Next Possession

Greg Kampe joins Coach Hawk to talk about his unique coaching history, specifically the longevity of his run as the Head Coach at Oakland University. He shares his perspectives on the challenges facing mid-major coaches, the prolonged pain of losing/brief joy of winning, family influencing the decision to stay or move on from a coaching job, and much more. Coach Kampe speaks on the loss that still keeps him up at night and the many variables that go into the success of a season. Late in...

Coach Hawk is back and healthy, following an unexpected dental procedure! This week Minnesota Football Head Coach, PJ Fleck joins Coach Hawk to talk about many parts of his life and coaching philosophy. PJ shares about his own basketball and football playing days, row the boat, what it takes to build championship culture, and a ton more. Throughout their talk Coach Fleck reflects on his time coaching in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University, the variables that led to him eventually...

This week Coach Hawk is joined by University of Wisconsin's Head Men's Basketball Coach, Greg Gard. Coach Gard talks at length about the uniqueness of Wisconsin's academic and athletic tradition, his long road to becoming a Head Coach, and all he learned along the way. This is a valuable episode for fans, coaches, and players alike. The tipoff question asks about transitioning roles from the Assistant to Head Coach. The buzzerbeater focuses on the positives of experiencing pain.

This week Coach Hawk is back with a phenomenal episode highlighted by a halftime talk with Luke Strege, Head Coach of Mineral Area College. He and Hawk connect on hoops, parenting, and how to stall at lawn mowing. Luke is very open and vulnerable as he shares intimate details about his family, including his kid's Autism diagnosis. In his five years coaching the Cardinals, Coach Strege's teams have an overall record of 219-29. The overarching themes of this episode are perspective and...

In episode 46 of Next Possession, Coach Hawk is joined by World Series Champion, Rich Donnelly, a long-time Major League Baseball 3rd base coach and Minor League manager. Rich and Hawk spend some time recounting the origins of their relationship and then Donnelly shares intimate details of his family's story of tragedy, perseverance, heroism, and faith. Rich's perspective on life is truly inspiring. Other themes covered in this week's episode; the importance of being aggressive, and how...

This week Coach Hawk connects with ESPN's, Seth Greenberg for a wide-ranging conversation about all sides of the game, from the sidelines to the studio. Seth shares details of his life as an Assistant Coach, Head Coach, Analyst, and in-studio personality on ESPN. It's clear that Greenberg is thankful for the way the game has taken care of him over the years. He also speaks about the challenges of being a parent and coach and how it impacts a family. Late in the conversation, it's clear...

This week's episode puts a laser-like focus on the transfer portal. Coach Hawk connects with the Head Men's Basketball Coach at his Alma Matter, Richie Riley. Richie spills on his path to becoming a Division 1 Head Coach and how he embraced transfers far before the term 'transfer portal' was coined. Coach Riley has a beautiful approach towards players wishing to transfer both in and out of his program. His open-mindedness in this area across his career has turned him into a true outlier...

This week Coach Hawk returns from a one-week hiatus to connect with Seattle-Native Tucker Haymond. Fasten your seatbelts as Haymond and Hawk recap of his surreal path to Division 1 Basketball, an NBA G League Championship, and a series of overseas basketball experiences. The details are better heard directly from Tucker's mouth than these typed words, so please click play and enjoy! This week's tip-off question asks about how to instill a strong work ethic in young humans, athletically and...

This week Coach Hawk drops in for a short episode before taking a one-week breather to let you all fully recuperate from March Madness. He digs into the changes that have some substantial chatter in circles of influence, along with his own personal suggestion of ways the on-court rules of the game could be changed for the better. Hawk will be back with a new full episode on April 25. Thank you all for supporting Next Possession.

This week Saint Mary's Head Coach Randy Bennett called Coach Hawk following Michigan's loss to UCLA in the Elite Eight of March Madness. Randy digs pretty deep into his coaching philosophy and will to compete regardless of circumstances. He speaks on what he believes are the most important traits of a good player and the impact country of origin has on player personalities. He's had a great connection with Australian players during his entire tenure at Saint Mary's. Coach Hawk puts a...

