High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 31: Attitude is Everything with College Football Coach, Aaron Keen

Episode Date: March 2, 2016

In this interview, college football coach Aaron Keen talks about implementing mental training into the game of football. Coach Keen talks about the importance of going 1-0 each week which helps his team stay in the present moment and take one game at a time. He describes how to develop a ‘family atmosphere’ as a college coach and the importance of keeping relationships front and center. Towards the end of the interview, he provides his classic Find the Pony story and describes that a positive mental attitude is ‘everything’ in football. You can reach Coach Keen on Twitter @CoachAaronKeen.

Welcome to High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Do you want to reach your full potential, live a life of passion, go after your dreams? Each week we bring you strategies and interviews to help you ignite your mindset. Let's bring on Sindra. Welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. This is your host, Sindra Kampoff, and thank you so much for joining me here today. I am grateful that you are here listening to an interview with Coach Aaron Keene. Coach Keene has over 22 years of college football coaching experience and is currently the assistant football coach at Eastern Michigan University.

Prior to moving to Eastern Michigan, he was on the coaching staff at Minnesota State. In 2011, he was the offensive coordinator and then was acting head coach in 2012 and in 2013. And in those two years, that's where I got to work personally with Coach Keene to implement the mental game for the Mavericks. In those two years, they were 24-2. In 2012, made a national semifinal appearance. And in 2013, went to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Both years, they were undefeated in conference play. In 2012, he was the conference coach of the year and was a two-time AFCA regional coach of the year. And I asked him to come on this podcast as the first athletic coach to talk about implementing the Mendel game. And why I did that is because I think that he provides a great example of how to do that and how to be a strong role model for the mental game as a college coach. Now you'll hear his story on why he decided to implement the mental game

and how he actually did that as a consultant or working with a consultant, but also how he does that now at Eastern Michigan. And in general, I think it's really powerful stuff in terms of how the mental game can help athletes and how it can help coaches. I owe a lot to Coach Keene. He trusted me to work with his team. And especially being a female working in football is very rare. This has, I feel like, has been one of the puzzles, the pieces of the puzzle that has now led me to working in the NFL. So I greatly appreciate Coach Keene and how he has implemented the mental game and what he has done for his athletes, but also opening up football at a bigger level for me. And there are three things that I would like you to pay close attention to that I think really were powerful in this interview.

First, he talks about going 1-0. That's a phrase a lot of people use in football, but he talks about what that actually means, how that helps athletes stay in the present moment, and why it's a focus for him with his current team and why it was a focus for him when he was at Minnesota State. He also talks quite a bit about having a family atmosphere. And again, that's something that you hear a lot in sports, but I think he takes it to a new level and talks about the importance of treating his players like his kids, coaching his players like he would coach his kids. And he talks about the need for constructive criticism in that, but also the importance of showing love and kindness. Those are my words to describe what he said. Finally, towards the end, he talks about how attitude is everything and how attitude and focusing on what you can control is the key to keeping athletes focused and relaxed and in control under pressure. And you gotta stick around for his find the pony story.

It's classic. Anybody who has been coached by Coach Keen knows the Find the Pony story, but it is well worth it and well worth listening to this interview. Thank you again for joining me. I'd love to hear what stood out to you about this interview and how it helped you implement the mental game or, you know, how it just helped you in general think about mindset, moving your mindset to a new level. I'd encourage you to send a tweet. My Twitter handle is at mentally underscore strong. You can also send a tweet to coach Aaron Keene. So again, that's at coach Aaron Keene, you know, to start a conversation and let us know what stood out to you about this interview. As always, we'd love to hear if you have recommendations for people you'd like me to interview on this podcast, or topics you'd like me to cover.

I'm all ears. And you can do that by sending me a tweet to, again, at mentally underscore strong or shoot me an email over to syndra at syndracampoff.com. Thank you again for being here to listen to this interview. Without further ado, let's bring on Coach Aaron Keene. Welcome to the High Performance Mindset Podcast. This is Cyndra Kampoff, your host, and I'm excited today to provide you an interview with Coach Aaron Keene. So Coach Keene, could you give us a little insight into your passion and what you do? You know, I think every coach out there is in love with the sport they coach, but it's not, and I certainly enjoy what I do, but it's not why I do what I do.

I had a tremendous experience playing football, both in high school and in college, and had wonderful coaches that helped provide that type of experience for me. So my goal on a daily basis is to try and provide that type of experience for the athletes that I get the pleasure of coaching at whatever institution I'm at. It's a lot of fun. I think my wife's jealous because I go to work every day, but essentially I'm not working. I get to play. I get to do the things that I love and be around great kids and have an impact on them, hopefully.

