Former NFL player and coach Jason Garrett will sit down with some of sports’ most accomplished coaches and executives for insights on leadership as part of a new podcast series debuting Wednesday.
Garrett, a former NFL Coach of the Year who is now working with NBC, is partnering with Chicago-based agency Intersport to launch “Coach 2 Coach,” a weekly podcast featuring one-on-one conversations with current and former coaches from pro and college sports about their leadership styles and career experiences.
The podcast debuts Wednesday with a two-episode drop featuring a show with Pro Football HOFer Tony Dungy, followed by another with UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close. The episodes are generally just under an hour long and will air on YouTube and most podcast platforms.
“To have these conversations with these people who have held these roles and continue to hold these roles in a variety of sports situations, to me, it’s just really fun,” said Garrett. “I’ve learned so much about leadership, about coaching, about team building and culture building from all of them. And I think everybody at Intersport feel the same way about this project.”
Inspired by the New York Times’ “Corner Office” Sunday column, Garrett began discussing the concept for his podcast with his friend and business partner, Charles Besser, founder & CEO of Intersport. Intersport EVP/Content Development John Paquet came on as executive producer of the show.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” said Garrett. “[Besser] asked me to come to Chicago and just visit. And we sat down in the conference room with a lot of the guys from Intersport, and we just started brainstorming on something that we could do. … And one of the things that we’ve bonded on is the concept of team building and leadership.”
The first season lineup of “Coach 2 Coach” includes conversations with with notable sports figures such as Chiefs coach Andy Reid, Broncos coach Sean Payton, Lions coach Dan Campbell, former MLB manager Joe Maddon and Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson.
Garrett said the podcast is geared toward coaches but has broader appeal beyond sports. He noted that former teammates and friends working in other industries often ask him questions such as: “How do I build a team? What does culture mean? And what’s my role as a leader?”
When identifying potential guests, Garrett mentioned he looked for people who have served as head coaches, “hopefully for a number of years.” He added, “We want to have people who have been around successful programs.”
“It’s particularly fun when they’ve been in a couple of different places because you can compare and contrast. Andy Reid talking about when he first went to Philly versus when he went to Kansas City and how he was different, how his approach changed,” Garrett said. “I think that can be something we all can learn from.”
Garrett said the podcast’s success will be determined by the quality of the product, noting it “starts with us being as good as we can be, being prepared, taking chances, taking risks, being creative, all of that and then bringing some great guests in and doing it at the highest level we can and the rest of it will take care of itself.”
