Coaching Culture

Zach Brandon spent years inside one of the most pressure-filled environments in professional sports. The biggest thing he took away was not about performance. It was about connection.
In this first conversation with Zach, JP sits down with the former Head of Mental Performance and Coach Development for the Arizona Diamondbacks, on staff during their 2023 World Series run, to explore what he learned about servant leadership, building genuine relationships across a roster, and the principle most leaders quietly overlook: go see the work. Zach and JP also get honest about the cost of diluted focus and why an overused strength can quietly become your biggest limitation.
This one is for any coach who has felt spread too thin, wondered whether athletes really trust them, or needed a reminder that the most powerful question you can ask is: what do you need from me today?
Chapters(00:00) Intro
(03:20) Fatherhood and New Direction
(05:37) World Series and Arrival Fallacy
(08:34) What Great Leadership Looks Like
(11:28) Values: Connect, Impact, Grow
(15:42) Permission to Slow Down
(18:56) Building Trust Across Generations
(20:55) The Pat Riley Connection Story
(22:53) Mapping Relationships
(24:38) Asking Veterans for Advice
(28:47) Player-Led Meetings
(30:42) Diluted Focus, Diluted Results
(35:45) Go See the Work
TOC 3-2-13 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 Resource
Your fast-track to this episode's most actionable ideas.
"I got a lot better as a leader when I showed up every day from a space of like, hey, how can I serve you?"
— Zach Brandon
"Diluted focus produces diluted results."
— Zach Brandon
"Letting each person you come into contact with be the expert on themselves — and allowing them to share their expertise."
— Zach Brandon
2 Questions for Your TeamQ1: If you rated your relationship with every athlete on your roster from 1 to 5, where are the gaps — and what is one move you could make this week to close the most important one?
Q2: When is the last time you asked one of your athletes for advice? How might doing that more intentionally change the dynamic in your program?
1 Resource to Go DeeperWin More, Live Better — podcast by Zach Brandon
One of JP's handful of go-to podcast subscriptions. The episode featuring former Washington football coach Chris Peterson is the one that first caught JP's attention. Find it and all of Zach's work at zachbrandoncoaching.com.
Visit zachbrandoncoaching.com
Key TakeawaysServant leadership is a daily choice, not a personality trait
You cannot build deep connection without a system
Asking for advice builds more trust than giving it
Diluted focus produces diluted results
Go see the work
An overused strength becomes a limitation
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Join TOC Coach — community, courses, and live coaching:
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Better Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.

Every coach says they want more leaders. But most are picturing the wrong level entirely.
JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson unpack Level 3 leadership, the one-to-one relational work that has to exist before Level 4 (leading the whole team) ever works, including the Joey Votto story of a star player who took up Spanish and improv classes just to become a better teammate.
Whether you've got a team full of quiet glue players or you're still waiting for someone to step up, this conversation will change how you look for leadership on your roster.
Chapters(00:00) Intro
(02:35) Level 3 vs Level 4, defined
(08:33) Leading a team vs leading people
(10:42) The glue player nobody calls a leader
(15:19) When leadership feels inauthentic
(20:15) The soup metaphor
(23:26) Skip the template, find the belief
(32:18) What coaches get wrong on calling out
(36:49) Walk your own talk first
(39:58) The six parts of Level 3
(42:29) Reframing fear before hard talks
(45:54) Four beliefs that block feedback
TOC 3-2-1
3 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 Resource
Your fast-track to the episode's most actionable ideas.
"The problem with hard conversations isn't not knowing the template. The problem is the belief system that gets in the way of actually changing the behavior."
- J.P. Nerbun
"One group calls it 'called out.' The other group calls the exact same thing, a coach stopping practice to single out an athlete, 'called up.' It depends on the relationship."
- Betsy Butterick
"Rizzo said he got called out by Ross more than a few times, and every single time he walked away feeling like the guy loved him."
- Nate Sanderson
2 Questions for Your Team
Q1: On a scale of 1 to 10, how comfortable are you calling out a teammate when they're below the standard? What belief is keeping you from a 10?
Q2: Think of one teammate you'd call out without hesitation, and one you wouldn't. What's actually different about those two relationships?
1 Resource to Go Deeper
The Culture Captain by JP Nerbun
The book behind this episode's framework, breaking down the four levels of leadership from knowing yourself to leading the whole team.
Visit tocculture.com here
Key Takeaways
Level three is the leadership skill coaches actually need, not level four
Being a great teammate makes you a better performer, not a distraction from it
Don't let "that's just who I am" become the end of the conversation
Calling out and calling up are often the exact same behavior
Most athletes aren't missing a script, they're stuck on a belief
The best challengers spend the other fifty-one weeks building connections
Get the notes and tools:
tocculture.com
Join TOC Coach, community, courses, and live coaching:
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Better Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.

