Michelle Pifer | What Makes Coaching Authentic?

How do you find your coaching voice? Michelle Pifer, Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Rutgers University, shares how mentorship and professional communication helped her establish an authentic coaching identity. Reflecting on her extensive intern journey across Ivy League and Division III athletics, Pifer highlights key milestones that shaped her coaching approach. These include observing experienced coaches, applying constructive feedback, and effectively navigating challenging athlete personalities. She offers practical strategies, such as structured time-blocking and maintaining clear boundaries, to accommodate athlete accessibility, in-season travel, and work-life balance. Pifer discusses how coaches must adapt to evolving roles, like managing and interpreting athlete monitoring technology. She also addresses common coaching pitfalls, including inappropriate language during presentations, stressing that coaches can be both authentic and relatable without sacrificing professionalism. Tune in to clarify your coaching identity, enhance your professional skillset, and maximize your impact in the strength and conditioning profession.

Connect with Michelle via email at mpifer@scarletknights.com, on Instagram: @coach_pifer, and on Twitter/X: @coach_mpifer | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs and LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

“Normally, my day, let alone my week, is already planned out. So for me, it's just staying true to that because I already probably made a commit to somebody else.” 9:50

“Those mentors allowed me to be like, how is she going to address that? How is she going to handle that? And they authentically let me do it. And luckily, I definitely have a little bit more of like I'm going to nip that in the bud type of personality that I handled them well. And getting that experience but then also getting that feedback from them was a big, big milestone because I think as a young professional, finding your coaching voice, finding what is appropriate, and not appropriate, effective is super hard in a coach. And for me, that was a huge milestone” 14:40

“Then you're gaining coaching experience and on top of that, addressing some unfamiliar areas, maybe athletes you haven't worked with in the past, sports you haven't worked with, challenging personalities, all the different areas that we address in this field at times.” 15:50

“I think it's the context, your demeanor, your tone. And are you authentic?” 29:45

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:02.63] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast season 9, episode 7.

[00:00:08.03] Getting to work with both female and male teams, and those male teams definitely challenged me. And so those mentors allowed me to be like, how is she going to address that? How is she going to handle that? And they authentically let me do it.

[00:00:23.19] And luckily, I just-- I definitely have a little bit more of like I'm going to nip that in the bud type of personality that I handled them well. And getting that experience but then also getting that feedback from them was a big, big milestone because I think as a young professional, finding your coaching voice, finding what is appropriate, not appropriate, effective is super hard in a coach. And for me, that was a huge milestone.

[00:00:52.62] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:55.31] This is the NSCA's Coaching Podcast where we talk to strength and conditioning coaches about what you really need to know but probably didn't learn in school. There's strength and conditioning, and then there's everything else.

[00:01:06.06] This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon, the NSCA coaching and sports science program manager. Season 9 on the podcast. We've been going for nine years. This is exciting.

[00:01:17.31] And today's episode is no different. We have the Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning at Rutgers, Michelle Pifer. Run into you, Michelle, a few times at different events in the field. And I saw you're on the speaking lineup for the CSCCa this year. So I'm excited to see you there. Michelle, welcome.

[00:01:36.04] Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:38.43] Yeah. So like I said, you've been on my radar for a little while to have you on the podcast. Always good conversations when I see you. I know you're big into getting out there, continuing education. But you've been at Rutgers for a little while now. What's been your journey to get there?

[00:01:55.56] Yeah, I think everyone that starts in the field, you have a long journey of interning. So for me, I had great interns, so I stayed with them for a long time. So my first internship, I was with Bucknell. Was there for a year or so. Then when I went into grad school, I went back to them.

[00:02:14.56] So I had two different stints, which was a big suggestion, I would say, to young professionals, if you could go somewhere, be a sponge, learn elsewhere, and then come back and see what else they can mold you, that was a really good experience. The second stint I had was at University of Pennsylvania.

