Rob Glass - NSCA’s Coaching Podcast, Season 7 Episode 9

Hear from the widely-respected, Rob Glass, Assistant AD for Athletic Performance at Oklahoma State University (OSU), an influential figure in the success of the OSU and University of Florida athletics programs over his four decades in the strength and conditioning profession. Coach Glass connects with the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on the importance of professionalism among strength and conditioning coaches, and specific qualities he looks for in strength and conditioning coaches joining the OSU staff. This episode highlights the importance of history and experience in developing effective training programs for your coaching environment, and how the student-athletes of today benefit more from our improved coaching practices. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear impactful lessons of character and leadership that can help push your career forward.

You can connect with Coach Glass by email at rob.glass@okstate.edu| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

“It's the ability to teach and communicate, effective lifting techniques, program design, and… you try to do your best.” 6:04

“The professionalism piece speaks to all that. From the time you first start as a graduate assistant or even an intern, if the professionalism piece is there, you're going to get looked at in a much favorable light with people that are decision-makers for your career moving forward.” 12:38

“Write programs backwards. What does the head coach-- where do I need to be when this training cycle ends? And then I'm going to start writing. I actually write it backwards depending on the duration of the training cycle.” 26:40

“It’s still about networking and developing relationships where you can have good dialogue, training dialogue, where you can ask some questions. But you've got to develop that network.” 28:00

“Don’t be afraid to network. Don't be afraid to reach out. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can. Don't think you have all the answers. I mean, probably the biggest turnoff for some guys is when you sit down with somebody and they act like they've got it figured out and everybody else is a ways wrong. There are so many ways to enhance an athlete's performance.” 30:05

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:04.17] Welcome to the NSCA Coaching Podcast season 7, episode 9.

[00:00:10.71] Don't be afraid to network. Don't be afraid to reach out. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can. Don't think you have all the answers. I mean, probably the biggest turnoff for some guys is when you sit down with somebody and they act like they've got it figured out and everybody else's way is wrong. There are so many ways to enhance an athlete's performance.

[00:00:34.72] 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.

[00:00:45.61] This is the NSCA Coaching Podcast. I'm Eric McMahon, and today we're joined by veteran Strength and Conditioning Coach Rob Glass, the Assistant AD for Athletic Performance at Oklahoma State University. Excited to dig into your background today, Coach. Welcome.

[00:01:03.16] Well, thanks, Eric. Excited to be here, and looking forward to this opportunity to share a little bit.

[00:01:09.25] Yeah, so just going through your bio and in your background in the field, it's exciting to connect with a coach with just so much experience across multiple institutions. But one thing I thought was really interesting was that you're at your alma mater.

[00:01:28.09] Yes, yes.

[00:01:29.98] So I think that's really cool that you've been able to have such a fruitful career at where you got started and want to ask you, what was your drive to get into strength and conditioning? Let's go back to the beginning.

[00:01:45.12] Well, so my story is a little bit unique. So when I first got into coaching, I was really wanting to coach on the field and was working as a graduate assistant with the wide receivers in the secondary. And now I'm going to date myself, Eric, really bad, but when I first got going as a graduate assistant, Oklahoma State really had one full-time strength coach and a part-time helper, and that was the legendary John Stucky.

[00:02:19.10] So I was so fortunate, because his graduate assistants back then, even though we were coaching on the field, we went to the weight room during the offseason and during the winter program and during the summer to help John, Coach Stucky. So I got an opportunity to watch him work. And I love working with athletes and helping them grow and evolve and reach the goals they've set for themselves.

[00:02:48.70] So that was my initial exposure to the strength side at that time. That's the mid '80s, so our profession, if you will, was very young at that time in the collegiate setting. It was just kind of getting going.

[00:03:06.91] So I got a chance to work with John quite a bit during my three years as a graduate assistant. Well, John moved on to Arkansas, and then Jerry Schmidt came in for about seven or eight months, came from Notre Dame and then went back to Notre Dame. And Pat Jones was our head coach at that time.

