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Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
Coaching Mind's Podcast: Perform at your best!
#113 - Crafting Champions and Building Brotherhood: Inside the Triumph of Westfield's Football Legacy with Coach Jake Gilbert
Join us as we delve into the remarkable journey of Westfield's football program alongside Coach Jake Gilbert. From struggles to triumphs, this story paints a picture of a team that went from underdogs to champions, united by a simple motto: "out work, out love." With each game, Gilbert's players not only make their mark on the field but also forge lasting bonds of brotherhood. This episode explores what it truly means to be a winner, both in sports and in life.
We'll discuss the challenge of blending talented individuals into a cohesive team, where the group's success matters more than personal achievements. Coach Gilbert shares insights into the strategy and emotions involved in this process, emphasizing the importance of every player understanding their role. And it's not just about game time; the team's dedication starts long before the season kicks off, with rigorous training sessions that shape both their bodies and their character.
We'll also take a closer look at the unique dynamic between Coach Gilbert and his players, as he navigates the fine line between mentorship and impartiality while coaching his son. Through it all, we'll explore how leadership and team culture go hand in hand, fostering personal growth while upholding shared values.
This episode isn't just about football; it's a lesson in effective coaching and the impact of prioritizing people over victories. So come along as we journey through the highs and lows of Westfield's football legacy, where the spirit of greatness lives on well beyond the final whistle.
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
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mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
Hey, you welcome to the coaching minds podcast, the official podcast of mental training plan today. Very special guest. If you did not listen to season three, episode 11, with Jake Gilbert talking about developing grit, definitely worth your time to go back and check that out. Coach Gilbert, thank you so much for joining us today.
Jake Gilbert:As usual. Thanks for having us. Coach Carnes big fan of the mental training plan and all the various ways we've used it over the years and everything you've done for me personally and for for our team and all of our athletes. So honored to be on.
Ben Carnes:So I would love to talk, because I know there's going to be a whole bunch of listeners that have no idea where Westfield came from and I know I've talked about a little bit before. You know my, my perspective being there as a player, um, starting off my teaching and coaching career there. But I'd love to hear from you when you were kind of, you know, on the outside looking in at that, at that Westfield job, what, what did you kind of? What was your, what was your perception of the state that they were in as a football program?
Jake Gilbert:Oh, you know, frankly, not very good. You know, it was a to me a more of a spiritual move and we felt called to come, but I had no evidence that it was a good decision for my career or for football. I thought it would be a good family situation potentially to raise our kids here. So the football program, you know, I did think we had some good kids who were hard working and maybe needed a much stronger vision.
Jake Gilbert:We did an initial um survey of the all the players who said they were interested in in football, so about a hundred kids and of the hundred, one kid said if everything went well that year, we could go 500, and that was Wade Bertrand, um, our good friend, who was a spectacular, very confident player. But even the most confident kid that we've ever coached probably thought that best case scenario is 599% of the team felt like we could not go 500 at best, and so what a disappointment. But that's where we were from an expectation standpoint and there were just a, you know, a lot of work to do in terms of establishing toughness, um, in systems and uh, you know, uh, I think we could reach for more and we did, and I want to, I want to fast forward and skip everything.
Ben Carnes:Cause we're going to come back to it. So so, starting off, you know, westfield, my, my fresh start, my first start. So, starting off, you know, westfield, my, my freshman year, we were two A, the second smallest class in Indiana high school football. We skipped three A and went up to four A my junior year and just got the breaks beat off of us. I mean, we were, we were, we were bad and we were not any good.
Ben Carnes:And so there was a whole generation of kids that had grown up in youth football, in middle school football, in high school football, of just used to seeing Westfield get beat by these bigger schools and it kind of became, it kind of became the expectation, like you were talking about. And I remember you walked in and started talking about when we win a state championship and it was like, well, we won, like two games, maybe we should start off, uh, winning three games first before we started talking about state championships. But now let's, let's fast forward a whole bunch and let I want to just talk a little bit about the success that the football program has had here in recent years. Can you kind of give us, you know, just an opportunity to kind of brag on the, the success that your players, the kids that have put in the time and the work, the coaching staff that's just dedicated themselves to this program. Can you kind of update us and give us that highlight, real list of accomplishments?