Because it doesn't seem like work when you love what you do, right? That's exactly right. What type of experience do you really want them to have as a coach? Well, I mean, there's a lot of hard work that goes into playing any form of college athletics, and I think in particular football, it's a bit of a grind. You know, you hear a lot of athletes kind of referring to the grind, and I actually hate it when that term is used because to me it's a lot of fun to play. There's a lot of time demands.

I want our guys here and any player that I've had the opportunity to coach to enjoy what they're doing, to kind of look past some of the minute details that are going to go into it and some of the hard work that's going into it that everybody has to go through and really be able to enjoy the experience, enjoy the process of hopefully developing a championship program. Nice. There's that word, the process. You've had an incredible opportunity to work with some of the best football players and at the highest level of college football. So what do you think separates athletes from others mentally? You know, really the best ones. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. My college football coach,

Larry Kimbaum at Washington University, I went to, you know, a place where there were a lot of pre-med students. And he used to talk to our athletes about what an advantage they had as athletes trying to be doctors or lawyers or whatever they wanted to do. But particularly in pre-med, because a lot of guys go through a weed-out class, maybe a chemistry 101 or organic chemistry or whatever it is that is designed to kind of weed those people out who maybe aren't mentally strong enough to get into the profession. And he used to talk about how athletics can help you in that. And so I think, you know, the advantage you have as being an athlete is that you understand how to deal with success, how to deal with failure. And hopefully that's what we're teaching our guys through this process

in athletics so that they can be successful in other endeavors, not just on the football field, but in life. And what do you see, you know, in terms of what the best do, how do they handle success and failure? Can you maybe give us, you know, an example or just kind of the, you know, in terms of what the best do, how do they handle success and failure? Can you maybe give us, you know, an example or just kind of the, you know, what you really see as a coach? Yeah, you know, I've got three kids of my own. I'm trying to teach those lessons right now at home, but we're also trying to teach those lessons to our athletes here at Eastern Michigan. And it's something that I believe strongly in. The mentality of going 1-0 is something we talk a lot about in football, and it's kind of a catchphrase that people use. Well, it's important that people understand what it's all about. It's not just about winning a game each week or something of that nature

or the wins and losses. It's about how you deal with the success that you have and move on to the next challenge, how you deal with any failures that you have and be able to move on so that you're keeping those things in capsules and can deal with the next challenge. So, you know, that's the biggest thing for us. I think there's an effort to teach people that process so that they can focus on the task at hand and really have the best opportunity to be successful when it comes to competition. You know, and Coach Keene, that was something that you implemented when you were at Minnesota State.

I remember, you know, the 1-0 sign going, you know, as the guys ran through towards the stadium, you know, they had to run under the 1-0. So what does that really mean to you? What does it really mean to go 1-0 and how do you teach it? Well, it started because I think college kids tend to look at an entire schedule, maybe an 11-week schedule, 10-week schedule, 12-week schedule, whatever you have, and you start looking at the toughest games you're going to have or look past an opponent you might think might be a little bit weaker. So it started as an effort to get our guys to focus on the

opponent that you had during that week. But as you look at it in even more detail, it can help the players to focus on a Tuesday practice, a Wednesday practice, and the preparation, what we call the process of getting ready to play that game. Because there's so few opportunities, particularly in football, to actually compete. Our guys at the Division I level have 12 guaranteed opportunities. That's if they're staying injury-free. So you want them to appreciate every opportunity that they have, whether they're playing in Death Valley at LSU or they're playing a MAAC home game where the crowds aren't as big. That appreciation, I think,

helps them in the process of preparation on a Tuesday and a Wednesday when it's tough at times to get yourself mentally and physically up and ready to go. You know, what I really like from just the concept of 1-0 from a psychological standpoint is that it's about really being in the present and not getting too far ahead in the future and enjoying the process, enjoying what it takes to, you know, do well in the game. Right. So, love it. You know, where I've been, I think it's helped our players to appreciate their teammates, appreciate their coaches, appreciate the people that they're around a little bit more. The stronger relationships are built, and that's when this game really becomes fun.

