Contacts Coaching Podcast

On the Contacts Coaching podcast, host Justin interviews Cody Bartlow, newly hired head men’s soccer coach at Kansas Wesleyan University, about his path from an unplanned start coaching a U6 co-ed team in high school to 25 years in coaching across club, high school, and NAIA college programs in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. Bartlow explains why he now calls sessions “training” instead of “practice,” emphasizing scenario preparation and player autonomy in a sport with no timeouts. He discusses lessons from coaching co-ed and both genders, building belief in female athletes through relationships and individualized approaches, and borrowing concepts from football, track, basketball, hockey, rugby, and baseball to teach soccer. He also covers multi-sport development, workload management, referee relationships, why back-to-back soccer games raise injury risk, regional differences in soccer culture, and the administrative reality of small-college coaching.

00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:30 Coach Bartlow Journey
03:54 New Kansas Role
04:17 Training Not Practice
06:10 Coed Team Lessons
11:13 Building Confidence
16:25 Cross Sport Coaching
22:11 Specialization Club Tension
26:34 Managing Multi Sport Load
28:58 Coed Season Juggling
29:41 Managing Back To Back Games
29:57 Respecting Referees
32:15 Building Ref Rapport
34:30 Soccer Scheduling Safety
36:19 Recovery And Injury Risk
40:22 Texas Vs Midwest Sports
42:46 Club Culture And Ego
46:01 Small College Coaching Reality
51:52 Growth Mindset And Mentors
54:42 Process Driven Training
58:19 Final Takeaways And Thanks

On the Contacts Coaching podcast, Duarte High School athletic director and PE teacher Coach Perry Skaggs shares his path from LA Unified student and Fairfax High alumnus to coaching and athletic administration across private and public schools, including Pilgrim, Viewpoint, Flintridge Prep, Westmark, and LAUSD sites before landing at Duarte eight years ago. He explains why he moved between sectors—job security, parent access, and career stability—and why Duarte feels like a “small town” community where relationships drive athletics. Skaggs discusses lessons from eight-man football, emphasizing coaching adaptability and culture, and outlines Duarte’s multi-sport philosophy and sport offerings, including additions like girls flag football, stunt, and boys volleyball based on student interest. He also describes evolving from dogmatic coaching to more collaborative communication and focusing programs on positive student-athlete experiences over championships.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:55 Coaching Roots and Early Stops
02:37 Flintridge Prep to Westmark Shift
03:44 Westmark Lessons and Eight Man Success
04:40 Back to Public and Finding Duarte
07:05 Private vs Public Realities
13:02 Why Duarte Feels Like Family
17:36 Stepping Into the AD Role
21:51 Eight Man vs Eleven Man Football
25:42 Eight Man Culture and Community
28:04 Eight Man Football Shift
28:44 Selling Multi Sport Culture
30:32 Cutting And Adding Sports
34:27 New Programs And Tradeoffs
36:23 Do New Sports Hurt Others
37:50 Culture Over Championships
41:57 Post COVID Team Mindset
46:30 Changing Coaching Style
50:15 Staying Old School Tools
53:02 Final Wrap And Thanks

Justin interviews Fonzo Martinez, boys basketball head coach at McKinney Christian Academy in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, about his path from high school and college basketball—derailed by severe knee injuries—to working as a train engineer and in corporate sales before feeling called to coach. He details getting his start at Coram Deo Academy, rebuilding a losing program into a playoff and state tournament team, then moving to McKinney Christian, where he became head coach four years ago and has led a dominant run including TAPPS state titles in 2022 and 2026 (39–1 this year; 77–3 over two years). Martinez explains Texas scheduling and associations (UIL, TAPPS, SPC), emphasizes adjusting style to personnel, and shares culture-building practices like weekly leadership days, player speeches, peer feedback sessions, bench standards, and boundaries that prioritize family and healthy time commitments.