Dr. Jody Carrington says the most vulnerable emotion on the planet is not fear or grief. It is joy.
In part two of her conversation with JP, Dr. Jody Carrington gets specific about what it means to regulate yourself before you can lead anyone else, why joy requires every defense to be down, and why she collects information before she directs a hard conversation.
This one is for any coach who has ever felt calm on paper but tight in the jaw, and who wants tools that work in the middle of practice, not just in theory.
Chapters(00:00) Intro & Welcome Back
(02:04) Fragmented Attention, Real Hacks
(05:46) Go In, Go Out, Repeat
(09:38) Ask What Happened, Not Whats Wrong
(11:11) Who You Really Work For
(12:26) Why Joy Is the Most Vulnerable Emotion
(14:24) Waving at Everyone on Main Street
(20:57) Collect Then Direct
(26:14) The Kid Nobody Wanted to Coach
(28:29) Investing in the Hardest Parents
TOC 3-2-13 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 Resource
Your fast-track to the episode's most actionable ideas.
"The most important people you work for are the ones you go home to."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
"The most vulnerable emotion on the planet is joy."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
"Collect and then direct. It's not if I'm going to give that feedback, it's when."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
2 Questions for Your TeamQ1: Where in your day is your jaw locked and your shoulders up before you ever set foot in front of your team, and what would it look like to drop them on purpose before you walk in?
Q2: Which two players are you not building a real relationship with right now, and what is one specific thing you could learn about them this week?
1 Resource to Go DeeperDr. Jody Carrington
Free videos, articles, and tools built around the same ideas she unpacked in this episode: regulation, connection, and showing up as your best self before you lead anyone else.
Visit drjodycarrington.com here
Key TakeawaysRegulate Yourself Before You Coach Anyone Else
The People You Work For Are the Ones You Go Home To
Ask What Happened, Not What's Wrong
Joy Is the Most Vulnerable Emotion on a Team
Collect Before You Direct
Relationships With Parents Cut the Battle in Half
Get the notes and tools:
tocculture.com
Join TOC Coach - community, courses, and live coaching:
tocculture.com
Better Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.

