SPEAKER_00 0:04

You're listening to the Hanging with the AD podcast, where we break down hot topics in athletic administration and lessons learned through leadership. Now, here are your hosts, Josh Matthews and Don Baker.

SPEAKER_03 0:17

Well, you are in for a treat today. Each year, we're joined by one of our most popular and longstanding guests, leadership author and speaker, Brian Dodd, as he chairs his top ten sports books of the year. This episode has become a holiday tradition for our listeners and for us, giving coaches, athletic directors, and leaders everywhere a perfect reading list to recharge, reflect, and grow heading into the new year. From championship stories and leadership lessons to quick reads that challenge the way we think, this year's lineup has something for everyone, including a few surprises along the way. So grab your notebook and add a few titles to that Christmas list and enjoy this year's conversation with our good friend, Brian Dodd. Welcome to another special edition of the Hanging with the AD podcast. Today we have the privilege of welcoming back a familiar face, our most tenured guest, Brian Dodd. This episode has become a highlight of our year because Brian joins us annually to unveil his top 10 sports books, giving us plenty of ideas for our Christmas list and leadership libraries. Brian's blog, Brian Dodd on Leadership, continues to be a must-read for anyone in or out of formal leadership roles, consistently reaching more than 70,000 readers each month. He's an author, co-host of the Pursuit of Service podcast, and truthfully our resident expert when it comes to curating an annual list of books that challenge and inspire us. Brian, thanks so much for joining us once again.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Oh my heavens, Don. And Josh, great to see you again. And we were talking five years we've been doing this. So yeah, it's it's a thrill to be back. And yeah, it's an honor to get some great resources in the hands of the athletic directors so they can lead their coaches and teams better. And man, this is a highlight of my year also. So looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Awesome. Now, and for those of you who may be new uh to Brian's work, uh Josh has affectionately dubbed him the leadership whisperer. Brian has a unique ability really to pull leadership insights from every corner of life. And today he's here to share the standout reads from the past year that he believes will help athletic leaders grow. But before we start diving into those titles and before Josh and I begin feeling like complete underachievers, as we do every year when it comes to this episode in the reading department, Brian, we got to know how many books have you read this year? Uh, and did you or will you hit your annual reading goal?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Okay, so I knew this question was coming, and I'm kind of embarrassed because I think one year we did this, I cleared 50. Yeah, and last year I cleared 30, and I think I'm only like at 25 this year.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Oh, slacking.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Hey, I got a chance.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

I think I'm at 22, 23, so uh I got a chance.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Here's what's happened I've had some increased responsibilities at my church, and I'm having to do a lot of stuff reading into that area. So the the leisure reading is you know, it's been a great trade, though, so I don't mind that at all. But yeah, I'm I'm I'm I'm starting to show some decline. I'm at 25.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Wow, okay. He's human, he's human.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Gives the rest of us a chance to say we did something Brian Dodd did.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Now, here's the deal. I at least try to get in a minimum of 20 to 30 pages every day, though. So I've still done very well on that.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Yeah, that's a feat there because uh the eyes start getting heavy after about 10. And if you do it at the wrong time, those 20 to 30 turn into uh feel like 50 or 60, right? Yeah, exactly. That's good stuff there. All right, Brian. Let's begin walking through your top 10 recommended leadership books, and most of them are gonna be sports books, but not all of them this year. So our audience is gonna get a little uh different taste, but uh for our audience, we'll also note the page count, understanding that everyone has their own preferred reading range, so uh it'll give folks a chance to say, uh yeah, that one's out of my league or out of my page range, or hey, I maybe want to put that one in my stocking this year. So um I think the lesson to be learned for our next selection, our first selection is that wisdom doesn't always require a lot of pages. Sometimes the most powerful insights come in quick, punchy bursts from someone who has lived at the highest level at 144 pages. This is a fast read, but packed with decades of experience, humor, and perspective. Our first selection is called Hurdlesms Wit and Wisdom from a Lifetime in Baseball. In this book, Clint Hurdle, a legendary MLB player, heading coach, manager, and now special assistant to the GM. Uh, I don't know if he's special assistant to the new GM at the Colorado Rockies, but he was at the time of uh writing the book. He shares some of his most memorable stories uh from a career spent leading, learning, and laughing his way through the world of professional baseball. And I would add, if you want to know more about the background of this book, you could go listen to our mutual friend Mike Lynch's interview with Clint Hurdle on Lynch with a Leader, episode 227. Uh, that'd be great uh to get a background of where this book came from. But Clint Hurdle's book, Hurdalism, tell us a little bit more about it, Brian.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah, there's two people on here whose books I'm just very fond of because they're personal friends. And Coach Hurdle and his book, Hurdalisms, is one of the two. Um yeah, you know, Don mentioned stocking stuffers earlier. The size of this book, this and another book in particular, make great stocking stuffers just due to the size of the book. It's one of those smaller books you can put in your bag if you're traveling or something of that nature. But uh Coach Hurdle and I, each week, Mike Lynch has a weekly nationwide Zoom Bible study for high school, collegiate, uh, minor league, and professional MLB coaches and scouts in the area of baseball. And so I know some of your listeners are on that. And for anybody that wants to be a part of that, that's an athletic director, you can just email Mike Lynch at Northstarchurch.org and he can get you signed up. But yeah, Coach Hurdle is a friend of mine. He's on that study, which I am a part of. And it is 25 lessons he's learned in his lifetime. And uh it's funny, when he wrote the book, he was a special assistant to the GM. Then he moved down to uh special assistant to the manager, he was a bench coach, right? And like you said, they just had some changes at the top, so who knows how that's gonna go. But I'll just give you one example. Uh, one of his lessons he teaches is always find a good pitch to hit. And that's really a lesson about delayed gratification. And, you know, really define as a leader what your sweet spot is and where you get your greatest success. And don't quote unquote chase pitches out of that zone. Yeah, you know, even if something seems like a good opportunity, let it be a called strike, you know, and wait for a good pitch to hit. And so that's just one of the many lessons on there. Another one is called shower well, and that's a lesson about failure. That, okay, when the game's over, and let's just say it was just a disaster, okay. Or let's say you, as an athletic director, it's just a bad season or a bad day or a bad meeting. Okay, go home, shower well, and then get dressed and we start all over again. You know, leave it in the shower. And so those are just two examples. And of course, he's got personal stories with each of these lessons, but uh, but yeah, it's a fun read, it's an easy read. If you're looking for just a good, easy gift, hurdles probably it in another book on here would probably be top of my list for a good, easy stocking stuffer gift.

