Final week new Michigan coach Dusty Could spent a day with the Miami Warmth workers, then flew to Pittsburgh to commerce concepts with Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy and Charlotte Hornets assistant Josh Longstaff. Could will learn any e-book or examine any basketball crew’s movie if he thinks it would equip him with an thought or a play or a management tactic.
And a part of his persevering with training is a podcast from two coaches most basketball followers have by no means heard of.
Whereas driving to lunch final February, Could listened to Olympia Milano coach Ettore Messina break down the spacing ideas in his offense. The earlier week, the voice of Tokyo Hachioji Bee Trains head coach Tyler Gatlin had come via Could’s audio system. The following week he would hear from former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy.
The globe-spanning classes got here from the Slappin’ Glass Podcast, which has changed into a word-of-mouth hit for coaches at each degree of the game, 4 years and 201 episodes in.
“I hear to each episode,” Could stated. “My workers listens to only about each episode. I believe a majority of faculty coaches in all probability take heed to it commonly.”
Jeff Van Gundy stumbled upon one of many hosts’ video breakdowns — additionally they have a weekly e-newsletter and YouTube channel — and was so impressed he referred to as them as much as say how nice it was. Since then, he has inspired a few of his greatest pals within the enterprise to go on their present, which is how two obscure basketball coaches who performed collectively at Division III Chapman College find yourself on a name with Corridor of Fame soccer coach Invoice Parcells.
“Everyone’s cautious of happening a podcast the place they veer off into issues that they aren’t in a position to talk about,” Van Gundy stated. “They know they’re going to be straight basketball. There’s no ‘gotcha’ questions. It’s not overly dramatic clickbait, like ‘who’s the perfect participant?’ … They’re actually attempting to assist coaches coach higher.”
The present’s visitor checklist options a few of the most revered basketball coaches within the nation — Brad Stevens, Geno Auriemma, Rick Pitino, Tom Thibodeau, Mike D’Antoni, the Van Gundy brothers, John Beilein, to call a couple of — and simply as many huge names within the worldwide sport. What began as a self-improvement mission for the hosts has turn into a shop-talk paradise for coaches and hoops diehards at each degree.
“You’ll be able to put a kind of on in an hour and also you’re usually a greater coach by the top of it,” stated Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz.
Carney and Krikorian in Berlin, the evening the concept for the podcast was hatched. (Courtesy of Dan Krikorian)
Dan Krikorian’s preliminary plan was to be a musician when he graduated from Chapman in 2007. Between excursions, he made extra cash giving capturing classes, teaching a youth crew, and ultimately teaching the junior varsity crew at his highschool alma mater. “As soon as I stepped foot within the fitness center to teach, I used to be like, ‘OK, that is what I wish to do,’” he stated. In 2013, Krikorian returned to Chapman as an assistant coach. This summer season, he was elevated to move coach.
Pat Carney performed professionally for 12 seasons in a few of Germany’s prime basketball leagues. In 2018 he retired and stayed in Germany to pursue a training profession. The 2 younger coaches and former teammates stayed related by telephone, learning different groups world wide and speaking ball. Over beers one evening in Berlin after Krikorian’s band had performed a present, Krikorian recommended they flip these jam classes right into a podcast and interview the coaches whose programs piqued their curiosity.
The concept was largely forgotten till a yr later, when Krikorian and Carney have been discussing the movement offense of Division III Yeshiva College, which had simply gone 29-1 operating a modern-day duplicate of Bob Knight’s system at Indiana. Krikorian and Carney needed to choose the mind of coach Elliot Steinmetz, in order that they arrange a Zoom. Proper earlier than the assembly, Krikorian recommended he file it. He already had the entire sound and enhancing gear; if it went nicely, he might flip the interview into their first episode.
The pandemic had made it extra commonplace for coaches internationally to attach over video name. The podcast’s first episode, printed on Aug. 17, 2020, was not as polished as what the Slappin’ Glass guys produce right now, however they loved it a lot they determined to make it a weekly routine.
The viewers was small at first — “our mothers,” Krikorian jokes — however they obtained some bumps at any time when a well-known visitor joined the present, like Jeff Van Gundy in February of 2021. The hosts put collectively an inventory of coaches they’d like to interview, took strategies from teaching buddies, after which began capturing their shot. To their shock, they not often heard no.
“They ask actually good questions,” stated Alabama assistant Ryan Pannone, the present’s third visitor whereas coach of the G-League Erie Bayhawks. “And consequently, as a result of their product is sweet they usually’ve had good coaches converse on it, extra coaches are keen to come back on as a result of they take heed to it.”
