Contacts Coaching Podcast

In this Contacts Coaching Podcast episode, the host welcomes back Brett Cauchi to discuss his growth over nearly three years at Rancho Solano as the head girls basketball coach and a teacher. Brett explains how the job has confirmed his mission fit through long-term impact on kids, relationship building, and developing trust across age groups from middle school to high school. They explore balancing warmth with accountability, building leadership and systems that can outlast a coach’s personality, and managing the reality of being paid to teach rather than coach. Brett reflects on program progress (14-4, 11-3, playoff run), emphasizing unseen culture gains like resilience and belief. Key coaching takeaways include embracing simplicity, focusing on rebounding and strength, recognizing patterns, setting boundaries by learning to say no, and being intentional about confidence-building competitiveness.

00:00 Welcome Back Brett
01:06 Mission Fit Confirmed
04:02 Coaching Across Ages
07:13 Structure Over Energy
10:43 Warmth And Standards
12:48 Progress Beyond Wins
16:31 Simplicity And Identity
21:23 Systems That Sustain
22:53 Playing The Long Game
24:46 Patience Over Results
25:09 Setting Parent Expectations
26:45 Raising Teens With Structure
28:36 Three Sports And Wilderness
31:10 Letting Kids Own Stories
32:33 Coaching With Empathy
36:26 Every Kid Needs An Adult
38:04 Love As The Job
39:39 Hard Schedules Build Grit
40:45 Learning To Say No
43:11 Changing Minds And Patterns
44:58 When Competition Backfires
46:43 Routine And Truth Tellers
49:38 Closing Patterns And Truth

On the Contacts Coaching podcast, host Justin Clymo welcomes back Cal State East Bay men’s basketball coach Bryan Rooney to unpack the program’s dramatic turnaround from 11–17 to an undefeated run until a loss in the Elite Eight, finishing at 33-1. Rooney credits player commitment, continuity, the team mantra “just get better,” and this season’s theme “burn the boats,” emphasizing role definition, accountability, and dominating roles across both players and staff. He explains how relationships, habits, staying present, and not reinventing the wheel helped sustain success under pressure, shares moments showing player-led ownership and deep teammate care, and describes weekly one-on-one meetings as a nonnegotiable culture builder. Rooney also discusses empowering assistants, adapting tactically (including sending five to the boards), navigating recruiting and the transfer portal case-by-case, the importance of administrative alignment, and guarding culture by prioritizing character fit.

00:00 Welcome Back Coach Rooney
00:27 Quick Coaching Background
01:16 From 11 Wins to Elite Eight
02:33 Burn the Boats Mindset
04:16 Pressure Proof Habits
06:51 Team First Chemistry
09:07 Family Moments and Loss
11:30 Weekly Meetings and Trust
13:53 Making Roles Matter
17:24 Keeping the Fringe Ready
20:27 Player Led Turning Points
23:33 Empowering the Staff
26:51 Trust and Effort Standards
28:46 Staying Present in Success
29:49 Next Game Focus
30:20 Control The Controllables
31:27 Transfer Portal Reality
37:16 One Year Journeys
40:20 Alignment And Innovation
43:37 Turnaround Lessons
47:24 Raising The Ceiling
48:43 Protecting Culture
50:16 Authentic Gratitude
52:47 Closing Thoughts

On the Contacts Coaching podcast, host interviews Melissa Fortenberry, founder of Heat Sense, about proactively monitoring heat strain in athletes to prevent heat illness. Fortenberry, a former Texas athlete and tech professional, describes being sick during a 107-degree football game and researching why existing guidelines focus on symptoms, meaning athletes are already ill once dizziness or nausea appears. She explains limitations of heat index and wet bulb globe temperature for team decisions because athletes differ in hydration and acclimation, and argues core body temperature is the key metric, though gold-standard measurement is rectal thermometry. Heat Sense uses a Swiss wearable (bicep/chest) plus heart rate to estimate core temperature within about 1°C, flag rising heat strain trends via an app and team dashboard, and support cooling interventions. They discuss adoption models, rotating sensors to identify sensitive athletes, EAP planning, and “cool first, transport second” protocols.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:32 Melissa’s Origin Story
02:05 107 Degrees Spark
03:44 Why Heat Guidelines Fail
06:05 Core Temp Monitoring Tech
08:31 Accuracy and Thresholds
12:00 Cooling Protocols in Practice
13:03 Practice Risks and Acclimation
16:17 App Dashboard and Pricing
17:33 Adoption for Schools and Clubs
20:27 Parent Checklist and EAP
21:42 Cooling First Transport Second
22:18 Regional Risk and Humidity
23:57 Where to Learn More
24:10 Wrap Up and Takeaways