Because they're staying in the moment, and they're staying kind of in the mindset of this week and, you know, this game really becomes fun. Because they're staying in the moment, and they're staying kind of in the mindset of this week and, you know, this practice? You bet, yeah. Is that what you're thinking? Yeah, you bet. And they just, you know, I think the appreciation of having those people around you as you're preparing. Now, certainly if you're winning, it makes it easier to appreciate those people. You see all the good things in them. But, you know, even in some of the losses, it can make it a little bit easier if you're around good people and you appreciate the things about those people. You see all the good things in them, but even in some of the losses,

it can make it a little bit easier if you're around good people and you appreciate the things about those people. What do you see your athletes struggle with, Coach Keene? Well, I think getting over some of the failures and dealing with adverse situations, particularly if you haven't been trained to deal with those. I mean, it's easy to win all the time. And if you're around good athletes, good football players, you can win games just by circumstance. But when you face adversity, either during a week of practice or in a moment of competition, how those players deal with that adversity, Can they keep their cool? Can they perform at their best during those adverse situations? Do they explode on a teammate or a coach? You know, is it causing them to behave so much differently than they would in times of success? I think that's the

hardest thing for players to understand and train themselves to get better at. Really what you're saying is just staying emotionally in control of themselves, even when things around them are going, you know, as they expected. Yeah. And it's, it's being mentally strong, right? And it's, we always talk in football about being tough. And I think it's easy to focus on the physical toughness that's required, whether you're playing in a colder environment or you're playing a physically tough opponent or, you know, the weight training that goes into it, playing through injury, those things. But, you know, you've got to be mentally strong as well. And some of that comes in practice when a coach is getting

on you and they really genuinely care about your performance and what you're doing. Well, some people don't take that hard coaching as well. And they've got to be mentally strong enough to accept the coaching and the constructive criticism and move on. We as coaches have to have to handle things that way as well. But, you know, it also applies to competitive situations where, you know, you might be faced with a lot of adversity and how you handle that adversity is going to affect whether you're out on top or you lose in that situation. You know, I like your, you know, just what you're saying in terms of being mentally strong. I had an NFL athlete tell me this season that he thought the difference between being mentally tough is like mentally tough seems more like, you know, short term. You might be mentally tough in the moment or in the game. But can you be mentally strong all throughout the season or all throughout the game or, you know, all throughout your life?

So I think that was a really cool differentiation. Yeah. So let's talk about implementing the mental game. You know, I'm excited because you're the first coach here that I've interviewed on the high performance mindset. And I know there are a lot of athletic coaches that listen. We've had an awesome opportunity to work together for two years. And what know there are a lot of athletic coaches that listen. We've had an awesome opportunity to work together for two years. And what I saw of you is my observations was that you were taking notes during the team workshops and really implementing the skills that we talked about as a coach. So I saw you doing it on the field, but then being a role model. I thought you were just going to be a really great person to have on the podcast, just to tell coaches about, you know, what that

experience is like and kind of what you learned in the process. So why don't you just start off with your observations? Well, I think the most important thing about implementing a program like this with a football team is that you've got to have an interest in it as a coach. And as we've discussed before, I've had some positive an interest in it as a coach. And as we've discussed before, I've had some positive and some negative experiences with sports psychology. I had an interest in it getting back to college. And there were some things that I learned that certainly helped me out, but I just grazed the surface of it. And, you know, so when you approached our athletic department back in 2012 about implementing some of these ideas, to me it was a no-brainer.

I'm an expert in how to train a football player physically to perform, but I'm not an expert. Although I have an interest in sports psychology, I don't have an expertise in training the brain. And so to have somebody that could provide that expertise to me was a great thing within our program. The other advantage I felt like from a football coaching standpoint is that it provided another voice that was providing the same message within our program. And I think it's powerful to have those multiple voices

providing that similar or same message. And instead of just hearing me all the time deliver that message, they'll start to tune you out. And so to have a team chaplain, to have a sports psychologist, to have a coach delivering similar messages is very powerful within that program. So, you know, I had a very positive experience with the whole thing. Obviously, it helped to have success while we're doing it and to see how it impacted our guys' lives, not only on the football field, but off the field academically and in their social lives. To see them become better people because of it, I think, was just a wonderful experience. And what did you see in terms of, you know, an example or two of, you know of the impact that you saw? Well, I saw an impact in our program both on a program level and an individual level.

From a program standpoint, probably the most important thing that I saw was you did a lesson probably mid-season for us on how to create positive momentum within a game. I saw how that impacted our guys. The amount of chatter on our sideline, positive chatter out towards the people on the field, coming from offensive guys, talking to defensive guys and vice versa, from people who were silent before that was very impactful. And it really helped us during that year to create that momentum. I think our guys started to understand that their body language mattered, that the things that came out of their mouths, positive or negative, mattered not just to them, but the people that they played with. And certainly it's helped them, I think, in their entire athletic career and hopefully will help them beyond that. On an individual level, you know, we had a lot of

individual training that you were doing with our athletes. I think the most powerful thing that I saw was, you know, sessions where you were helping some of our athletes to find their optimum zone of peak performance. I can think of one individual in particular that, you know, thought that he needed to be amped up for every opportunity to compete. And he's very high-strung and was a really good football player. But I saw him perform better when he actually learned that he needed to calm down a little bit before competition so he could perform at his best. So he learned how to do that, and he learned some mechanisms himself to be able to control it and be able to play at his best.