SPEAKER_02 8:30

Yeah, that's that's good. Um, I heard recently on another podcast the uh a leadership lesson that goes along with what Clint Hurdle said there said you don't have to swing at every pitch, right? Kind of a leadership style or or action item. You don't have to swing at every pitch. But I also wanted to mention Brian, we left off. If you are a fan of John Gordon, John Gordon kind of backed this book. He helped Clint Hurdle write it and gave him advice and published it or helped publish this. So uh if you're a John Gordon fan, this may be right up your alley, even though his name's not on it. But Clint Hurdle um used him as consulting on this.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

And John did a podcast interview with him also for that reason. So uh yeah, and I'll throw this in before we go to the next book. If you look at say Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, all those types of communication vehicles, in my opinion, the best leadership content created in 2025 was by Clint Hurdle. Promoting and talking about this book.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

That's awesome. Yeah, that's a that's a heck of an endorsement as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Now go go tracking down on your social media channels.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

Um Brian, our second selection stays in the typical athletic director Paige Willhouse, around 210 pages. Coaching today is more challenging than ever, really, regardless of the level. Uh when you look at uh tight budgets, long hours, overzealous parents, when you look at the NCAA level, the transfer portal, NIL deals, social media, um today's coaches are really faced with high expectations and little things. And that's not just now. Uh, I think you know that last piece has always been part of coaching. Tell us about your take on coaching with purpose, uh, the game plan that helps coaches build winners on and off the field by Keith Madison.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Okay, so this is my second favorite book. Uh, also because Coach Madison's part of that Bible study. Okay, so he's a personal friend as well. If you're not familiar with Keith Madison, he was the head baseball coach of Kentucky for over 20 years. He's in three different Hall of Fames. Um, he now is part of the SEC network, calling college baseball games. And I'll say this he's in his 70s, he's one of the kindest, wisest men I've ever met. And I'm just gonna give you the general premise of his book. In coaching with purpose, you're not coaching baseball, you're not coaching football, you're not coaching volleyball, you're not coaching golf. Okay, I'll just stick with baseball. You don't coach baseball, you coach baseball players. Right. And that is a subtle but significant twist on your thinking as a leader. And so coach breaks the book down into four main sections: first base, second base, third base, and home. And he's got a great theory. And he he was talking to me one day, he goes, Brian, do you know what the purpose of when somebody's on first base, what their purpose is? And I I I could have had a guess, but I'm not gonna try to outsmart a Hall of Fame coach. And I'm like, no, sir. He goes, When somebody's on base, the goal is to get them home. And this is a book about getting young athletes home. And home could be a myriad of different things, right? Um, but it is taking coaching to a completely higher level, elevating the profession and the role of coaches, reminding them of what's important, and kind of really giving them a sense of what's beyond the scoreboard. And it also, from a structure standpoint, is a small book, fits into your bag well, fits with depending on your stocking, would fit in it well. And of the 10 books on here, this and Hurdle Islam's, I think, are the two stocking stuffers, just due to the size of the book. But excellent book because of my personal relationship. Those two books are my the two favorites of the 10th.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

