;31;19;11 - 00;31;43;09

Yeah. Thanks so much. Thanks for sharing today. We we appreciate all the coaches in our profession. But it's like I said, so powerful. When you meet someone who's done this for a long time. Unique institution, Air Force Academy. Just the connection between military tactical strength and conditioning, college football. There's there's a lot there that we're working on at the NSCA right now that comes through.

00;31;43;16 - 00;31;56;25

And I think this will be a really great episode for people to listen to. So appreciate everybody for tuning in today. Thank you so much. And Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

00;31;56;27 - 00;32;18;17

This was the NSCAs Coaching Podcast. The National Strength and Conditioning Association was founded in 1978 by strength and conditioning coaches to share information, resources and help advance the profession. Serving coaches for over 40 years. The NSCAs the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

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