[00:02:28.84] I was there for 2 and 1/2 years, like the intern that wouldn't go away, but in a good way. They really took me under their wing. Jim Steel, Tracy, Cristi, Stephen Brindle, all of them being there, they just-- there's 31 teams. So there's just endless opportunities to learn. And the Ivies is definitely a tough spot to be at. You're there from 6 AM to 8 PM.

[00:02:54.78] So like I said, there was endless opportunities to learn. And they really poured into me. From there, I did grad school and then got my first job at Swarthmore, a small D3 school in Pennsylvania. I was there for a year with Chris McPherson. Great opportunity. He literally just let me be me and learn, which had a lot of great things, mistakes.

[00:03:19.78] And then I went to University of Pennsylvania with Cory Walts. And again, just he let me just be like, all right, now's your next step. How are you going to evolve and do things? And he really let me just do that, really. And he was really good just at feedback of, hey, I challenge you to actually maybe do this, XYZ.

[00:03:35.56] And now I'm at Rutgers and with Coach VanDyke. And, very much a great mentor, lets me do what I need to do. But very much if you do something that's not good, then you're on the chopping block. And he'll watch. So it's good. I mean, it's a high-pressure environment. But I definitely thrive in that.

[00:03:55.16] I like that. And I think that brings a point that some of us in strength and conditioning thrive in chaos a little bit or thrive under pressure a little bit more. Maybe it's our athletic background or whatever it is coming into this field. But I've never really heard someone say it like that that they enjoy that pressure. What are the sports you're working with? And did you have a background playing some of these sports?

[00:04:19.28] Yeah, I currently work with field hockey and rowing, women's rowing. I played field hockey in middle school up to high school. But the game is a totally different sport from when I play it like in the ancient times compared to now. It's a much high-tempo pace. It's not two halves. It's four 15-minute quarters or periods.

[00:04:41.27] The range of the intensities and demands that are on each different line, so like a forward versus a midfield versus a back, are dramatically different. And so that's just a really fun sport to program but also do load management for. And then rowing,

[00:04:57.94] I don't have a hands-on on their load management, but I work very closely with the coach. We speak the same language. Like he'll give workouts based on heart rate zones. And I'm like, yep, right there with you. Or he's done a good job of teaching me what certain workouts are, what certain objectives are. And he's really helped me.

[00:05:17.20] And so even right now, we're going through our spring break training, which these girls are about to get cooked a little bit. Like our objective right now is very fast twitch fibers, but also alactic properties within their training. So very much what I do is congruent and to complement what he's got going on.

[00:05:38.79] Interesting. Yeah. You mentioned the hours at Penn, the long days in that typical Ivy League schedule. Does that differ at Rutgers at all? I know you're still in the Northeast.

[00:05:52.56] Yeah, yeah. I think it depends what day. Like Mondays and Wednesdays are traditionally my longest days. It's just how the lifts or meetings-- it's a heavy meeting and lift day for me. Where Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, like it may be a four hour block and I'm done.

[00:06:07.30] And so then I-- excuse me. I have flexibility of like, do I do my own training? Do I do projects? Or more or less, like Tuesday and Thursday is a big reporting day for me or analytics of the GPS data. So I'll block that. I'm a big block person. So no matter what I do, I have things blocked in of like free time, work time, and really managing the balance there.

[00:06:33.34] I think it's just tough when you're in season. I think when you travel with your team in season, there is no balance. And that's kind of understood here. Like we understand if you're going to travel with your teams all in season, that in the off season, you're going to do what you need to do, but find that time again to have your cup more full.

[00:06:57.17] And I think that's something that has allowed me to thrive here because I can be very much all or nothing. So when it's in season, I'm all in. There is no balance. There's no global microscope lens. It's only like the most finite.

[00:07:14.06] So for me, that's been really good, but also to maintain your personal life. So if I didn't have that, this would be the only globe that I have to myself. And so I think I'll speak for our staff here. Like we really appreciate but also thrive in the way that it's structured here.

[00:07:33.73] So you have your teams and everyone does. Some coaches probably travel more than other. We think of some of the big sports where travel is pretty extensive. Is there crossover and responsibilities where maybe you work outside your role?