All right, I gotta go measure my stocking and then measure the book so I can make sure. Exactly. Yeah, good life lesson right there for sure. Uh, by the way, we'll just keep plugging Mike Lynch's podcast uh because he is our podcast mentor. That's episode 225 with Keith Madison there on Lynch with a leader. So uh if you get tired of listening to us, Mike Lynch will take you a listen and you can get a get an idea of this book. But all right, next on the list uh is a theme you've brought to us many times before. It's the journey to a championship. Everybody wants to know how a team, a program, association got to a championship. There's always so much to learn by studying the puzzle pieces that fit together to create a winner, both on and off the field. Uh the the next selection, Leap Year by Zach Berman, comes in about 300 pages, so a little bit bigger, and dives deep into that very process. Brian, tell us more about what makes Leap Year such a compelling book. Uh, what it takes to build a champion.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, you know, uh if somebody were to say, Brian, what is your favorite genre of books? Books about championship teams or players, to me is my favorite, because in essence they're history books. So this is a book about last year's Super Bowl champion, Philadelphia Eagles. And whenever you look at a championship team, you're looking at roster construction, you're looking at talent evaluation, talent acquisition, hard decisions, role of coaches, uh, conflict within teams, overcoming adversity, how to handle success, how to handle failure, all these different types of things. I just think books about championship teams or individuals are just the best all-encompassing books you can find. So for leap year, like I said, it's last year's Philadelphia Eagles. A lot of the book break, you know, it'll go through and give you an analysis of each game they played in the season. And those are great. I mean, if you're a fan, they're great. That's nothing if you didn't do a web search you couldn't find, you know. But what I really like, there's these sections between games called timeouts. And that's when they do profiles of important individuals on the team. So you've got uh timeouts and profiles about Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley and you know, different people on the team. My favorite one was on Howie Roseman. And I'll just read you something that it says in there. And what we learn about Howie Roseman is how much he values consistency. And consistency in his mind is the number one indicator of sustained success. They've made the playoffs seven of eight years. They're going to make it again this year, so it'll be eight of nine at the end of the year. They've played in three Super Bowls, uh, winning one, winning two of them. Jeffrey Lurie says, I've known for years he's the best GM in football. He's always thinking about what could improve the team. 365 days a year. He's not risk averse, he's aggressive. That's what I want. We've collaborated for 20-something years. He's incredibly good, a future Hall of Fame GM. So um, what you get out of that is the value of aggressiveness. If you don't like the word aggressive, I would just change it then to say the dangers of passivity. You know, that's a that's a much softer way of saying aggressiveness. Uh, he talks about risk taking. Why do you do risk taking as a leader? You just don't want any regrets when it's all over. And all leadership is temporary. Somebody will fill all our seats. If nothing else, we will pass away one day. Okay, but all leadership is temporary. And so the value of risk taking and putting risk taking in its proper context. And once again, consistency is the foundation of success. The ability to have small wins every day and have, and if you stack days and compound individual and daily success, that's what makes champions. And that is really kind of a big takeaway from leap year.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

That's really good. We talk about stacking days in my house with my kids, right? Just those little things, just stack days, and then that turns into bigger things. Now we we take a shift uh from a championship team to looking at an individual. So I think the lesson to be learned from our next pick is that every once in a generation we witness greatness so overwhelming that it changes the way that we see the sport forever. So a little over 300 pages, this book captures that exact moment. Our next election is the Tiger Slam, the inside story of the greatest golf ever played by Kevin Cook. Brian, walk us through what readers are going to discover inside the Tiger Slam and why this moment still stands as the gold standard of excellence.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Yeah, this, other than the um personal affinity I had for the very first two books we talked about, this is probably my favorite sports leadership book of the year. And uh it tracks Tigers' performance from the year 2000 to 2001. What I like about this book is it deals with performance. It doesn't deal with Tigers' personal life or any of those types of things. There's other books written about that, you know, Armin Katayan and some other people have written books about that. This literally deals with that one year in which we saw what's known as the great man theory in action. And the great man theory is if they're on the court or they're on the field or they're, you know, in the game, they're winning. Just somehow, the sheer force of their personality, their will, their skills, and we see it, as you said, every few generations, or a few every generation. Last year, for some reason, I picked the Kansas City Chiefs over the Eagles in the Super Bowl, which I was wrong on. But my thing was the great man theory. Until somebody beats Patrick Mahomes, I'm with him. It's the great man theory. Okay. And uh, and so what you have here's the one thing I'd tell you about Tiger that I learned in this book. Tiger looked for every single area to improve. And specifically, what I found interesting is he was the forerunner in equipment, certain types of golf balls and certain types of clubs. He literally had a technological advantage every time he stepped on the on the course. He had a mental advantage, he had a physical advantage. Now, once everybody saw how those balls traveled and how they declined at such rapid rates when he was doing drop shots and things like that, they had their teams, and their teams are like Nike and Titleists, that's who their teams of at that level are. But Tiger was Tiger searched for advantages everywhere. And if you're going to be a success as an athletic director or in any industry, success is always found in the margins. And no matter how talented you or your organization may be, there's places within that organization, could be equipment, could be scheduling, could be time management, could be boosters, could it could be any number of different things. But the ability to identify and leverage the margins is really what takes an organization from being good to great and from great to historic.