[00:03:30.35] And Jerry kind of left, had a quick turnaround going back to work with Coach Holtz at Notre Dame, and we were just starting our winter program. And Pat Jones, our head football coach, is like, can you run this winter program for me? I'm in the middle of recruiting. I don't have time to try to find a strength coach.

[00:03:47.66] So that was my first exposure, Eric, was to just-- I got dropped in the grease, if you will. So that was it. But I kind of fell in love with it, really enjoyed that aspect of year-round working with young athletes, trying to help them achieve the goals that they've kind of set for themselves.

[00:04:08.76] So that's a little bit of how I shifted from the field to the athletic performance side and working in the weight room and on the field in a different role. So that was kind of where it all started.

[00:04:23.63] Yeah, that's interesting. I liked how you said, dropped into the grease. One thing comes up a lot on this podcast, especially around opportunities as graduate assistants or as young coaches, kind of that mentality we get.

[00:04:37.75] We get thrown into the fire, in a sense, of a lot of responsibility all at once, working with multiple teams. Even in some cases, for coaches that want to be football-specific strength and conditioning coaches, but getting experience across multiple sports or in lower division schools, everybody sort of has a different path.

[00:04:59.17] But that dropped into the grease mentality is really something that is a theme across our field. Because as you know, managing a staff, there's always work to be done. And you always need help, and those roles are really vital.

[00:05:15.61] Want to ask you about your management style. You have a awesome staff. We know Gary Calcagno, who won the NSCA Assistant Coach of the Year last year. And just getting to know your staff and hearing great things about how you lead that group, what expectations do you have for your assistant coaches, and how do you approach that part of your job?

[00:05:42.88] So there's been a huge evolution with me over these 38 years in, really, our profession. So early on, it was important for me, I wanted to find staff members that were good instructors, good teachers. Because ultimately, that's still what we are.

[00:06:04.48] It's the ability to teach and communicate, effective lifting techniques, program design, and understanding what-- as we've grown as a profession, early on, kind of what we hit on a little bit earlier, it was me and one other guy. And we were working all teams. We worked with all the teams at Oklahoma State. And you try to do your best.

[00:06:31.33] So as staffs have grown and we've had the ability to hire more people, we've kind of expanded from-- so ultimately, to answer your question, Eric, I'm still looking for guys and gals that are great teachers, because that's really what we do, and have good leadership skills and are willing to learn. That's the big piece, to me, is when I'm looking for staff members that don't really feel like they've arrived, that they're always wanting to grow, they're always wanting to learn.

[00:07:06.67] Now, it's important that our methodologies align because it's, I think, important. Over the years, if you've got an assistant strength coach that's working with a certain team and their training techniques and methodology are much different than what everybody else is doing, sometimes the athletes, it causes some indecisiveness in their minds. Like, well, why are we doing this and they're doing that? So we try to adhere to certain fundamental principles in our methodology when we write programs.

[00:07:41.19] But the big thing, for me, that's really changed over these 30-plus years is we've become so refined in our sports-specific training, if you will. And so I want to find, if I've got a position open and it's assigned to a certain team or different couple teams, I'm not really looking to see if they have that expertise with that sport, but are they willing to grow and learn within that sport?

[00:08:09.99] The biggest thing, I will tell you this, when I went to University of Florida, the sports programs at Florida at that time were across the board. Swimming, gymnastics, everybody was top five in that country. But I got an opportunity to really immerse myself in the specific training of those teams, from energy systems to common injury sites, to just muscular structure, what was paramount for a high-level performance and what maybe wasn't. So we were able to really hone in on sports-specific training.

[00:08:47.92] But to answer your question, to me, it's really important that a staff member, that they're like a sponge. They're continually learning, and they're great teachers. But our profession is, I think, sometimes now for some of the younger coaches, I would love to have a history lesson for some of them.

[00:09:12.64] I'll have young graduate assistants come in for internships out of our university, and I'm like, do you know who Boyd Epley is? And they're like, who's that? You know what I mean? It's just wild. So we've grown enough, and the evolution of our industry, there's some historical markers that I think everyone should still kind of have a handle on.

[00:09:36.47] So to me, it's that understanding and being a sponge and wanting to learn, hey, how did this profession that I love so much, how did it evolve? How did it get here? How did we get where we're at?

