Way Of Champions Podcast

Dr. Nick Holton’s work focuses on helping individuals, teams, businesses and organizations become better versions of themselves through the application of the cutting-edge science of human flourishing – a synergistic development of both peak performance and overall well-being and fulfillment. Nick currently serves as a private coach and consultant, working with individuals and groups ranging from professional athletes, NCAA programs, educational institutions, and Fortune 500 businesses. He also runs a podcast alongside the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard. The show – FlourishFM – focuses on research to help individuals better understand how to live well. Nick has also directed multiple large scale implementation projects oriented toward human flourishing for schools and organizations around the globe, and has delivered talks and trainings across the US, Europe, India, Hong Kong, Australia, Uganda, Singapore, Mexico, and South America. Dr Adam Wright is a high-performance and executive coach, consultant, a

In June of 2025, John and Jerry gathered in Lake George, Colorado with 30 coaches, athletic directors, and sport performance coaches for our first ever Way of Champions Retreat and Certification program. Over the course of four days and three nights of intense inner work, group discussions, hikes and delicious meals, we gave these coaches not only tools, but a deep understanding of what it means to bring this type of work to your team, school and community. It was an incredible event, life changing for some, and according to our participants more impactful than any coach development event they have ever attended.   As such, we are running it again in 2026! Our dates will be June 11-14 2026 at Bison Peak Resort at Puma Hills in Lake George, CO. We are not opening registration yet, and will be holding a Zoom meeting with details later this Fall. If you want to be the first to know about this zoom and have an opportunity to register first, please click here and add your email to our pre-event list. THERE ARE ONL

One of the most common questions we get here is could we cover the challenges of being a parent coach. Statistics tell us that on the grassroots and recreational level, somewhere around 80% of coaches are also parents of one of the athletes on the team. As we move into the travel and more competitive older ages, that number shrinks, but as those of us who have coached their kids in a high performance environment know, the scrutiny increases exponentially.  A few weeks back, John received an email from a listener who was struggling with coaching her child in a high performance environment, not sure whether she should drop out or continue, hyper aware of the talk behind the scenes and how it was affecting her daughter, and concerned about her own coaching development. We thought it would be a great podcast discussion topic, and invited on Skye Eddy of www.SoccerParenting.com to join us. Skye has become the go to resource for parents and parent coaches in the soccer world, as a former All American athlete, mom a

Scott Allen is the  assistant coach of the Washington Capitals of the NHL. Prior to joining Washington, Allen spent three seasons with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). With Hershey, Allen served as an assistant coach for two seasons before being named the Bears’ head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season. Under Allen, Hershey finished with a record of 34-32-6-4, clinching a Calder Cup Playoff berth, and ranked tied for 11th in the AHL in goals against (209). The New Bedford, Massachusetts native has coached professionally for more than 25 seasons, including assistant positions with the New York Islanders (2009-12), the Florida Panthers (2016-17) and the Arizona Coyotes (2017-19). With Arizona, Allen worked with the Coyotes' defensemen and penalty kill. During the 2018-19 season, Arizona ranked tied for first in the NHL in penalty kill percentage (85.0) and tied for fifth in goals against per game (2.68). In Allen's one season with Florida, the Panthers finished with the second-best penalty k

Mark Gottfried is an American men's college basketball coach, basketball podcaster, and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors. Gottfried played one season at Oral Roberts and three seasons at Alabama, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in each of his seasons with the Crimson Tide.  He was an NBA draft pick but never played professionally, soon going into coaching. He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA, including the team's 1995 NCAA championship season, three years as head coach at Murray State, eleven years as head coach at Alabama, and six seasons at North Carolina State before finishing his career at CSU Northridge. His teams won 432 games, advanced to 11 NCAA tournaments, and won multiple conference titles. In our conversation today, Mark shares his insights from growing up with a college coaches in his family, his lessons learned sitting on John Wooden's couch, the difference between being a head coach and an assistant, and so much more. Toda