unknown 20:50

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 20:51

Well, you just talked about success, it doesn't happen by accident. Winning doesn't happen by accident. I think that goes uh for our next election as well. It's the uh winning is the result of intentional decisions, smart systems, and the right people pulling the right levers. At 304 pages, this book gives us a front row seat to how elite organizations build sustainable success. Our next picture is called The Franchise: The Business of Building Winning Teams by Craig Custis. Brian, break this one down for us. What stood out in the franchise and how leaders, how can leaders apply those lessons in their own programs?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Okay, Craig Custis is one of the lead editors for The Athletic. And if you don't read The Athletic, I suggest that if you're a first-time subscriber, you can get it real cheap. If you're a longtime subscriber like me, it's $70 a year. But it's a daily sports newspaper from the best sports writers in the world. And Craig is one of the leading authors. This book, the franchise, is outstanding. And even though it's a study about hockey, uh as Anybody on here knows the principles are transferable to any team or organization. And I could literally talk about the entire book, but here's something that I want to just put in here that just kind of captures the essence of the book. Um, people want to think that winning is an illusion of choice. In other words, you can do some things and not others. I want to be successful, I don't want to put in the work into what it takes. Winning is not a buffet line. So you don't get to pick and choose what it takes to win. By the way, you don't get to pick and choose what it takes to be a successful athletic director. You know, so what this book does is it takes like the last decade's worth of NHL champions and breaks down what make what made each of them successful. Um I did not know the names of the people. I only knew a couple of players' named, like Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. You know, I didn't know a lot of the players, but the principles in it are absolutely outstanding, and I can't recommend the franchise enough. Excellent book.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

I'll second your uh plug to the athletic as well. Uh I I read that every day whenever that email pops, and it it is high-quality stuff, and it's kind of hard to find that these days. Now, our next book highlights an overlooked truth. The way we spend, save, and value money affects every area of our lives and ultimately our leadership. Uh at 272 pages, this one kind of steps outside of the sports world, but the insights really translate everywhere. Our next pick is The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life by Morgan Housel. Uh now, Josh gave you permission to slip in a non-sports book. I think you chose your favorite one, 2025, and for good reason. Tell us why the art of spending money stood out to you and what readers can expect to walk away with.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Okay. Um, first of all, I love Morgan Housel. Uh if somebody were to say, Brian, who is your favorite writer in the world? It would be Morgan Housel. Wow. Um, Collab Fund, C-O-L-L-A-B-F-U-N-D.com. Uh Morgan Housel is a financial advisor, okay, very successful. But here's what he does. Kind of like y'all say, Brian, you see leadership in every aspect of life, and you'll talk about something in life and tie it back to leadership. He does the exact same thing with financial behavior. And he's written three books, which I think are all fantastic. Uh, I'd pick The Art of Spending Money because it was released this year, but his first book, The Psychology of Money, is a must-have for anybody. And especially with athletic directors who have to manage budgets, the psychology of money, same as ever, and the art of spending money are, I just think three must-haves. And you don't have to be a financial guru to read them. Uh, but anyway, the art of spending money. It's called the art of spending money instead of the science of spending money for a reason. And that's because the way you spend money as a family and as an athletic department are going to vary from person to person. Okay. And here's why. He teaches you in there about spending money so that it advances your mission and vision as an individual or a family or an organization. So, for instance, uh, I'll just give you a very good example, very practical, easy example. Cars are not important to me. You know, they get me from point A to point B, and I don't want them to break down. And I hate car payments and I hate car repairs. Okay. I'm not gonna go out and buy a high-end Lexus. That would be a misappropriation of my financial resources based upon how I'm wired and what's important to me. Okay, but I could take that same amount of money and leverage it for my granddaughter or for some ministry initiative I'm excited about, or some need that needs to be met, or paying off my house. And it's a wonderful way to spend money. So, how you spend money is not necessarily right or wrong, only depending on how you're wired and what you're hoping to accomplish. And so, this book is about examples where that's been done well and examples when that's been done poorly. And I would say this um, because I'm sure you've got college athletic directors who listen to this. In the world of NIL, when you have limited resources to maximize an overall structure, the art of spending money is a resource you want to have from just a preparation standpoint. And here's another thing I'd say high school teachers, let's be honest, overworked and underpaid, all of them. Okay. So how you leverage your personal dollars is important, and uh, so yeah, having that mentality uh and that skill set delivered to you in an easy fun read. Yeah, art of spending money, the psychology of money, and the same as ever, I think are three books by more and also collab fund. Morgan writes a blog post about every week or two that's outstanding. So if you want to just get a preview, go to collabfund.com, hit their articles, read a little bit about Morgan Housel. Can't recommend it enough.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Brian, you always talk about you the ten dollars you spent on uh maybe it was two dollars or what on Roy Williams' biography, but you always talk about you know buying sports books or or biographies, you learn ten dollars at a time. And I just jumped on Amazon real quick while you were talking there to look up these three books and the psychology of spending money, the psychology of money, 256 pages, 1099 right now on Amazon. So yeah, you can learn $10 at a time, just as you said.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