Jake Gilbert:Sure, I mean, I feel like we've we've just done a great job building the culture where, you know, kids love themselves and they love their teammates and they love Westfield Shamrock football and I think that that's been the biggest accomplishment. You know, and we are gosh like 850 players deep now K through 12, maybe 900. And we have 200 players at the high school alone and it's it's a big organization. So it's grown, but it's grown on love and work ethic. So really, family and commitment and outwork, outlove culture. I think that that's maybe the biggest accomplishment. On, we've had a lot of fun along the way. I think we've had big impact on the community. I think we've hey, we've sold hope and belief and I think people believe in us. And then the victories have been good. I was told that only one team, center grove girl, has won more games than us in the last 10 years in Indiana football. I don't know if that's true or not, but we've won a lot and.
Jake Gilbert:I think we've won whole probably seven or eight sectionals in the last 11 years. And you know, this year we were a play away from going to state. We made it to the semi state round and lost in double overtime. But you know, I think we've the last four years was probably the winningest class we've ever had overall and their records were 12 and two, 12 and two, eight and four and 11 and two. So that's a. You know, that's a pretty successful high school run to win over 40 games. But I think we've done it again just development, outwork, outlove, getting better growth mindset, big vision, trying to eradicate complacency at every turn, and I think a lot of that has been the success beyond just the measurables.
Ben Carnes:As you, uh, let's, let's now kind of fill in some of those gaps. Let's go back to 2013,. First time this that the high school had been to the state championship since like 98, and you know they went as a two A school and came up short in that state championship game. How do you, as you kind of, as you kind of stood back and evaluated that performance, what you know what, what did you go into that off season thinking, Okay, we're, we're now, we're making some progress, we're headed in the right direction, but we need to.
Jake Gilbert:I was really concerned and I was right, um, but let's start with this I was devastated that we lost and I mean I was wiped. And so I can look back now and logically say, okay, we were underdogs and it's not, but it was just such a magical run that, even though we we lost to a great team and a guy who's now an NFL and an extraordinary player and, um, I was shocked and devastated and I did not handle it well and I didn't help our kids handle it well. So you know, that was poor leadership on my part, because I was getting a lot of, because I was crushed and I was in my own feelings, and so I don't think I handled the transition into the next year Well. And I reached out to mentors to try to help and I could just tell we were still just in the hole as a team. Like, we returned some good players, and so it was.
Jake Gilbert:We were just licking our wounds so long and we couldn't quite turn the page. But yet, at the same time, there was an arrogance of like, listen, now we know how to do it, we'll, we'll do it again when it's time and we'll get there. And I don't think we put in the work from, say, january through June that we needed to, or maybe even June and July, and I think we had some leaders on the team who just felt like it would happen again, because we returned some talent and we were good last year but the culture wasn't good enough and we, uh, we didn't get it done. And you know, some of those close games maybe we had won the year before. Well, we lost, and I don't think it was because we weren't talented. We graduated some great players but we graduated in incredible culture and I don't think I did a good enough job getting us back there.
Ben Carnes:I know that, uh, that off season you came to one of our quarterback club meetings and said we got to do this with the entire team. We were, we were doing some mental training stuff and I, you know, I don't know, I don't know that if I've ever thanked you for this but, like, without that kind of kickstart of hey, you got to figure out how to do this with everybody, I certainly wouldn't have written the focus cycle book. Certainly not. I certainly wouldn't have written the focus cycle book, certainly wouldn't have started mental training plans. Certainly, you know, my, my path would have been much different. So, thank you for that, um.
Ben Carnes:But you know, there was that, there was that challenge of we've got to be more intentional about training the mental side of the game, and it was like I don't even know where to begin trying to do this. Um, as you think, think of the, the, the program wide, changes from, you know, coming up short in 2013 to getting back to that state championship game in 2016. In your mind, what, what was, what was different? What, what growth had to occur, um, program wide to take that next step and and win a state championship.
Jake Gilbert:Well, you know, the first time you go, that that sets the vision and vision always. You know, belief always proceeds action, and so our belief just grew and grew and grew in 2013, throughout the off season, through the end season, and so the vision continued to expand. Well, we had the vision that it could happen then in 2014. I just think we um lost track, though, that you have to build it every year, you know, and you have to build it throughout the season, and there's just never a point of time where you reach some level that, okay, now we're good enough. I don't care who it is it could be the 10 and 1 Philadelphia Eagles who finished 1 and 6 down the stretch.