[00:09:48.69] It's important, you keyed on the foundational principles that drive your staff, that align everybody, kind of rowing in the same direction. But one thing, and you're speaking to the growth of our profession, there's a lot more strength and conditioning coaches now, a lot of different backgrounds. And with that, we see a lot of different personalities.

[00:10:12.61] I think sometimes we joke around about it, everything from the get-back coach to on-the-floor coach to the-- now, I mean, look at your role, kind of the coaching administrator, in a sense. And we're starting to see more of these senior-level leadership roles at institutions. And that's huge for our profession, to see that growth.

[00:10:37.00] I want to ask you about professionalism in the field of strength and conditioning. With all these different personalities and roles that we play, what are the themes or key areas that you identify as professionalism for a strength and conditioning coach? Is that something you think about?

[00:10:57.86] It's interesting that you bring that up. I do because, to me, everyone on our staff is a representative of me. So it's important to me that they carry themselves in a very professional manner.

[00:11:12.65] And bringing that up, Eric, I will tell you so, in our industry, from a compensation perspective and a ability, as you mentioned, to kind of move into maybe an administrative position, some things you don't look at early when you're first kind of getting going because you're aggressive, you're on the floor, you're into different training methods, you're experimenting, you're studying. But there'll become a time, with all of us in this industry, where as you get a little older, those 12-hour days, sometimes they're not as easy. And you start to look at strategies, or you want to think about, where's my next move? How am I going to put myself in position?

[00:12:00.24] So the professionalism is key because, to me, if you want your athletic director or your university president or your Board of Regents, as you, a lot of times, cross those paths, you want to be very impressive to them. Because there may be a time where they're looking to, hey, we're going to reorganize some of our athletic performance department, and we think you would be super for more of an administrative role, to take a little pressure off you from being on the floor for so many hours as you get a little older, help drive your compensation a little bit. Everybody's always trying to help position themselves better there.

[00:12:38.52] So the professionalism piece speaks to all that. From the time you first start as a graduate assistant or even an intern, if the professionalism piece is there, you're going to get looked at in a much favorable light with people that are decision-makers for your career moving forward. Sometimes when you're young, you may not think, hey, I'd like to be the guy that kind of is on the videos and those things.

[00:13:04.96] But in the end, what's your athletic director? Are you representing your university, your athletic department in a way that speaks volumes that they're very proud of you? That's very important. And I think, for us, to garner respect in the athletic world and to command a better compensation, a better workforce, work day, that's a huge piece.

[00:13:31.41] So I'm glad you brought that up, because, to me, it's paramount for us to keep continually growing as an organization or a profession. The professionalism piece is paramount.

[00:13:44.31] We do have a lot of young coaches who listen to this podcast, but for coaches that have been in the field for a while that are maybe looking at that next step from on-the-floor coach to more of an administrative-type role, just from your experience, what are the skills, what are the tools they should seek out to really push that skill set forward so that they can add value in, really, a new area? And you sort of mentioned that.

[00:14:15.63] I think, for me, and it's interesting, I've had an opportunity to be involved in some different groups with different industrial groups, if you will, that are kind of deep thinkers. And I'm amazed. There's some young strength coaches that are way beyond me and their ability to operate in an administrative world.

[00:14:41.34] But I think, to answer your question, it's still about the ability to communicate. It's the ability to organize your thoughts and be able to communicate those. And just organizational skills and willing to study things that aren't necessarily in our wheelhouse.

[00:15:07.21] So when you get in that situation or you're in that senior staff meeting and you look organized and you put a lot of thought into it, it's not, hey, you just sprinted into the meeting, and then you get asked a question and you're not prepared. So it's really what we do now. We're preparing athletes.

[00:15:23.29] It's the same thing there. You've got to make sure you're prepared for whatever meeting you're going into. And if it's an area that you're not well versed in, the willingness to go back. Like I said, when we were young, to be a sponge, to learn.

[00:15:36.70] Maybe you're drawing from people in other parts of the athletic department that can help fortify your expertise and your knowledge so you can communicate effectively in those meetings.