And I saw how that affected him, again, not just on the football field, but in his academic life and his social life. He's a better person because of it, and that's a really powerful thing. You know, I clearly remember some parents walking down after the game, and that game in particular where we talked about positive momentum, and they were like, you know, they could see the change in the team and they could see like the change in the energy and the positivity. So it was just really, really cool to get, I guess, the feedback from a lot of different different mediums in terms of people noticing, you know, noticing that the team looked different just by that one session on positive momentum. Right. Having the team sessions that we did, I felt like the most powerful thing that came out of it is that our players actually got to express some of those things

that were very positive about maybe some of the talk that they heard from their teammates, some of the compliments they heard from their teammates, a pat on the back that they got from a teammate that affected the way they performed. So to have them voice those things in that session brought our team closer together, I believe. And as the weeks went on, it made us a much better football team. And it's all about building relationships.

And if you can build relationships, you can build trust, and they start to buy into the things that we might be preaching as a program, both from a sports psychology standpoint, but also from a scheme standpoint and coaching standpoint. It was a great thing that I guess was a side note and an effect that came in as a result of bringing this program into our football program. So when you look back at that time, what did you really learn about mental training? A lot more than I can remember. I mean, I refer back to notes all the time, you know, about the program. And obviously, I'm in a different program now. And I try and use as much from that program as I can with this. And I know as I advance on in my career, as I become a head coach again, hopefully one day, you know, I'm going to have an expert such

as yourself that would be able to implement the program for me instead of trying to remember all the great things. But, you know, I think the biggest thing is, again, how it can affect your entire team, but it can also affect individuals, you know, depending on how you implement the program. And I think both are, are equally important. Yeah. In terms of now, you know, being in a different program, um, tell, tell us, you know, the listeners, you know, how have you implemented sports psychology or mental training now?

You know, you look back at the notes, is there anything in anything in particular that you know you really try to keep front and center well you know in as i deal with players individually a position coach that or a position group that i coach you know i try and use some of the the skills with those those guys individually there are certain situations where i wish they had an expert that, you know, we're working with them that could get them a little bit further along than I can get them. And there are always things that happen during the course of the year that I'll look at and how our guys are responding to certain situations, how they're responding to a theme that week. I think one of the great things that happened at Minnesota State is you, as a mental training expert, would sit down with me as the football coach

and we'd talk about where we were headed that week, what our theme was going to be, some areas we needed to focus on as far as improvement or maybe we needed to bring our guys down a notch or whatever it is, refocus them. And you would design your skill set that we teach the guys around that theme. And I'm constantly looking at how our head coach approaches things and what are some areas of sports psychology we could implement with that. For example, this week two of this last season, we talked week one about not dipping your toes in, about kind of jumping in the water, not hesitating.

And week two was going to be a little bit theme of commitment to finish things off and talk about how that commitment happens and how mental training can help them out. So, you know, you've talked a little bit about topics that, you know, we talked about during those couple of years working together, positive momentum, commitment. Is there, you know, one or two topics besides that or one or two strategies that you think are really powerful? Yeah, for that team in 2012, I mean, the idea of getting past some of their failures and mistakes, so the idea of flushing it, and, you know, you incorporated a small toilet on our sideline that would actually flush,

and other people have used that tool. I get it. And to be honest with you, I'd always looked at it as a gimmick, and I didn't know how our guys would respond to it, and I was amazed at how well they took to it and loved it and bought into it, and it became something that I didn't have to push on, they took and ran with it. And that was a pretty cool thing, and I think beyond the gimmick of the toilet, they understood that to go 1-0, to get past some of the failure that they had, that they, you know, they had to have some tools to do it.

And they had to know how to cope with some of that stuff. And, again, I think it made them better that season. You know, I remember in particular a game against Southwest. And I took a picture of the scoreboard. And we were down by 14 with seven minutes to go. And I remember, you know, even myself, I was just, man, I wasn't sure if we were going to pull this one off. And I remember all the guys on the sidelines just saying, you know, Dr. Kampoff, don't worry, don't worry, we got this. And I clearly remember, you know, some people were

even coming up to me and saying, watch me. I'm going to go make a play. I'm going to create some spark because I remember you talking about how anybody can be a spark. You know, so they were like, hey, watch me. And their positive energy was just contagious. It was still high regardless of, you know, the scoreboard. What was that experience like for you? Because we did end up winning the game.