Jake Gilbert:I mean, you have to keep improving and growing at all times, and I think when you, you have to understand both views the big picture, telescope vision of where you can go and where you're heading, which is your compass, your North Star, your why, your purpose. But then, gosh, you got to put your nose with a grindstone and that microscope, day-to-day vision and and just put all that work in day after day after day, and be an every day team, not an everyday team, and I think we messed up because we're just coming everyday team and we just had hopes and wishes and we didn't earn it, and I learned that, above all, I've got to demand that out of everybody, especially the leaders on the team and you know, and obviously our staff and myself, and so that's what I learned the most is we had a dip in the details and the complacency. We were there, we were going through the motions, but you know, there's more activity instead of productivity and I feel like we just weren't improving at the same rate as the 2013 D-minute cost us.
Ben Carnes:I appreciate some of that background and want to want to really shift gears into the whole reason that I asked you to come in today. Our last episode, we had Jeremy Finlay on, who was essentially a first-year coach taking over a small school program, and you and Jeremy are obviously at very different points and I want to dive into. You know you've been at this larger school for over a decade here and you know I know when, when you first showed up to Westfield, if we would have gone 500 there would have been parents that thought we were the greatest coaches ever. I remember in 2014, we were joking about some parents that came in to meet with you that were telling you that you didn't know what you were doing and in some aspect I don't even remember what it was, but it was like the the expectations had changed.
Ben Carnes:The stage is different, the. The school size has grown, the you know the. There's there's the challenge of living up to higher and higher expectations. There's the the challenge of you have to build it every year. There's the challenge of you can't get complacent. Talk to us a little bit about you know, as you're, as you're not in those beginning building stages anymore what's, what are some of the challenges that come along with leading a larger program that that has had a level of success now yeah, I still think that the more success you have.
Jake Gilbert:Once you accomplish something kind of for the team, it's easy for people to think about themselves. So let's face it like in 2013 okay, on that team we had Westfield's first ever Division 1 offered player in high school, devin Reese and man, what an honor, you know, and then we also had Jacob Robinson, so we had two division one guys on that team.
Jake Gilbert:Well, you know, hey, now we have six and maybe there will be more, you know, and that's, that's a change. But the the bigger point I'm making is there was a time when if I could get a kid the the opportunity to play at what's a matter you, then people be thrilled to death. Oh my gosh, my kid can go play football over that little bitty school. Well now, you know, everyone thinks that they can be an all-american in college and, you know, it's just a little bit disruptive to the team concept at times and the current environment, goodness gracious, everything about it works against building team. Everything about it works towards the individual and we want those guys to get accolades and attention and love and reach their individual goals. But once we get to August, I shut that down. I mean the off season, it is about developing yourself and getting everything that you can get for yourself. But hey, as soon as we start August, the team, the team, the team. I don't want to hear you're reading tweets, I don't want to hear anything about any individuals, I don't want anything about any of it, just the team and then in the off season, I will absolutely help you reach your individual goals.
Jake Gilbert:But we have so many more individual distractions, I think, than we used to, and that's maybe that's just the environment we're in. I think it's also a byproduct of our success. Here's the other thing our roster's grown from 100 to 200. But yet the amount of time in a game is still the same. So I've got twice as many kids to play every week and everyone still expects to win, and really every parent out there wants you to play the 21 best players and then their kids, and so that hasn't changed. It's just that we literally have doubled the amount of kids to find a way to get in than what we did in the beginning. So those are the biggest changes I've seen.
Ben Carnes:And what are some of the ways that you think you guys address that? Because I mean just logistically, getting that many people to feel like they are indeed a part of the success of the program without just throwing them some fluff, without just giving them a couple courtesy minutes here and there, how do you get them to feel like, yes, I am a part of this, I have ownership in this, if they're not a big time contributor, especially?
Jake Gilbert:The thing is the kids know who should play and so, jv Freshman, we're a little more equal in our playing time and everything but Varsity we have to win the Varsity game. That's how we're evaluated as a staff and so the kids kind of know and we're up front and clear. But we're also very clear about we treat our players as they deserve to be treated and guys who live out the values of the program. We try to honor them. Some guys, as their full potential may be in leadership, some may be in serving the team, some may be in being a mentor to a younger player. Another guy, his job may be to score touchdowns or make tackles, and not everyone gets those roles. But we honor the contributions that people make, even if they're not always on the field, and we make a big deal about it. And we try not to do a whole lot of individual awards. We do team awards and we give some individual awards for performance, but we don't overdo it.