If the big people aren't okay, the little people don't stand a chance. That is the idea psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington has built her career on, and it flips the entire athlete development conversation on its head.
In part one of this two part conversation, JP sits down with Dr. Jody Carrington, a clinical psychologist and founder of Carrington and Company who has spent decades studying emotional regulation in high pressure environments, from a locked psychiatric unit to elite sports organizations. She unpacks why the coach's own nervous system sets the ceiling for the team's, and why the answer to a dysregulated athlete is never more yelling.
Whether you coach with intensity or with quiet steadiness, this episode will change how you think about the person running the room, not just the players in it.
Chapters
(00:00) Intro - Why Coach Regulation Matters
(02:11) Meet Dr. Jody Carrington
(02:47) Why She Focuses on Coaches
(05:09) The Coach-Centered Approach
(07:54) Do Good Coaches Screw Up Kids
(09:36) The Hand Model of the Brain
(15:33) The Tom Izzo Question
(19:19) Cortisol and Your Nervous System
(23:17) Collect Before You Direct
TOC 3-2-1
3 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 Resource
Your fast track to the episode's most actionable ideas.
"If the big people aren't okay, the little people don't stand a chance."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
"You don't lose your ability to be great. You don't lose the best golf swing you've ever taken in your life. You lose access to it."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
"We have to collect before we direct."
- Dr. Jody Carrington
2 Questions for Your Team
Q1: Where in your program are you investing in athlete performance but not in your own emotional regulation as a coach?
Q2: Think of the last time you corrected an athlete in the moment. Had you collected enough relationship first for that correction to land?
1 Resource to Go Deeper
Dr. Jody Carrington's Books, Podcast, and Resources
Her ongoing work on emotional regulation, connection, and leadership under pressure goes deeper into everything covered in this episode.
Visit drjodycarrington.com here
Key Takeaways
Coach Regulation Is the Missing Variable in Athlete Development
You Cannot Learn With Your Lid Flipped
Collect Before You Direct
Intensity Isn't the Problem, Timing Is
Your Nervous System Gets Hijacked Before You Even Get Out of Bed
Coaching Is Development Work, Not Just Performance Work
Get the notes and tools:
tocculture.com
Join TOC Coach - community, courses, and live coaching:
tocculture.com
Better Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.

Is your best leader always your best teammate? JP Nerbun, Betsy Butterick, and Nate Sanderson are not so sure, and the answer says a lot about how you build culture this season.
This episode continues an ongoing conversation around JP's new book, The Culture Captain, with the group digging into Level Two: leading yourself before you ever try to lead anyone else. They unpack why the chapter on effort was the hardest one JP wrote, what separates a Steph Curry from a Caitlin Clark on the leader versus teammate question, and why so many athletes hold back effort out of fear of being labeled a tryhard.
Whether you are coaching the most obsessed competitor on your roster or the kid who just wants to enjoy the sport, this conversation will change how you think about effort, identity, and what it actually takes to lead yourself first.
Chapters
(00:00) Intro
(01:02) Why Level Two Was Hardest to Write
(03:26) Tom Brady & Raising Others 5-10%
(09:13) Standards, Buy-In & Judgment
(13:28) Caitlin Clark & Being Yourself
(17:55) Great Leader vs. Great Teammate
(24:37) One Behavior Every Leader Needs
(28:30) Why Athletes Avoid Competing Hard
(32:44) From Victim to Creator
(40:55) The Hardest Part of Leading Yourself
TOC 3-2-1
3 Quotes | 2 Questions | 1 Resource
Your fast-track to the episode's most actionable ideas.
"Two things can be true. I can uphold the standard and it increases the value or the connection with my teammate."
- Betsy Butterick
"My performance does not determine my worth or value in this world."
- Nate Sanderson
"It's not any single leadership behavior that unlocks leading yourself. It's putting in the work on ourselves, knowing that this is a lifelong journey."
- JP Nerbun
2 Questions for Your Team
Q1: When you rate your own effort this season, are you rating it the way your teammates and coaches would, or the way you wish they would?
Q2: Is there a part of this season where you are telling yourself a victim story? What is one choice you actually have right now?
1 Resource to Go Deeper
The Culture Captain by JP Nerbun
JP's newly launched book breaks leadership into three levels: knowing yourself, leading yourself, and leading others. This episode digs into Level Two, covering responsibility, effort, authenticity, compete, mental fitness, and selflessness.
Visit tocculture.com here
Key Takeaways
Leading yourself is not a formula. It is a personal journey.
A great leader is not always a great teammate.
Curiosity beats correction when a leader cannot reserve judgment.
The fear of being a tryhard is quietly shutting down effort.
Moving an athlete from victim to creator starts with naming a choice.
The hardest part of leading yourself is the moment you let yourself down.
Get the notes and tools:
tocculture.com
Join TOC Coach - community, courses, and live coaching:
tocculture.com
Better Coaches. Better Leaders. Better Culture.