[00:07:47.99] Yeah, sometimes. For instance, like two times of the year, I immediately know I need to ask people to cover either a field hockey or a rowing lift because I'm going with that opposite team to their postseason. If it that's Big 10's or NCAA's, our staff-- and I know who to go to because I know their schedules. We all have it plastered everywhere.

[00:08:09.03] And so I can just go, OK, hey XYZ person, can you maybe possibly do this lift for me? And then it comes back around. It's very much like our goal is to be as accessible to our team within reason, but also especially in the most important times of the year, which is for us hopefully the postseason.

[00:08:28.61] So for today, I'm covering a lift for an assistant coach that's with their traveling team over spring break. And it's not a big burden because everyone's willing to help. What comes around goes around. And that's really nice.

[00:08:43.17] No, that's important. And that's why we have these staffs and everybody together even though in strength and conditioning, we do tend to focus on individual sports. There's probably other ways that staffs could be structured. But we've kind of gone this way. And we do take a sport-specific mentality. I want to ask you about being accessible to multiple teams.

[00:09:06.33] This is essentially our challenge. We often talk about communication with our sports medicine staff and our sport coaches. What's the secret for you of you're navigating two different teams or multiple teams plus your own department? We tend to have a lot of people we report to in strength and conditioning. What's your process for working through that?

[00:09:30.39] I think number one for me personally is organization. So if someone says, can I meet you, I normally follow up with the question when and what day, like what time and what day. Not like now because I normally have that day blocked out. Unless it's an absolute emergency, then I'll shift what I need to shift.

[00:09:49.56] But normally, my day, let alone my week, is already planned out. So for me, it's just staying true to that because I already probably made a commit to somebody else. So first is just staying super organized and staying true to the block out times. And then three is having all that information, whatever I need, either it's for an athlete or for a coach or for an athletic trainer, that I always have my ducks in a row.

[00:10:16.21] So if you go into my file folder of my computer, the athletes, whenever I pull up the PowerPoint, they're like, oh my god, I have year, then season, then CARA, then optional. I have everything very, very tactically like organized that anytime I need to send something or show something, it's very easy to send. But honestly, it's organization, being available but also having boundaries.

[00:10:42.88] So if I made a commit to somebody, I'm not going to go back on it. But two, if I'm already overwhelmed, then I can't take on this conversation because I'm already overwhelmed. And that's something I actually dealt with last week.

[00:10:55.07] Someone wanted to talk, and I couldn't. I was like, I'm sorry, I'm very overwhelmed. Catapult basically broke down. It wasn't working. I was like, I can't talk right now because this team has a game tomorrow, a game play simulation, and I need this data. Therefore, I can't talk to you.

[00:11:11.69] It's hard for me because I feel guilty. I'm like I am technically available, but I need to solve this. And I think just staying true to your blocks and knowing that their emergency is not your emergency-- like it's urgent, but it's not an emergency to you because you maybe committed to something-- those things that tend to keep me successful. But it's still hard.

[00:11:37.90] On your Catapult point, technology in the weight room, it's here to stay, technology out on the field. Maybe the role of strength and conditioning coach is out at practice versus just in the weight room. What's been your experience with that maybe from when you started to now?

[00:11:56.57] When I started, it's amazing how many times you didn't have to update it back then, like how many times you need to update your software and stuff now. I do it like at least bi-weekly. But like in 2016, '18 when I first was introduced to Sparta Science, I took care of it as an intern.

[00:12:16.50] So I was like, I never updated that. And I was like, what? And now I'm constantly updating. I basically sync everything in Catapult at least once a week, if not twice, like bi-weekly again, just because stuff always gets updated. It's working on time zones. We won't use it for a week.

[00:12:34.53] So I already know I'm going to have to do it Thursday. Then I'll do it Monday just like to keep the internal clocks. So I would say it's definitely a management thing. But it's involved in a way that it can provide a lot of great insight to make really good decisions if everyone on staff is on board.