So let's use that as a quick example, and we won't spend a lot of time on. Let's use that quick example. Second and Charles is where I bought that book, right next door to it, they're attached, and for a long time there was an open door so you could go back and forth. It's Starbucks. Josh, you know me well, and you've heard me speak on it. Would I have gotten more mileage out of Roy Williams' book for two dollars or a two-dollar drink at Starbucks? Uh Roy Williams by far. Bingo. That's the art of spending money.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

And I and I'll be honest with you, you said you didn't know him at the time, but I got to sit down with him this year, sit at a table at an event. And uh man, I wish I'd had that two dollar book so I could have uh shared it with him and shared the uh lessons that he taught through that for sure. So that's good. But all right, we'll move back into the sports realm. Uh great, great three books there. You got three for one on that last one, I think. I know so uh that was a bonus, a little bonus there. Uh, we won't charge you extra for those other two. Uh Brian, our next selection comes in at 224 pages, takes us inside the one and inside the mind of one of the most influential coaches in modern tennis. Championship mindset, coach yourself to win it life. Patrick Murata Glue. I knew I was gonna get this one because it's a tough name. Don gets to pick the questions on this episode.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Uh, so I had a I had a really good time prepping for this interview today, and especially when I put his initials by that name. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

How did I do? I don't know. I've never heard the guy's name.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

I have no idea, but uh, it was gonna be yours to say.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Yeah, that was really good for a guy from Winder, Georgia, by the way. So Patrick offers a unique look at performance, preparation, and personal growth from someone who has coached greatness up close. Brian, tell us what makes champion mindset stand out, what readers can take from Murata Glue's approach to coaching and growth. You noticed Don threw in that last name again there for us. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Well, I tell you, I love books um that talk about coaches of elite athletes, and he is the top tennis coach there is, you know. Um, he's coached Serena Williams and Coco Goff uh among others. And I'm interested, I was interested in okay, how do you lead somebody like Venus Williams? I mean, she is an alpha female, I mean, she is a force of nature. Um she wants to major while pregnant. I mean, this how how do you lead somebody like that? That's just a human freight train. Okay. So that's why I bought the book, because I, you know, I deal with with you know very elite leaders, and so I want to know the skills of dealing with elite leaders. And um, here's the interesting thing about leading somebody like Serena Williams, and it's all contextual and people are different, but Serena Williams, as and I'll just use this term, as ferocious as she is on the court, and I mean that very positively, okay, as intense a competitor as she is, um she she's really very sensitive. And her greatest strengths, her greatest weakness, she hates to lose. Okay, so she deals with this natural insecurity, that fear of failure. So believe it or not, yes, you could tweak things in Serena's form and footwork and things of that nature, but it's really a mental skills coach, and it really is. I need to reassure her constantly that she's Serena Williams. And you would think it would be the exact opposite. You would think with elite performers that you would need them to, hey, don't be entitled, you need to be humble, you need to be working hard, things of that nature. The things I've learned about elite leader, elite performers is this. Yes, you have to be mindful of that, but one of the things that makes elite performers elite is their ability to self-evaluate and self-correct. If they can't self-evaluate and self-correct, by definition, they're not elite. Okay. So then you come in as a coach and you're trying to minimize stress, fear, anxiety. So your focus as a coach is not so much on skills, but it's on preparation. So that they achieve their best self. And that's what I got out of this book. So, for instance, I'll just talk about the industry I work in. I work with pastors and I work in capital campaigns. This book was very helpful for me because I mean, this is just the world I'm I live in. Uh, they are constantly praised. Great sermon pastor, all that kind of thing. Most things in my world are subjective. Great sermon pastor, that's subjective. The music was great, that's subjective. You know, too hot or too cold, that's subjective. I like blue carpet, I like red carpet. Okay, that's subjective. But in the world I live in with capital campaigns, that is not subjective. There is an amount that needs to be raised, there is a goal, and you hit it or you don't. Therefore, even some of the greatest pastors in this world, the thing that I work with them on is the same thing Patrick works with Serena Williams on, reassuring them, helping them in preparation, making sure that they've done everything they can to be their best self and achieve their maximum results, working against the fear of failure. So it is totally counterintuitive. But when if you get one of the elites of the elites in your program, it may be reassurance and preparation that you spend the most of your time dealing with as a coach or an athletic director.