Mike Potenza is the Head of Performance for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, where he oversees the strength & conditioning and nutrition staffs and serves as a liaison to the Sharks medical training staff to ensure a streamlined collaboration between the two departments, focusing on the Sharks player’s health, training, fitness, and rehabilitation programs. Potenza began his career as the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Wisconsin Men and Women hockey teams, both who captured the 2006 NCAA National Championship. Potenza also had responsibilities with the wrestling and softball programs at Wisconsin.   Between 2006-2022, Potenza served as the Sharks strength and conditioning coach. He was directly responsible for the team’s overall strength and conditioning programs, which included the physical testing and evaluation at training camp, creation of individualized workout programs, and assistance in the rehabilitation programs for all injured players. Through his time in San Jose, Potenza

Sam Parfitt is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The True Athlete Project. He holds an MSc in Sport Policy, Management and International Development from the University of Edinburgh, where he then became an associate tutor. His dissertation focused on the role of sport coaches as social change-makers, basing his research at The Crags Centre - a community sports center in an area of high deprivation in Scotland, where Sam was the sport-for-wellbeing manager. ​Sam is a certified mindfulness teacher and a USPTA professional tennis coach, with experience coaching all ages and standards - from total beginners to internationally-ranked juniors. A former tennis player, Parfitt won the 2006 London Youth Games and three British Tour doubles titles before moving to the United States in 2009 on a division one college tennis scholarship where he became a two-time All American Scholar Athlete. ​While Sam suffered with much ill health during his time in the States, Sam endeavored to use his experiences in sport

Ron Adams has been the assistant coach of the Golden St. Warriors since 2014, in that time winning 4x NBA Champions and being recognized in 2022 at the Tex Winter Award winner for lifetime achievement as an assistant coach. He owns previous coaching experience with Boston Celtics (2013-14), Chicago Bulls (2003-08, 2010-13), Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-2010), Milwaukee Bucks (1998-2003), Philadelphia 76ers (1994-96) and San Antonio Spurs (1992-94). Before joining the NBA, Adams coached collegiately for 20 years with head coaching stints at Fresno State (1986-90) and his alma mater, Fresno Pacific (1972-75). He also served as an assistant coach at U.S. International, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV and at both Fresno schools. Additionally, Adams has coached professionally in Belgium and Japan, as well as for the Canadian national team. In our chat today, originally recored in December 202 as the NBA was returning to play following COVID, we cover: His journey as a coach “A good coach is someone who has a job.” “There i

Jennifer Paulett, director of ESPN Corporate Citizenship, is responsible for developing and implementing the company’s strategy on youth sports participation. Since joining ESPN in 2015, she has led efforts to expand access to sports for millions of kids through philanthropic investments and powerful storytelling. Paulett oversees ESPN’s youth sports initiative Take Back Sports, which aims to make the youth sports system more accessible so that kids across the country have the opportunity to play and keep playing. Together with the Walt Disney Company, leagues, professional athletes and community partners, Take Back Sports also is elevating the narrative around the benefits and challenges of youth sports. Paulett serves on the executive committee of Project Play’s 63x30, working with industry partners to drive participation in the U.S. to 63% by the year 2030. In coordination with the Aspen Institute, she also led the award-winning “Don’t Retire, Kid” campaign featuring Kobe Bryant. Don't Retire Kid Videos E

Lakey Peterson (@LakeyPeterson) is an American professional surfer and star of the new film Making Waves: The Lakey Peterson Story by 805 Beer. She has been ranked as high as No. 1 by the World Surf League, the highest professional level of women's surfing, and is a 5x winner on tour. In 2009, Peterson landed the first-ever aerial in NSSA women's competition history and won the title. In 2023, after 8 winless seasons, she won the Corona Open J Bay in South Africa. In our chat today, we discuss her long career, how she overcame 8 seasons without a win by becoming process focused and paying attention the the joy she got from surfing. We discuss her intense training regimen, how she owns her development by setting goals at training, as well as overcoming the disappointment of missing the 2020 Olympic games. You will love her joy, intensity, and perspective regardless of your sport, and we highly encourage you to check out her film Making Waves, which explores her career, showcasing her triumphs, setbacks, and un