[00:12:52.25] Yeah. No, I think that's important, the upkeep aspect. If you have one device, that's easy to maintain. But if you have a team or multiple teams worth of equipment, that almost becomes a role in itself. And some departments and some at the professional level, that's how staffing goes sometimes. I mean, we often see the junior level strength coach or sports scientist have a lot of equipment responsibilities.

[00:13:21.27] So that's a great point. As technology gets more advanced, we need to allocate more resources to that. Going back on what you said earlier about your experience as an intern, what are the big milestones that-- you're years into the field now.

[00:13:40.22] You're still gaining experience and learning. But what were those milestones for you that gave you the confidence to thrive as an independent strength and conditioning coach with your teams?

[00:13:53.70] First, it was like seeing other really strong coaches do what they did and to learn what does that look like. Like I wasn't a collegiate athlete, so I didn't get that experience to see what it first looked like. So to see it as an intern was really, really, really impactful. What does that look like from then Michelle? That was really good.

[00:14:17.88] And then the next milestone was then having an opportunity like as an intern then to get that coaching. So that rule wasn't as heavily enforced. Like if you don't have your CSCCa, you shouldn't coach yet, maybe like 10 years ago or so or I guess more or that staff trusted me as I was getting my CSCS exam completed and getting to work with both female and male teams. And those male teams definitely challenged me.

[00:14:45.95] And so those mentors allowed me to be like, how is she going to address that? How is she going to handle that? And they authentically let me do it. And luckily, I definitely have a little bit more of like I'm going to nip that in the bud type of personality that I handled them well.

[00:15:06.10] And getting that experience but then also getting that feedback from them was a big, big milestone because I think as a young professional, finding your coaching voice, finding what is appropriate, and not appropriate, effective is super hard in a coach. And for me, that was a huge milestone from now I don't second guess anything. Like if I need to be authoritative or give guidance, I know I authentically but also professionally can do that well.

[00:15:37.70] No, I like that. And the milestones I heard you get the opportunity to observe, and then you adapt that to yourself. You find your coaching voice and how to be effective in that environment.

[00:15:49.74] Then you're gaining coaching experience and on top of that, addressing some unfamiliar areas, maybe athletes you haven't worked with in the past, sports you haven't worked with, challenging personalities, all the different areas that we address in this field at times. But I mean, those are four pretty important buckets right there.

[00:16:11.10] So if I'm an intern listening to this episode, I'm jotting that down and saying, hey, I want my milestones to at least reflect that. There may be more. I mean, we're not writing our dissertation here. But I like this iterative process of hearing your story and then trying to take it out there to share those lessons with the field. I know that was really important to me when I got into the profession. This was a little bit in the stone ages.

[00:16:38.49] The NSCA used to mail the journals out. And one of the important things to me-- I would read all the bios on the SCJ articles. And that's how I knew that, OK, a lot of coaches have master's degrees and this is what the subjects they studied were. And these are the certifications they have. And this is where they're working.

[00:16:58.43] There wasn't as much YouTube or online content. So you had to go to events to see these folks. And eventually, you build those connections and relationships.

[00:17:07.17] So it's really valuable to this episode or listening to people with all the access to materials we have now to take things in, but also process them in terms of your own development. So going back for yourself, who were some of your big mentors or maybe people that you heard them speak or articles you read that really paved the way for your coaching style today?

[00:17:35.40] Yeah. Mentors I have, like Jerry Shreck, Jim Steele, Cristi Bartlett-- she's now at NC State-- Tracy Zimmer, Stephen Brindle, Chris McPherson, my first boss, my friend Miguel Rivera at UPenn and really, every single staff member at Rutgers. Like I consider them still a mentor to me because they're the people that I go to to brainstorm or if I have a challenge.

[00:18:03.00] So I think even still considering my coworkers, they're big mentors to me. People I may listen to or have heard of a seminar on-- I really do enjoy listening to Andrea Hudy. I think her perspective on a lot of stuff is just like so calming, but also so sure. She has always this very confident but calm, which you would never expect that from a basketball strength coach.

