Impactful Coaching Project

05/27/2026

05/26/2026

New Post

Low-trust environment: "Coach hates me."

High-trust environment: "Coach believes I'm capable of more."

Same standard. Same correction. Different relationship.

That's what determines whether the standard holds or breaks.

impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

05/18/2026

New episode of Beyond Coaching is out.

I sat down with Dr. Chad Carlson, professor of sports studies at Hope College and co-host of the Sport Faith Life podcast. Chad has coached at multiple levels and now teaches the next generation of coaches and leaders in sport.

We covered a lot of ground: coaches as moral exemplars, the formation that happens in the hard parts of a season, the role of officials and justice in sport, and how to keep perspective when the emotions of competition take over.

Listen here:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-coaching-an-impactful-coaching-project-podcast/id1711128150
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4XZrfisl0lv82qFPtfipVz
Substack: impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

Sports Podcast · Updated Biweekly · Beyond Coaching, a podcast from the Impactful Coaching Project, explores coaching and leading the 21st century athlete. The importance of the coach being a positive impact on their student-athletes h…

05/15/2026

Stop quoting John Wooden and go dominate your own gym for the next 90 minutes.

If your practice isn't organized, detailed, and intentional — you haven't earned the right to talk about transformational impact. The small transactional things are not beneath you. They are the foundation everything else is built on.

Every skipped detail is a withdrawal from the trust your athletes have in you. Master the basics, or the bigger vision is just talk.

More on what it actually takes to build that foundation at impactfulcoachingproject.com and impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com.

05/14/2026

A while back we sent paid substack subscribers the first three chapters. The full draft is now done, and they're getting it before agents, editors, or anyone else. Now is a good time to subscribe if you're on the fence.

impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

05/13/2026

Your roster isn't toxic — your follow-through is.

Most team breakdowns don't start with a blow-up. They start with small things — promises not kept, expectations not enforced — until the trust is gone and everything becomes hypersensitive.

Good people end up in bad situations when accountability erodes on both sides. The spiral isn't random. It's built, one missed commitment at a time.

More on building trust that holds when it's tested at impactfulcoachingproject.com and impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com.

05/12/2026

If you can't say "my fault" in front of your team, stop demanding they own their mistakes.
Accountability isn't a policy you enforce — it's behavior you model, especially when you get it wrong.
The moment you publicly correct yourself is the moment your athletes understand the standard is real.

More on building cultures where accountability runs both directions at impactfulcoachingproject.com and impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com.