Jake Gilbert:And whether that be the end of the year banquet or hey, we won the game.
Jake Gilbert:Now let's talk about who the best players were. We do some of that, but we try not to overdo it and we don't like in the season, if we lose, we don't give any individual awards Because the priority is for the team to win, and so if the team wins, then you know what? Then individuals get honored too. That's the message that we try to send, and we try to bend over backwards to make being a part of the football program special for everybody, and so we try to include team building, character building, fun activities. We try to honor kids that don't get to play a lot. We try to really back up our talk in that sense, and all along the way we try to message that to the kids that we value you separate from your performance. Now that doesn't mean that if a kid performs the best and he doesn't buy in as much, friday nights is about who performs the best, that's, who gets to play. The rest of the year is not necessarily about that, but everyone has to be clear on that and we are clear with them.
Ben Carnes:Talk to us a little bit about the physical changes that you guys have undergone as a program. I mean, I remember a time where you would start off staff meetings with I don't want to hear about how big this other kid is, I don't want to hear about how big or how fast this other team is. We're not going to complain about the guys that we don't have, and I'm sure that at times there's probably still schools that are bigger, faster, stronger in places than you guys, but just talk to us a little bit about the transformation that I know we had Coach Henson on the show back on season two, episode eight, talking about physical, emotional and spiritual strength, and he's obviously been a huge asset, just a huge piece of the success of the program. Talk to us, though, about just kind of that development and how you've done that, how you've prioritized that and the fruit that you've seen from that.
Jake Gilbert:Yeah, I'm definitely a weight room guy and I would say off the bat, coach Henson deserves every bit of the credit. He's the head coach in the weight room in the off season. I'm his assistant, he's my brother, I love him, he's amazing and he's more competent at his job than I could ever be at mine. So we're crystal clear on who's in charge in there and he has my support and backing. He prevents me from overworking the kids, if anything, because that's kind of my thing, but he is so competent. But I think, first off, from the heart, you have to love yourself, your teammates and what you do so much that you're willing to put this level of work in. I want the commitment to be immense, immense. So yesterday they worked out three times we had something before school, during school and after school, just because it was Monday, not because of any other reason, and I want it to be that way. I want the commitment to be immense and they're expected to be, at every minute of it, working as hard as they possibly can all the time. Now, the cumulative effect of all that is just that once you've made that much sacrifice, you can't help but to go do your best again and again and again and I think it's like compounding interest, ben. So it's compounding interest in the way you build your body and it's compounding interest in how hard you're willing to play. And it's compounding interest to buy into the other factors of the program, like mental training, because once you've put that much physical work in, it's foundational and it does expand then your belief. I think there's more confidence built in that weight room than any room in the world, and so I think once they start to see themselves differently, like maybe I can do it, then I believe other actions follow and then it's like the flywheel of momentum that just keeps turning and turning and turning and something clicks that they're willing to put in more effort, and then they like it and they keep coming back over and over and over and working their guts out and then before you know it's like, wow, I've gained 20 pounds of muscle every off season. And then you get out there on the field and realize football is a lot easier when I'm stronger and faster than I was two years ago and that has helped us.
Jake Gilbert:And I think we now have norms where people expect, like gosh, we're going to be strong here and we're going to be fast, and I don't think we view ourselves as less than physically anymore. People go to the physical part so much. Right, football is a very demanding physical game. People watch it for the physical nature and so people are just all about the body. The body, the body Size and strength of the recruit or of the player or whatever. And that's the part that you can kind of judge and assess, because you see how fast Tyree Hill is or how far Josh Allen can throw the ball or whatever, how big de force Buckner is.
Jake Gilbert:Sure, but I just really believe that the great ones are all built Again. First their heart. They know their purpose and they love in a way that motivates them and drives them to do it. And then their mind. We need guys who are smart and competent in what they're doing and their job and their assignment. And then their body in terms of putting it into practice and play.