[00:18:38.38] But I really enjoy listening to her. She has for a long time been heavily also involved with Sparta Science. And I bought her book like in 2016 and got to hear her speak to the Penn staff. I think it was 2016 or 18 then. She was so great and came back and spoke to the staff again virtually, but 2021 or some of that year. And I just think she's such a great speaker.

[00:19:07.22] But she's also a really good listener. She's good at maybe listening to a young professional that doesn't have a great question. And she can figure out what you're trying to say.

[00:19:18.04] A while ago, Paul Chandler-- like for a long time, I was working with softball. And I thought he had really good stuff. He was talking more about baseball, but has some great trainings on that. The list can go on and on. But I think what's cool about our field, whatever niche or topic you're looking at, especially in 2025, the information is easily solved.

[00:19:43.52] When I was-- even as an intern, to your point, it feels like Stonehenges. I didn't know how to look up information. And I would go to my coaches and be like, hey, how do you look this up? And they're like, Michelle, the internet.

[00:19:54.84] I was like, no, no, no. Like I type it in the search engine, and I can't find it. And they were like, you need to find keywords, my dear. It's not that hard. But now I think it's even easier than that.

[00:20:08.36] No, I mean, totally. With AI, I mean, it does the deep searching for you. It's pretty impressive. I actually feel like strength and conditioning coaches are exceptionally good at AI now that it's this new service being offered because we've had to be extremely resourceful with the internet and find anything and everything.

[00:20:34.04] Years ago, the NSCA had a list of college strength and conditioning programs. And some of them were academic. Some were just departments that had strength and conditioning departments. And I used to go on there and find, OK, what's the-- I always paid attention to, oh, this is their philosophy statement or their mission statement for their department and who is there.

[00:20:54.48] And early in my career, I went professional baseball. But I remember thinking initially just with opportunities, OK, I played football, hockey, and baseball. I'm going to look at every college in the country that has those three. And I'm going to try to go to one of those just because I thought college was where the opportunities were.

[00:21:13.96] Yeah, I think AI is extremely valuable for us as coaches. And it's something that-- it comes up even at the association level when we're working at the NSCA, a little sneak preview. The NSCA is about to release a new AI chatbot to help you navigate our website and research a little bit better. So a little promotion for that as we get on the AI topic.

[00:21:38.08] But I want to ask you a big question, Michelle. You're at a great athletic department in the Northeast. You're experiencing a lot of changes in college athletics.

[00:21:51.87] What's your experience, some of the new services being offered, some of the new perspectives being brought into the weight room from athletes, from transfer portal to NIL to just how things are operating in the weight room? What's been your experience with that?

[00:22:08.37] I think I'm lucky where the NIL is not trickled into my sports yet. So my operations aren't really changed right now from an athlete input status. I know there are some other sports on campus that, yes, they are impacted. They have to work around it. They have to figure out what they're going to do. I know I don't have enough context to totally speak upon it.

[00:22:39.29] But I definitely know it's, to be blunt, a little bit of a headache because you have two coexisting things going on at the same time. The other that I've seen of it, it's just the athletes honestly having a brand. And they'll come in sometimes and be like, hey, can I have a photo shoot in here.

[00:22:59.99] And I had to be like, I don't know that answer. I have to go find that out. We have Rutgers red and black everywhere in our room. We're very blessed. We have a great room. But I didn't know from displaying Rutgers, what did it have to do with NIL? And the answer is no. You can't do it.

[00:23:20.44] Yeah.

[00:23:21.31] They have to go find their own facilities, which is-- I was like, but this is cool for you, trying to flip it for them. But it's true. It's like you have a brand. So you have to go about it as if you are your own sole entity.

[00:23:33.56] And I was like, this is a cool experience for you because it's showing you professionalism that you could never have if this never existed. It's honestly like a part of entrepreneurship. So take it head on. You take some money, talk about how do I invest, how do I do this.

