Matt Olinger: I Chose My Kids Over March Madness (And Don't Regret It)

Chris Yandle: Fired at the Top and How Losing Everything Led to Finding Purpose

In the world of college athletics, there's a version of success that looks like a rocket ship. You start at a mid-major program, you grind, you move, you climb. Each stop is bigger than the last. Each title is more impressive. Director. Associate AD. Award winner. You are, by every measure anyone in the industry would use... arriving. Louisiana Lafayette. Then Marshall. Then Baylor. Then the University of Miami. Then Georgia Tech. That was the career trajectory of our guest on this week’s episode, Chris Yandle. Onwards and upwards.   And then, in 2016, at one of the most prestigious athletic programs in the country... he was fired. There's something nobody tells you about rocket ships. The higher they go... the harder they fall. For nearly a decade, he poured everything he had into college athletics. He moved his family four times in nine years. He chased titles, bigger programs, bigger platforms. And somewhere along the way, the work stopped being something he did... and became everything he was. And when it all came apart — and it did come apart — he was left with the hardest question a person can face. Who am I... if I'm not this? The road back wasn't linear. It never is. There was therapy. There was teaching. There was a PhD. There was a communications job outside of sports. There were handwritten notes slipped into his daughter's lunchbox that became a book titled Lucky Enough: A Year of a Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter. And then one day, standing in a Target in Lafayette over Thanksgiving — his phone lit up. The Today Show wanted to do an interview about his notes to his daughter. And then, the Kelly Clarkson Show called.  The comeback was longer than the climb. And it was worth every step. This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs. Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod [https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod] X: https://x.com/nlcpod [https://x.com/nlcpod] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod [https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod [https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod] TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod [https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod] Lucky Enough: A Year of a Dad's Daily Notes of Encouragement and Life Lessons to His Daughter [https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Enough-Encouragement-Lessons-Daughter/dp/1643507354] Dad pens over 600 inspirational notes for daughter - Today Show [https://www.today.com/video/dad-pens-over-600-inspirational-lunch-notes-for-his-daughter-99954757621] Dad Writes Daily Lunch Notes To Help Daughter Overcome Bullying - Kelly Clarkson Show [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTjmS8jGqho]

Matt Olinger: I Chose My Kids Over March Madness (And Don't Regret It)

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by Matt Olinger, a longtime college basketball jack of all trades who has been on the front lines as an assistant coach, Director of Operations, Director of Recruiting and everything else under the sun.  Matt began his career as a manager at Liberty University under Richie McKay and eventually worked his way to an assistant coach position with the Flames. He then joined Bryce Drew’s staff at Vanderbilt as the Director of Basketball Operations, where Boggs worked with him for three seasons, and after his stint with the Commodores, he joined Mike Young’s staff at Virginia Tech as the Director of Recruiting until 2024. With all of the winter weather affecting games across the south, we wanted to get his perspective on being a Director of Operations at a high major level and what went into operating on the fly in situations out of your control. However, after reminiscing about harrowing travel in his career and the attitude it takes to be an operations person in a high-stress position, our conversation thoughtfully turned to why he left the business, the mental toll of the 24-hour, 365-day grind of being a college basketball coach, how your identity as a person shifts the moment you leave the industry, the gratitude he has for the mentors and places he has been, and the question a lot of face when we leave the profession - how much am I going to miss this when I’m gone? Timestamps 02:04 - The overnight bus snowstorm story begins 08:20 - Stuck behind Travis Tritt's tour bus 20:24 - Making the decision to leave coaching 27:50 - The adrenaline rush you can't replace 37:00 - Mental health and the basketball bubble 43:50 - Identity crisis after leaving sports 50:50 - The universe sending signs to leave 59:20 - Telling the kids he's leaving coaching 1:07:40 - March Madness memories This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs. Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod [https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod] X: https://x.com/nlcpod [https://x.com/nlcpod] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod [https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod [https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod] TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod [https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod]