This week on the podcast, John and Jerry discuss Jerry's brand new book Lead with Love. This book is the culmination of Jerry's multiple decades working with National, Olympic and World Champion athletes and coaches, synthesizing his ideas about leadership, culture building, and building championship programs by winning the relationship game. As 9x NBA Champion player and coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors says, "Jerry has put together another amazing piece of work that contributes to and captures perfectly the coaching revolution that is blossoming in the sports world today. Here is an extraordinary guide to help coaches at all levels understand how to build relationships and winning teams and to achieve success through an intentional, connective, caring, compassionate, inspirational, joyful, and loving approach." Take a listen as we discuss how the book came about, some of the major takeaways from it, and how you can implement these coaching strategies with your teams.  Grab the book on Amazon he

Simon Hartley (@simonhartley) is a world-renowned expert in high-performance psychology and the founder of Be World Class. For nearly 30 years, Simon has worked with Olympic athletes, world champions, and top executives, helping them develop the mindset needed to excel in sports, business, and life. He’s the best-selling author of How to Shine and Peak Performance Every Time, and 10 total books, and has been featured on BBC and leading high-performance podcasts. He is also the co-host of The Podium Podcast and The Demon Charmers Podcast. Through his background in sport psychology he has spent much of his career working with elite athletes and sports teams, helping them to get their mental game and their mindset right. His teams and athletes have over 40 world records, world championships and world cup wins. Simon’s real passion is working with and studying the very best in the world, figuring out what makes them great and then helping others adopt those principles. In our talk today some highlights include th

Dionne Koller is Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Sport and the Law at the University of Baltimore. Professor Koller’s scholarly focus is sports law, particularly in the areas of youth, Olympic and Paralympic, and education-based sports, and she is a frequent media commentator and consultant to state and federal legislatures on issues related to sports and the law. In 2021, Professor Koller was appointed by Sen. Maria Cantwell to co-chair the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympic and Paralympics, which delivered its final report to Congress in 2024. Professor Koller also has served as chair and as a member of the Executive Board for the Sports Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools, is a member of the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s Administrative Review Panel, and is on the editorial board for the INTERNATIONAL SPORTS LAW JOURNAL. Professor Koller earned her MA and JD from the George Washington University and an LLM from Harvard Law School, and she is the author of MOR

Katie Chapman is a distinguished former player for Arsenal, Chelsea, and the England national team with 94 appearances, has had a career spanning 26 years. She played in 3 EUROs ad two FIFA World Cup Finals, finishing 3rd in 2015. During here career she won the Champions League with Arsenal, and multiple WSL titles and FA Cups, and was twice names England FAs player of the year. She is also a mom of three kids who have played sports, and shares her insight about parenting, sideline behavior, the car ride home, and more. Dr Simon Moore is a Chartered Psychologist and expert in human behavior, experience, and decision-making. Together Katie and Simon host the What's Your Goal Podcast, which is focused on supporting players and parents of our grassroots athletes, giving them insights into how to best navigate the youth sports journey.  Website: www.whatsmygoal.co.uk BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John, Jerry or both come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 even

Greg Olsen (@GregOlsen88) is a 3x NFL Pro Bowl player and 2x Emmy Award winning broadcaster. He was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 31st overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He spent four seasons with the Bears before being traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2011. Olsen remained with the Panthers through the conclusion of the 2019 season, played a key role in the Panthers’ Super Bowl 50 berth against the Denver Broncos and went on to become one of the most prolific tight ends in NFL history. Olsen ranks fifth all-time among tight ends with 742 receptions and 8,683 yards.  Olsen twice was named a finalist for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. Inspired by the challenges facing his son, T.J., who was born with a severe congenital heart defect, Olsen and his wife, Kara, founded the HEARTest Yard Program to offer support and services to those facing similar circumstances. Since his retirement, he has become an award winning broadcaster with FOX Sports and founded

