Episode #182: Jordan Willis

🏐 Building Winners Without Losing Yourself | Jordan Willis, Florida Tech Volleyball 

Jordan Willis, Head Volleyball Coach at NCAA Division II Florida Tech, joins Matt Rogers for one of the most enjoyable and insightful conversations of the year.

After leading the Panthers from a 9-win season in 2023 to a 20-win campaign and one of the best conference records in program history in 2024, Willis shares the leadership principles, culture-building strategies, and people-first philosophy that are helping transform Florida Tech Volleyball into one of the Sunshine State Conference's rising programs.

In Part I, Coach Willis discusses rebuilding programs, developing All-Americans, creating sustainable success, navigating adversity, and why authentic leadership matters more than ever in college athletics.

Whether you're a coach, athletic director, teacher, parent, or leader in any profession, this conversation is packed with practical lessons on building teams and developing people.

✅ Program Building
 ✅ Leadership & Culture
 ✅ Developing All-Americans
 ✅ Team Standards & Accountability
 ✅ Sustainable Success
 ✅ College Athletics Leadership

Transcript

0:09

On the latest edition of the Significant Coaching Podcast, a presentation of the Coach Matt Rogers YouTube channel, available audio only everywhere you get your favorite podcasts. I'm your host, Matt Rogers. Before we jump into part one of my conversation with today's tremendous guest, I wanna share a little news about the podcast. For the better part of three years, I've published a new episode every week, and for the most part, twice per week without taking a break. I've had the privilege of sitting down with some incredible coaches, athletic directors, student athletes, and leaders from across the country, and this podcast has grown into something I never could have imagined when I first hit record. I've decided it's time to take a short hiatus. After this week's Significant Coaching and Significant Recruiting episodes, I'll be stepping away from new interviews for the remainder of June. During that time, I'll be republishing some of my favorite conversations from the past three years, along with a few solo episodes where I'll share some of the most important coaching, leadership, recruiting, and life lessons I've learned from the incredible people who have joined me on this show. I'll also be talking to interested and potential sponsors to help me keep the podcast going past this summer. The cost of running a podcast for this long without financial backing is starting to take a toll on my wallet and my time more than I want it to. If you or your organization have an interest in supporting the show, I'd welcome that conversation. That could include college athletic conferences, athletic departments, coaching organizations, sports recruiting platforms, or division-level organizations, or maybe even camps. If that sounds like you, or if you know someone who might be a good fit, please reach out through coachmattrogers.com or email me at coachsignificance@gmail.com. I'd love to explore how we might work together. It is my hope that we'll be back with brand-new interviews in July. I want to sincerely thank all of you for your support, your feedback, your emails, your messages, and most importantly, your willingness to spend part of your week with me. This podcast has become one of my favorite things I do professionally, and that's because of you. Now, let's get to this week's guest. This was honestly one of my favorite conversations of the year. Jordan Willis is entering his third season as the head volleyball coach at NCAA Division II Florida Tech in the Sunshine State Conference, one of the very best leagues in the country. After guiding the Panthers from nine wins in 2023 to a 20-win season and one of the best conference records in program history in 2024, it's easy to understand why there's so much excitement surrounding his program. But what made this conversation special wasn't just what he is accomplishing with volleyball. As I was thinking about taking a short break from the podcast, I couldn't have asked for a better guest to close out this stretch of interviews. Jordan reminded me why I started this podcast in the first place. After a couple great conversations, I honestly feel like Coach Willis is a brother from another mother. We see coaching through a very similar lens. We both believe this profession is ultimately about people first and wins second. We had an absolute blast recording this two-part conversation, and our talk was genuine. The stories were hilarious, and the lessons were outstanding. If you're looking for a volleyball clinic, you're gonna get some of that. But if you're a coach, an athletic director, a teacher, a parent trying to build something meaningful in your program or in your house, I think you're gonna get even more out of this conversation. I th- also think you're gonna have as much fun listening to Jordan as I had talking with him. Here's my conversation with Jordan Willis, head volleyball coach at Florida Tech. Coach Willis, so great to see you. Thanks for being on the show. Yeah. Love, love it. I'm glad to be here. This is awesome. Yeah. We, you and I have had some great conversations before, before today, and I, I think we're two kindred spirits, so I'm really excited- to get in the weeds with you. I, think both of you see this, world of coaching with, similar eyes and, in what we're doing and why we do it, so I'm really excited. I'm, I've been doing- Yeah, me too a ton of consulting lately with, small athletic programs. I built an athletic program, and I've been doing a lot of coaching with college coaches. So this, is fresh in my head, but I really wanted to get your perspective on this. Are... And I know this is, Is this year three or year four for you at- finished year three, about to start year four. Yeah. Okay. So this is still a little fresh for you, so this'll be good. Yeah. Are we doing enough when we hire a head coach to set them up for success? Ooh, man. Are we doing enough as in a volleyball community or as an administrators?

Jordan Willis 5:06

I think, I think the volleyball community can only do so much, because- when you get to a campus, it's so unique. And I know you've been on multiple campuses. Yeah. i- it's, how they work. You and I just had a conversation about one compliance officer see, the rule- Yeah completely different than another compliance officer.

Matt Rogers 5:23

Yeah. Very. So are we doing enough when we hire a new head coach and saying, "Hey, we really like you. We believe in you"- I feel like every head co- c- college job that I had, they basically said, "All right. Here's the reins. We'll see you later." Yeah. You know what I mean? Best of luck. Good luck. I feel overall, no, we're not doing enough.

Jordan Willis 5:47

I think our community is. Good. I think our programming with AVCA, and, Art of Coaching, and Volleyball Insider, and, your podcast, and just I think we as a community do a lot. I'm not quite sure in athletics we do enough. 'cause how many stories have you heard? somebody gets a job- That's right they've, played whatever level, GA'd for a year or two, maybe assistant for one year, and now is a head coach and is supposed to run a program. By the way, it doesn't... This isn't necessarily male or female. This is just, "Hey- That's right you gotta go run this program." That's right. and said place hired you, and that AD, may or may not have coached volleyball, and more times than not definitely did not.

