Brian Johnson agreed to become the Cal head football athletic performance coach in January. Johnson has spent the previous 11 seasons on strength and conditioning staffs at FBS schools and in the NFL. Most recently, he served as director of strength and conditioning at Arizona (2018-20), where he heavily implemented sports science while also working as a liaison between the football program and the Center for Innovation in Brain Science. Topics include: How would he assess his HS strength program at Godby High (Fla.)? (1:55) What was missing? (3:00) Playing at LSU, what were the biggest takea ..read more

Today’s podcast is going to help you come up with a health and safety plan for your team so that you don’t have any players who suffer from heat-related illnesses. Our guest is Cold Daddy CEO Hobby Howell. He talks about how his company’s patented portable water chillers make the game safer for coaches and players ..read more

We want to share products with you that make you more efficient as a coach, and this is certainly one of them. The CoachComm Cobalt Plus headset system with a Player Receiver helped one Arkansas coach win a state championship. Shiloh Christian’s (Ark.) HFC Jeff Conaway used the Cobalt system for the first time in 2020, taking advantage of the Player Receiver. During each practice, eight of his players wore receivers on their arms, giving the coaches a direct line of communication. Conaway is the first guest to explain how the product helped his team. The second guest is CoachComm VP of Sales M ..read more

More and more football coaches are taking their cues from a high school track coach in Plainfield, Ill.  Tony Holler invented a revolutionary new method of training sprinters at Plainfield North High (Ill.) called “Feed the Cats.” It’s a minimalist approach to training which discourages putting sprinters through long workouts that make them feel crushed by the end. Topics include: Why sprint training needed to be done differently (2:30) What is the Feed the Cats program? (4:45) Why it took courage to do something differently (7:10) How he fills practice time with so few reps (11:30) How ..read more

Today’s guest is Roger Harriott, head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Harriott has led his alma mater to four state championship since his hire in 2015. Harriott opens the curtain on the culture at St. Thomas Aquinas, how he and his staff mold student-athletes into better people, and how he positions them to impact others in a positive way throughout life. Topics include: The structures he has in place to mold better men (1:40) Objectives vs. goals (8:00) Forming a brotherhood (12:30) Instilling optimism and confidence in players (16:00) The value of knowing how to become ..read more

Today’s guest is one of the most successful coaches in the country and a legend in the state of Texas. Aledo High School’s Tim Buchanan has built a dynasty since his hire at Aledo High School in 1993. Aledo won its Texas-record 10th state championship in January. He talks about his vision for a program that competes in one of the most competitive districts in the country and what he’s learned and how he’s changed in 28 years as coach. Topics include: How he instilled a culture when he took the job in 1993 (2:45) The challenges of taking over a program in transition (4:50) Why he doesn’t talk a ..read more

Today’s guest is Brad Doherty, athletic director at Branson High School in Colo. In a small rural community with a dilapidated football field, Doherty launched a fundraising campaign for a new turf field in December. In just over three months, he has led an effort that has brought in $440,000. They plan to have a $540,000 project completed by the fall football season. Doherty goes through all of the steps you need to take to get approval for a project like that as well as how his marketing efforts, grant applications and community outreach led to a viral fundraising campaign. To check out the ..read more

Today’s guest is one of the biggest social media influencers in high school football, Kurt Hines. He’s the coach of Coronado High in Calif. He kicks off FNF Coaches Appreciation Month by sharing his inspiration for coaching and how he continues to inspire others through his platform. He talks about developing leaders (6:00), developing a love for coaching while preparing special needs students (10:45), developing relationships with players (18:00), culture-building activities (25:00), his process of game-planning (31:00) and his experience developing an audience on Twitter (36:00 ..read more

Today’s guest is an expert strength and performance coach in Colorado, Rob Van Valkenburgh. Coach Van Valkenburgh has trained D1 athletes as well as pro athletes in preparation for the NFL Combine. He now owns his own gym in Littleton, Colorado, where he trains high school football players year-round. He talks about his philosophy of instilling confidence in high school athletes (3:30), the most important thing coaches should focus on at this time of year (6:00), how to coach the squat (9:00), which lifts or drills he tests (14:00), how to monitor athletes’ habits off the field (24:00), what a ..read more

Today’s guest is the head coach at one of the most distinguished programs in the country -- Hoover High School in Alabama. Josh Niblett took over for legendary coach Rush Propst in 2008 and has since led Hoover to a record of 159-25 including six state championships. Niblett’s football resume includes a playing career that peaked at the University of Alabama under Gene Stallings. He’s also served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at Jacksonville State University. At Hoover, he’s produced arguably the top program in the Southeast. Niblett shares his vision for culture building and gi ..read more