I think we tied and then we went into double overtime and won the game. I mean, that was an amazing experience, and I think sometimes it's a moment that helps define a season as you go, and you didn't expect it to be that way. That's one of those for that season. That's a year where that team went on to go to the national semifinals, had a great undefeated went on to go to the national semifinals, had a great undefeated season up to that point. And so we're playing a rival who didn't have a great record at

that point. And we're not playing very well. And we're down by 14. And to be honest with you, I remember kind of going down to my knees, hands on knees and thinking it's over. Coaches can get down as well. And it took a player kind of pat me on the backside and saying hey go score quick to snap me out of it and and realize our players still believe that we could win it let's go see what we can do and and our players pulled it out and and a lot of it is due in part because they they believed they could they had the ability to do it but they had the belief that they could do it as well, which was very important. So that was a powerful thing to see.

And, you know, as I said, I think that was very much a defining moment for us that season. Yeah, and for me, you know, it was at the end of that game I was like, wow. You know, I saw examples of how mental training impacted the game in terms of the belief in themselves, the belief in their teammates. You know, I could tell just by the way they carried themselves that they had positive self-talk, and they were still continuing to believe that they could win regardless of the score. So a great example of how it can really impact the game. You bet. Another example would be we played our biggest rival that season right down the road,

and another team was kind of battling for conference championship and we ended up giving up a kickoff return at the end of the half we'd taken a 10 point lead with a minute to go in half and kicked it off and they ran it back to the two yard line we had two players who hustled down and made a play to stop them and our defense ran onto the field excited for that opportunity and our offensive kids were we're jumping up and down like it's like it's the end of the game and and we're celebrating and there was so much positive momentum being created in that situation again it came off of some of the things that we had talked about with our team and how to create positive energy and our guys came

through in that moment and got an interception going into halftime and we ended up winning the football game, I think, I believe, because we came out successful in that moment because of the training that we had and how our kids handled that situation. They were able to perform really well. So that's just another moment I remember where that training that we did as a team really affected the way our guys handled that situation and came out on top. So for those coaches who are listening, what advice do you have them or have for them in terms of, you know, either implementing the mental game themselves, because absolutely that's possible. You know, as a coach, you are an incredible role model.

And if you're really living, you know, these principles, you're going to be more successful as a coach, you are an incredible role model. And if you're really living, you know, these principles, you're going to be more successful as a coach, but your team is going to be more successful as well. So, you know, what advice do you have for them in terms of them implementing it or, you know, finding an expert? Well, I think the number one piece of advice I'd have would be to be open to the idea. Again, understanding that you as a coach may not be an expert in how to train the brain, how to train the mind, how to train that mental toughness that I think

is necessary to be successful. I think it takes communicating with others to find out where your strengths lie, what you can implement, and where you can get some help in doing some things. And if you find someone who's an expert in it, that you trust that person with your program. And that's hard for some coaches because they can want to be the only voice with it. But, again, I think there can be so much power in having multiple voices that deliver a similar message within the program. So, again, I've had such a wonderful experience with it that I'd do it again in a heartbeat and hopefully can. It's, you know, it's something that I think you've got to be open to and just run with. So let's talk a little bit about yourself as a high performer. And, you know, you said earlier in the interview, you're really about football. It doesn't feel like it's even a job.

So, you know, tell us your why, Coach Keene, because we believe here at the High Performance Mindset that keeping that really front and center is a powerful motivator. So why do you do what you do? Well, again, I think it's really about creating an experience for the people that you're around that's going to be first class and hopefully something that they remember for a lifetime. Again, I had a great experience playing football. And when I think about why I had that experience, it came down to the coaches I was around and the people that were involved in the program.

And it wasn't about the wins and losses in the end, but the type of experience I had. So my why is to create that type of experience for the people that I'm around on a daily basis. And when you think first class, what are the words that come to mind in terms of how would you describe that? Well, it's relationships. I had a tremendous relationship with the people that I played for. Now, I was lucky enough to play for my father in high school, so there was a natural relationship built there. But I played for a man in college that almost became like a second father because he built that type of relationship with me. There was a trust that was built there. And so that anything that he wanted to implement in the

program, I was buying in. And I think I had a great experience because of that. And as a coach, that's what I want my players to feel. I want them to trust me. I want to trust them. And hopefully we can try new things because of that, and we can all be better. And how do you keep that trust center for you? Communication. You know, I make sure I keep an open line of communication with players at all times. You know, I always tell them I want to coach them

like I would coach any one of my three kids because I realize that those players are somebody's very special person. They're somebody's son. And, you know, I know they want to be treated with respect. I think that takes an open line of communication flowing both ways. It's something I've had to learn. I think all coaches are pretty demanding people. They want things done their way. I'm 43 years old now, getting older, but I'm still learning those lessons that communication is key to make sure that the players are having a great experience while doing the right things. And that's an important thing. If I'm going to coach kids like I'm going to coach my kids, they've got to understand

that my kids can take constructive criticism and they can be coached hard because they're coaches' kids. They're used to it. And so I want my players to be able to respond to those things as well. Some great advice for other coaches in terms of keeping relationships front and center and treating the guys you coach like your kids. I can sense that's like really a loving relationship and, you know, a respectful relationship. And that word love isn't talked about a lot in football.

