The Rising Coaches Podcast

On this episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast, we’re joined by Mark Gottfried, longtime Division I head coach and founder of the leadership platform Get It Done. Coach Gottfried has spent decades in the game with coaching stops as an assistant at UCLA and with the Dallas Mavericks while holding head coaching stops at Murray State, Alabama, NC State, and Cal State Northridge. Throughout his career he has built winning programs and developed a reputation as a strong leader and program builder. In this episode we discuss the early experiences and mentors that helped shape his leadership style, the most common leadership challenges he now sees when speaking to teams and organizations, and the three core pillars he believes are essential for building a winning culture.

On this episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast, we’re joined by Larry Cordaro, Assistant Coach at Troy University. Coach Cordaro has built a long career in college basketball with stops at LSU, UT Arlington, Southeastern Louisiana, and Troy, along with a nine-year run as the head coach at LSU Alexandria where he helped build a strong and consistent program. His experience across multiple levels of the game gives him a unique perspective on program building and leadership. In this episode we discuss how he established culture when there wasn’t an existing tradition and how he maintained that success over the years as a head coach, what motivated him to return to the Division I level as an assistant after nine seasons leading a program, and what makes Troy head coach Scott Cross such a unique leader.

On this episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast, we’re joined by Brett Ledbetter, founder of What Drives Winning and one of the leading voices on leadership, culture, and team performance. Through his work with coaches, teams, and organizations around the world, Brett has helped leaders better understand what truly drives winning environments. His approach focuses on building strong cultures, developing meaningful habits, and aligning teams around a clear purpose. In this episode we discuss how coaches can create a winning team and culture within their program, the habits that championship teams and coaches consistently demonstrate, and some key things to look for when recruiting someone to determine if they will truly fit your culture.

On this episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast, we’re joined by Kyle Church, Assistant Coach and General Manager at the University of Michigan. Coach Church has built his career with stops at Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech, Chipola College, Florida, Florida Atlantic, and now Michigan. His great experiences have given him a unique perspective on both the coaching and roster-building sides of today’s game. In this episode we discuss how he balances the responsibilities of being both an assistant coach and a GM, how programs evaluate how much to invest in one player versus another based on ability, production, and fit, and what young coaches should start doing right now if they want to stand out in today’s landscape.

On this episode of the Rising Coaches Podcast, we’re joined by Chris Capko, Associate Head Coach at SMU. Coach Capko has built his career through a number of stops across college basketball, including roles at Marshall, Stetson, Georgia Southern, USC, FIU, and a return to USC before eventually following the staff to SMU. Along the way he’s developed a reputation as a strong recruiter, player developer, and someone who has helped programs build and sustain success. In this episode we discuss how to gain trust from your head coach and fellow assistants when you’re new to a program, how coaches can instill confidence into their players, and ways assistant coaches can separate themselves from the majority in the profession.