SPEAKER_03 35:04

Wow. Just know you're getting all of us free of charge, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, that is absolute gold as usual. Brian, at 288 pages, our next election takes us down another path to a championship. This one unfolds in a rapidly changing landscape of college football. Buckeye Brotherhood on how Ohio State navigated a new world to win a national championship by Bill Rabinowitz. There we go. All right, that's that's I've got well, I got that one and another one, Josh, just so you know. Gives readers uh an inside look at the Buckeye's journey back to the top after a decade-long title drought. Walk us through what makes Buckeye Brotherhood such a strong road to a championship story and what leaders can learn from OSU's ability to really adapt, overcome, and ultimately win.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Yeah. And uh Rabinowitz, it's his second book, too. I'll throw in an extra. Get the book The Chase. That's the book about when Urban Meyer won the title with Ezekiel Elliott and that team, you know, probably about going on 10 years ago now. But uh something interesting about that, one of the reasons I bought this book was because I liked his first book.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

So that's sustained excellence, just compounds. Okay. Um, but back to the book. Here's what I loved about the book. Uh, a couple of things. In an NIL world, the importance of maintaining and somehow keeping your talent. One of the things that made last year's Ohio State team so strong is they kept like seven or eight seniors that could have gone pro that didn't. And they all came back. So a lot of them were, you know, first three-round draft picks this year. Um, but the ability to actually retain talent is one of the things that made last year so strong. But here's what I really love about the book there's probably 20 to 30 pages dedicated to what happened between the loss at Michigan and their first round playoff victory of Tennessee. And if anybody remembers what happened during those two to three weeks, there were death threats on the Day family. The Day family had to have 24 hour security. It was ugly. Okay. And that's just off the field. Um, inside the team, there was disillusionment, there was anger because that senior class had just lost to Michigan four straight years. Okay. So there was disillusionment and all this. And I want to point something out here. The unsung hero of the Ohio State Championship team was Ross Bjork, the athletic director, because he stood strong by Ryan Day that entire time. And as Day was getting arrows from everywhere, including his own team, which I did not know. Okay, um, he stayed in his corner firmly and was an anchor for Ryan Day and Nina Day during that time. The stress Nina Day went through as his wife was undescribed, it's indescribable. Okay. Um, but here's the thing about that 20 to 30 days, I made some notes here. The book talks about um Bjork's continual support of Ryan Day, the toll the Michigan loss took on Nina Day, the consistency with the returning seniors. But what they did with the loss is it gave them time because they didn't have to play the Big Ten championship. Okay. That turned out to be a blessing because they refocused, they got everybody on the same page, they addressed all their issues in a healthy manner, and they put all of their eggs into we are the most talented team in college football, we will win this championship. And then once the playoffs started, that became very apparent. But Ryan Bork's ability to hold that ship together, Ryan Day's humility to take the advice from the team about what he was doing wrong, uh, and his ability to lead his family, who was under death threats and 24-hour security. That's to me, that's the most extraordinary part of that book.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

That's good stuff. Yeah, I was in the building uh in Mercedes-Benz when they won it, and they were definitely the best team in the playoffs for sure. Uh, but we had Ross Bjork on the podcast a while ago when he was at AM, and um kind of doesn't surprise us because he was a first-class individual and uh just a great guy to get to know a little bit uh through a conversation, and uh no no no no doubt why he's leading there at Ohio State, which is top university in America for sure. So uh Brian landing at 304 pages. Our next selection is one that I read this year as well. Uh it was a vacation book for me, and it takes us deep inside the world uh that we haven't yet uh explored. It is a sports world, but it's uh it's a the sport of racing, Formula One. The book's called uh The Formula by Joshua Robison and Jonathan Clegg. It dives deep into the personalities, and there's some there's some big personalities now. Engineering brilliance and high-speed drama that have turned F1 into one of the fastest growing sports on the planet. Help us break this one down. What stood out to you and the formula, and why is this such a compelling first step into the F1 world for our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 40:53

Yeah, there's a lot of ways. I mean, it went, and Josh, you read the book, it went into a pretty exhaustive history of Formula One racing. Um, and it covered a myriad of different angles. I mean, the business aspects, how to invite different team owners in and things of that nature, recruiting of drivers. The reason I like the book is it's a book about creativity and how to handle change. That's a great point.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

I agree, I agree 100%.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Yeah, yeah. And if you look at Formula One Racing, these are airline, these are airplane designers whose planes happen to have happen to stay, you know, stuck on the ground. And really, they get a lot of their the the real winners in F1 racing are the engineers. You get the best engineers, you're gonna win Formula One. And these are the people who understand wind tunnels, you know, um, you know, how you shape different parts of the body, you know, of the body, the front panels, rear panels, suction on the ground, so you can hit full speed through the turns, all these types of things. But in addition to being having to be, in essence, NASA scientists, they also have to know the rule book inside and out because they are also designing the cars based upon the gray areas that the rules don't cover. Now, the thing about Formula One is, you know, once it becomes obvious somebody found a cheat code, they rewrite the book, and now we go back to finding the gray area again. And it's this constant process of evolution and creativity and design that I thought made that real interesting. And so the application for anybody in athletics is just hey, know your rule book inside and out, and know what's legal, know what's not. And I don't mean this, push push it to its boundaries, push it to its limits. If if they allow it, it's your job to know it and you know, and and coach it and things of that nature. I look at pro football right now. We did the Eagles earlier. The tush push has to be outlawed outlawed at the end of this year, okay? But between now and then, they found the cheat code, and they're gonna push it to its limits till it gets outlawed, and then it's Nick Siriani's job to find the cheat code again. That's what happens in Formula One every day.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

