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Coach McQuilkin, MS, CSCS*D, CHES

@mcquilkin

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Coach & Presenter | #DSTX
@captainsandcoaches

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I thought I was the right coach for every moment.

I wasn't.

Summer 2021, we lost Taden, our Team Captain, their best friend. And a lot of what I knew about how to lead stopped working. The hardass approach, the systems, the structure. None of it touched what we were all going through and seemed to cause more conflict than control it.

I had to get honest: I didn't have the tools for this.

So I started asking different questions. Not what does this team need to perform, but what do they need to be present, play with the passion of their leader, and still find meaning in the game?

That question changed me.

I grew with them. With the staff.

Because I had to reckon with something: we ask athletes to turn off their emotions. Push it down. Put on a face. Keep moving.

That's not toughness. That's suffering in silence and calling it strength.

Real toughness is having the tools to navigate the hard things. Real leadership is teaching those that do not possess the tools what and how to use them. To bring up the people around you when they're down. To show them they can do hard things and that they're not doing them alone.

That's what Taden did for them.

So the work became leaning into the Wolfpack culture he built, letting his passion and pride for his teammates keep living in that locker room. Showing these athletes that those tools were already inside them.

Taden never left them. He built them.I shared this moment at the Beyond Strength Summit because I know a lot of coaches are exactly where I was: competent, committed, and completely unprepared for the human moments that define a season.

Sports don't teach lessons. Coaches do.

And sometimes the most important lesson is the one the team teaches you.

#Be16 #wo16pack #livelikeTaden @be16foundation @billcafferata @cody.gould @goodathleteproject taken in New Trier High School by @mcquilkin

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4 months ago

How do you bring humility to your athletes? 🤔

Listen.CaptainsAndCoaches.com

This is one of the biggest challenges we face—working with athletes who think they're "too good" for their training group or coaching. Low self-awareness will catch up to them eventually, and they'll miss crucial development opportunities.

Here's what I've learned: It's not about what we can do as an athlete, it's what we can get our athletes to do. Our value comes from experience and the ability to see the roadmap clearly.

Coaching strategies that work:

→ Share your experience authentically - "I've worked with athletes at every level, here's what I've seen..."

→ Paint the clear picture - Help them understand where they actually are vs. where they think they are

→ Create self-awareness opportunities - Design moments where they can discover their gaps safely

→ Use your coaching resume as credibility - Your experience with other athletes becomes the proof they need to trust the process

The goal isn't to crush their confidence or humiliate them for having a big dream - it's to help them see their true starting point so they can actually reach their potential.

When athletes understand the journey and trust your roadmap, they become coachable.

Question for my fellow coaches in the trenches: What's your go-to strategy for helping overconfident athletes develop humility and become more receptive to coaching?

Drop your experience below 👇

Check out the new online course to build competent and confident teams: listen.captainsandcoaches.com

#CoachingTips #AthleteDevelopment #CoachingPhilosophy #Humility #CoachingExperience #TrainingMindset #CoachLife #SportsCoaching #YouthAthletes #TexTalk #CaptainsAndCoaches taken in D1 Knoxville Sports Training & Therapy by @mcquilkin

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a year ago

Observing Hyrox classes for the first time while lifting sandbags in the corner with Coach Kory [@klonberger] was eye-opening: many athletes struggle with generating power from their feet when pushing the sled. That weak foot drive isn't just hurting their Hyrox time — it's a fundamental power leak that affects everything from jumps to sprints to long-term ankle health.

The Old Bull program taking off this cycle with the Rocket Squat—foundation for developing explosive power and drive from the ground up.

What makes special rocket sauce:
- Teaches proper tension throughout the entire movement.
- Develops foot-to-floor power that directly translates to sled pushes & more.
- Strengthens the knee joint through controlled loading and exploding.
- Creates stay-bility, a platform for force production starting from the ground up.

Our Old Bulls know that sustainable strength isn't just about moving heavy weight—it's about moving it RIGHT.

For those who struggle with sled pushes, this is your missing link... in bio for 7 Day Old Bull program trial.

Tag someone who needs this in their training arsenal—especially if you've seen them struggling with the sled!

#OldBullStrength #RocketSquat #HyroxTraining #PowerDevelopment #KneeHealth #rocketsauce taken in Squatch Frontier Fitness by @mcquilkin

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2 years ago

Mid-West fam visit for The Luke Summers' birthday celebration, Pee-wee football, & sitting down for a 2-hour info-taining C&C pod, as is tradition.

#MidWest taken in Crown Point, Indiana by @mcquilkin

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6 days ago

The fastest way to limit performance is to blame the person while ignoring the environment around them.

Tex McQuilkin and I talked about what it really takes to develop high performers.

It starts with the water they’re swimming in.
The standards, the opportunity to grow, the feedback, and the people around them all shape what they believe they’re capable of.
From there, confidence comes from reps. Honest film gives you the truth without emotion. Timely feedback keeps you focused on what you can fix now.
And great coaching helps people move from curiosity to commitment, instead of forcing advice on someone who isn’t ready to own it.

That’s how you build athletes and people who can perform when it matters.