00:00 Meet Coach Fonzo
00:44 Playing Days and Knee Injury
01:56 Railroad to Coaching Leap
05:58 First Head Job at Coram Deo
06:52 COVID and Move to McKinney
09:04 State Title Run and Scheduling
11:29 Texas Leagues Explained
13:25 What New Coaches Miss
17:32 Adapting Style to Personnel
26:11 Offseason Rules and Multi Sport
34:10 Culture Staples and Leadership Day
35:44 Culture Over Winning
36:33 Inside Leadership Day
38:36 Weekly Player Speeches
39:51 Practice Time Breakdown
41:41 Attitude And 95 Percent Rule
45:25 Role Clarity Exercises
46:38 Peer Feedback Meeting
49:21 Bench Energy Standards
51:03 Stealing From Other Sports
52:17 Player Led Timeouts
58:47 Pregame Warmup Upgrades
01:02:08 Changing Mind On Time
01:05:55 Closing Thoughts

On the Contacts Coaching Podcast, host interviews Drew Snelgrove, athletic director and men’s basketball coach at Big Valley Christian in Modesto, covering his 30-year journey from Humboldt County athlete and BMX racer to college player at College of the Redwoods and Bethany University, pro/overseas stops in Australia and a tryout in Germany, and a transition into coaching and administration. Snelgrove recounts program-building roles at Capital Christian/Destiny Christian, a Division I assistant stint at Sacramento State, returning to Bethany as AD and coach, 13 years at Valley Christian San Jose, and two years at Vacaville Christian before Big Valley. He discusses shifting from “contests” to “events,” creating systems for safety and operations, improving efficiency with digital ticketing and segmented game-day roles, advocating multi-sport participation for athlete health and development, setting parent communication standards, and his disillusionment with NCAA NIL and the changing college landscape.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:39 Humboldt Roots and BMX Days
01:59 College Hoops and Overseas Break
02:59 First Coaching Steps
03:57 Building Programs at Capital
04:38 D1 Assistant to AD Pivot
05:38 Valley Christian and Career Moves
07:15 Overseas Lessons and Perspective
12:02 Choosing Administration Path
14:19 Big Valley AD Mindset Shift
17:57 Streamlining Game Day Systems
20:08 Small School Multi Sport Culture
26:31 Multi Sport Reality Check
27:49 Parents Over D1 Dreams
31:34 Servant Leadership Lessons
34:13 Culture Ripple Effects
35:24 No Playing Time Talks
37:15 Weight Room Scheduling Hacks
42:14 Coach To AD Identity Shift
46:13 Being Seen Across Sports
48:41 NIL And College Disillusionment
51:46 Find Your Calling
53:52 High School Last Hurrah
54:17 Closing Thanks And Wrap

On the Contacts Coaching Podcast, Half Moon Bay athletic director Mike Barragan shares his path from being an undersized multi-sport athlete to coaching Little League, high school baseball (including at South San Francisco High), and eventually becoming AD in his hometown. He discusses lessons from varied sports and jobs (restaurants, construction, special education), the value of sociology for empathy and reading people, and why he strongly promotes multi-sport participation—especially at small schools where rosters and program health depend on it. Barragan describes navigating relationships with alumni coaches and parents, balancing what’s best for individual athletes versus the program, and using team culture practices like bonding meals. He also explains recent focus on improving sportsmanship amid growing trash talk and social media-driven behavior at games.

00:00 Podcast Welcome
00:45 Mike’s Sports Roots
04:43 Tony Gwynn Moment
05:15 First Coaching Break
06:57 Hometown Coaching Drama
08:48 Carlmont Reality Check
10:51 Teaching and Varsity Leap
14:38 Back to Half Moon Bay
15:00 Becoming Athletic Director
16:59 San Diego Detour
20:49 Life Skills and Empathy
23:08 Multi Sport Advocacy
29:53 Program vs Kid First
31:37 Program First Culture
32:02 Leading Without Micromanaging
33:19 Parents Communication Balance
34:33 Coaching Nuggets Learned
37:24 Cuts Roles and Development
42:44 Alumni Town Dynamics
48:52 Sportsmanship Stand
58:26 Closing Thanks and Wrap