Great application. Uh, our largest selection this year, coming in at 416 pages, might just be the most compelling. It tackles what may be the most pressure packed, scrutinized, and iconic role in all of sports, and that's the quarterback. Uh, American Kings, a biography of the quarterback by Seth Wickersham, gives us a panoramic look at the position that has come to really symbolize ambition, leadership, and status in American culture. Uh, Brian, walk us through why American Kings stood out to you and what readers will gain from exploring the story behind the quarterback position.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Yeah, I think uh, well, to answer the first thing that sticks out to me, it's written by Seth Wickersham, the great ESPN writer. So anything Seth writes, I read. So, number one, I knew it'd be good because of who the author was. Um the interesting thing about the core, and I recommend everybody buy this as a resource book because it deals with a myriad of quarterbacks. I mean, Warren Moon to Steve Young to Joe Montana to John Elway to Kellow, Caleb Williams, to the recruitment of Arch Manning. I mean, it's it's a myriad of it. Here's here's to me why it's a compelling book, and I'm in the process of reading it. I'm not finished yet. Okay, so full disclosure on that. You have these individuals, we'll call them a quarterback, that even in high school, and that's what the book points out, is it starts in middle school and Pop Warner and high school and all that, that when they occupy that position, they know the entire town's fortunes, the city's fortunes, the team's fortunes, the livelihoods are many, the job security of people, um all rest in their right arm, sometimes left arm, but right arm. The mentality it takes to carry that level of responsibility is indescribable, and that's why at any given moment it's been said there's only seven or eight elite quarterbacks on the planet, um, because you that's the weight of responsibility, and um then the mental aspect that goes into it, because those defensive coordinators, if I can just say this, those defensive coordinators ain't dummies. I mean, they're figuring stuff out, you know, to stop you in your right arm. And um this psyche of a quarterback. So if you're an athletic director in college and you're recruiting a five or a four-star quarterback, well, even if you've got a two-star quarterback on your team, they still mentally think they're a five-star person. You know, they're the big man on campus.

SPEAKER_03 46:28

They better, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

They got the prettiest girl. I mean, they're they're the guy, okay. Um, so I'll tell you one quick story that I just remember it when it was happening. I was younger. There's a section on there between Steve Young and Joe Montana, and it just talked about how they approached the game differently. Um, Montana was a natural owner. Um, and he did what Bill Walsh asked. Bill Walsh said, Here's your five progressions. You look at number one, you look at number two, you look at number three, and you go all the way to number five. And he was very systematic and robotic about how he carried out his profession. Okay. Steve Young, highly intelligent, he's now a very successful person in the law industry, brilliant human being. He knew everything so well that he could look at the defense and go, I already know one and two's covered. He starts with number three. And Bill Walsh actually liked Young better. And that that's just a very practical dynamic of okay, the team liked Young better. Because Young's like, I'm going to who's ever opened, you know, where Walsh was or excuse me, Montana was more robotic. So the the reality is that's just an example of the type of things that they look at in that book, just the mentality of the toughest leadership, probably in sports, is quarterback, just due to what you face and the weight that you carry. I will say this side note I wonder how many great coaches there are in America that we never knew about because they didn't have a good quarterback.

SPEAKER_03 48:20

Truth.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

And I wonder how many great quarterbacks there's been that we never discovered because they weren't put in environments with the proper coaching and the proper time to develop.

SPEAKER_03 48:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

Those are questions we'll never have the answers to, but just something to ponder.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

That's good. That's good. All right, Brian, that was 10, but we're gonna uh give a bonus selection. Uh, the author of the bonus selection is the guy you've been listening to today. He's sitting right there in front of you. If you're watching on YouTube, uh, this bonus selection is your last uh book that you've written. 324 pages called the games, leaders play, how people just like you are making a difference in and winning in athletics, business, fate, and life. Uh, gives you a chance right now to highlight uh the wisdom and leadership insights that you have put in a book uh lately. It came out uh a year or so ago, and it was a great, uh, great read of great leadership lessons. Uh, we can't uh can't hype it up enough. So why don't you tell people about your book? Hey, and I I I know Don's gonna finish us up, so I'm gonna go ahead and get into the last word here. Uh my last word is this time next year, I'd like to uh you know, I'm putting you on public notice here, uh, because I've already done it privately. I'd like to have a new book uh from Brian Dodd called The Essence of Leadership, but uh still waiting, still anticipating that one. So hopefully these uh the listeners can put some pressure on you too.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

Well, look, mentally I'm kind of getting there, you know. Um, I okay, now we're gonna look into the life of an author because a lot of people on here may want to write a book.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

Okay, it's easy for me to tell you to write a book, right?

SPEAKER_01 50:04

That's it. That's easy for me to say. The challenge, the challenge. Do you know why certain people like let's say pick Malcolm Gladwell, just incredibly successful author. Why does he only release a book every five years?