Jake Gilbert:But there has to be this connecting strength of things that coaching the mind gives you, and that's we trust that their heart is in the right place, we trust them that they know their assignments, we trust that they can do their job physically. But if they don't trust themselves, if they're not confident enough to trust themselves, then none of it matters. And if they don't believe that they can do it, then they won't and it'll show up at the worst possible time. We play great competition every week and we're in close, tough situations constantly. So, my goodness, if you have to coach the, the, the mind and the mental skills to a point that the others can fire, or else it's like trying to drive a car with no gasoline.
Jake Gilbert:So if they don't trust themselves, then I don't you know, if they don't have the confidence skills, I'm just not sure that they can execute. And we're going to. The average person thinks it's something else. Oh, the coaches, dumb are well, they're not fast enough. Well, I mean, is that one tenth on the 40? Really, the difference are is that they got to have the confidence. Oh, I can still get it done. I just I'll adapt my technique. I mean, shoot, when you take the pads off of some of the guys that you win with, sometimes your opponents are like that's that kid, that little guy. I thought you had all studs here since you win.
Jake Gilbert:And then they, it's like they are studs mentally, these guys are studs, mentally confident, battle tested believers overachievers over believers, absolutely Well, sometimes people don't see that part of football because it's such a physically oriented game and to me, what you brought to us, what I knew was going to have to be our edge, for us to gain ground and surpass, was going to be how we coach the heart and how we coach the mind.
Ben Carnes:Talk to us, talk to us just about maybe a couple quick examples of athletes that you feel like were so you know, either their heart or their mind or their leadership. Just they changed everything about the program because of some of those, some of those things that don't show up on the stat line.
Jake Gilbert:Well, you know, I think this past year in Jackson was our quarterback and that there was a change in terms of we were, we were down. We won 11 games. We were down after half time seven times. So you know, I'm not sure the way we went about winning was healthy and good, but no one seemed to mind and everyone seemed to believe we'll always win because, hey, we just make the plays down the stretch and there were so many games it was like gosh, we made every single play we had to down the stretch and a lot of those were with the kid throwing the ball, and so I appreciated that this year I thought our whole team, the resolve of it all, was really really good.
Jake Gilbert:I think Andy Sweet, and just the way he led was maybe the most profound, you know, of all. It just felt like, you know, I don't know that Andy was our best at playing the position of quarterback. You know, I mean it would be hard to argue against Ryan Pepeo's arm, or hard to argue against some of the things that, like Cam Simons brought to the table, or Nick Ferrer Gosh, we've just had so many good ones. Wade Bertrand's competitiveness, you know, but like as a leader, as someone to move the culture of an entire team. Well, andy Sweet was like the Pied Piper, and so, in my mind, he moved us all forward, me included, and being in his presence helped us all. So that was something that no one would ever really know or see. I saw it every day, every day.
Jake Gilbert:You know, jacob Robinson, in those early days, we only had about one or two guys that could fight their way out of a wet paper bag, and you know, devon Reese, frank Grimes, the way those guys competed. Darian Sturdivant like we had just enough, just a few tough guys that competed well, that, I think, stiffened the spine of everyone else. That very first team, john Arasco, nikita Yesapov Now, I mean, those guys were a little bit by gosh. They were junkyard dog tough, and Darian Sturdivant, you know. But then by the time we got, you know, some of our young guys became big dogs in 2013.
Jake Gilbert:Well then we had some dudes and and you know, robinson, devon, like those guys gave us a couple dudes out there to say, all right, we compete with you now, and I think the big brother effect of that as in, if you're going to fight some guys in an alley, well, if big brothers with you, you've got a lot. Your spine is a lot more stiff If he's not. You're like let's do a peace treaty real quick. But you know we you know Jacob gave us a guy that we brought to the game. That people were like we've got one of those guys too, so we're willing to play it, you know, look at this stuff, and I think you know those are a few guys that I think just kind of changed, changed it all.
Jake Gilbert:And then the last one I've got to mention would just be Maxmas Webster. It's amazing how many of these guys are quarterbacks, but Webster was just such a good person Now, he was an incredible player. My gosh, was he a good football player. He could do anything. But on that team, maxmas was just such a good person that the out love culture. I mean, he you want to talk about unselfish my gosh, was he amazing. And then couple that with Micah Hauser, who was the best football player I've ever coached. My gosh.