Matt Rogers 6:44

Maybe they're just a fundraiser AD. and so, what's the support there at said institution? Hoping, business ops helps you, hoping compliance helps you. what's the onboarding like at different schools? Like- holy smokes, dude. If there i- even if there is an onboarding. Yeah. What, I... Listen, I've been a part of several schools now, and I've been a part of, "Hey, when you come in, can you make a list of onboarding things that were..." It's a little tough. And man, I've made lists upon lists at different schools. I'm like- Sure "Hey, this is what I had to learn, and I don't know if this is, conducive all." and so- Yeah. I've also been the guy who's helped, at least at our institutions or institutions I belong to. I wanna help the next coach, not just volleyball, but- I- whatever sport, basketball or track or lacrosse, and, "Hey, how can we make your transition better?" So is there enough in the athletic community wanting to help coaches coach and get- Sure situated? Because you know this. Everywhere, every school runs just a little bit differently in their processes. Some are still in 1980 doing by paper, Yep and some are blast to the future that, hey, some of us don't even know how to operate. They don't even know how to operate, but we're doing it. a lot of things. A lot of things go on. I think there's two, two schools of thought in how an athletic department is run these days.

Jordan Willis 8:16

There's either the we're so scared of breaking a rule or doing anything wrong- that we're gonna do everything by the book, even to the point of excessive by the book. And then there's the other school where it's more laissez-faire. "Hey, we hired you. We've taken you through human resources.

Matt Rogers 8:36

Our compliance coordinator's working with you. Our q- go do your job." and there's not a lot in the middle there where... What I've started doing for ADs- is I've started building recruiting rubrics for them. Yeah. And saying, "Let's stop putting this world of recruiting pressure on our coaches, and let's set them up for success with some guidelines." Say, "All right, Coach Willis, how many re- new recruits do you think is feasible to add to your list every month? 'Cause let's be consistent. Instead of you bringing in 100 kids in one month, what if we brought in eight or 10 new recruits over the course of a month or a week?" whatever that may be. how we develop our assistant coaches with recruiting in terms of how they send an email, how they make a phone call, how they respond to voicemails and emails, Coaching them through that, it's just it's like I'm taking the mask off of their head. They're like, "Oh, that makes a lot of sense. We do need help with that. We do need to do that." But- Is anybody doing that for you? in this case, cross collaboration- Yeah Yeah. Now, if you've got enough coaches who have been around the block- Yeah with experience as far as being head coach or a longtime assistant who's now a head coach or a AD and associate ADs or assistant ADs who've been around, it's cross collaboration.

Jordan Willis 10:04

You can have conversations. you can sit down and have these talks. Yeah. Of "Hey, how do you do this?" Or, "What do you do? What works for your sport?" 'Cause all sports- are different, right? Yeah. I can only imagine how a football recruiting room works,

Matt Rogers 10:18

Like- Yeah. Oh, it's completely different. It's crazy. Yeah. I- when I was at a different school, at CSU Pueblo, as an assistant listening to the head coach and the assistants go, "Oh, that's your state, and that's your state, and that your s- And how some coaches on teams don't know the names of all the players on one side of the ball because- That's right

Jordan Willis 10:35

they all work defense or offense or whatever. So I don't know who that guy is over there. Like what? Yeah. Like- so that's different, but there's some c- cross collaboration, especially at, at our school, right? 'Cause hey, we need to know where we're going with, STEM, right? And we gotta talk to an advisor in the engineering department, or what, if this is gonna transfer in or, "Hey, what's going on with, Sally on the team?"

Matt Rogers 11:02

Just- Yeah just doing check-ins, So i- as you say, you know- Do I or have I received that? I would say through, mentorship, through cross collaboration and... But my AD's been pretty good, about being hands-on, and matter of fact, I've been relatively fortunate as a head coach to have ADs who've been hands-on.

Jordan Willis 11:25

Yeah. which has been great, I've been blessed in that sense. who want to mentor us, who will also give you the whole, "Hey, here's the team. It's up to you, ask questions," That's right, yeah. which is okay- Which I appreciate every once in a while can check in, "Hey, how are you struggling?

Matt Rogers 11:39

What do you need?" Like- Yeah hey, that's the human side of things. so yeah. you were talking like there's one way or the other. and th- there's somewhere in between of, hey, are we gonna get all the coaches' backs or are we gonna get the players' backs? Yeah. Yeah

Jordan Willis 11:57

unfortunately, I think we've seen that in different, ways, different avenues, right? I think the healthy way to look at it is, if I've got your back, if I'm an AD and I've got your back as a head coach, and we're really working together, you know- I'm not micromanaging you. Correct. We're having our weekly, monthly meeting, and we're talking together.

Matt Rogers 12:17

I know how you think. You've got my full support. and I'm excited about how you're treating the kids. There's a streamline there. I, I- Any parent that comes to me, I go, "Hey, I'm in his practices every week. I'm in- we're having one-on-ones. I'm talking to the girls. I know what's going on with the program." there, there's nothing getting around it, 'cause we're on the same page. 100%. I... That is one thing. I may overshare information because- Yeah, I do, too we are not gonna have a... I'm never gonna have my ADs get blindsided about- something I knew about. Now, if I didn't know about it and I also get blindsided, that's a whole nother story.

Jordan Willis 12:57

But- Yeah hey, giving you a heads-up, struggling in classes. Giving you a heads up, Janie's- Yeah this, or Sally's hurt, or just, j- just- Yeah quick heads up, so if an email comes through from disgruntled parent or whomever, right? or whoever, yeah. th- they have a little bit of knowledge on things, and so- Yeah

Matt Rogers 13:19

yeah, And I've worked with ADs where there were times where I was just like, you waited to the end of my season to have this conversation with me." I go, "Why didn't you... If you saw that I was struggling, or you thought I might be s- was struggling, or- I was h- I wasn't myself, why didn't you come in and say, 'Hey, Matt, you haven't been yourself lately. What's going on? what do you need from me? How can I help?'" Yeah. Why would you wait four months to have that conversation with me? what kind of response did you get from the, your AD at the time? It was more like- When you asked that we... I didn't wanna get in your way I didn't wanna, I didn't wanna think you...

