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Editor’s Note: We are excited to have Art Turock share his thoughts with WinForever. Turock is an elite performance provocateur who helps leaders in business and sports to develop a team of A-players, ignite their hidden leadership capacity, and competitor-proof their business. 

What if a coach could earn the authority to lead from his coaching staff and players with hardly any effort?  What if a coach’s authority comes from a mindfully-designed talent development process which leaves players feeling supremely confident on game day and equipped to express their full athletic potential over their careers?

Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll refers to a quote by Aristotle quite often: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, … Read More

One of Pete Carroll’s greatest mentors of leadership is John Wooden, with whom he learned a lot from in the summer of 2000—the year between head coaching jobs. In this video above–a TED Conference in February 2000 in Monterey, California—Wooden explained how he coined his definition of success, among other things.

In the 1930s, Wooden noticed students in school were only deemed ‘successful,’ if they received A’s or B’s, while students who received C’s were deemed less than satisfactory. Wooden realized that’s a poor way to judge success. Instead, he thought, a better measure would be to determine if they tried their best. “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did … Read More

As part of our new WinForever Ambassador Program, we are highlighting individuals who are competing every day. Nicole Davis, Two-time Olympic Games Silver Medalist for USA Volleyball, is now playing professionally in Germany. She sent over an update on her success and how she is a growing–both as a person and a competitor–overseas.

Germany is not necessarily known for its volleyball.  Normally, when we hear the term “Bundesliga”, as Americans, we think of the professional soccer or basketball leagues in Germany.  Although, their National Team did not qualify for the Olympics, Germany is ranked 10^th in the world, and certainly has had a lot of success in the last six years as the sport continues to grow … Read More

This is fairly late, but we decided to compile the most-viewed articles of 2012. These are all timeless pieces–including one joke video–that can offer up inspiration for any one at any time.

While our 2012 proved to be extremely successful, we’re excited to compete and make an even bigger splash in 2013.

1.) Carroll’s latest prank: Coach and T.O. punk his new teammates

Like they do for every new guy, the Seahawks thought they were pranking new teammate Terrell Owens during his first team meeting on Aug. 8. Instead, Coach Pete Carroll and T.O. flipped the script and punk’d the players and coaches in memorable fashion:

2.) Louis Zamperini on Jay Leno

Zamperini, the subject of Unbroken, has arguably … Read More

USC’s Mark Jackson spoke at a recent Nike WinForever Workshop, where he spoke about a very unique subject–pulling a team together. 

The best tribes in history, Jackson said, became that through eating together, hunting together, and storytelling. While we understand many programs don’t have the resoucrces to do large retreat-type functions, there are many alternative options. ”Storytelling may be the most important components of tribes,” Jackson proclaimed.

Coach Carroll dedicates five minutes of every team meeting to something fun in order to connect his team. He does this by allowing a player sing a song, say a joke or anything that could ultimately connect the team.

On Wilson’s (Creative) Wednesday (more on that later) we urge you to get creative … Read More

Continuing from last week’s blog post on my argument that it can be a good thing to be fired, I will profile the steps that a coach (in this case, a college football coach) takes in pursuing his next gig and how he has been impacted.

There are many levels of coaches in college football, but all are impacted when the head coach gets fired, and that’s what we’re focusing on in this series. In reality, the first step is to realize you, as a coach, have been impacted. Whether you’re the head coach without a job or the offensive graduate assistant sitting in the War Room whose head coach was just let go, your life has been affected in … Read More

At one of our recent Nike WinForever workshops, Mark Jackson, Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Southern California, spoke on numerous subjects in leading a team.

In this clip, he dove into the subject of motivating your team. First and foremost, he asks the coaches in attendance:  “What’s the purpose of the motivation. Do you know that?”

He urges how important it is for the ‘leader’ to know the exact purpose of the motivation—which would yield the greatest return. “In our minds, it’s to be part of something greater than ourselves,” Jackson exclaims. “That’s the message we’re sending—it may be different for your team.”

After finding out what your purpose of motivation is, as a leader, Jackson offers … Read More

Mark Jackson, Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Southern California, begins his story by saying how great it was to get the job at USC once Coach Pete Carroll was hired as head coach in December of 2000.

He remembers it as an incredibly important day, comparing the sensation to the smoke rising from the Vatican. He was so fortunate that Carroll was cognizant of Jackson’s situation with his father; it was a great opportunity to be able to tell his dad that he was taking the next step with Coach Carroll.

Mark Jackson’s father died on Christmas Day in 2000, just a week or so after Carroll took the job at USC. For Jackson, he says the … Read More

Chris Carlisle, head strength and conditioning coach for the Seattle Seahawks, has an inspiring story to teach to the WinForever devoted.

Carlisle was born with a malfunction in both of his feet. In fact, his doctor told his mother that he would never be able to run like the rest of the kids. However, he made his way through collegiate schooling with scholarships in football, basketball and baseball.

On a similar note, Carlisle had his two front teeth knocked out at a young age. Because of this, he developed a lisp and stutter—and was forced to enroll in speech classes. The teacher said he’d never be a public speaker. Today, he speaks to thousands of people each year.

“I never … Read More

Editor’s Note: Yogi Roth is a current analyst with the Pac-12 Networks, and provides commentary to the website in between games, as well. This was originally found in his Tuesday Tape Room segment. 

After 1365 yards, 113 points and enough highlights to fill up the entire Pac-12 postgame show, fans around the nation are still asking, “What makes Oregon’s offense so good?”

The easy answers are Oregon’s off-the-charts talent, timely play calling and mental fortitude. But as I broke down film from Saturday at the Coliseum, it was obvious that the Ducks’ offensive line is a massive element to their offensive success.

They are not the biggest offensive line in the nation, averaging 299 pounds per player. Nor are they … Read More