[00:15:50.91] Yeah, I love that it speaks to the values we preach with young coaches, be prepared, on time, organized. Those administrative skills aren't that different from how we approach showing up as a GA or as an assistant strength coach when you're still figuring out your thoughts and philosophies and ways around the field.

[00:16:18.62] Nearly four decades in the field, you've experienced significant growth, as we've talked about. The field's changed a lot. What are we great at today that maybe we weren't so great at in the early days? And then what's an area that you think we still have a long ways to go?

[00:16:43.02] Well, the first part of that question, early, early on, strength and conditioning coaches are highly competitive. And sometimes that competitive nature actually worked against us. Because everyone was very competitive, so the willingness to share, the combative-- I'll tell you one thing, for me.

[00:17:13.00] The biggest thing is, and I really never had this, but a lot of people that I talk to in our profession would run up against the sports medicine department, would clash with the strength and conditioning department. And a lot of it's just that competitive nature. And the big thing, the willingness to communicate and collaboratively sit down and talk about what's going on, certain athletes that you need to make adjustments or corrective things in programs because maybe they're not prepared for it or there's some type of issue, medical issue, the communication piece. Because in the end, that's the big thing.

[00:17:59.23] I think that there's been huge growth there. Early on, there was a little bit of a clash. You're wanting to do a certain style of training, the medical team's kind of like, hey, we probably shouldn't do that. They're not ready for that. You're trying to build toughness, we're trying to build resiliency. And there's a little bit of that where there's a little bit of some friction.

[00:18:23.06] But I think the big thing, for me, is breaking down those barriers, you can go so much farther so much faster if you kind of just let that go and you say, hey, we're working together to help this athlete, so we need to work in harmony. So now, you see a lot of universities that have performance teams. They sit down and meet. So it's just that collaboration.

[00:18:50.50] That's big, the growth, I would say, from the early days. That piece is huge. And just effective communication.

[00:18:59.36] And I know I'm harping on it, but that's the thing, there's so many people that are involved with our student athletes today, if that's the world that you're in or if you're just working with athletes in general. There's a lot of different people that are involved with them, so the communication, to be able to effectively put together a program that maximizes who they are and where they would like to go.

[00:19:23.89] Love that. All right, second part of the question. What are some areas we still need to improve?

[00:19:33.47] It's interesting. I think the big thing, what I run into a little bit with some of our younger coaches that come in for internships or come on board with our organization for a period of time, it's still steadying and understanding how to write a program, not necessarily seeing something on the internet, or a video and then trying to replicate that. It's the younger people in our profession understanding how to effectively write a program.

[00:20:13.64] What are the things you're looking for? What are we trying to get to versus just grabbing something off the internet? Hey, let's try this today or let's try that.

[00:20:24.81] And it goes back to the professionalism piece, Eric, that if we want our sport head coach or assistant coaches just to go, wow, they're on top of their game, or they've got it dialed in, then we need to study what we want to do with the athletes so we make sure we're training them in a proper way, in a safe way, but we're also doing something that's going to actually enhance their skill sets. This is some of the things that we've had discussions with our younger coaches is, I'm like, do you even understand why we were created? What was this all about?

[00:21:03.70] Sometimes now, it's the fitness industry or athletic performance industry and working out, it's just kind of what you do. Well, it was ultimately that baseball player or that basketball player, that football player, they're doing this to enhance their skills on the field, the sport. So are we effectively writing programs that are going to enhance why they actually do what we do?

[00:21:29.08] And so to keep that in mind, sometimes we lose sight of that, I think. Everybody's trying to do something that grabs 100,000 views on social media. And really what may be applicable to helping them become a better player is something that maybe doesn't get a lot of use.

[00:21:49.66] I mean, it's not flashy or trendy. So I think it's still with our younger people coming in is just understanding how we evolved. Why did we evolve? How did this industry come about enhancing athletic performance?

[00:22:10.82] And on the programming side, you're talking about the process of, how did it evolve to the way we think of programming and exercise selection today? It's easy now to go on Instagram or Twitter and see, oh, that exercise looks so cool.

