Beyond Coaching: An Impactful Coaching Project Podcast

Podcast by Dr. Rob Ramseyer

Beyond Coaching: An Impactful Coaching Project Podcast

Beyond Coaching, a podcast from the Impactful Coaching Project, explores coaching and leading the 21st century athlete. The importance of the coach being a positive impact on their student-athletes hasn’t changed but the strategies for connecting with them has changed. This podcast interviews coaching and sport leaders about holistic coaching and the lessons they have learned over time. Beyond Coaching is podcast developed by the Impactful Coaching Project.

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Latest episodes

28 August 2025

Best of August

In this special Best of edition, we revisit some of the most meaningful conversations from August on Beyond Coaching. These highlights capture the real work of coaching—leading people, shaping environments, and creating cultures that last.

Featured Segments

Jason Schmidt on Early Coaching Lessons
Jason reflects on stepping into a head coaching role at a young age, learning the hard truth that leadership isn’t about the title—it’s about serving athletes where they are.
Balancing Care and Competitiveness
Jason unpacks one of coaching’s hardest tensions: building a culture of care while still demanding competitiveness. He explains his 80/20 roster philosophy and how transformation happens when competitiveness and culture coexist.
Generation Z and Coaching Today
Jason shares insights on working with Gen Z athletes—why they test everything, how attention spans are shaped by technology, and why intentional systems of care and relational leadership matter more than ever.
The Messiah Method and Creating Environments
Rob and Dustin dive into The Messiah Method, discussing why the coach’s primary role is to create an environment where athletes can grow and thrive. They explore how environment becomes culture, why nothing should be left to chance, and what daily habits give programs meaning beyond wins and losses.

Learn More

impactfulcoachingproject.com
impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

Keep an eye out for the upcoming Impactful Coaching Project Online Coaching Class—a new way to develop as a coach through our proven frameworks, resources, and conversations.

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18 August 2025

From Lacrosse Field to Athletic Branding: Jason Schmidt's Evolution

In this episode of the Beyond Coaching podcast, host Rob Ramseyer talks with Jayson Schmidt — a branding consultant for college athletic departments and a former Division II women’s lacrosse head coach — about the realities of leading in today’s sports landscape.

Jayson’s journey took him from corporate marketing into coaching, where he quickly learned that leadership is less about titles and more about intentional relationships. From earning just $5,000 as a part-time assistant to running his own consulting business, Jayson has built his career on understanding people, serving them well, and creating cultures that balance competition with care.

Key Themes in This Episode

1. Lessons from the Early Coaching Years

Jayson shares what he “didn’t know he didn’t know” when stepping into leadership as a 23-year-old coach. He talks about the difference between thinking you understand servant leadership and truly living it, especially when coaching former teammates.

2. Balancing Relationships and Winning

How do you recruit athletes who not only fit your culture but also bring the competitive edge needed to win? Jayson explains the “80/20 rule” for roster makeup, how to handle strong personalities, and why some of his most meaningful relationships came from players in that 20%.

3. Leading Generation Z

Jayson works daily on recruiting, marketing to, and leading Gen Z student-athletes. He offers insights on what’s similar across generations (youthful skepticism, testing boundaries) and what’s different (shorter attention spans, higher expectations for intentional connection).

4. Building Systems of Care

From setting phone reminders to reach out to athletes, to keeping an open-door policy, to adopting a “double exclamation” text system for urgent needs, Jayson shares practical ways to make players feel seen, valued, and supported.

5. Redefining Toughness in Sports

Drawing from Do Hard Things and his own coaching experience, Jayson breaks down the three pillars of team toughness:

Psychological safety — an environment where players can mess up without fear of exclusion.
Opportunities to get better — skilled coaching and intentional development.
Shared adversity — going through hard things together, on and off the field, and maintaining relationships through them.

Memorable Quotes

“This isn’t about you. This was never about you.”
“The moments that create toughness aren’t always on the field; they’re in the hardest moments of life, when people come around you.”

Who Should Listen

This episode is for:

Coaches looking to deepen relationships while staying competitive
Athletic directors seeking cultural alignment in recruiting
Leaders of Generation Z in athletics, education, or business
Anyone interested in intentional leadership and team culture

Resources and Links Mentioned

Connect with Jayson Schmidt: https://www.hellopreseason.com/brandingforathletics
Book: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Learn more about the Impactful Coaching Project: impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com
Visit us at: impactfulcoachingproject.com
Subscribe on Substack: impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

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07 August 2025

Best of July Episode: Congruence, Competence, and Care

This Best of July episode highlights the most impactful moments from recent conversations on Beyond Coaching. The theme that emerged again and again: congruence. Luke Jones of Reclaimed Today reframes authenticity as the alignment between what we say and how we live—something Gen Z athletes are craving more than ever.

We also revisit core pillars of the Impactful Coaching Project: competence and care. From filtering meaningful content in a noisy world to building real systems of care for your team, this episode offers practical takeaways for any coach committed to leading well.

Presented by:

The Impactful Coaching Project, in partnership with Friends University. We develop coaches who coach the whole person.