Watch the full conversation with @mcquilkin on @thecoachesroompodcast , available on all major streaming platforms 🎤 by @mcquilkin

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8 days ago

Day 2 of the Non-Superficial Bullshit Conference. Phoenix, Arizonia.

Heavy hitters all day challenging not only what you think, but also how you think.

Today's lineup:
Brett Bartholomew [@coach_brettb] previewing his new book, The Antihero Advantage.

KStarr [@thereadystate] sharing his models to assess and progress athletes.

Jason Leydon [@jasonleydon] on identity and finding mirrors with the ones you love.

Matt Morrison [@mountaineeringa] reminding us who's looking out for the leader.

Stu McMillan [@fingermash] sharing his coaching journey and applying informed simplicity to our athlete's programs.

Then a guest panel I was fortunate to hop on, an all-speaker panel with open Q&A, and Brett's final takeaways to close us out.

Two days. No hacks. No hype. Just honest people telling the truth about leadership, setbacks and life.

Clear head. Full notebook. Can't lose.

Thank you Art of Coaching [@aocoaching] for building a room like this.

#NoBSConference #ArtOfCoaching #CoachingLeadership #CaptainsAndCoaches taken in Phoenix, Arizona by @mcquilkin

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9 days ago

Day 1 of the Non-Superficial Bullshit Conference in Phoenix, Arizonia.

No hacks. No hype. No performative nonsense.
Just people who have built, failed, rebuilt, and stayed honest about what it took.

Day 1 lineup:
Brett Bartholomew [@coach_brettb] opened the room and set the tone.

Juliet Starrett [@julietstarrett] on risk, relationships and building something that lasts.

Missy Mitchell-McBeth [@missymmcbeth] bringing 20+ years of real coaching from high school to Division I.

Jess Elis [@physio_elis] on leading yourself and learning from loss.

Jen Widerstrom [@jenwiderstrom] on strength, mindset and learning from chapters of life.

Sanjeev Javia [@askjeevers] on networking and building from the ground up.

Then every speaker comes back together for a panel and open Q&A. That's where the best stuff tends to come out.

Small room. Real conversations. The kind of people you stay in touch with for life.

Grateful to be here with Art of Coaching [@aocoaching].
#NoBSConference #ArtOfCoaching by @mcquilkin

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12 days ago

October baseball ⚾🔥

Fun season, I got to see three playoff teams live (Astros, Cubs, and Phillies) and knocked two more parks off the bucket list: Wrigley Field for a day game walkoff and Citizens Bank Park for Sunday Night Baseball.

Wrigley lived up to every bit of the history. Philly for the food. But nothing beats the home field 🧃.

Get it, 'Stros 👨‍🚀 #Postseason by @mcquilkin

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19 days ago

Family. Friends. People. Podcasts. Captains & Coaches.

Fall in New England hits different. 5 days in Boston and a lot of ground covered.

Grateful for my Bean Town crew who made time to sit down with me, put me up, hammer steak tips, share knowledge, and give me the chance to teach.

See you in December for round two. 🍂

@captainsandcoaches #Boston taken in Boston, Massachusetts by @mcquilkin

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21 days ago

Building Leaders 🗡️

Big thank you to Coach @mcquilkin from @captainsandcoaches for sharing some knowledge with our guys yesterday afternoon on leadership, motivation, much more👏 A great experience in the classroom and on the field for how leaders can be built🌊

#BewaretheBeac #Mission23 by @mcquilkin

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23 days ago

"We All Go!" Ready, ready.
Big thanks to the Marymount Men's Lacrosse team for letting me close out Saturday morning practice and wake up Rowley Hall again.

Took advantage of the weather and handed off the We Ball tools. The aim for this group is to call each other out, bring some radical banter, and ride together for back-to-back conference championships.

Always good to be back where it started. Excited for the squad this year.

#CaptainsAndCoaches #MarymountLacrosse #WeBall #CoachingLeadership #radicalbanter taken in Marymount University by @mcquilkin

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a month ago

8th time on NSCA's national stage, and this squat talk pulled a full house, standing room only. Love to see it, beats my first talk 🙃.

One of my favorite parts of speaking at conferences: recruiting friends to be the live demo for the practical preso. The move is simple, wait until a couple Tequil-O'Neil's in, then lock them in. Never tell them what they signed up for until they're standing under the lights. "Easy, squats. You'll be fine."

Pulled together movements Old Bull athletes know too well. Stagger stance, rocket squats, high-knee action, simple "try this squat and we'll see what limitations you have... in front of a few hundred people". Gotta stress to progress 😉.

Grateful for my pals in the industry. Many thanks to Dave, Trevor, & Johannah for leveling up the talk with some radical banter back and forth, you three helped make this one of the most info-taining presentations to date.

Until next year, crew. Here's to you.

And last butt not least, getting a quality rep in working to be the first-ever Wrangler sponsored coach, repping [@wrangler] on stage. Real. Comforable. Jeans. For Squats. 🤠

#NSCATactical #TeamNSCA #TacticalStrength #OldBullProgram #Wrangler taken in Orlando, Florida by @mcquilkin

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a month ago