But, you know, is that how you would describe it? Or tell me how you would describe those relationships. Yeah, I mean, we always talk about having a family atmosphere, I think, in every program, right? You hear coaches say that all the time. Well, I think you've really got to examine what a family atmosphere is truly about. I mean, there are strong relationships within a family. There's trust within that family. And unless you develop those things, it's impossible

to have a family atmosphere. Yeah, that's so true. It'll be good when you're winning. But when things aren't happening the way you want them to, things are tough, you're going to fall back on what your program is all about. And if it is truly a family atmosphere, it's easier to get through those times and turn it around and get where you want to be. Absolutely. So, Coach Keene, let's talk about yourself as a high performer. So we've just been talking about, you know, how the best learn from failures and they approach, they know how to approach success, but they also know how to approach failure. So tell us about a time that didn't go so great for you, maybe a time that you considered

that, you know, you failed and tell us, you know, what you think so great for you, maybe a time that you considered that you failed, and tell us what you think we could learn from it. Oh, boy. Well, as I think of myself as an athlete, I think all coaches are like teachers. If you can't do, you teach, right? So I was not the best athlete in the world. I was a quarterback, and I did everything I could do to be the best that in the world. I was a quarterback and I did everything I could do to be the best

that I could be. I remember my senior year throwing a critical interception that cost us a conference championship. It could have been a devastating moment for my career. And, you know, I think because I understood how to deal with some of that failure. And I had the backing of a coach who, you know, went to bat for me and made sure that, you know, he might have taken more criticism for that moment than I took. That was a powerful moment for me because I learned a lot about how to be a good coach. Wow. You know, I was able to move on and have a successful end of my senior year. So, you know, as an athlete, that's one moment there. You know, as a coach, you know, I've been through some rough moments as a coach with a program ending and, you know, you lose a job because of that.

We had a program shut down at Nebraska Omaha. To be able to, you know, understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. I was able to get through some of those moments where it might have been an easier choice to get out of coaching and go do something else, but this is what I love doing. So again, to be able to deal with some of that failure, if you will, and tough times, and be able to come out on top. I love the example that you provided of yourself and how your coach took some responsibility for that. One of the things that I've seen just from my work with individual athletes is when they do have a really difficult time that they've really made a big mistake in terms of maybe

it impacted the end of the game or it impacted the season when the coaches say, Hey, you're still our man. Or, you know, Hey, we got your back. That makes such an incredible impact and a difference on, on athletes confidence. So it's a really cool example of how, you know, you notice that your coach took part of that responsibility and how that helped you deal with that failure. Yeah, it helped me with my teammates at the current time and I think helped my own self-confidence, which is, again, a really powerful thing for me as I've gone through my coaching career. I can't say I've always done it as a coach, but it's something I always aspire to do.

Coach Keene, in terms of the top 10 traits of high performers, so let's look at that list for a second. Which one do you think that you exhibit the most? I think you've heard me say this a lot to teams I've been around, but control the controllable. As I've gone through tough times in a coaching career, I've had players throw that back to me and remind me, which is a pretty cool thing because I feel like that's probably the biggest way that I can impact players' lives. I feel like, you know, that's something I learned from my college coach. It's probably had the biggest impact in my life, both in football and just in my day-to-day life. So, you know, it's something I preach to our guys and it's something I try and live by. You know, I make a goal every year to teach our guys how important, excuse me, how important their attitude is to what they do on

a daily basis and living with a positive mental attitude and what that means. And the biggest part of it is to control what you can control and not worry about the rest. Yeah, absolutely. And how do you see that play out in terms of football performance, you know, on the field when athletes are really focusing on what they can control? How does that impact the game or the outcome? I can tell you just from a personal standpoint as a coach, and we tend to yell at officials quite a bit, and I always hear from my wife, control the control.