For more, visit:

impactfulcoachingproject.com

impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

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04 August 2025

Building Intentional Team Culture: Lessons from The Messiah Method

In this episode, Rob and Dustin dive into The Messiah Method—a book that explores how Messiah College built one of the most dominant college soccer programs from 2000 to 2010. But this isn’t just about winning. It’s about the why behind the success: building an intentional environment where athletes grow, thrive, and represent something greater than themselves.

Key Themes:

Environment > Scoreboard – What makes your program worth being part of if you take away the scoreboard? For Messiah, it was all about culture, intentionality, and relationships.
Culture Is Built, Not Hoped For – Every program has a culture. The question is whether you’re shaping it on purpose. Great programs are intentional about how they do what they do.
Systems of Care – Tied into the "3 C’s" framework from Rob and Dustin’s work, this episode emphasizes that great environments are supported by systems—particularly systems of care that reinforce team values.
Relationships Drive Motivation – Their own data shows that teammates and family are the top motivators for student-athletes, not just coaches. Coaches have to build environments where these relationships can flourish.
The Recruiting Test – If a recruit's parent observed your team for a week, what would they say you value most? That’s your real identity.

Quote of the Episode:

"Take away the scoreboard—what still makes your program worth being part of?"

Coach Reflection Questions:

What do your daily habits say about your team culture?
Are you building something that will last beyond one season?
Do your players live out your values—or just hear about them?

Beyond Coaching is a podcast developed by the Impactful Coaching Project in partnership with Friends University. We help coaches develop the whole person and lead the 21st century athlete with clarity and purpose.

For more resources, articles, and training:

Website: impactfulcoachingproject.com

Substack: impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

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21 July 2025

Congruency Coaching for Gen Z Athletes

In this episode, we dive into Congruency Coaching for Gen Z Athletes as Rob speaks with Luke Jones, Partnership Liaison for Reclaim Today—a division of Our Daily Bread Ministries focused on engaging millennials and Gen Z. Luke shares valuable insights into the challenges Gen Z faces, including information overload, skepticism towards authority, and their deep craving for authenticity.

Together, they explore how coaches and leaders can engage Gen Z athletes more meaningfully through techniques like reverse coaching, competence, and the power of honest apology. Discover how 'the ministry of presence' can help connect young people with God in ordinary moments, potentially key for both spiritual and identity formation. Key topics include the importance of authenticity, navigating information overload, building trust, and the challenges of mobilizing Gen Z from awareness to action. Listen in to learn how to foster genuine relationships while coaching the whole person in a holistic approach.

Key Topics Covered:

Why authenticity and congruency matter deeply to Gen Z
Navigating the information overload: competence vs. laziness
Reverse coaching: mutual learning between athletes and coaches
Why Gen Z may be skeptical of authority—but still deeply hungry for mentorship
Coaching moments that build (or break) trust and character
Identity and sport: why coaches must help athletes discompartmentalize
The challenge of mobilizing Gen Z from awareness to action
How presence, silence, and vulnerability build relationships

Notable Quotes:

“Authenticity is huge. To miss that is to miss the heart of the student and the heart of the athlete.”
“We’ve been trained in the arts of filtering. So we recognize filters easily.”
“The life of a disciple is a planned, intentional life. And coaching can mirror that.”
“Don’t get mad at Gen Z. Get busy with them.” —Tim Elmore (via Luke)

Resources Mentioned:

Reclaim Today: reclaimtoday.org
Books: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Renovation of the Heart, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, Celebration of Discipline

Connect with Luke: luke.jones@odb.org

Reach out via reclaimtoday.org

The Impactful Coaching Project (ICP) seeks to develop coaches that coach the whole person. ICP is the thought leader in coaching the 21st century athlete and produces training, information, and research to help coaches develop. For more information, check out https://impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com/ or contact us at rob@impactfulcoachingproject.com.

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07 July 2025

Podcast Short- Competence, Care, and Constant

In this short episode, Rob and Dustin revisit the foundational framework that launched the Impactful Coaching Project: The Three C’s—Competence, Care, and Constant. Originally introduced in an early Substack post, these three traits remain core to how they think about leadership, coaching, and building trust.

Whether you're a new coach trying to build credibility or a seasoned one navigating the emotional rollercoaster of the season, this episode digs into the real meaning of each "C" and what it looks like to live it out—not just talk about it.

Topics Covered

Why competence today is as much about filtering noise as it is about knowledge
How care becomes transformational only when it's planned, consistent, and intentional
The role of constant in high-emotion moments and how it builds lasting trust
Why the best coaches do hard things the right way even when it hurts
Simple, practical systems you can implement now to care for your players

Key Quotes

“Competence gets you the job. Systems of care and constant keep you there.”

“You can’t fake care. And you can’t react well in chaos unless you’ve trained yourself to.”

“Being great at one of the C’s is not enough. The challenge is integrating all three.”

Mentioned in the Episode

Tim Elmore’s thoughts on authenticity and competence
Post-game systems of care (90-second rule, locker room walks, gratitude in weight room)
The power of handwritten notes, one-on-ones, and consistent body language

Subscribe & Learn More

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impactfulcoachingproject.substack.com

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