Jake Gilbert:Now, we've had some excellent football players who are maybe more gifted, like, say, dylan Thieneman of this past year, you know, I mean, but Micah just has an overall football player. Wow, I mean, he's just, he's the best I've ever coached. And so, like, when you put him and Maxmas together, well, that was enough. You know, we just had to build around those guys, but those two guys we could do anything, and that's how the team felt anyway. So, even though we, you know we finished 12 and two, both their junior and senior year, I mean people thought, as long as we got those guys. Well, they won't let us lose. And so we thought we were always going to win, because everyone felt like, ah, as long as those two guys were on the bus, go ahead and go. That's all we need.
Ben Carnes:I know, when I was, when I was coaching with Sammy at traders point, you know I had our entire team had to listen to episode number 72 with Andy sweet. It was right after he'd been selected as man of honor. Basically, take all the you know, all of the officers in the Marine Corps, some of the top leaders you know that our country has, and he was selected as the top leader. It was like you guys need to go listen to this, which you know I'm not saying that listening to a 26 minute podcast with Andy sweet was going to change the culture of our program and, all of a sudden, build these kids into leaders. So how do you go about, you know, for a school that maybe can't rattle off all these names of all these kids that they have, where do you start to develop that and grow that and build that?
Jake Gilbert:Well, we're fortunate here and that we're a one horse town, so I'm able to get to the youth and they believe what you tell them to believe, especially at that age. And so I think you got set to hook early. If you can, if you're able to and really sell culture and be there and help them experience it, and you're always, you know, given the long term vision of when you're in high school.
Jake Gilbert:So it doesn't matter if they win or they don't in fifth and sixth grade, but you're always talking about when you're in high school, it's going to be amazing, it's going to be like this, and they'll believe what you tell them when, when you have them in high school, you know I think you there's that if you don't have anything going well, then change something and work hard. So the attribution theory of motivation I mean you make some change and they're automatically going to believe it'll be better just because, and so you make changes as needed. But then I do believe it's like you earn it through hard work and by doing that. The more and more you do that, the more they love each other, and so that's the culture that we believe in. Building is just family commitment. You know out working out love, and I think that's just the way I know how to do it Now, along the way, you train leaders who then reinforce your message, and so if you don't have the example for them to see, well, you kind of build it together.
Jake Gilbert:But as soon as you get that example by gosh, you put them out front every chance you can and you highlight. You know who they are and what they did. Well, and then what happens? Here's when you know when your average Joe not your stars, okay, not the guys you knew would get there. When your average Joe starts to get there in every way, shape or form, it becomes amazing like, oh, your backups are actually as strong as your starters used to be. Your backups speak the language. Your fifth string guy, you know, your sophomore, who you don't know if he'll ever be a varsity player or not. When those guys really get it and they speak it and they live it out and then they develop. Well, now you know it's permeated the entire team. That's your evidence. When it's just a few guys at the top, they probably are going to be great, no matter who is the coach. But when it permeates the average Joe that you don't even know if they'll ever be a varsity player or not, now it's worked.
Ben Carnes:Obviously, every year you have that goal of we want to reach our full potential. We're really hoping that that means we're going to win a state championship and, you know, have our hand raised at the end of the season. Obviously, you know you came up a little bit short of that, but in my mind you got to experience something that is a, if I'm being honest, would would be a dream of mine someday being able to coach your son. He was the. He ended up, you know, winning the starting quarterback job. Talk to us just a little bit about maybe some of the some of the challenges that come with coaching your own son, and maybe some of the some of the things you did well and some of the things that you would do differently or, you know, any advice you would have for coaches out there.
Jake Gilbert:Yeah, that's tough. You know, I talked to a ton of guys in advance because I knew that Jackson would have a chance to play. I wasn't sure, but I knew he'd have a chance to compete to play. So, that being the case, you know, I did some research but gosh, I don't know that anyone told me anything. That was amazing. One guy said, hey, don't punish him because he's yours. I thought that was good advice.
Jake Gilbert:A lot of people told me to enjoy it. I didn't listen that much. I would say what I did. Well, I made myself present and available for any part of the journey that he wanted to take part in, to do extra. And you know, when your kids little and they're like, hey, dad, you want to play a game or dad, you want to throw the ball, and man say yes to that every time because when they hit around 14, I don't want anything to do with you. And so you know, after that lapse of time where I was kind of out of the cool circle, well then he needed me again because he had goals and I don't know that it was so much that he wanted to pay attention to his dad. Or you know, hang out with his dad is, I had the key and he wanted to go throw the football and I had the equipment and the key and so that was the most enjoyable part for me is just being a father again who I got to spend time with my son for a like minded purpose and I enjoyed that.