Their curiosity and analysis appears to loosen lips. Beilein, who has all the time been guarded with what he shared publicly about his two-guard offense, defined the instructing factors to the Slappin’ Glass guys with out hesitation, then praised the questions that they had requested him.
“I haven’t talked basketball to anyone like this in a bit,” Belien stated close to the top of the interview.
Most coaches method podcast interviews anticipating to be dragged into story time, however the Slappin’ Glass company rapidly discover themselves delving into the intricacies of their strategies.
“That’s the perfect for us,” Carney says. “It’s not an interview. Let’s discuss some hoops.”
The present’s ethos: The whole lot {that a} coach does is fascinating.
“One of the best factor about basketball, and what retains us having conversations contemporary and new each week, is that there’s so some ways to win,” Carney stated. “There’s so some ways to show, so we’re by no means assuming there’s one proper manner. In any other case we’d have in all probability had that dialog, and we’d have simply wrapped up store.”
Krikorian and Carney go into each interview with a couple of concepts of what they wish to discuss from background studying and movie examine, however their capability to hear and ask insightful follow-up questions carries the dialog and generally leads them down a rabbit gap.
“That’s our favourite a part of the podcast is when it goes someplace we didn’t even count on,” Krikorian stated.
They typically get coaches into uncharted territory throughout their common section referred to as “Begin, Sub, Sit,” a basketball-centric variation on a standard forced-choice sport. When Stevens joined the present, they requested him which of three Ted Lasso quotes he would begin, sub and sit. (Stevens’ Begin: “You already know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You already know why? It’s obtained a 10-second reminiscence. Be a goldfish” — since you ought to by no means fear about what somebody says about you or fear about lacking a shot. “I like that,” Stevens stated, “Let it go. Have shot amnesia.”)
The whole lot all the time comes again to the sport, by no means happening a tangent that wouldn’t be relevant to teaching.
“We all know the coach has 45 minutes to get on the treadmill, or they’re commuting for 40 minutes to work,” Krikorian says. “We don’t wish to waste one second of their time with one thing that’s not useful.”
Kirkorian (left) was named the pinnacle coach at his alma mater in August. (Alex Vazquez for Chapman College)
Relationships with coaches like Van Gundy have helped Krikorian and Carney land a few of their most well-known company, however what brings them essentially the most pleasure is that the present’s downloads and listens now not rely as closely on identify recognition. And so they’ve been in a position to give some proficient however lesser-known coaches a platform to share their data and concepts.
“If you consider it, like the perfect gamers, they progress. They discover a degree. That’s not all the time true in coaches,” Van Gundy stated. “Some do. And a few, both by alternative or by simply lack of alternative, don’t. However I believe too many followers assume the perfect coaches rise identical to the gamers do. Not true.”
Krikorian and Carney have created a pleasant facet hustle. Their podcast has a number of sponsors, they usually common 30,000 to 40,000 downloads per 30 days. Their e-newsletter has over 7,000 subscribers, with near 1,000 of these paying for his or her premium content material.
Whereas their content material is consumable for anybody who loves the sport — not simply coaches — it’s a distinct segment viewers. However the aim was by no means to turn into well-known; it was to turn into higher coaches.
“With teaching, it’s a must to be proficient,” Carney says. “You need to know your self. You need to work arduous. However plenty of it’s relationships, too, and this has allowed us to construct real relationships and proceed conversations previous the podcast which have straight impacted our careers.”
In the course of the interview for this story, Carney was in Poland with the German under-20 nationwide crew. The top coach of that crew, Martin Schiller, was a visitor in 2022 and saved in contact with Carney, ultimately reaching out to ask Carney to hitch his workers this summer season.
Krikorian says he’d be mendacity if he didn’t take into consideration in the future teaching at the next degree than D-III, however he’s dwelling a reasonably good life now as the pinnacle coach of his alma mater, within the yard of the place he grew up, constructing a sustainable enterprise that was born from a whim through the pandemic.
“The those that I’m in a position to name for recommendation now,” Krikorian says. “It’s a dream of ours, actually.”
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, a fan and two-time visitor, says what the Slappin’ Glass guys have completed reminds him of an period way back when coaches like Hubie Brown and Dean Smith went abroad to show the sport.
“What’s occurred over two generations or three generations is the world is now instructing the sport of basketball again to us,” Fraschilla says. “Slappin’ Glass has supplied an unbelievable menu of worldwide basketball concepts. They’re the conduit for nice basketball teaching info.”
(Prime illustration photographs courtesy of Alex Vasquez and @ralf.zimmermann.fotografie)