[00:23:50.12] And so for me, that's cool because I don't have a business background. But I'm inadvertently learning some things from them or like having fun conversations of brainstorming of hey, Coach Michelle, what do you think I should do? So it's been enjoyable. And, again, my impact is very minimal. So I don't know if a lot of people would agree.

[00:24:12.43] Yeah. But for me also, my athletes are international or they're domestic. So a lot of my international athletes have had some weight training or no weight training. And that's more of what I'm tackling verse than the NIL for my side of sports.

[00:24:35.75] And even with rowing, like they'll have NILs. But they're on a very, I would say, like non-impactful to the overall logistics of everything. But I'm very proud of them. I think they should. Like they're great athletes. They're great human beings. And I feel like they should try to get NILs and stuff. I think there's a great growth opportunity for it if they allow them to try it out.

[00:25:03.71] No, I like the perspective of it's a tool to help them elevate their professionalism if they use it properly. That comes up often on when we talk about social media presence and things along those lines and what they're managing, what they're allowed to do, and what they're allowed to post. There probably is a lot of content out there in the field right now.

[00:25:24.52] If you're on Instagram, that probably isn't being delivered the right way if you were to go by the book of the athletic department or however it is. And we should be cautious with what information we're sharing about our institutions, about our athletes, privacy.

[00:25:45.81] Those are important. I feel like those are really important topics that are coming to a head right now in the field. I'm not exactly sure where it's all going. And I think that's OK.

[00:25:57.18] But that's why we have qualified, certified professionals out there to help navigate these changes and the evolution of the industry. And lucky for you, it hasn't changed too much all of a sudden, right?

[00:26:12.65] Yeah. I'm sure it will. But either way, I think at the end of the day, you're seeing it very aggressive right now in men's basketball. It's even going to NCAAs and stuff where you have coaches saying half my team is in the portal. And it's really becoming-- I think the St. John's coach said it really well either last week or this week in the sense of it's becoming the model of the Euro league where maybe you have guys for one or two years.

[00:26:45.54] And then they're going to look for a better deal. And you can have whatever narrative you want of it. In my opinion, you either adapt, figure it out, and thrive in it or your ship's going to sink.

[00:27:02.55] One thing I liked you said was it's challenging because you have two things going on at once. You have that athlete looking for opportunities bigger and better, whether that's more money or more exposure, whatever it may be. But you also have your athletic department trying to build athletes up over a four year, five year, sometimes even longer window as we see different rules changing with junior college and all these different things.

[00:27:37.18] Know it's important we pay attention to this. And I think even your perspective, like you said, you don't have a ton of experience with it. But you definitely brought the topic to the forefront in a really positive and encouraging way.

[00:27:50.39] And one thing that I believe is we're not just there to make our athletes stronger. We're making them better people. And if these athletes are on social media, we may not be tagging them in our posts or whatever it may be in that way. But we can influence their professionalism in a variety of different areas.

[00:28:10.60] So I want to ask you, in terms of strength coaches, professionalism is a huge topic in our field. What are some of the big pitfalls? What are some of the ways we could be better in terms of just being a more professional industry? And why do you think that's important for us?

[00:28:27.24] Hmm, pitfalls. The Rutgers staff is going to laugh. For the last couple of years, I've gone to conferences. I think the verbiage that's always used, giving a presentation is not always on point. I think likability can be important for giving a message.

[00:28:54.21] But I think the professionalism way to do it is not always executed. And I would love to change that around, if I'm being honest. That was a bit of the point of why I would like to speak. Don't get me wrong, like I come from a background of swearing. But there's always a time and a place. And that's just something I think as a field-- we're with young adults all the time.

[00:29:27.18] And I still feel even when I'm with adults all the time, swearing, it can, if you want to say, quote, unquote, "give an emphasis to something." Sure. But I just don't feel like that's the main way you want to provide your likability or relatability. I think it's the context, your demeanor, your tone. And are you authentic? I am a goofball like through and through. I'm a goofy person.

[00:29:54.90] So in my presentation, you're going to see like the little quirkiness in me. I'm a quirky person. And I just encourage people to lean into that as opposed to what you think or what you want to be likable for or relatable for. And a very long answer that's I think a pitfall I would love to see continue-- I don't think it's all the time. But I would love to see it continue to evolve.