[00:22:30.07] It mimics the sport, so I'm going to use it and pull it into a program, but without really having that foundational needs analysis, process to really build, what you're trying to accomplish in your team setting with your athletes, and that's something I think about. At the NSCA, we have a lot of events. We have a lot of conferences. And so I get to be in a lot of sessions.

[00:22:59.65] And one thing I try to tell young coaches is that-- and sometimes it perks their head up-- you're not always going to learn a lot in any given session or webinar or book. What you're going to learn is something's going to grab your attention, and then you're going to go apply it with your staff, with your teams. You're going to work through the challenges in your environment. And that's where, really the, learning happens.

[00:23:34.28] We're at a time now, and you're speaking to it, where we have so much more information than the early days, and we have to educate young coaches how to manage that funnel of information so that we're still doing what we do well, and we're just not copying what's on the internet. So I'm really glad you shared that. I think that's a really important thought for young coaches to resonate.

[00:24:06.91] I would agree, Eric. And to your point, the access to information, so I can remember-- so back to kind of being dropped in the grease, if you will. So here I am trying to coach on the field. I get put in the weight room to run a winter program.

[00:24:24.73] OK, I'm like, the one thing I did know is that I didn't know. That was the one thing. So I thought, I'm going to go try to learn from the best. So as soon as that winter program ended, I got in a car and I drove to Denver and I spent time with Al Miller.

[00:24:40.60] And I'm like, Al I don't know anything, but they've told me that this is my job. I took it, helped me to learn. There was no internet. So you had to go visit people. I watched him train the Denver Broncos. Why are you doing this?

[00:24:56.80] Being very inquisitive, try to get a couple of books, read some books. Soviet Recovery and Training Methods, I've got that thing highlighted. I still have it behind me. And that was some of the very first things to learn.

[00:25:12.20] And to your point, the access of information now is huge. It's almost too readily available. I hate to say that. Because to your point, you have to decipher now what truly has merit within what you need to do.

[00:25:31.25] And that's probably where the younger generations-- there's so much there. I'm not very good on social media, and so I'm probably glad that, for me, it was a slow process. It was a slow burn.

[00:25:46.13] It was, I'm going to go try to read a few of these books written by guys that are strong in the field. I'm going to try to visit guys that are strong in the field, ask questions, be able to develop some lines of communication. I've made, through trial and error, so many mistakes I couldn't tell you, we couldn't put them all down in one tablet.

[00:26:10.64] So with all this access to information now, I think it's important that they understand, to your point, Eric, what am I trying to achieve here? What's the goal of this training session? What's the goal of this, if it's a micro cycle or a macro cycle or whatever the duration of my training cycle is? When I get to the endgame, what do I hope I achieve?

[00:26:36.14] And then I always tell all of our crew, to me, you write programs backwards. What does the head coach-- where do I need to be when this training cycle ends? And then I'm going to start writing. I actually write it backwards depending on the duration of the training cycle.

[00:26:55.50] How many opportunities the athlete has to train, what kind of regulations am I up against, if it's the NCAA or it's a high school situation, what are all those things? And then knowing all that, that's how I'm able to put the program together. Because ultimately, the end game, that's where I'm trying to get. But if I just start grabbing stuff and putting stuff together hodgepodge, I may not get where I need to be at the end of the training cycle.

[00:27:20.08] Yeah, and one of the real hidden positives of all this information we have today is that we have so much more access to people. It's a lot different process in the early days, tracking down a mentor or someone in the field or the author of a book, but now, you can find them on the internet. You can track down their email address. And hopefully, you'll get a reply if you reach out.

[00:27:45.96] What advice do you have for young coaches in today's world? You probably have a lot of folks reaching out to you, asking questions, trying to get connected. What's your advice for them?

[00:27:57.34] Well, I think you hit on it, Eric. I mean, it's still about networking and developing relationships where you can have good dialogue, training dialogue, where you can ask some questions. But you've got to develop that network.

[00:28:16.74] And to me, that's how young coaches grow. I mean, whatever industry you're in, whatever sports you're in, if you can start to develop a network within that world, and then as that network starts to grow, you'll be shocked at how you'll just start to develop communication with people that are essentially what somebody would say high up in that profession or that industry.

