This week I have the pleasure of sitting down and discussing the management of coaches and administration with the performance director of first special forces command, Ryan Carroll. Throughout the 30-minute discussion Ryan and I get into:
1) The unique challenge of his position and how some challenges cross into both tactical and collegiate strength and conditioning.
2) How implementing things at scale creates great challenges and increases the need for collaboration between coaches
3) Ways that he and his staff communicate information to the higher ups to show that there is a return on the investment being made.
4) Conversations that the information they collect lead to, both to those above him and the service members that help with buy in at all levels.
5) Changing your thought process from being a dictator to coworkers with those you’re coaching, and how it can impact your trajectory as a coach.
I’m really grateful for Ryan spending the time today to discuss some of the systems and processes that they’re putting together to help build out an all-encompassing performance and wellness program for a variety of different service members. Although at a different level, many of these issues are similar to those that arise at the collegiate level as well, like scaling, individualization between units/team, donated equipment we are expected to utilize and so on. This chat is full of great info that I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. If so please feel free to share the episode with a collogue, and if you haven’t subscribed and left a review for the show on your favorite podcast platform I’d greatly appreciate it.
Who is Ryan Carroll?
Ryan Carroll, MS, CSCS*D is the Human Performance and Wellness Director at 1st Special Forces Command at Fort Liberty, NC. He has been a strength and conditioning coach for over 20 years and in the tactical space for 8. He has worked with the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, Loyola University Chicago, BridgeAthletic, and an Air Force Special Operations Unit in North Carolina.
Ryan has spoken at several NSCA Tactical Conferences on training female soldiers, as well as the design and implementation of a comprehensive operator “Reset Week”.
He can be reached at [email protected] or on instagram at @rcsc14