SPEAKER_03 50:21

Probably takes him that long to do it.

SPEAKER_01 50:23

Well, that and the you know, there writing is not a money thing, right? I'll never forget an interview with Ian O'Connor, who wrote the Aaron Aaron Rodgers book, and he was on uh Cowherd's podcast, and he goes, Yeah, I'm gonna lose money on this book. And it was a New York Times bestseller, right? And so here's the thing, Josh, if you get feedback that there's gonna be a bunch of like advanced orders and I could be booked for speaking engagements and things like that. I'm like, okay, it but yeah, instead of giving money to my grandkids, the art of spending money, yeah, I may try to multiply it through serving other people, you know. So, but uh yeah, the games leaders. Oh, yeah, I'll sell at least one copy, that'll be great. Okay, well, here's the problem, Josh. You'll get a free copy. So there you go. So I'm still at zero, but there you go. Uh the games leaders play. I love that book. If you're looking for a fun read and you're interested in athletics and business and life and things of that nature, that's the that's a great book. It's a fun read. It's broken up into like a multitude of chapters. So if you only got like five, 10 minutes to read today, you can you can read three to five pages, read about a great story you're very familiar with, but get get leadership applications you can use at that moment. And so I I tell people all the time here's the value of not only my book, but all the books we talked about. How much is a good idea worth? Okay's the thing: if you get one idea out of a book that makes your department better, helps you communicate with your coaches better, helps you better in your hiring process or resolving conflict or anything of this nature, how much is that worth? I guarantee you, probably the most expensive book on here is probably about $24.99, I would guess, on Amazon. It's worth exponentially more than $24.99. That's the value of books. And yeah, games leaders play, obviously, I can't recommend it enough. I'm biased. And uh yeah, I'd love for you to read that. I'd love, I always love coming on here and investing in leaders in this format. If you want me to invest in you beyond this format, yeah, the best way to do that is to is to get one of my books, and that's my most recent one.

SPEAKER_02 52:58

Yeah, Brian, the way you describe that, that the the way you described of how easy it is, you can pick and choose what you want to read in that book. And uh it is for us assistant principals, it is the perfect lunch duty book. There you go. You can get you a leadership lesson or two right in the middle, right, right during your lunch duty. If you have a calm lunch duty, you may get four or five, but it is the perfect lunch duty book because we uh we can always need to find something valuable to do during lunch duty because that's uh it's time you don't get back. All right.

SPEAKER_03 53:30

Yeah, I'll tell you another thing too, the way it's structured. There are these little quick hitter lessons, like 10 10 ways to build trust, boom, boom, boom, boom, based on what you uh you know discussed in that chapter, something that you can take and then turn into a case study to get to your coaches. And that's just another um another great uh way that it is put together. Uh so definitely, Brian, thank you for that. And thanks once again for joining us. This has truly become uh one of our favorite traditions each year. I know my mom appreciates it too. I told you that uh because thanks to you, she never runs out of ideas as to what to get me during the holidays. Uh, I can safely say uh to all of our listeners that there's something on this list for everyone, whether you're a coach, an athletic director, or simply someone looking to grow, these books are going to strengthen your reading stack heading into 2026. Brian, before we wrap up, share it with our audience the best way to connect with you. Um how can they find the podcast or your books or just for fun, or just give us one one title maybe that's already on your 26 radar, regardless of category, just one that you're maybe looking looking forward to to get in your hands.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

Okay, sure. Yeah, the way the way to get in touch to follow me is Brian Doddonleadership.com. By the way, um, every book on here uh is I've got posted online. Depending on when this runs, you can either find it on the home page or just Google Brian Dodd Top Sports Books 2025 and it'll come up. Uh, but yeah, uh Brian Dodd on Leadership.com. There's also a button up there that says contact Brian. So if you contact me, that'll come to my email box. We can correspond that way. Um, so yeah, there's that part. And hang on just a second. The book is about Liverpool and their championship team from last year. So I'm gonna, but I think it's called Going Back or Walking Back or something like that, but it's on Liverpool's uh it's on their championship team from last year. I'm a huge European soccer fan. Uh, there were two sections, two sets of books that did not make the list this year. I think for the first time ever, we did not have a New York Yankees book on here. We did not, it's called Walk On, the perfect gift for any Liverpool fan. Okay, so it's the story of their championship team from last year. That it comes out in April. That's the book I'm looking most forward to next year. Um, and uh, we didn't have no soccer books this year. I usually try to have a soccer book. So next year when we get together, that book about Liverpool will probably be on there. And uh, but yeah, that's the book I'm at this point looking most forward to next year. And yeah, can't wait till we get together next year and talk about 2026 best sports books.

SPEAKER_03 56:25

Awesome, Brian. Thanks again for being with us. You always keep saying yes. Don't even know why you do, but you keep fitting us in and you're helping us get better. We appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 56:34

Oh, thank you, guys. Hey, thanks for all you do to serve people everywhere.