[00:28:44.89] And then from there, that only enhances your-- now I've got a question about a certain training method, I can call this person up, and they can go, hey, yeah, we tried that, wasn't so fun. Or whatever it may be, or they may go, hey, we had phenomenal success with that style of training. So networking is still huge.

[00:29:05.35] And networking is big in any industry, really, and the ability to grow, learn about other job opportunities, being able to demonstrate your skill set to others only enhances your ability. And that's probably a big thing, I would say, is sometimes it's very easy to just, hey, I'm a guy on the floor or a gal on the floor, I'm dialed in to working with my athletes. But you need to dedicate some time to research, dedicate some time to networking, reaching out to people.

[00:29:38.98] Don't be afraid to ask somebody, hey, can I come visit you? I'd like to just come watch your training session. I won't be in the way. And you learn. You'd be shocked how much you learn from just observation. And sometimes, it pacifies you to-- sometimes there's some anxiety. Hey, I'm introducing some new things, I hope it goes well.

[00:29:59.02] And then you may go watch somebody else do it and go, yeah, this is awesome. I'm going to go ahead and implement this in our programs. So just don't be afraid to network. Don't be afraid to reach out. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can. Don't think you have all the answers.

[00:30:16.16] I mean, probably the biggest turnoff for some guys is when you sit down with somebody and they act like they've got it figured out and everybody else is a ways wrong. There are so many ways to enhance an athlete's performance. Just what you choose, just be an expert in that methodology. That's what I would encourage all the young strength coaches is whatever method you choose, just be an expert in that method.

[00:30:45.64] Yeah, in this episode, we've kind of covered the evolution of strength and conditioning from the early days to today. And I think it's also important to say there's a lot of benefits today that we didn't have in the early days. And the growth of the profession, we are on a path to make things better.

[00:31:06.91] And I think that's something that I care about a lot at the NSCA, is being for the profession, for the growth of this profession within all areas. But talking to you in college sports, I'd like to ask you, and you may or may not have all the answers on this topic, but college sports today are going through a lot of changes. We just came out of the pandemic. There's always changes and shifts and different mentalities with NCAA, with NIL, and all the different things that coaches and athletes are working through.

[00:31:47.63] What are some of the key areas that you think strength and conditioning coaches should focus on or just be aware of in today's world? And maybe a little of the wisdom of just how you're working through these challenges today.

[00:32:05.15] That's a great question. We're still working through them, how's that?

[00:32:10.07] There you go.

[00:32:10.52] It's a daily evolution. I think the big thing, probably, in the, call it, the older days or years back, there was probably a little bit more of a, hey, when young athletes-- in a collegiate setting, in any way, when we would get a group of athletes in, we would initially just kind of try to break them down and then build them back up. That was what kind of how things evolved.

[00:32:42.40] But now, the portal ability to transfer, your NIL situations, there are so many things going on. And the athletes with them as well, going back to being an expert at whatever method you choose, their exposure to training or their ability to observe and watch, they have done that. So you've got to really be dialed in when you put a program in place.

[00:33:20.10] And probably, what I would say that these athletes, referring back to when athletes came in 20, 30 years ago, and it was a little bit more of a boot camp mentality. Hey, we're going to break them down, and then we're going to build them back up where their confidence and resiliency is at an all-time high. But there's a little bit of a tear-down process, finding out how bad they really want to be successful.

[00:33:46.67] And you didn't have to do a lot of communication as to why you were doing certain styles of training. Because the athletes, in those days, they wanted to be great, and they were willing to do whatever you put in front of them. Athletes today, they want to know why. That's what I would probably say.

[00:34:09.04] The big thing for us is we've spent a little more time in the explanation side of why we're doing every piece of a training program and what that's designed to help with. We probably should have done it earlier, in the early days. But that's just not how things were.

[00:34:31.46] The athletes today want to know. So I think you have to be really diligent in explaining why you're doing certain styles of training or whatever that application may be because they're more educated, their ability to learn is easy, the access to information is so much easier.