There's nothing you can do about an official's call. So I've found that my blood pressure is much better during a game if I'm not worrying about those things that I can't control. And I'm focusing on my players or my play calls or, you know, how I can impact the game, maybe even just helping our guys to have a better attitude. So that's from a personal standpoint how that affects me. There's so many ways that can affect a football player in a game, you know, whether it's the weather that you can't control, the officials' calls, how good your opponent is. I think the biggest thing that I look at is, as I prepared for my first game as a head coach at Minnesota State,

I remember talking to our players about this. We were about to take about a nine-hour bus ride into North Dakota in late August. It was going to be hot, and there was a lot of uncertainty in our program, and all we needed to do was control what we can control and be the best Minnesota State that we could be, and things would take care of themselves. And I think guys relaxed a lot more because they had that to fall back on, if you truly believe it, and that's the key thing.

Again, those are things that I learned from my college coach. He used to always talk about it, and a lot of players thought it was corny, but it made a significant impact in our program if the players truly believed it. I love that example of when you focus on what you can control, how that helps you relax. I had never made that connection, you know, in terms of like, I see it help athletes feel like they're in control, but right. They don't have to have so much anxiety when they're really focusing on what, you know, their attitude, their preparation and their effort and the things they can control. That's part of that process that we always talk about as coaches. You know,

it's, everybody's going to have to go through the Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday part of practice as a football coach to get your team ready to play on a Saturday afternoon. Well, it's how you handle that Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday that's most important. And if you handle that process the right way, the wins take care of themselves. And, you know, I think that we're all a work in progress as high performers, and it's really hard to be, or maybe impossible to be 100% at every quality or every trait. So which one of these traits of high performers do you think that you see yourself still working on? Yeah. Well, it's interesting to look at and kind of evaluate yourself in all those different areas. But I would probably say because I'm more of a creature of habit and I

think that happens as a coach, Being comfortable being uncomfortable is probably my hardest deal there as I look at it. I think there are certain areas where I've been successful being uncomfortable. I look at the implementation of the sports psychology program at Minnesota State. It wasn't something I'd done before. It was allowing another voice into the program. There's some things that can make you uncomfortable there. I certainly gained some comfort in that situation,

which was interesting for me. Obviously, I've learned from it. I would still say that's probably where I struggle the most is dealing with those things where you've got to think outside the box a little bit and get out of your comfort zone yeah absolutely and i think fear is the thing that holds us back from getting out of our comfort zone because we you know we have all these what ifs and that's sometimes why we don't move forward with something that we we know is really going to push us and help the athletes that we work with grow. Sure. And particularly coaching, I mean, there's such a, there's so much pressure.

If you, if you make a situation that's maybe you thought outside the box to get there, you do something that's a little unconventional that makes other people uncomfortable. You can take a lot of heat for that. So yeah, put yourself out there a little bit, but I think it becomes a little bit more fun if you do make yourself uncomfortable. Absolutely. All right, let's go to the speed round, Coach Keene. So if you could recommend a book or somebody you follow or a podcast,

some kind of resource that could help the audience, what would you recommend and why would you recommend that? Well, as far as books are concerned, and I need to read more of them, but Jim Collins' Good to Great has always been a book that I go back to and refer to in my coaching career. It's the first book that my old college coach gave me when I took over my first program back in 2002 as a 30-year-old head coach. And it took me a year at that point to really get into it and read it and analyze it and then implement it into a program and tie some of the themes in. It's been something that I always refer to back in my coaching career as I go through it.

What's one word that people would describe you as? That's a good question. Probably intense. Intense. I'm probably not the most verbal person I you know I'll analyze things and sit back and I'll kind of give them a stare and they're wondering what's what I'm thinking I think on the field when I'm coaching I have a lot of intensity which is a good thing and can be a negative thing so it's something I've got to control so probably intense.

And what's the best advice you've ever received? You know, I think that it would probably be, as a high school player, I was struggling to throw the ball effectively. And, again, I had my father as a high school coach, so I think there's some pressure there when you're the quarterback of your dad's team and you may be not winning as many games as you probably should be or would like to. there when you're the quarterback of your dad's team and you may be not winning as many games as you probably should be or would like to. And I remember him pulling me aside one time when I was struggling throwing and he just said, hey, do you love playing football? Do you love throwing the

ball? And I said, yeah. And he said, well, then just throw the ball and have fun. And it was almost like relax and play. Let the weight fall off your shoulders and enjoy the game that you love. And so that's something I've always remembered and something I try and pass on to players that I might see struggling at different times when the weight is getting a little bit too heavy. Oh man, that's so good because you're right. We can get so intense and put so much pressure on ourselves and really overthink it and get in our own head. Yeah. And give us a success quote that you live by and how it might apply to us. Well, we have this on our fridge at home that my wife actually tries to pass on to my kids all the time. Attitude is everything.