Jordan Willis 13:59

make you think I was micromanaging you. you just did the opposite. You saw something that you could have helped with. You could have been a friend. Yeah. let alone, and forget a supervisor. You could have been a friend in that situation. m- A friend or mentor, right? Yeah. 'Cause it's a mentorship position. and that's the hard thing when ADs haven't coached, they don't realize... Sometimes we don't even realize we're not ourselves. 'Cause we're in the heat of that season, right? We're going from one practice to one game. We're dealing with 18 to 20 different personalities that- Yeah we're trying to manage and keep them working together, keep their individuals together. So we need that from a supervisor to be able to say, "Hey, how are you?" "I'm seeing you do some things that maybe isn't in your character." And it might not be bad, it's just, "Hey, you're usually the first one to speak up at a staff meeting, and you're dead silent in staff meeting." All right? Thank you. Something's wrong when Jordan Willis is dead silent, right? Uh, it's true. Everybody and their mother would be like, "Something's wrong with Jordan today. He di- he's not the same." That's right. Now, maybe I don't say a lot in every staff meeting, but- Right I'll be saying something. Right. But, uh- Well, I was, I was that way, you know?

Matt Rogers 15:19

Yeah. If something wasn't right, I think all the coaches would look at me and say, "Matt, you're gonna say something, right?" And I was like, "Fine, I'll, I'll say it," you know? Okay. Yeah. Okay. If, if I need to. Um, no, it's, uh, it's, it's interesting. But this goes to, uh- A bigger topic maybe? You- Yeah. It might get me in trouble, but it's okay.

Jordan Willis 15:41

Um, is that there might be too many, um, unqualified people in- Yeah certain positions. Not only volleyball coaching, but maybe in administrating. And that's tough, right? That's, that's, that's a tough thing to say because we'd like to think we're putting people in positions, but I feel like sometimes is there's underqualifications.

Matt Rogers 16:13

But it goes back, a- again, it goes back to the bigger, the bigger picture of this conversation we're having. Sure. How many ADs are hired, like you said, are great fundraisers. They're great with people. They're great with a budget. But who's coaching them on mental health and work/life balance? Right. 'Cause they're...

Jordan Willis 16:34

I- if the head coach is struggling, I guarantee you if you've got football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, softball, if you've got 15, 18 sports and you're- Right here, you're working 80 hours a week, if you're that athletic director, you're underwater. You're just- Right you're just trying to find 20 minutes to breathe every day.

Matt Rogers 16:50

Right. And to be fair, those people also need mentorship- Coaching and a friend and a, "Hey, how are you doing? Are you-" And who's doing that? Who's doing that for you? Who's doing that for your boss? Yeah. Like, and so fortunately, um, for me, uh, I've had the pleasure of knowing him not only here, but he hired me at my last stop too.

Jordan Willis 17:11

Yeah. And so, um, you know, I've got to know him over the years and so, uh, you know, I- We can have that conversation like, "Hey, how you doing?" That's right. Need to check in. You know? Like we know each other's wives and, you know- Yeah uh, children. Like, "Hey, checking in and- Yeah what's what?" You know what I mean?

Matt Rogers 17:31

Like- Yeah how, how are things? But, um, you know, I've always thought about this and, you know, if, if the time had ever come where, you know, I step away from the sideline and wanna become an administrator, okay? If that ever happens, mm- Yeah I always think that role is coaching the coaches, right? Exactly. Yeah.

Jordan Willis 17:53

That, that position, yeah, you gotta fundraise and you've gotta balance budgets, and you gotta be in the cabin, and you gotta do all of this stuff around the school, but your team is your coaches, and you're coaching your coaches to be better for their teams, right? Yeah. Exactly. Like- Exactly relatively basic concept, right?

Matt Rogers 18:11

And so if, it's great, you could be a great fundraiser, but you could also be a great leader of people, right? Yeah. Like you- Which is, which is more important in that role. Right. And y- and by the way, you don't even have to have ever coached. You just have to be able to know how to manage and treat people, right? I think that's really basic. Yeah. Basic common sense. Like- But it's, it's not, it's not for everybody. It's not, it's not common sense. It's not easy for everybody. It's true. Good point. Good point. It isn't. You're right. It isn't. I think for you and I, w- the way we were raised, you know, and I don't know how you were raised, but I can tell by your personality, there was some, probably some chaos that became normal in your life that, you know, I, I grew up, I had four brothers and sisters, and my parents worked 50, 60 hour weeks.

Jordan Willis 18:54

Yeah. So it was, there was a lot of chaos, and then we learned there was a comfort level with that chaos. Right. You know? And, and, and I worked in a restaurant growing up, so I had to be, I had to deal with people. I had to learn customer service. I had to learn how to- Yeah take a compliment, but also take somebody yelling at me, you know?

Matt Rogers 19:12

Yeah. And okay. Oh, well, I grew up in a situation of whenever I went to complain about something- it was, "Well, what did you do wrong?" Yeah. I, I didn't, I just told you what they did wrong, not what did I do wrong. Like, you know? Right, right. "Thanks, Mom. Thanks." "No, what did you do wrong? How could you have made the situation better?

Jordan Willis 19:32

You, you did something to do this," and it's like, ugh, you know? And I'm the youngest, so I had two older brothers, and- I'm the youngest, too. Yeah um, you know, so forth, so forth. We had a, a family, um, business. Uh, it was a, a over-the-counter sales- Yeah uh, chips and peanuts company. It was called Tom's. And, um- My grandparents, uh, it was their company and, and of course as a grandkid, you know, you- that's, "Hey, we're all hands on deck. We're helping." Go to work. That's right. That's what happens. And so again, there was a customer service piece and, but work ethic and, you know, you, hey, how you have to do things. And so, um, so you learn. I learned real quick, hey, this is, you know, watching my grandparents, watching my parents, um, this is how you, you, how business works, but just how you gotta treat some people.

Matt Rogers 20:27

You, you want something- Yeah you, you've gotta negotiate some, and some is, hey, be a good human. It's okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's okay to be a good human. And if they, if they don't treat you well, you know, the said customer, there's gonna be another one that will come along and- Yeah and it's okay, so. Well, it develops... You know, I had a, the guy that was the custodian for our gym when I was at Maryville, he read all the time. He just was constantly reading. Yeah. I remember him grabbing me one day and he goes, "Matt, come over here and read, read this, read this thing that I r- that I'm reading," and it was about- Mm-hmm

Jordan Willis 21:03

humility. And I'm sure you've read this quote somewhere 'cause it's, it's been out there a lot. It was, "Humility isn't thinking of yourself less, it's thinking of your... Thinking... Or not thinking less of yourself, but thinking- Mm-hmm of yourself less." You know, not thinking- Mm-hmm about yourself more, you're thinking about others more.