https://heatsense.com/

In this Contacts Coaching podcast episode, former guest Bre Smedley, co-founder of Elite Competitor and a championship high school volleyball coach, shares how her mental performance framework has evolved into plug-and-play tools for coaches and resources for parents. She explains key skills—failure recovery (the “snapback routine”), self-talk, and visualization—and describes how the snapback routine (breath, reset word, reset signal) helped her team stay composed in a state championship comeback. Reflecting on a season that ended in third after four straight titles, she discusses how pressure can reveal cracks in culture and the need to systemize values, communication, and accountability. Bre also covers parent influence, including avoiding badmouthing coaches/teammates, improving car-ride conversations, and supporting athlete autonomy, plus guidance on aligning college-sport goals with habits and recruiting effort.

00:00 Welcome Back And Reintro
01:10 Bre’s Coaching Origin Story
02:55 From Framework To Coach Program
05:10 Snapback Routine Explained
09:18 State Title Pressure Test
13:02 After The Streak Lessons
16:46 Culture Cracks And Systems
19:49 Parents Coaches Athletes Triangle
22:30 Parenting Mistakes To Avoid
25:38 Postgame Parent Mindset
26:07 LOVE Talk Framework
27:05 Autonomy Over Pressure
28:34 College Dream Reality Check
31:17 Coach Truth Without Crushing
34:40 Parents Driving The Dream
37:45 Female Coach Double Standard
43:39 Systems To Prevent Drama
45:56 Delegation And Injury Lesson
49:30 Resources And Wrap Up

Previous Episodes: 
Bre Smedley Pt. 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1zipbClx90G2u2vOkkYt3c?si=72dca5bf8abb4f3c
Bre Smedley Pt. 2: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ba0v7bdGmrI28ziyZ7xjc?si=445b608c271e40f2

On the Contacts Coaching Podcast, Josh Duke, Executive Director of Athletics and Operations at Grace Prep in the DFW Metroplex, shares his path from Grace Prep student to Abilene Christian student manager, then coaching at Fort Worth Christian (freshman, JV under Jeff Bell, and varsity head coach) before returning to Grace Prep in 2020 as athletic director and head boys basketball coach. He explains Grace Prep’s university-model schedule, how families make it work, and the broader Texas homeschool sports landscape. Duke outlines Grace Prep’s sports offerings, enrollment size, and the realities of sustaining football participation, while emphasizing the value and role-management of multi-sport athletes. He discusses balancing in-season/off-season demands, how roster makeup changes basketball strategy, the importance of mentors, AD lessons learned during COVID, culture-building through parent/community engagement and monthly team dinners, and how conversations with other coaches shifted his thinking on using pressure defense to control tempo.

00:00 Welcome And Introductions
00:42 Josh Duke Coaching Journey
02:54 University Model School Explained
06:44 Homeschool Sports Landscape
08:10 Grace Prep Sports Offerings
08:42 Building Multisport Culture
10:45 Roles And Expectations
12:09 Making Room For Leaders
14:50 State Title Multisport Example
15:28 Football Numbers Reality
16:47 AD Coach Conflict Balance
17:24 Offseason Basketball In Texas
19:45 Adapting Style To Talent
22:06 Simple Vs Complex Offense
23:57 Playing Downhill And Pace
24:48 Assistant to Head Coach Shock
25:50 Finding Your Own Style
26:57 Leveraging Veteran Assistants
28:19 Mentors and Accountability
30:29 Becoming Athletic Director
33:42 Stealing Culture From Others
37:41 Coaching Through Parenthood
39:44 Team Dinners Build Culture
43:58 Changing Minds and Tempo
46:55 Pressing to Control Pace
49:09 Final Thanks and Wrap