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The Diary of a Coach

The Diary of a Coach

By: Nathan Pali
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About this listen

The Diary of a Coach is a leadership and performance podcast telling the real stories, lessons, and decisions behind great coaching and elite leadership.

Every great coach carries a private diary of wins, losses, doubts, breakthroughs, mistakes, and moments that changed everything. This podcast opens that diary.

Each episode explores the life, philosophy, and leadership journey of legendary coaches and high-performing leaders from across football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, and beyond, blending biography, sports history, and leadership analysis to uncover how leaders think, adapt, and grow over time.

You’ll learn:

  • How coaches developed leadership through failure and pressure
  • How culture and accountability were built one decision at a time
  • How leaders handled doubt, conflict, and adversity
  • How systems evolved across seasons and careers
  • How motivation and psychology shaped performance
  • How leaders learned from losses as much as victories
  • How leadership is built through experience, not theory

This isn’t a highlight show or a motivational podcast. It’s a narrative-driven exploration of coaching leadership, high-performance culture, and understanding how the best leaders in history learned, adjusted, and led over long careers.

If you’re interested in leadership, sports leadership, coaching philosophy, team culture, organizational leadership, performance psychology, great coaches, and learning how leadership is forged through seasons, setbacks, and growth — this podcast is for you.

The Diary of a Coach Because the real lessons are written between the wins.

© 2026 The Diary Of A Coach All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • Dan Gable: The Pursuit of Absolute Dominance
    Feb 15 2026
    In this episode, we explore the coaching philosophy of legendary wrestling coach Dan Gable, examining how personal tragedy and a single competitive loss shaped his relentless pursuit of perfection. We also discuss how Gable's unyielding standards and focus on extreme preparation transformed the Iowa wrestling program into a national powerhouse.Chapters00:00 Gable’s Unyielding Standard01:57 Personal Loss and Redirection03:33 The Defining Loss of 197005:32 Coaching at Iowa: Escalation08:52 Overwhelming Opponents13:59 Trusting the System & Legacy
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    11 mins
  • When Leadership Means Benching Your Star
    Jan 25 2026

    A story about trust, standards, and why the hardest leadership decisions often look cold from the outside — but save organizations on the inside.

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    16 mins
  • Newt Rockne's Football Legacy
    Feb 14 2026
    In this episode, we explore the strategic decisions and organizational brilliance of legendary football coach Newt Rockne. We discuss how he built a powerful program at Notre Dame through innovation, adaptability, and a focus on systematic excellence rather than individual talent.Chapters00:00 Rockne's Early Innovation00:22 The 1913 Army Game03:38 Building a Cohesive Program08:35 Adapting and Sustaining Excellence15:17 Confronting Complacency and Safety18:20 Rockne's Enduring Legacy
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    12 mins
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