Sean Walsh retweeted
“Nick Saban saved my career.”
We all need that person who is willing to give you a chance.
A great story from Steve Sarkisian shows his path, his heart, and his passion for coaching.
Steve Sarkisian reveals he couldn’t get a job interview in 2015 before Nick Saban gave him a $30,000/yr analyst job that saved his career
“In 2015, I had gotten fired at USC, gone to recovery, started working on me personally. Coming out of that, I couldn’t get a job. In 2016, I was ready to go do TV.”
“I couldn’t get an interview for a job. And Nick Saban saved my career. He offered me an analyst job. I was willing to do it for free.”
“But he said, ‘I gotta pay you $30,000 so you can get benefits.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do that.’ I’m forever indebted to him. Because at that time, somebody in life has got to give all of us a second chance.”
“It totally changed my perspective. It changed my perspective on how I coach. How I deal with our players. Because everybody’s going through stuff. Everybody’s got stuff.”
“Whatever your stuff is, you’re just trying to get through it. If I can be that guy that can extend that olive branch to our players as we go through this journey, I always lean back to that time.”
“Here’s the greatest coach of all time in our era. For whatever reason, he saw something in me. He gave me a chance. He gave me a shot.”
“From there, he actually makes me the offensive coordinator for the National Championship game against Clemson. And I was an analyst. I wasn’t even a coach.”
Sean Walsh retweeted
Norway's youth sports model is super unique:
• No scorekeeping until age 13
• Participation trophies for everyone
• No travel teams or national championships
• No online publishing of scores or athlete rankings
• Parents typically spend less than $1,000 per child per year
The result?
A 93% participation rate — 40 points higher than the U.S. — and more Winter Olympic medals than any other country in history, despite Norway having a population comparable to the Philadelphia metro area (5.6 million).
And it's not just winter sports...
Norway now produces some of the world’s best summer sport athletes, including Erling Haaland (soccer), Casper Ruud (tennis), Viktor Hovland (golf), and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (track and field).
So if you want to learn more about how Norway's youth sports system actually works (and what other countries can learn from it), here's an essay I recently wrote during the Winter Olympics that breaks it all down.
READ: huddleup.substack.com/p/how-…
Sean Walsh retweeted
Former Penguins forward Bobby Farnham is a Stanley Cup champion as an investor with the Hurricanes.
(Daniel Kubus/Getty Images)
Sean Walsh retweeted
LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY from Elite Edge 2026. With more than 40 coaches from college and junior hockey participating, this is the best opportunity for development and showcase in the south this summer. Very limited space remains - register on our website (link in bio).
Gutsy call by Coop going with the 2nd PP unit to start... it paid off. Coop has such a good feel for his team
Sean Walsh retweeted
Luke Falk shared a Mike Leach story that stopped me cold:
Two kids. One rich. One poor.
Every training camp, Coach Leach told his team about these 2 kids.
The rich kid has two choices.
Get soft. Get entitled. Expect everything handed to him because he was handed more.
Or take the resources, the coaching, the opportunities, and compound them into something greater.
The poor kid has two choices too.
Say nobody gave him anything. Blame the world. Make his circumstances the reason he never became what he could have been.
Or outwork everyone in the room.
Luke said the locker room had both. Kids from wealth. Kids from nothing. Kids with every advantage. Kids who scraped for every inch.
Same choice for all of them.
Ownership or victimhood.
Fuel or excuse.
The rich kid can waste the head start or build on it.
The poor kid can drown in the deficit or weaponize it.
Greatness doesn't come from where you start.
It comes from which kid you choose to feed.
Credit to @coachlukefalk for continuing to share golden nuggets about Coach’s legacy
Sean Walsh retweeted
ELITE EDGE 2026 - Just over one month away! Are you registered yet for the top development and showcase opportunity this summer? More than 30 college and junior coaches, seminars, off-ice training, live podcasts! Join us for our 20th year and make it the best yet!
I've seen a lot of comments about NCAA D3 athletics. Unless you have watched recently, I suggest you either don't comment or go watch. D3 is much better than what people think, especially those who haven't watched
Sean Walsh retweeted
The 10 Truths Parents Rarely See
1. Coaches lose sleep.
2. Decisions aren’t personal.
3. Playing time is complex.
4. Culture matters more than stats.
5. Accountability is care.
6. Coaches invest emotionally.
7. Development isn’t instant.
8. Hard feedback is intentional.
9. Wins don’t tell the whole story.
10. Coaches remember kids forever.
Perspective matters.
Sean Walsh retweeted
Arkansas was far from elite.
Arkansas is elite with John Calipari.
St. John’s was far from elite.
St. John’s is elite with Rick Pitino.
Michigan was far from elite.
Michigan is elite with Dusty May.
Coaching matters.
Sean Walsh retweeted
Everyone reaches out when a Head Coach gets a job - either congratulations or wanting a position on staff
Few reach out when a Head Coach is let go
Until you’re through it, you don’t know how much it means & the impact it makes hearing from others in the hard times

