Jake Gilbert:It wasn't I didn't do a ton of coaching. You know he's a very, very independent kid. I told him on the front end, you know he's pretty high, functioning, independent. So it was like look honestly, buddy, but when you kind of leave the house, you know, I don't know that you ever really be back a whole lot and you're not going to need us much, I don't think when you become an adult. And so this is our time and I enjoyed it in that sense.
Jake Gilbert:Now, in the games I was never nervous, but I was just doing my job, you know, and I tried to take a little bit of time to kind of reflect and enjoy it, but I wasn't great at that. I asked a good friend of mine, jason Simmons, I said how did you handle it? And he said you know I would go back and on Sunday if I could steal some time away from preparing for the next opponent and rewatch the game. Just as a dad, I did a little of that, but in the game for the most part I was just coaching. And then, when you know, he had an excellent quarterback, one great below him, who got injured in our inner squad game and you know, unfortunately for him he didn't get to compete at the start of the year and or else they both would have been playing, you know, at least through the first two or three games. And then we make a decision. The original plan was we'll pick a starter coming out of the inner squad scrimmage, he'll start the the.
Jake Gilbert:Ben Davis scrimmage in the first two games and then we'll reevaluate.
Jake Gilbert:That was the plan, but then when the other guy got hurt, well, that paved the way for Jackson to get all those reps and he played great and we won and you know, by the time the other guy was able to come back, shoot, we were like you know, five and oh, six and oh, I mean, at that point I wasn't real eager to switch and I thought he was playing well. We were playing well, but we started to give the other quarterback some chance and but you know, we were just kind of too far down the road and I was happy with his performance. But that whole thing was very stressful on me, so that was the hardest part. I was so focused on making sure that Jackson's competition, our junior quarterback, who I'm not naming just to protect his privacy, but he'll, he'll be great next year, he's gonna be amazing. But I just was so concerned about treating him right and well and, you know, making sure the perception and everything that that made it way less enjoyable even when it was kind of clear cut.
Jake Gilbert:You know, I still that made it hard. I wish I could have discarded some of that and just enjoyed it a little more, but that was tough for me because I'm the head coach and so it was my decision. Who played, and so ultimately I just wanted to make sure I was treating the other guy fair. Now, in my opinion, I probably went overboard to make sure that they both got reps, versus just my son, who happened to be the starter, because I think we probably gave him less reps as a starter than any starter we've ever had, and that was just probably because I wanted to make sure that the backup had a fair chance. And so I'm very, very proud of what he accomplished. I love being a part of it. I love what our team accomplished.
Jake Gilbert:You know, I wish I went and screwed it up in that last one and we could have made it one game further, but if we would have lost that game out it felt just a sick. So I know that's just how, how it is, and but it was beyond what I could have ever really even written from a script. You know, like, oh my gosh, he'll get a play, and I never cared that he was a quarterback ever. I, in fact I wanted to play linebacker, but for him to be the quarterback out there and lead us to so many fourth quarter comeback wins and play with so much just poise down the stretch.
Ben Carnes:I was very, very proud of him for that, father to son and coach to player both as we, as you get ready to head into this next season, let's say you know you have a, you have a younger coach who's going to be coming in and joining you guys for the first time. You're trying to say, look here's, here's kind of a snapshot of who we are, what we do, what we're building, where we're going. How would you, how would you kind of you know, briefly give that overview of your program and what's important in that, in that first message with that new coach?
Jake Gilbert:well, you know anyone who's knew the program, coach or player. I go through the whole culture piece. So in my mind you know, hey, we're a great experience, full potential in terms of vision and mission, and we're going to live that out. And I think how we do that, how we behave on day-to-day, is to outwork and out love, and you have to understand that for any of it to make sense. I mean that drives and steers everything, and then we'll get into strategy and nuts and bolts, but you know we have to be people and purpose over performance. I mean I want to win, believe me, don't, I mean anyone who knows me. I want to win everything all the time. But how we get there, I believe, is people driven and loving our kids and loving each other, and I want clarity on that because I think you know people get attracted to a program based on the record, which again is important to me. However, our why and our how is more based on loving the kids, pushing the kids, getting them to work hard, getting to love each other, getting to grow, and the coach has to understand all that, and then the second part is for them to understand the relationship between us. We want you to come here, make us better, but understand who we are and what we do first and then make it better. We wouldn't have brought you in if we didn't think you could improve us and we want to grow and improve, believe me.