Jamilon (Jami) Muelders is a highly accomplished Field Hockey coach and athlete with extensive international experience.  With a journey that includes winning a World Cup title as a player in 2002, Jami is one of only three individuals in the hockey world to have the extraordinary distinction of becoming a world champion both on the field and from the sidelines. Currently the Performance Manager for the Dutch Hockey Association (KNHB), he oversees the U16 to U21 national youth teams, guiding coaches and staff while structuring their training programs. Prior to that, Jami led the Dutch women’s national team, capturing the World Cup gold medal in 2022. His expertise also played a pivotal role in the German men’s national team securing their own World Cup gold in 2023 as an assistant coach.  His coaching journey includes a European Championship gold medal and an Olympic bronze medal with the German women’s team at the Rio 2016 Games, followed by a bronze medal with the Chinese women’s team at the 2018 Asian Gam

Dr. Haley Perlus (@drhaleyperlus) is a Performance Psychology expert, speaker, and author specializing in helping business leaders, entrepreneurs, and high achievers apply the mental strategies of elite athletes to reach peak performance. With a Ph.D. in Sport Psychology and certifications in coaching, fitness, and nutrition, she transforms high-stress environments into arenas for success. A former high level ski racer, her expertise has been sought after by top athletes, Fortune 500 companies, and top executives looking to master mental resilience, sustain focus under pressure, and turn obstacles into opportunities.  She is the author of Personal Podium: How to Use Your Mind to Maximize Your Potential, which distills the psychological strategies of world-class performers into practical techniques for business and personal growth. Her insights have been featured on Oprah, ESPN, Thrive Magazine, and Beachbody, and she has spoken for companies such as Marriott and Starbucks. In our chat today, we discuss how s

Sam Morse (@sammorseski) began skiing at age 23 months on the slopes of Sugarloaf. Nicknamed “Moose”  for his solidness and Maine woods roots, he followed in his brother Ben’s foot steps to Carrabassett Valley Academy and then onto the US Ski Team. The 10 year veteran speed specialist on the US Ski Team, first broke onto the world stage when he became the Jr. World’s Downhill Champion in 2017, and he has continued his progress with top 10 finishes and a continual rise in the FIS points ranking. Also an avid climber, kayaker, and all around sports person, Morse is also involved as a speaker in CFO, a Christian Family Camp Retreat organization,  as well as running his own faith based ski racing camps each summer called FAST camps. In our conversation today, Sam and John discuss the path to making the US Ski Team, the mindset required to ski 95mph downhill, how to maximize training opportunities and time on the snow, and how important it is that your identity be more than just winning races and a single sport. W

Steve Magness (@stevemagness) is a world-renowned expert on performance. He is the author of the new book Win the Inside Game: How to Move from Surviving to Thriving, and Free Yourself Up to Perform. He is the author of the bestselling Do Hard Things, coauthor of Peak Performance. The Passion Paradox, and the author of The Science of Running. Collectively his books have sold more than three quarters of a million copies. Magness has served as a performance coach to numerous professional sporting teams, executives, entrepreneurs, artists, and more. He's worked with Olympians, athletes from every professional sports league, and the U.S. military. His focus is on performance holistically; whether that's developing mental skills to show up when it counts, or solving organizational or team problems. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Runner’s World, Forbes, Sports Illustrated, Men's Health, and a variety of other outlets. In addition, Steve's expertise on elite sport and performance has been feature

Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) is a world renowned fitness coach and has been involved as an assistant in 4 World Cups and 4 EURO’s working under Legendary Dutch coach Gus Hiddink, as well as working with several European top clubs like FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City. As a youth player Verheijen was part of the famous Dutch Youth Academy structure. Unfortunately, his dream of a professional career ended as a chronic injury forced him to retire at the young age of 18. This disadvantage became an advantage as Verheijen started his coaching career at the age of 19. He studied Exercise Physiology and Sport Psychology at the Free University Amsterdam and completed his Masters Degrees in 1995. In 1995, Verheijen developed his Masters thesis into the book ‘Conditioning for Soccer’ which became the coach education book of the Dutch FA (KNVB) in 1997. Verheijen became a pro-license instructor at the Dutch FA in 1998.  In 2014, Verheijen published the best-selling book ‘Football Periodisation’. More th