And, you know, how you approach things, how you handle situations. If you have the right type of attitude, it can affect everything that you do in life and can take you a long way. So it's something I try and live by. And as I said, I try and pass it off to the players I'm around. And we certainly try and pass it off to our own children at home. This is not something that I asked you beforehand if you would do. But as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking about Find the Pony. Would you be willing, as we close, to tell us the Find the Pony story? I don't know if I can get as animated right now as I'd like to. But the Find the Pony story is just, you know, something I, again, learned from my college coach. And it's all about having a

positive mental attitude and the effect that it can have. I love to tell the story on the first really hot day of camp or something of that nature where the guys might be a little bit down. It involves two twins that the parents are kind of concerned because their twins are very different. One is always up and always excited, and no matter what happens to him in life, handles the situation really well. The other twin is always up and always excited and no matter what happens to him in life, handles the situation really well. And the other twin is always negative. And, um, um, you know, the parents get concerned because no matter what they give him to kind of cheer him up, he's, he just seems to complain about it and he's always down on the mouth. So they take him to a child

psychologist and child psychologist says, I think I've got just a solution. So he takes one twin that's always happy and, excuse me, the twin that's always sad and puts him in a room with any toy that the kid ever wanted. The Playstations, the G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip, any stuffed animal a kid ever wanted. Every toy can match him. A child's paradise. And they shut the door and they're going to leave him there for a while. And they take the other twin who's always happy and they put him in a room full of horse crap that's up to his waist. And parents are a little concerned, but they trust this psychologist. So they decide to walk away for a while. They go back in the office and they talk and and kind of talk

about the the philosophy behind it and how it's going to change the the child's uh attitude and so they said after a while let's go back and check on these kids and they go back to the room with the the child was always unhappy with the toys and they're expecting to see their their child uh you know with the changed behavior and maybe calm down and playing with some toys and enjoying life. But instead, they see their child in the room just kind of ripping everything up and throwing things around and smashing the PlayStation against the wall and complaining that the Kung Fu grip on the G.I. Joe doesn't work. And it's just kind of shocking to see that. And they're thinking, oh, my gosh if if our child who has everything in the world uh at

their disposal is this upset what's happening to our child in this room full of horse crap and they run down to the room down the hall and they look through the window and there's their son just throwing crap against the wall in the ceiling he's digging around in it and uh they open the door they're very concerned this son son are you okay? And he looks at them and he says, mom, dad, all this horse crap in here. There's got to be a pony somewhere. It's a much better story if you can get a little more animated with it, which I love. But, again, I think it just shows the power of an attitude. If you've got a positive attitude, even that room full of horse crap can affect you.

You're going to end up being positive. So it's been a fun story. It's, you know, the interesting thing is, as I get older, I've got a lot of former players who are out coaching now, whether it's high school or college, and they use that story. It's something, again, that I learned from my college coach. So it's almost been passed down generation to generation to coaches, and it's something that's impacted their lives and how they played, and they want to impact their athletes with it as well. And what I hear from that story is that attitude is everything. And, you know, obviously attitude impacts how you play on the field, but it impacts how you do in school, how you do in your coaching, you know, how you do your interactions with your family.

I mean, it impacts every part of our lives. And that's, again, the experience I had with your sports psychology program, the mental training, I think the most powerful thing is that it not only affected those guys on the football field and in their athletic world, it affected them in real life. And it's a really powerful thing. And to close up, Coach Keene, thank you so much for telling us that story. I loved it. What advice do you have for high performers who are listening? I guess my advice, you know, would be to trust some of the training that you receive,

you know, through mental training to continue to try and develop mental toughness, mental strength, as we kind of discussed earlier, something that's long-lasting. And know that beyond the physical side of things, that you can improve yourself in such a powerful way using the mental training. So I wrote a lot of notes as we were talking, and I want to tell you about three things that really stand out to me and that I see is really important to kind of just wrap up. So I thought our discussion about going 1-0 and really focusing on the process was really important

for those coaches or athletes who are listening. And why I thought that was really important is because it helps you appreciate things around you. It helps you stay in the you. It helps you stay in the moment. It helps you develop relationships like you talked about. And preparation is everything. If you're really in the moment, you can play better when the game is on the line. I loved our discussions about family and developing a family on your team and you talked about how relationships are really important in that and how you want to coach your kids like or your

your athletes like your kids and I don't hear a lot of coaches talking about that and I think that's one of the ways that you stand out and one of the ways that your reasons that your relationships are so strong with your athletes and I love our discussion about you know control the controllables. And I had an aha moment in this conversation that it's like, wow, when you really focus on what you can control, that relieves a lot of anxiety and it helps athletes stay more relaxed and obviously in control of themselves and their play. So thank you so much, Coach Keen, for sharing your wisdom

and your experiences with everybody who's listening. I really appreciate it. From right here, from my heart. Yeah, thanks for having me on. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. Are you signed up

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