This week Coach Hawk switches things up and asks the listeners of Next Possession to share potential solutions to the many challenges facing college athletics. If you've been tuned-in for the first 39 episodes of the show, you've heard many knowledgeable humans in the basketball world share their thoughts of challenges past, present, and future. This week, Hawk turns to YOU in hopes that you'll offer ideas that may help in the evolution of collegiate sports and the system they operate...

This week Coach Hawk is joined by none other than Russ Turner, Head Coach of the UC Irvine Men's Basketball Team. Russ and Hawk talk at length about the excitement of March Madness and what it's like to lead a team into the tournament. Coach Turner breaks down his philosophy towards preparing his team for road games and his team's history of a superior winning percentage when playing away from home. He shares some of the ways his experience coaching in the NBA helped him to become a...

This week, Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner of the Mid-American Conference joins Coach Hawk and explains much of what goes on behind-the-scenes from an administration level in Division 1 Athletics. Some of the most profound moments of the interview come as Jon describes his path to becoming a commissioner. He prepared and sacrificed all along the way while keeping his goals in mind and believing in himself. Once again, the importance of a strong spouse comes up as Jon shares the trust,...

On episode 38 of Next Possession, Coach Hawk is joined by none other than Fran McCaffery, Head Coach of the 5th-Ranked(3/7/21) University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Coach McCaffery and Hawk jump right into the deep end discussing some intricacies of Iowa's motion offense and the advantages it affords a team in today's college basketball. Fran explains how the motion offense benefits his squad by giving his players freedom and in-turn unpredictability. Coach McCaffery talks about the players on his...

This week Coach Hawk is joined by Robert McCullum, the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Florida A&M University Coach Hawk and Coach McCullum speak on an array of topics including leadership, mentorship, difficulties facing Black Americans, preparing for head coaching opportunities, basketball leading to passport stamps, and the profound chance coaches have to provide invaluable new and eye-opening experiences to their players. 'Coach Mac' shares some details of his early life, growing up in...

This week Porter Moser, Head Men's Basketball Coach at Loyola Univesity Chicago, joins Coach Hawk for a conversation about his path to Loyola and his reasons for remaining loyal to the university amidst opportunities to move to different schools. Porter details the early seeds he planted with the Loyola Students, Administration, Coaches, and most importantly his Players. Seeds that eventually grew into a harvest of success on many levels, including regularly sold-out games and a monumental...

This week Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats joins the podcast to talk about his steps from a High School Coach in Romulus, Michigan to his current position as the leader of a top-10 ranked Division 1 NCAA Program. Coach Hawk and Coach Oats discuss the persistence, patience, and luck required to make such an unlikely transition, including learning experiences along the way like Nate's interview with Hawk at Western Michigan University well before his transition to college coaching. Coach Oats...

ESPN Analyst, Jay Bilas joins Coach Hawk for a wide-ranging conversation that details his career as an athlete and as a student, calls out holes in the NCAA's logic for not paying players and even reveals some of his television watching habits. The conversation begins with a breakdown of the major variables that influenced Jay's choice to attend Duke University. He shares tales of his recruitment experience, rocky relationship with his high school coach, and the importance he placed on...

In this episode Coach Hawk sits down with the personable Head Coach at Oregon St. Wayne Tinkle talks about life as a basketball dad. He coached his son at Oregon St. and has two daughters that played at Gonzaga and Stanford. Tinkle's wife is also a hooper and is in the Hall of Fame at Montana. Tinkle answers Hawk's question about how they ended up raising 3 high major kids all under the same roof. The Oregon St. coach also talks about the challenges he's faced with running a program in the...

In this episode Coach Hawk visits with University of Minnesota Basketball Coach Richard Pitino. The two have an entertaining and far ranging conversation. The influence of Pitino's mom, challenges of coaching at Minnesota, recruiting, and media coverage are all subjects covered. Pitino, of course, talks about coaching with his dad, including the thought he put in before considering making coaching suggestions during games. Pitino pulls back the curtain to allow an inside look at at all...