[00:34:53.28] So I think that would be the big thing, is the big shift there. You got to spend a little more time. And we probably should have done a better job in the earlier days of that, but now these athletes today.

[00:35:10.77] So with that, you've got your portal, you've got NIL, you've got so many things going on. But I think to really enhance your program, if you do a little more time in the explanation of-- we're scanning on the force plate, and this is why and this is what it's going to tell us. And they want to know.

[00:35:36.21] And I don't know if I got away from your original question, but that's probably the big thing, for me, the athletes 30 years ago today. They have access to information, so they're going to look it up. So you need to just be really diligent on explaining every facet of your program and why you're doing it. If it's your mobility, movements, why that is and what sport, how that's going to help you.

[00:36:03.11] As you're answering that, it made me think, a common interview question that comes up a lot in our field or has over the years is, what's your coaching philosophy, or what's your training philosophy? And it's something that I think is a theme on this episode and just what we've talked about, is that there is an evolution to that. What it is day one might not be your approach 10 years in or 20 or 30 years in.

[00:36:30.38] And I think that's a really valuable takeaway for all coaches here, is that we are constantly growing individually as coaches, as humans. And it's something that is vital to consider in supporting the coaching profession, just our human process as coaches, to know that we need to continue to go into the tank, make ourself stronger mentally, more educated, know what our athletes have access to, know key factors that our institutions are working through, dealing with, considering. There's a lot going on right now.

[00:37:14.97] I really appreciate you tackling that question. It was kind of intentionally broad, because I don't think it's an area, or at least, I haven't heard anyone that really has all the answers on this. But I appreciate you taking the time today, man.

[00:37:28.34] Well, thank you. And it's interesting, because to that previous question, I don't know that any of us really still know how this is going to shake out with all the different variable factors that are involved with our athletes today. But there's a lot to your point, there's a lot on their mind. So you've got to be mindful of that, for sure.

[00:37:50.71] No, this has been great. This has been great. I hope it's been good. I'm just kind of a guy that's been around for 38 or so years here and doing this and trying to hang on.

[00:38:04.06] Know that we appreciate you. This is awesome. And I want to give you a. Opportunity, what's the best way, if someone wants to reach out, ask you some more questions, to do that?

[00:38:13.99] Probably my email. And I get a lot of emails. And I love-- I try to get back to everybody. Sometimes, it may be a little bit of a delay depending on what training cycle we're in. But my email, would you like me to give it?

[00:38:29.11] Yeah, why don't you give it, and we'll put it in the show notes as well.

[00:38:32.11] It's rob.glass@okstate.edu. Yeah, just shoot me an email. And then I'll try to get back to you as quick as I can. That's mostly how the communications that I get-- probably the best way from that standpoint. I'd love to try to help all the best I can.

[00:38:59.78] But no, it's been fantastic, Eric. Sure enjoyed it.

[00:39:03.11] Yeah.

[00:39:03.80] Do it again sometime, yeah.

[00:39:05.24] Yeah, sounds good, man. We'll definitely have you back. And yeah, to our listeners, we appreciate you tuning in to the NSCA Coaching Podcast. We've been going for seven seasons now. The early days, back with Scott Caulfield, and just fortunate we can keep this thing going.

[00:39:22.34] And I think it's one of the best feelings from our staff to hear a coach coming up and saying, hey, I heard this topic on the NSCA Coaching Podcast, and that's really what we're going for. We want to make sure that the field is getting closer together, kind of what we talked about today with the access to information and technology. And Coach Glass, thanks again.

[00:39:48.08] Thanks, Eric. Sure appreciate it.

[00:39:50.00] Also a special thanks to Sorinex Exercise Equipment. We appreciate their support.

[00:39:56.47] Hi, coaches. I'm Liane Blyn, the 2022 NSCA College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. You just listened to an episode of the NSCA Coaching Podcast. Thanks for tuning in to hear important conversations about the strength and conditioning profession.

[00:40:10.48] Don't miss an upcoming episode. Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play and comment on some of the highlights at NSCA's Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. You can also hear full episodes on the NSCA's newest channel, NSCA.TV.

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[00:40:27.82] 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.

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