Shows
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 8: Julio Salado—“Caring Enough to Make a Difference”Serving on his city’s emergency response team. Flying to Poland and Ukraine on his own dime to prepare food and support humanitarian efforts for citizens displaced by the Russian invasion. Volunteering to provide health and fitness tools for underserved populations in his local community. Many coaches talk about servant leadership and human values; meanwhile, Coach Julio Salado demonstrates how to put those principles into local and global action.In this episode of the Truth In The Arena podcast, Coach Julio shares the simple principles that guide him each day: practice self-care & be kind. Those foundations—nurturing your...2025-07-1645 min
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 7: Missy Mitchell-McBeth—“Modeling and Executing Your Core Values”Credibility is crucial for coaches—so, how can coaches make sure they are walking it like they talk it? Longtime S&C Coach, speaker, and author Missy Mitchell-McBeth joins Episode #7 of the podcast to talk about ways to narrow down core values…and more importantly, promote values that you can model and execute.Coach Mitchell-McBeth discusses how consistency and transparency are her foundational principles, which then support countless other important qualities: hard work, integrity, honesty, and more. With an extensive professional background to pull from, she explains how she learned from her mistakes as a young high scho...2025-06-1935 min
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 6: Erik Becker—"We Must Never Lose Touch With Our Better Angels"Erik Becker, Head Football Coach and Sports Nutrition teacher at his alma mater, Daniel Hand High School in Madison Connecticut, joins Episode 6 to reflect on 25 years in the coaching field and how he views his “why” as a mission to develop capable, positive, healthy, and well-rounded young men.Coach Becker quotes John Dewey in believing that the role of schools are to equip and prepare students to participate in a democracy, and he sees athletics and sports as a crucial vehicle in that effort. Speaking from the heart, Becker discusses how his job involves teaching athletes to brav...2025-06-1320 min
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 5: Ken Vick—"What If We Don't Speak Up?"In team environments, we consistently teach our athletes they need to be willing to be THE ONE: whether it’s winning a 50-50 challenge, coming through with a clutch hit, or stepping up to take a charge, effective players bypass the “maybe someone else will do it” instinct.In Episode 5 of the Truth In The Arena podcast, Coach Ken Vick discusses the need for coaches to be willing to step up and be the ones to offer leadership beyond the team setting and to enforce norms of acceptable behavior at the community-state-national levels. We bring up the widely...2025-06-1342 min
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 4: Scott Charland—“Get Out There. Fight. Speak Up.”Coach Scott Charland, Manager of Human Performance for Parkview Sports Medicine in Fort Wayne, Indiana, joins Nate Huffstutter on the Truth in the Arena podcast to discuss leadership, activism, and being invested enough in America to stand up and criticize our country when it fails to live up to its standards and founding principles.Based on over 20 years in the trenches of collegiate strength and conditioning at Saint Louis University, Temple, and Butler, Charland shares insights into how the current policies of the Trump administration negatively impact the lives and career stability of coaches who, in many...2025-06-131h 00
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 3: Zach Even-Esh—"A Community-Driven Passion to Make America Healthy Again"In Episode 3 of the Truth in the Arena podcast, Nate Huffstutter speaks with Coach Zach Evan-Esh, founder of the Underground Strength Gym in Manasquan, New Jersey. Coach Even-Esh draws on his deep experience coaching across a range of levels in the community, from teaching in school PE programs to training competitive high school athletes to working with the general adult population.For Even-Esh, it all starts with family, health, and a base of fitness and strength. Reflecting on the twenty-plus years that he has been working with kids, he’s marked a notable downturn in general levels of...2025-06-131h 08
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 2: Kendall Green—""The Battlegrounds of DEI, Woke, and Erasure-Based Meritocracy"In Episode 2 of the Truth In The Arena Podcast, Coach Kendall Green—Asst. S&C Coach at Alabama A&M University—speaks with host Nate Huffstutter about how his coaching principles inform his political perspective, focusing largely on the culture war battlegrounds of DEI, “Woke,” and the attempted erasure of black excellence from the historical record.Green outlines his core values of Discipline, Effort, and Accountability: through his extended career in the performance field, he has worked to instill those principles in his athletes as keys to success both on and off the field. Importantly, Green always believes...2025-06-1358 min
Truth In The ArenaEpisode 1: Tony Holler—"Progressivism Is PatrioticKicking off Episode 1 of the Truth In The Arena Podcast, longtime track coach and retired chemistry teacher Tony Holler speaks with host Nate Huffstutter about the intersection of coaching, personal values, and political beliefs. Holler’s Feed the Cats model is based on “inarguable” valuable props, such as “Make practice the best part of a kid’s day” and “kids are good at what they like and obsessed with what they love.” In the conversation, Holler discusses how coaching transcends sports and serves as a platform for teaching life lessons and fostering community. Holler shares insights on the...2025-06-1351 min