Jake Gilbert:But don't come in and just oh well, at my old school we did this. I don't know what you do, but we ought to do that. I don't care. I mean like we're not. This isn't our first day, so you know we're not making massive changes all the time anymore. We're pretty subtle, but we're willing to change if you can add value.
Jake Gilbert:We had a new coach last year who, absolutely about week eight there was kind of a shift and his input became more often and stronger and by gosh I took it and we made some changes for how we did things, especially against a couple of opponents, based on him. But he was here long enough to learn you know us and what we do and why we do it, and then he improved it. I think that's a challenge sometimes for coaches. You know they're eager to tell you what they know. But I want to see that you care first about everybody in the program the kids, and then I want to make sure that you're competent in, in, I guess, what we do already, and then I'll trust you to change or improve us.
Ben Carnes:As we wrap up, one of the one of the things I always like asking guests is just knowing what you know now, what advice would you have for yourself if you could, if you could go back and you know, talk to yourself as that first year coach knowing what you know now, what advice would you have?
Jake Gilbert:well, I, I feel like I was bold as a leader back then, but completely misguided in why, you know, I think I was just maybe misguided and so therefore maybe arrogant. So, like I, I believe in bold, conviction driven leadership, but I think my conviction was just in the wrong areas and so I would want to clarify values and clarify purpose and clarify mission and and vision, and I didn't have that at that time. I just was maybe overconfident, arrogant on we're gonna work harder than everyone else, so we'll automatically win. And because we worked hard, some of the other things happened accidentally. You know, we did grow close to each other because we worked together all the time. We we did get better and we we wanted to win badly, so we put in more work to learn and but really the foundation was was poor and wrong, and so my leadership when it was successful was probably just lucky and I don't think I had done enough work on really knowing who I was and why we were doing things other than just trying to win.
Jake Gilbert:Pete Carroll, who just retired if you read his book he talked about, you know, after he was fired by the Jets I'm pretty sure is the Jets or the Patriots, one of those two and he had a year off of coaching and he said it was the best thing that ever happened, because he spent that whole time really just researching who he was, who he wanted to be, what he wanted a program to be about, and he just hadn't put that much work in the organization of his thoughts and you know how to think and so his whole compete forever all that.
Jake Gilbert:Well, that that was born out of the failure of getting fired, but it forced him to slow down and learn from others. Mine came after, you know, just a ho hum average first run of leading my own program, going back and being assistant and learning from a great leader, and that stimulated me to improve my leadership and really define who I am. So if I could have started not with my pro I know way more about football now than I did then, no question about it but if I could have started with all the things I've learned about culture and leadership, man, I would have been a much better coach for those kids who, unfortunately, I just tried to work them to death and hopefully that meant we would win in the end, and sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't this has been absolutely fantastic.
Ben Carnes:Coach Gilbert, can't thank you enough for stopping by. It has been an absolute joy just to see, you know, my alma mater, my hometown school that I poured my you know my heart and soul into for so long, to see the changes that you've brought with the, the program that you've built. It's just, it's brought joy to my heart. So thank you for for what you do for the young men in our community. Thank you for the, just the, the job that you do and the, the person that you are and you know.
Jake Gilbert:As always, thanks for, thanks for stopping by and joining us on the show today well, always an honor and just such a big believer in you and grateful for everything you've done for me and for us. So I'm a believer. So if everyone out there listening you know I wouldn't spend my time on here if I didn't believe in what Ben teaches and the mental training plan and what it's done for us and it's just been so instrumental in everything we've accomplished and I'm just grateful and so thank you and thanks for having me on.
Ben Carnes:It's been an honor as usual, thank you if you found value in today's episode, please share it with a friend, with a fellow coach that might join it or might benefit from the discussion. If you're curious about taking your team's mental game to the next level, visit mtpacademy to explore our unique training programs that can help you train your entire team year-round. If you've got questions about that, I would love to chat with you. In the meantime, and until next time, make your plan and put it to work.