Matt Rogers 21:20

Right. You know, and, and, and I think you and I were kinda raised that same way, being, having to be- Yeah customer facing early on in our age. Well, I mean- Go ahead we're just in, we're just in, uh, you know, our jobs. Uh, it sounds with- different maybe, uh, weird. I don't know. Um, we are in a service position. We are, yeah.

Jordan Willis 21:45

But, you know, we, we are in a service position as coaches. We are, we are serving others, you know? Right. Um, and maybe it's not, uh, giving a meal or selling a bag of chips or peanuts or, um, whatever, but in this case, we're serving our players and, and hoping that, um, if we do good by them, they can do good by others, right?

Matt Rogers 22:08

Yeah, exactly. You know, one- That's a great way, that's a great way to say it one kind act turns into 10 for another person, right? And then that becomes another, so just tenfold, right? So... I, I, I'm, I'm g- I'm gonna go back to you talking about if you ever complained, it was always, "What did you do?" Oh, right. How much of that made you a great setter? Because isn't that the world of a s- I was a point guard. Oh, okay. Yeah. I, I, I was always told, "If there's a turnover, you threw the ball to somebody and there's a turnover- Right it's my fault," even if I hit them right in the hands. Yeah. You know, even if that set was perfect, it was my fault because- Oh, okay

Jordan Willis 22:51

I didn't understand my, my teammate well enough. I didn't... I, you know, maybe that teammate, I can't throw it as hard or I can't set it as high. Right. You know? I have to know them better. So it was always, "Hey, that's on you." If they don't catch it, it's on you, right? Right. Yeah. Do you feel that? Um, yeah. I mean, the, there's an old adage.

Matt Rogers 23:15

Uh, one is, a good hitter can hit anything, right? But you've been around long enough, every hitter's a little bit different, and most outside hitters have a, a prima donna complex, right? Yeah, yes, yes. A, they want every ball, and B, it needs to be perfect, right? But I've also been in a situation where I've set one ball, and they're like, "Hey, can you get it a little higher?"

Jordan Willis 23:43

"Or a little lower?" Or this. And then you set the same ball, "Oh, that's a perfect set." Right. Bro. Like, what, what are we doing? Like, thanks man. Um- Exactly, yeah and so, but you, you, you've gotta learn how to have tough skin, and- Yes you have to learn how to relate to everybody in that position. You have to be able to talk to your, your Libros and be like, "Hey, that's a great pass.

Matt Rogers 24:07

Like, you know, keep hanging in there. We'll get the score. Hey, what do you need," uh, said hitter. You know? Higher, lower, inside, you need it faster, whatever. Yeah. "Hey, middle, keep working hard. I'm gonna get you the ball as soon as I can. Just keep working." Right. "Keep pulling, uh, blockers. You know, I'll get it to you here in a second." Like, gotta have, um, uh, some of that leadership quality. Now, you don't have to be crazy outgoing and, you know, all that stuff. My, my whole thing about that is you just have to be an effective communicator, right? You don't- Right you don't have to be over the top. Like, I was an over the top player. Um, I was that guy.

Jordan Willis 24:49

I was that guy. As you can imagine. Yeah. Um, I'm sure if I've got friends who I've played with are listening right now, they'll be like, "Oh yeah, he was that guy." Um- But, you know, I've had setters who, who were, you know, cool, calm, and collected and, and more reserved, and that's okay. As long as they affected commu- uh, effectively communicate, we're, we're in a good spot.

Matt Rogers 25:13

And so, um, and you have to have big shoulders. You have to take the heat, you know, 'cause coach is gonna ride you regardless. I, I, I'll ride my setters and get on them about things. Yeah. Because, you know, in the end they are the quarterback- Yeah of the team, right? Point guard. You're the quarterback- That's right

Jordan Willis 25:31

of the team. So, you know, you, you've gotta make sure everybody's in a good spot and doing what they're supposed to do when they're supposed to do it on the floor- Yeah per se, right? So- Yeah. Um, but yeah, a lot of that is, uh, I guess taught me to have, uh, broad shoulders, you know? Uh- Yes my growing up and being the youngest, of course, getting beat up all the whole time by two older brothers.

Matt Rogers 25:54

Yeah. I had to get bigger than them so they'd quit beating up on me. I, I, I have the same, I have the same autobiography as you have. Oh. You know? Perfect. Yeah, right. Two older- Part and parcel I have two older brothers and two older sisters. Yeah. Ooh, so you maybe got it worse. Well, I don't know. They were a l- they were a lot older than me, so.

Jordan Willis 26:11

Okay. Fair enough. Yeah. Mm-hmm. But it was still... I got, I think I got the, the mothering from my two older sisters and got- Oh the fathering from my two older brothers. Oh, okay. You know? Yeah. They weren't, they weren't afraid to kick my butt and... Yeah, no, I got a lot of... They're six years and three years older, so all the- Yeah

Matt Rogers 26:31

wrestling moves from the '80s- Yeah got put on me, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Little, little, uh, figure four leg lock. You betcha. Yeah. Camel clutch. Yeah. Little Boston crab. Crack the skull. Sleeper hold. I passed out how many times to a sleeper hold. Like, thanks, guys. Yeah. Love ya. Yeah. Yeah. I had a cast at three for, for- Oh

Jordan Willis 26:51

breaking my arm from wrestling with my, you know, I was three and my bro- oldest brother was 18, and- Oh. Hmm. Yeah. I was- Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So- How I, how I happened to wake up that next morning with a broken arm, no one could explain. And yeah, I get that. Um, I, I'm, I'm intrigued too when you- Sure talk about the dynamic of the different positions for volleyball.

Matt Rogers 27:18

Mm-hmm. I'm intrigued with how you- Be- 'cause you were such a good setter and you set this, you know, who you were character-wise- Mm-hmm is it hard for you to coach setters that have a different personality and kind of play the game differently than you did? Did you go through that? Um, yeah, early in my career.

Jordan Willis 27:42

Right. Especially as assistant, being a, a offensive coordinator we'll call it- Yeah when I first started, uh, at A&M-Kingsville. Um, you know, having a, to learn, to learn that. But, uh, it, it, it goes back to what we were talking about, it's learning people, right? And how, how am I gonna be able to effectively communicate to this person? How can I meet them where they're at, right? Yeah. How can, how can I meet you where you're at and then get you to move up just a little bit, right? Yeah. And so initially, uh, yeah, but now, um, I, I think this, um, a good coach makes the pieces work, right? Yeah. And so, um, first we gotta go find those pieces, and then for me it's, it's, uh, it's, you gotta have good humans, right? Yep. Um, but being a good human doesn't mean you're outgoing or introverted or somewhere in between. It just means you're a good human, right? Right. Right. So, um- So that, that's that piece. But early on, sure. Now, uh, and personalities, it's kinda interesting you say that. Personalities. I think, uh, people's personalities in life tend to gravitate towards positions on those court for volleyball. And, and some can cross over, uh, and that happens, right? You know, some are just very good all-around volleyball players. And if that's the case, most of th- most of the time that is usually, uh, an O2, a setter, or a libero, right? Right. And that's just usually, that's what it is. It's just what it is. You know, if, if you're middle, you're usually hardworking and, um, you know, slightly a little crazy, but you know, really hardworking and, and willing to bust your butt for the greater good of the team. Right. Not a lot of, um, we'll say selfishness. That doesn't mean that that player can't also be a libero, right? 'Cause it- Yeah you know, or a setter. There's, again, there's more crossover, you know? And then, you know, outside hitters are, are special. Um, we love them, we need them. Um, a- and but I've also had different outsides, uh, different personality types there across the board too. But- Right you know, typically they, they have a, they have a, a niche about them, um, as far as wanting the ball and always wanting the ball, and wanting it some more. That's right. Um. Oh, there's another player. Okay, sent me. That's right. Uh- That's, that's, you're, you're talking about the shooting guard on basketball.

Matt Rogers 30:28

Yeah, right. You can't get- Always open, right? You can't give 'em enough shots. Yeah. He's always open. They're always open. You got three guys on you. "Wow, but I was open." That's right. "I had the shot." "No. All right, cool, man." No, it's all good. Um, obviously very, uh, you know- General Yeah general statements, but- Yeah but it's cool, you know? But it is cool. It's, but it's funny how many, like you said, certain characters will go to, will end up in certain positions. But it's like we just talked about, you look at the professional coaches. Mm-hmm. How many of them on volleyball were setters at one point? Sure. Baseball, how many of them were catchers? Right. Football, it's, it's typically your center or your, like, your middle linebacker. Mm-hmm. You know, for basketball, it's the point guard. You know, rarely- Right it's the, the big man. You know, you, how many middle hitters do you see that move on into coaching? Well, I mean, you know? Yeah. Um, uh, I mean, there's a few out there, right?

Jordan Willis 31:37

There's a few, but I'm, I'm saying percentagewise. Kevin Handley was a middle, right? Yeah, yeah. Wasn't Kevin Handley middle? Um, but I mean, you know- It's harder, it's harder to figure out which was, you know, how many, you know, get that- Yeah person in your mind that was a middle, right? I feel like, I feel like Dan Fisher was a middle.

Matt Rogers 31:53

Was Dan Fisher a middle? Maybe. But still, I mean, that's two out of how many, you know- That's right right, right, like. But how many of them were a setter or a lib, and you know, because- Yeah the, it was on them to really understand everybody else's position. When you're a setter or a point guard, you gotta understand everybody.

Jordan Willis 32:12

You gotta, you, you gotta know everybody's role. Mm-hmm. Right? If you're the middle, you gotta know your role. R- yeah, right. I, I think it takes a, a, a special, um- Volleyball IQ, we'll say Yeah. Yeah Um, to, to understand things. That doesn't mean you don't have it as a middle or an outside or an opposite or whatever Sure Because there's plenty of players that we all know, um, regardless of sport, who just c- can't or shouldn't coach. That's right. Like they just... And then there's plenty of players that we've had, um, position-wise, um, who You know, can coach. You know, like for me, two of my, uh, mentors and/or friends now, um, you know, my head coach when I was at Kingsville, uh, Shannon Alvarado, she was, she was middle, you know- Yeah in college. And, uh, Jen Salmons, Gomez is her last name now, she was a middle in college as well. Strangely enough, they played against each other. Did they really? Yeah, in, at junior college level. Kinda funny. Anyway, but both- Those, those are some fun stories later- Yeah added to that. It was, it was weird. Like, you know- Yeah you piece some things together. But small world, our community, right? Yeah. Small world. Um, and so, um, you know, they were head coaches as well, you know. Yeah. Now I'm in a situation, um, where I'm a head coach and, and my assistants have been, uh, one has been a setter, and now she's a head coach. Uh, one is a, was a s- uh, outside. Uh, and then my current assistant is a libero, you know. Um, and then, uh, you know, another assistant, uh, Dani, um, who's now the head coach at Cameron, she was, uh, a setter. Yeah. And so, uh, I don't know what Roydan is. He was just a beach bum. Roydan seems like, Roydan seems like an outside to me. Yeah. I mean, he was- At least in his, in his- I mean, he was a basketball player convert. He was more, he was the basketball player, yeah. Basketball convert. But anyway, oh, strange story, Danlyn was, uh, Shannon's setter at college too. No kidding. Oh, yeah, at Euler. It, crazy. What a small world, man. Yeah, it w- I mean, we live in a real small world, and that is not how we met, by the way. That is, that is- Really

Matt Rogers 34:42

even more crazy, that, through that connection, so. That's wild. Um, anyway. But that, but that's what I love about doing this podcast. I've, I've made so many friends and got to meet so many coaches. I'm like, "Oh, I'm so glad I got to know you." You know, I feel, I feel that way about you already. All right. And Danlyn and Roydan the same way, where it's just like... A- and I, and I love being able to share you with a bigger world, because how many people in Denver even know Florida Tech exists? Right? How many people in, in Washington know that there's a Florida Tech, and there's this great coach, and there's this great volleyball program, and there's this great school where you can get y- you know, this wonderful degree? Right. So th- that brings me a lot of joy. But I, I, I wanna- I appreciate that. Thank you. Well, it's, it's, it's true. I, I wanna get into your league a little bit. Sure, sure. 'Cause I- How many people are gonna argue that it's not the best league in the country, if not top two or three, right? Right. And, and you, um, what'd you play this year just in league? Five teams that were ranked in the top 25, or four teams in the top 25, including number one. At one point, and receiving votes, et cetera, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So, I, I wanna talk about your mentality as a coach when you look at that. Mm-hmm. And I've, I've had, I've had Tampa's coach on, on the, uh, podcast and love him, and, you know, and he's, he's a Hall of Famer and, you know, probably go down as one of the best that's ever done this.

Jordan Willis 36:17

Yeah. Uh, talking about Chris, yeah? Talking about Chris C- Yeah yeah, C- Coach Greg. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. You know, when you look at your league, does it get you excited to prepare or is there some trepidation where I've gotta, I've, I've gotta keep getting better every year? Even, even though that's always our mindset.

Matt Rogers 36:38

Mm-hmm. How does that league shape your day, day in and day out work? Yeah. Um, I think that was one of the most, uh, appealing, um... I mean, besides being in Florida- Yeah 10, 15 minutes from the beach, the campus is, you know- Yeah the, the, the majors, um- It's, it's gotta be the only, it's gotta be one of the few camps in the country that kinda feel like kinda how you grew up, right?

Jordan Willis 37:06

Yeah, a little bit, yeah. You know? I mean, as close as you can possibly get to. Sure. But, like, it, um- There's no nights off in our conference, Bill. Yeah. Uh, there's just not. Like, and, and at some point there's, there's always a team at the bottom of the conference simply because there's 11, and games get played, and someone happens to lose more than others. That doesn't mean they're a bad team. Yeah. That just means they happen to lose. But you have to prepare for everybody, and if you don't, you're gonna get got. Yeah. You will get got. That one time you overlook said team- That's right you're gonna get beat. And so you, you just can't do that in our conference. I mean, and we've got great coaches in there, extremely smart, and they, they work ti- uh, tirelessly, and so you have to, uh, counter that, right? And so- Yeah um, yeah. Uh, it's a challenge that I wanted to have that, um, you know, I don't think you get in most other conferences at Division I or, um, Division II, Division III. I mean, there's no, there's no easy win in our conference. And I, I, I will take that against anybody, you know? If, if we're gonna challenge people at D2 one to one, two to two, three, all the way down to our 11 and 12 next year, um, uh- Who's coming in next year? Announcement was made. We'll have 12 in the cl- uh, fall of '27. Flagler's joining. Who, who's that new school? Flagler's joining the conference. Oh, Flagler's joining. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Well, that makes sense. That was just announced. That makes a lot of sense. So I'm not, I'm not breaking any new news. No. It just, it's been announced. But, um- That, that's really smart for them and for you. I mean, the tr- Yeah just the travel alone. Footprint-wise for them, but you know, it makes it really tough for us on the non-conference side of things. Right. But anyway. Yeah. Um, you know, we'll, we'll take our teams across and, uh, you know, our number 11 will be whoever's number 11, you know? Yeah. And number 10- And maybe the other, other conference's number five or six too. Sure. We'll, we'll, we'll, uh, we'll just go straight across and- Yeah we'll win more of those games, guarantee. Yeah. Maybe n- we don't win, you know, well, I don't know, Tampa's pretty dang good. Yeah. So maybe we do win that. Yeah. Or you know, Lynn and Barry, they're really good. Uh- Yeah hey, let's, so let's match up.

Matt Rogers 39:35

Let's do it. Like, um, so we're, we're, we're fortunate. Um, I'm fortunate to be in this conference and be able to compete against high level teams and high level coaches, and um, just a great, great atmosphere. Um, and so that. It, I do enjoy the preparation, uh, of it all. Do you think you can be a collegiate head coach without that mindset, without the wanting that challenge? N- not so- I- not necessarily maybe to be the best, but wanting to beat the best? 嗯 Personally, I feel like that's a n- nes- necessary requirement. Yeah. Right? Um, now I think everybody that gets into coaching has that. Now, once you have that, "Hey, we wanna be competitive. We want, want this, um, this k- type of atmosphere," um, how do you get there now?

Jordan Willis 40:45

Right. Maybe not everybody gets to that. Not everybody has the right processes to get to the end. And- And how do you maintain it? I mean, once you get there is one thing. Right. The, the, that's another thing that's really special, is when you look at some of the best coaches, uh, in our field that have coached years. Yeah. You know? And now a lot of our old coaches are, are moving on. You know, like Catenacc retired, you know, last summer, right? Yeah. And one of the greatest of all times, right? Yeah. Doesn't matter what level. You know, Mary Rye's retired, one of the greatest. You know, Dave Shondell's still doing it at Purdue, but how much longer does he have, right? You know? Right. Cook just retired, right? Yeah. Like, so there's, um, it's, it's just really interesting, um, it's really interesting that, that, to be able to sustain success. And, and you, it's easy to say, "Hey, success breeds success, and when you're good it's easier to recruit," but I, I, I dare to say it's almost harder, um, in a sense, right? Like- 'Cause everybody, everybody wants you. Everybody wants you Everybody's recruiting that kid, so how are you gonna k- get that kid? That's right. 'Cause not everybody wants you as your school. 'Cause you, if you're already a, if you're high-level Division I, and you're Power Five, and you know, you know you're a, a top five player in the country, everybody wants you, right? That's right. Everybody. So how do you decide that you, you wanna take one school over the other? You want Nebraska over Texas, over Stanford, over Penn State- That's right over now Texas A&M. Yeah. Right? Like- Kentucky. Right Kentucky, right? Louisville. Like, who, uh, what? You know, like, now what do you, what kind of, where do, where in the country do you wanna live? Yeah. Right? What do you want your major to be? Well, it doesn't matter really, 'cause- Yeah you know they're gonna tell you what your major is at that level, right? Right. Of course. But it, same thing at D2. If you know you're getting recruited by a lot of the top D2 schools, um, you know, I, that's one side, so as a coach how do you compete with that?

Matt Rogers 42:53

What do you offer with staying within the rules, right? Yeah. And, and that, you know, and everything's just gotten more complicated over the last five years because of that, because there's only so much most of us can offer. Right. You know? Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Even at the D2 level, when I was a D2 coach, I never had a full complement of scholarships. Yeah. I was playing against everybody that did in the Great Lakes Valley. Everybody had 10 scholarships, and I had two. You know? So I had to get creative. How do I compete with 10 scholarships versus two? Right. You know? I had to be a developer. I had to be a teacher. I had to... Style of play- Yeah had to be different. So- And you had to have a good recruiting eye. I had to have a good eye. You had to find that diamond in the rough occasionally. That's right. You, you had to do... You had to work, uh, maybe a little harder in different areas. Yeah. Right? Yeah. You know? I couldn't go after the kid that Southern Indiana and Bellarmine were gonna go after because they were gonna say, "Hey, we're just gonna pay for your education." I, I couldn't do that. Sure. You know? Well, you know, I will say this, though, as you say that, like, and I'm sure you did- Hey, me and my sister, we talk. You gotta shoot your shot. You gotta shoot your shot. You gotta shoot your shot. That's right. You don't know, and in our case, you will never know if a kid, once a STEM major- Yeah

Jordan Willis 44:15

someone in science, technology, engineering, or math, wants to go to school in Florida. And wants a smaller, smaller classrooms. D2- Yep smaller classroom. You know, we have all the amenities here in Melbourne. Yep. We, you know, and it's 15 minutes from your dorm room doorstep to toes in the sand. Let me tell you, man. Let me tell you. You, you'll never know. Shoot your shot. That's right. Shoot your shot. Like, hey, maybe somebody is offering somebody- Yeah a little more money at a D1 or D2, whatever- Yeah NIL of 20 grand or something. Great, but you're in, you know, some cold, really cold northern state. That's right. UW-Green Bay can't offer what you can, right? Location. Illinois State can't offer you what you c- offer those things. Well, you, I, I wish I could compete there. Love Emily, known her a long time. Uh, small world stuff. Yeah. Uh, coached her cousin in club. Really? Yeah. And I, I try to get back and work her summer camps, uh, every so often. But ideally, yes, location-wise, we cannot offer, or we offer something different than- That's right a school in Colorado. You gotta, and you gotta lean into what your strengths are, right? That's it. That's it. And you, and you gotta hope there's kids out there that went, "That's my priority. Though, that's the strength I'm looking for." Absolutely. "And I get to play volleyball, and I get a degree." Correct. Right? A- and a major that's gonna help me. And- That's right uh, for us, you know, um, Florida Tech degree is, is fantastic, you know? Absolutely. And sometimes I get to going, "Man, I, I'm working at Florida Tech?" Like, there's some, these kids are through the moon smart. That's it. Yeah. What, with their IQ. We had, at the end of the year, we have, um, a senior design showcase, right? Yeah. Okay? I had a, my player was a part of this design, okay? This, th- since we're talking about this. Yeah. She was in computer science, computer engineering, and she was in this group, and it was partly AI. And, um, this machine, right? It would take a picture of you, right? It had, of your silhouette, and this machine that had a mo- robotic arm would rotate to the food, stab it with a fork, pick it up, and feed you Based on your silhouette, the picture that I took Right, the, you know- Height, weight, benches yeah, just right-hand stuff. I stood here, you stood here just like that, it would do. And the thought process was for, uh, people with amputees or elderly who couldn't feed themselves. Wow. Like, i- in that one, uh, uh, president's design showcase award, right? Right. Like, top honors, and I'm like, that is so smart. Like- That's good I'm the volleyball coach, like, what are we doing? You know, like, the, you know, different things. Another player was working on solar panels and how that's gonna be. I'm like, I'm like, oh my God. And, and we've had girls do a million different things from the past. I'm like, uh, uh, they got the right guy here? Sure do. It's the humility- You know? It's the humility factor coming back. Right, right. Right? Right, right, right. No, it, it, it, uh, we are... I- if you don't think this, if, and you work here, um, there's something wrong with you. We are extremely blessed to be here with the people that we've got and the ingenuity and, um, it, it's a great place anyway.

Matt Rogers 47:54

What, what a great advertisement for Floritech. Well, well done, Gerald. Yeah, thanks, man. It's, it's perfect. That's great. Um, I could talk your ear off. I, I, I wanna wrap this section up and get into recruiting- Yeah with you for part two, but I wanna bring this full circle. Sure, sure. We, we talked about coaching coaches, you know? And- Yeah at the start of this, and I wanna bring it back to that What co- what questions aren't being asked enough of us when we interview for jobs? What do you- Wow. I always go into jobs and expect them to say, "All right, Matt, here's a whiteboard. Sh- show me with three seconds left, you're down two, what are you gonna do with the ball out of bounds?" You know? I, I, I ex- I, I've never had that. I must have interviewed for 20 head college jobs over the last 30 years. Yeah. And I don't think anybody's ever asked me to de- design a play for them. Right. So, but- No one has for me either. So what are, what are those things that, and, and forget the plays, but what are some of those things, to go back to what we were talking about, your humility, your ability to handle personalities, the, the ability- Mm

Jordan Willis 49:02

to deal with conflict. Are there questions that need to be asked when we're hiring coaches, so we know what they can handle, and know where we have to get involved and help out? Yeah, I, I think, um, I, I've been on some, some great interviews, uh, with some good questions, and conflict resolution, right, is huge.

Matt Rogers 49:26

Yes. Right? Like- Yeah you know, conflict resolution, and you can design questions around that in a million different ways. You could just ask, "Hey, how do you deal with conflict resolution?" Right? Or, you know, "Hey," you know, "said problem comes up, how, how are you gonna handle this situation?" Give me an example of one you had to deal with. Give me an example of when you ha- had to deal with a player, uh, player/player conflict issue, or in the office, or, you know, with, uh, the business office, registrar, HR, whatever. You know, um, I think that that is, that is something. One of, one of the most interesting questions I've ever a- was asked is, "What book are you currently reading?" Boy, that speaks to IQ, doesn't it, for a lot of people, that, that answer? Right, like, "Hey, I'm not reading a book right now." Oh, so what does that answer mean? Um, maybe you are reading a book, and the book is The Cat in the Hat. What does that mean? Are you reading that for pleasure, or do you have children? You know what I'm saying? Like, you know- If you don't have children... Yeah, like what i- wh- you know? Like, what does that- What does that say? I'm reading, you know, uh, What's Your Why by, you know, Simon Sine- Sinek or- Yeah, yeah you know, a book by John Gordon or John Maxwell or whatever. Like- Right you know, like what does that say? What does that say? You know, hey, hey, I'm reading, um, X-Men, you know, like comic book right now, like- Yeah that's different and cool, but, you know, maybe that's lends itself to your personality. I mean, there's a lot of different things, but you do get to learn about somebody- Yeah if you ask certain questions. And so, you know, some questions, you know, could, could be around How do you work around in the office, right? Yeah. Like, you have to be able to get along with people. How, how, how do you work, in my case, right? How do I work with a basketball coach when we have l- crossover seasons, huh, Matt? That's right. You're at the beginning of yours, and I'm at the end of the mine. That's right. Both equally, "equally," of- And, and many times both using the same gym over those weeks, right? The only gym, right? The only gym. So you know, what do you do, right? Like- What a great question. I mean, r- just right there. Sure. Sure. To speak to a coach's humility and their, their ability to, to be creative, and their ability to collaborate. Absolutely. So, like, th- tho- those are things, because we get thrust into situations, right?

Jordan Willis 52:06

And, and depends on the department, right? Like- Right are you, are you in a hands-off situation? So if your department's hands-off, here's your budget, go after it, well, then you should be asking questions of how do you handle your budgets? What do you know about ordering gear? What was your responsibilities at your last place?

Matt Rogers 52:24

You know, um, inventory or travel or what, and anything under the sun on that, because you can't just give them a budget and expect them to know what's going on, can you? That's right. And, and is that, if you do, is that realistic? And is that fair, right? Like, it's, uh, that would be like, "Here, here's the playbook. Go learn it. We're gonna go play a game. We'll see you on Friday," right? That's, that's how, I think that's 80% of how most athletic departments work. Yeah. And, and I, and I hope I'm wrong. Yeah, I mean, I, de- it just depends, because at the level, right, you can get away with operating that way at some Power Four school, right?

Jordan Willis 53:06

Because you're, you're hoping, and you've done your du- due diligence that this person has done this enough or is, has enough support or whatever from their mentors or whatever, that they're ready for this job, right? Well- It's the, it's the other way, right? Well, go, go, go look at, go look at the athletic staff directory of, uh, University of Florida- Sure

Matt Rogers 53:28

compared to yours. Right. I mean, it'll take you a half an hour to scroll through all the names- that work- Entitled for athletics at the University of Florida. Right. You, Florida Tech's got a n- you guys got a nice staff. Right. But I can get through it in about 35 seconds. Yeah, at maybe two, three, four swipes maybe. That's right. So if you- So if I'm a Power Four coach, man, I have s- I, you know, I've got somebody that's responsible just for wet towels. Uh, you know- Right I've got somebody that's just responsible for getting me ready to interview for, for any- anything where I'm talking to the media. Right. Right? I mean, whi- which is a whole nother thing, like how, oh, man, that, that's, that's just brings up a whole nother question when you're at that level. Right. How many coaches- coach anymore at that level? How many actually are getting into it? Like- Right and I know we would see Nick Saban when he was coaching football at Alabama, he would run some stuff. But was he at every practice all the time, or was he at some banquet, or was he s- recruiting somewhere? And maybe he was, maybe he was so hands-on, but is every coach like that? Because I know of some coaches who would show up to practice for the first five, 10 minutes, and then have to leave, right? Yeah, yeah. Like, that's crazy for me even to say, but that it's happened. They have somewhere to go because they gotta, you know, kiss hands and shake babies, you know? That's right. That's right. So- I mean, can, can you imagine having, uh, an assistant to your assistant coach responsible for just the outside hitters, and then have, you know- Yeah having a staff that backed each other up just by position? And so- Right it's, it's, it's, it's a crazy world. The higher you get, the more you can be a leader, because you don't have to be the master teacher, you don't have to be the fundraiser, you don't have to do this and that. You know, most- Right most head coaches at D III, NAIA, D II, small D I, you're doing everything. You're the- You're wearing all hats you're wearing all hats. All hats. You're probably doing some laundry, you're probably cleaning locker rooms. You're probably... You're, you're ordering the buses, you're ordering shoes. Yeah. You're- And, and, and 'cause here we are. Yeah. And you're working the men's play- men's lacrosse playoff game, like I did on Sunday- That's right because there wasn't enough student workers here to help. Like, you- That's right you, you're willing to do whatever. You, you- That's right do the dirty work. Yeah. And that's okay. Like, I, that, that goes into the whole, uh, what did you get in this for? 'Cause we didn't get into this for the money. That's right. Let's not, let's not fool anybody. Like, for- You got, you got into the wrong profession if you did. Yeah. I- if you, you gotta... If you wanted this life, you want it because you wanna improve, uh, the lives of others, and my avenue right now happens to be through volleyball, right?

Jordan Willis 56:20

That's right. Yeah. And, and how, how can I do that? How can I continue to perpetuate that, changing of lives, right? So it's just different. It's interesting completely for sure. I, I do like to think, though going back to your deal, that we're, um, we're trying to do right. Um, let's see the greater good of things, right?

Matt Rogers 56:45

Yeah. Let's see the greater good of things. Well, my friend, this was awesome. You've got somebody at your door, so we'll end this section and let you deal with the person- Perfect at your door. Um, so impressed with you. So thankful that I now have you in my life, 'cause I'm gonna bother you all the time. I want more of these conversations- Perfect. I'm in man, they're so great. Um, so thankful for you that you give opportunities to great people like the Silvas, and, uh, you, you work with your staff to help them get the opportunities to be head coaches and advance their career. So, um, I haven't been to your practice yet. I'm gonna make it a priority over the next year or two to come down and watch a practice. Yeah. Um, keep doing what you're doing, and come back on Monday. Coach and I are gonna dive into recruiting. Thanks, Coach. Thank you

57:32

And that's a wrap for part one of my conversation with Coach Jordan Willis. He just is one of those coaches who reminds you that success and significance don't have to be competing ideas. Throughout this conversation, there was a consistent theme: build great relationships, invest in people, create high standards, and trust that the results will follow. Whether he was talking about rebuilding programs, or developing players, or leading staff members, or navigating adversity, the message was remarkably consistent. The other thing that stands out to me is how comfortable Coach is in his own skin. He doesn't sound like he's trying to be somebody else. He has a clear vision for who he is, what he values, and what he wants Florida Tech volleyball to become. That's a trait that seems to show up in a lot of successful leaders. But we're not done yet. Part two of our conversation shifts into recruiting, and Jordan shares some outstanding insights on talent evaluation, communication, fit, and what separates recruits who earn opportunities from those who struggle to get traction. If you're a recruiter, a parent, or a coach, you're gonna wanna come back for that conversation. Until then, visit coachmattrogers.com for recruiting resources, weekly blogs, podcast archives, and more. And like I told you in the beginning of the podcast, we're gonna take a little break after that next episode, and if you're a sponsor or someone that would like to be a sponsor of the show, please reach out to me Until next time, stay focused on what you can control, stay humble, and keep chasing significance