[00:30:22.41] No, I like that. And I think the example of conferences is a great one. There's a lot of events in the field now. And they vary. You can go to a very dense scientific conference that is very professional, almost dry in a way. And we've all been there.

[00:30:39.55] But you can go to what almost seems like a frat party type of event where we're having a great time. And I think as coaches, we love that. It speaks to our environment because the weight room is a serious environment to us. But it can also be a very casual environment.

[00:30:57.16] I mean, a lot of times our desk is right next to our locker. I very rarely had an office in my career that wasn't attached to a locker room. And that's something that that locker room talk carries into our field. So it's something to be cautious of is what I'm hearing from you.

[00:31:16.68] Yeah.

[00:31:18.25] It's important to be likable and relatable. But what I can add to that from the NSCA, if we want our industry to be taken seriously, it's important that we are first and foremost taken as professionals.

[00:31:35.68] Coming from a baseball background, we were always around our sports medicine staff, but not just athletic trainers who we work with regularly. It was our team physicians who are-- that's a very professional industry in its own right. And so I remember one conversation I had with our head team physician who's an icon in the field of orthopedic surgery.

[00:31:58.76] And he's all in on strength and conditioning. And he's coming to us as young coaches saying, man, like how do we prevent Tommy John? And how do we do all these different things? And he's asking us. And we're like, man, you're the one we're looking to. You're the professional here.

[00:32:16.71] And I think that's where we want to be. We want to be in a position of subject matter expertise in our own area. And there probably are some areas that we can continue to push professionalism. So you'll hear that from me. You got me on my soapbox a little bit, Michelle. I appreciate that. This was great.

[00:32:33.40] I love your question. Are you authentic? Are you authentic as a coach? It's OK that your quirkiness comes through in a presentation, as long as you can reinforce that with professional message and important context for the talk that you're going. I think that's what makes our field special, some of the individuality, going back on the NIL conversation that we had.

[00:32:53.47] And I think it's cool what you do. Rutgers is a great institution. Coming from the Northeast myself, I always heard about the sports at Rutgers. So I know it's a great athletic department. I'm going to have to come out there and visit you at some point. So stay on the lookout for that. But for anyone wanting to reach out and connect with you, what's the best way for them to contact you?

[00:33:17.07] Yeah, you definitely can reach out to me email mpifer@scarletknights.com. You can also do social media. I sometimes go on X, a.k.a. Twitter. But I believe the handle is-- you know what, it's been such a minute. I'm going to take that back. I can't even remember the handle.

[00:33:37.57] But my Instagram handle is m_coachpifer. And you can find me there. I pretty much look at my phone only at the end of the day. I've made a big mental shift to be present during the day. So if you send me a message, you'll most likely get it at nighttime.

[00:33:58.92] I like it. Like a lot of coaching text messages or emails, it's around the clock. So it never ends. But that's OK. I like that you gave us your Instagram. And we'll add your email to the show notes as well.

[00:34:14.40] Thanks, everyone, for tuning in. Michelle, thanks for being with us. And special thanks to Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

[00:34:22.93] Thanks for listening to another episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast. We value you as a listener, just as we value your input as a member of the NSCA community. To take action and get involved, check out volunteer leadership opportunities under Membership at nsca.com.

[00:34:39.06] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:34:42.24] This was the NSCA's 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 NSCA is the trusted source for strength and conditioning professionals. Be sure to join us next time.

[00:35:00.93] [MUSIC PLAYING]

Reporting Errors: To report errors in a podcast episode requiring correction or clarification, email the editor at publications@nsca.com or write to NSCA, attn: Publications Dept., 1885 Bob Johnson Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Your letter should be clearly marked as a letter of complaint. Please (a) identify in writing the precise factual errors in the published podcast episode (every false, factual assertion allegedly contained therein), (b) explain with specificity what the true facts are, and (c) include your full name and contact information.