Final week new Michigan coach Dusty Might spent a day with the Miami Warmth employees, then flew to Pittsburgh to commerce concepts with Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy and Charlotte Hornets assistant Josh Longstaff. Might will learn any e-book or examine any basketball crew’s movie if he thinks it’d 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, Might 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 by way of Might’s audio system. The subsequent 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 stage of the game, 4 years and 201 episodes in.
“I hear to each episode,” Might mentioned. “My employees listens to only about each episode. I believe a majority of school coaches most likely hearken to it often.”
Jeff Van Gundy stumbled upon one of many hosts’ video breakdowns — in addition they have a weekly publication and YouTube channel — and was so impressed he known as them as much as say how nice it was. Since then, he has inspired a few of his greatest mates 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.
“All people’s cautious of occurring a podcast the place they veer off into issues that they aren’t in a position to focus on,” Van Gundy mentioned. “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 among 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 undertaking for the hosts has turn out to be a shop-talk paradise for coaches and hoops diehards at each stage.
“You’ll be able to put a kind of on in an hour and also you’re usually a greater coach by the tip of it,” mentioned Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz.
Carney and Krikorian in Berlin, the night time 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 more money giving taking pictures 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 educate, I used to be like, ‘OK, that is what I wish to do,’” he mentioned. In 2013, Krikorian returned to Chapman as an assistant coach. This summer season, he was elevated to go coach.
Pat Carney performed professionally for 12 seasons in a few of Germany’s high basketball leagues. In 2018 he retired and stayed in Germany to pursue a training profession. The 2 younger coaches and former teammates stayed linked by telephone, learning different groups around the globe and speaking ball. Over beers one night time in Berlin after Krikorian’s band had performed a present, Krikorian advised 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, so that they arrange a Zoom. Proper earlier than the assembly, Krikorian advised he file it. He already had all the sound and modifying tools; if it went effectively, he may flip the interview into their first episode.
The pandemic had made it extra commonplace for coaches the world over to attach over video name. The podcast’s first episode, revealed on Aug. 17, 2020, was not as polished as what the Slappin’ Glass guys produce in the present day, 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 received some bumps each time a well-known visitor joined the present, like Jeff Van Gundy in February of 2021. The hosts put collectively a listing of coaches they’d like to interview, took strategies from teaching buddies, after which began taking pictures their shot. To their shock, they not often heard no.
“They ask actually good questions,” mentioned 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 nice and so they’ve had good coaches communicate on it, extra coaches are prepared to come back on as a result of they hearken to it.”
Their curiosity and analysis appears to loosen lips. Beilein, who has at all times 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 mentioned close to the tip of the interview.
Most coaches method podcast interviews anticipating to be dragged into story time, however the Slappin’ Glass company shortly 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: Every thing {that a} coach does is fascinating.
“The very 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 mentioned. “There’s so some ways to show, so we’re by no means assuming there’s one proper means. In any other case we’d have most likely 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 capacity to hear and ask insightful follow-up questions carries the dialog and typically leads them down a rabbit gap.
“That’s our favourite a part of the podcast is when it goes someplace we didn’t even anticipate,” Krikorian mentioned.
They typically get coaches into uncharted territory throughout their common phase known as “Begin, Sub, Sit,” a basketball-centric variation on a typical 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 understand what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You understand why? It’s received 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 really like that,” Stevens mentioned, “Let it go. Have shot amnesia.”)
Every thing at all times comes again to the sport, by no means occurring 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 top 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 probably the most satisfaction 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 gifted however lesser-known coaches a platform to share their data and concepts.
“If you concentrate on it, like the perfect gamers, they progress. They discover a stage. That’s not at all times true in coaches,” Van Gundy mentioned. “Some do. And a few, both by selection 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 aspect hustle. Their podcast has a number of sponsors, and so they common 30,000 to 40,000 downloads per thirty days. Their publication 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 objective was by no means to turn out to be well-known; it was to turn out to be higher coaches.
“With teaching, you need to be proficient,” Carney says. “It’s a must to know your self. It’s a must to work onerous. However numerous it’s relationships, too, and this has allowed us to construct real relationships and proceed conversations previous the podcast which have immediately impacted our careers.”
Throughout 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 stored in contact with Carney, ultimately reaching out to ask Carney to hitch his employees this summer season.
Krikorian says he’d be mendacity if he didn’t take into consideration sooner or later teaching at the next stage than D-III, however he’s dwelling a fairly good life now as the top coach of his alma mater, within the yard of the place he grew up, constructing a sustainable enterprise that was born from a whim in the course of the pandemic.
“The folks 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 executed 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 offered an unimaginable menu of worldwide basketball concepts. They’re the conduit for excellent basketball teaching info.”
(Prime illustration images courtesy of Alex Vasquez and @ralf.zimmermann.fotografie)