Insane Sports Things We'd Pay Money to See, New Sponsors and A Crisis Communication Masterclass

This week on the podcast, we take a shot at our own version of “Half-Baked Ideas” with a segment titled, Insane Sports Things We’d Pay Money To See - which evolved into content ideas we think would kill on Netflix.  We found some new sponsors! Prime Fine and Circus Contracts, step right up. We hope your check is in the mail. Also, our area of the country experienced a devastating weather event last week, and we watched a crisis communication 101 class happen right before our eyes. And it may be safe to say there were some folks who didn’t stay awake for the lectures. We’ll get into the wrongs and rights of crisis PR. Timestamps 3:20 - Crisis communications masterclass: Nashville power outage response failures 10:04 - Fining players who aren't employees and the absurdity of college sports 20:17 - Alex Honnold's skyscraper climb on Netflix sparks "Insane Sports Things We'd Pay Money to See" This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs. Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod [https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod]X: https://x.com/nlcpod [https://x.com/nlcpod]LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod [https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod]Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod [https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod]TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod [https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod]

Delaney Mullins: The Transfer Portal And The Academic Chaos No One Talks About

This week, two-time University of Wyoming grad and former Cowboy Director of Athletic Academic Services and Coordinator for football, women's volleyball, and golf Delaney Mullins joins us on a fact-finding mission on the NCAA Transfer Portal and the impact on the people that actually make things happen behind the scenes. Mullins, who we actually found on TikTok (@Delaney_Ruthh), where she has found quite the following and fame, has over 11,000 followers and over 1.3 million likes on the platform -  with a lot of the traction coming from her talks about her time as an academic advisor, how the transfer portal really works and the toll it takes on the people who have to deliver the goods in such a short amount of time. We’ll speak with Delaney about her personal experiences working in a high-stress environment, how difficult it is to put all of the puzzle pieces together to get someone through the portal, and how she reached her breaking point to leave the business. She currently serves as an Admissions Counselor and Recruiter for the University of Arkansas. Timestamps: 5:13 - Josh Allen and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11:37- Telling a coach no 14:26 - The harsh reality of the portal 25:57- Delaney's breaking point in athletics 32:50 - How ethics get challenged as an academic advisor 35:17 - Do high-level academic schools struggle to compete in today's transfer portal era? 41:15 Delaney's emotional decision to leave after seeing her first recruiting class graduate 50:30 - Why college athletics experience makes you overqualified (but employers don't see it) 1:01:05 - The tablecloth controversy in college admissions recruiting 1:05:40 - Why sports matter This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs. Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod X: https://x.com/nlcpod LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

Jeff Carrico: Athletic Trainers And The Most Powerful Relationships In An Athletic Department

Longtime friend and collegiate athletic trainer Jeff Carrico joins the podcast, where we ask him about all things about the field - a day in the life, what’s changed since he started in the business 30 years ago, what he would change, words of advice for those considering the field, his start in the business, and what he deems as the essential skill you must possess to making your experience as an athletic trainer a memorable one, despite the long hours, hard work, and low pay. Carrico worked with Boggs at Marshall University in the early aughts, where they roomed on the road and experienced the highs and lows of mid-major basketball.  The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has over 30 years of collegiate athletic training experience and has worked at Northern Illinois, Marshall, Cincinnati, DePaul, Central Michigan and his alma mater, Eastern Kentucky, where he served until 2023. He is currently an Outreach Athletic Trainer with the University of Kentucky Health System. Timestamps 16:50 - The Reality of Athletic Training Hours 26:02 - The Revolving Door of NIL and Transfer Portal 30:28 - Healthcare Has the Word CARE in It 32:00 - The Power of Face-to-Face Communication 36:23 - Saving An Athlete In Need 43:30 - Making A Difference 54:39 - Athletic Trainers Should Be in Coaching Interviews This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs. Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod [https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod] X: https://x.com/nlcpod [https://x.com/nlcpod] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod [https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod [https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod] TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod [https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod]