Becoming UnDone

02/22/2025

02/07/2025

First installment in my new series on the Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Coach Dick Tomey is up. I sit down with ESPN Honolulu's Lance Tominaga to discuss Coach's life and his 10 years as the head coach at University of Hawaii Athletics football. Hope you enjoy!

02/01/2025

New multi-part docu-series on the Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Dick Tomey starts next week! Part 1 will discuss Coach Tomey's upbringing and early coaching success at the University of Hawaii Athletics. Hear my conversation with Lance Tominaga, author of Rise of the Rainbow Warriors. More coming in the next several weeks! If you have a Coach Tomey story to share or would like to be included, let me know. Share with a friend, former coach, or teammate!

01/31/2025

Ready for a story of growth, reinvention, and relentless belief in what's possible? Join me as I delve into the inspiring journey of my friend, accomplished gymnast and transformational mindset mentor, Mary Reiss Farias.

10/31/2024

Relatable?

10/31/2024

Last week, I shared my story of countless hours, missed milestones, and the reality that respect in some fields is still an uphill battle.

Although I came at it from my experience as an athletic trainer, I know we are not alone in this. In athletics, support staff of all kinds can feel the same way. Equipment managers, strength coaches, compliance officers, media relations, academic coordinators. The list goes on and on.

Outside of athletics, fields like education and nursing come to mind.

But the sad part is, we aren't alone.

Today, my focus is shifting to a question that drove me for years: 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?

Working in athletic training taught me one thing above all else—respect and value must be earned, but they must also be given in return. I believe solutions start with administrators recognizing the vital role support staff play in the success of every athlete and every program. I know this is the case in some settings, but in my experience and judging by countless conversations I've had with professionals in the field, it is 𝗳𝗮𝗿 from the standard. It’s high time we ask for what we need, unapologetically. Respect. Reasonable hours. Living wages.

Change won’t come from silence, but I’m encouraged by how many people stand ready to be heard. To every AT, to every educator, and to anyone feeling undervalued: 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

10/29/2024

After a great week of connection with lots of new friends who shared their struggles and their triumphs, I decided to put together a quick one on three ways to know it's time to quit your job.

Seasoned with a 30+ year-old tale of woe from a birthday party at Chip McElearney's house that I just COULDN'T leave, I hope you'll enjoy listening to this one as much as I did creating it!

Spoiler alert: I finally made it home.

Mark Jones

10/29/2024

If my posts about athletic training last week resonated with you and you are CONSIDERING leaving college sports or otherwise making a big career shift, I'd love to talk to you.

If you ALREADY HAVE, I'd love to talk to you, too.

My post-athletics second (higher ed teaching) and now third (higher ed admin) careers are about PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT. My podcast is about what we do when our world falls apart and how we can put it back together. Better.

If you or someone you know is or has been in this space and are struggling, I'd love to offer my ear and to help you in the way I wish someone would have helped me.

For real.

Hit me up.

I'm selling NOTHING. I just want to lend an ear and help you sort through what you're going or have gone through.

You. Aren't. Done. YET.

Let's connect.

10/24/2024

Back on my bullmess about jobs in college sports. Thought #2 about the whole NIL/staffers not getting paid what we/they are worth:

There ARE solutions that have been implemented. Not every college job is trash. Some places have found ways to make the hours be manageable. Some salaries actually ARE competitive. In the coming days, I'd like to spotlight a few that are worth consideration and worth discussing.

And as much as I have bemoaned NIL and the transfer portal wrecking college sports, there's also an OPPORTUNITY. You can copy money. You can copy facilities. But you can't copy CULTURE. A winning program with skilled staff who know and are celebrated for their worth will take better care of the athletes the school attracts than one that doesn't.

This is undeniable.

We live in an era where a student athlete could have a bad interaction with an athletic trainer, a strength coach, or an equipment manager in the morning and be in the portal by the afternoon because of it.

Culture MATTERS now MORE THAN EVER. It's never been easier for student athletes to look for and find greener grass. So it's never been more important for athletics departments to make sure their grass is as green as it can be.

This means salaries.

Not just competitive with other schools. It means representative of actual value brought to the organization. If NIL collectives can be created and tapped to pay athletes directly, then why can't they do the same to support those who care for them on a daily basis?

It means development opportunities. If we really believe that our highest paid employees, namely head coaches and ADs, are world-class leaders, then why not make their teaching and mentorship accessible by those in the organization? Or at the very least a program for aspiring leaders in connection with relevant academic programs on campus?

It means celebrating excellence, too.

I've received and given personal, hand-written, thank yous. I've gotten them from student athletes. But never a coach or an administrator other than Ryden. It costs nothing. But it means so much.

You want to take care of your team? Pay them. Grow them. Thank them. And watch them be the biggest strength your program can brag about. And watch your recruitment problem disappear.

10/23/2024

I didn't expect the fantastic response to my post yesterday, but I'm simultaneously thankful for it AND sorry to hear that so many have experienced the same or similar. At the risk of being nothing but another naysayer voice complaining about all the wrongs and injustices that my profession has had to endure, I'd like to point out three things. FIRST:

1. We ATs aren't alone. I didn't even know what an AT was until college, but as soon as I discovered it, it sounded like a dream job. I loved sports. And I loved helping people. When I heard it was a THING, it was immediately everything I'd ever dreamed of.

I am sure my friends in strength & conditioning, media relations, equipment staff, and others have similar stories of how the thing they loved intersecting with sport was a DREAM. Truth is, even many coaches.

But when some coaches and administrators can command such incredible salaries (and now athletes), I think they can lose sight of what its like for the rest of us. If we all got what we thought were dream jobs but soon after walked away, it isn't a "me" problem. It's a SYSTEMIC problem.

If I were being paid crazy money but work was consuming my life, it might be defensible. If I were paid reasonable money but deeply respected and appreciated, it might be defensible. But when the hours are atrocious and I can't afford to live, it's unsustainable. And when a once-committed professional walks away for good, coaches lose. Athletes lose. Society loses.

#2 coming tomorrow.