Sports Person | Refuse to Lose LLC | Inspirational Speaker | Author |I help ppl make ADVERSITY their advantage so that they can live the life of their DREAMS.💫
I created a newsletter for my friends who are determined to maximize their human potential and live inspired.
It’s called…
‘THE AFFIRMATION’ 💫
Hit the link to subscribe!
Dear Assistant Coach,
On game day, be a “THINKER”! Over emotional ppl aren’t “THINKERS”. Eliminate negative language, poor posture & pointless rhetoric. The Head Coach can lose it, the players can lose it but you, you can NEVER lose it!
Sincerely,
Management 🙂❤️🙌🏽
Dear Assistant Coach,
If your team is down 20 or up 20... Be the same person.
If it’s your scout or someone else’s... Be the same person.
If it’s your recruit or someone else’s... Be the same person.
Never base your level of engagement & energy on circumstance.
AJH
Dear Assistant Coaches,
Never tell your Head Coach that warm ups weren’t good. Your job is to make sure warm ups are good, if you didn’t get that job done... keep it to yourself!
Sincerely,
Management ❤️🙂🙌🏽
#DearAssistantCoach
Never associate wins/losses with your worth.
&
Never associate your job or salary with your worth.
Associate your worth... w/your commitment to:
•Serve others
•Work Relentlessly
•Learn, Train, Research (student)
•Loving Yourself
•Character & integrity
8 seasons as a HC, over 20 guarantee games.
In that time, one P5 Head Coach walked over before the game & had a “real” conversation w/me. From my experiences... “Real” conversations don’t exist. She made it a point to share a moment w/me. She didn’t know how bad I needed it.
Dear Assistant Coach,
When players come to you with real concerns or problems. Advise them to have an adult conversation with the HC.
Despite how tough the conversation is.
Tell them HOW to say what they need to say and tell the Head Coach that it’s coming.
-AJH
#DearAssistantCoach
‘BIG TIME’ is who you are... not where you are.
Neither a job or a salary will make you anything that you’re not already. Just puts a spotlight on it.
Be ‘BIG TIME’ at your JUCO
Be ‘BIG TIME’ at your Div. II
Be ‘BIG TIME’ in your role as GA
All the best!
Dear Head Coach,
Leadership is lonely.
Establish a board of advisors: day 1 friends, mentors & support system
Create a schedule for connecting or else you’ll only call when you’re feeling bad.
Allow “your” people to support & make deposits into your spiritual bank account.
#DearHeadCoach
Your Assistant Coaches are more important than your players.
Love them, develop them, serve them, correct them, embrace their dreams and praise them.
I believe that you have to strengthen & empower "your" team BEFORE you can strengthen & empower "the" team.
Commodore Nation,
Help me wish Head Coach
@jerrystackhouse
a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 🥳🎊🎉🎁🥂
Coach, I pray your next chapter is your best chapter. 🙏🏽
Sending love and positive vibes your way. 💛🖤
Dear Assistant Coach,
If you want to make your Head Coach happy...
Turn their challenges/problems into your solutions.
Ask yourself...
“What problems do I solve for my Head Coach?”
“What problems exist that need solutions?”
In their problems, lives your opportunity.
AJH
Dear Assistant Coach,
I think being physically fit is vital.
Eating right & working out 4 days a week requires discipline & mental toughness.
Great opportunity for you to practice what you preach. 🤷🏽♀️
“I can’t hear what you say because I see what you do.” -James Baldwin
AJH
#DearAssistantCoach
If you apply for a job & fortunate enough to get an interview... whether you get the job or not, YOU WON!
How did I win?
You met “decision makers”, who will 1000% hire again.
Keep them in your network. Send 1 note a year.
Think marathon not sprint.
AH
#DearAssistantCoach
Compliment every player on the team... OFTEN!!
Compliment every manager, GA, DOBO, videographer, office assistant etc
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou 🎩
Dear Assistant Coach,
Ask your Head Coach if he or she is ok?
•How’s your family? Parents? Children?
•How do you handle the expectations/pressure of the season?
•Can we do anything to make life easier?
•How are you feeling physically?
Genuine concern is underrated.
-AJH
Have you ever had a Sinsei?!
@jerrystackhouse
is Sinsei!
A Master Teacher!
Our players get his undivided attention... I watch & secretly wish I could be them.
Sensei helped the Toronto Raptors organization win Championships. He will do the same for
@VandyMBB
. ⚓️⬇️
Dear Assistant Coach,
Don’t get fooled into sharing information about your program w/outsiders.
If or when... the AD comes to you, the booster club member comes to you, an upset parent comes to you w/questions or gossip... SMILE & SAY “I LOVE WHAT WE’RE BUILDING!”🤓
Truly!
#DearHeadCoach
Eliminate the number of average and mediocre people in your environment.
Players, managers, athletic trainers, SIDs, assistant coaches, bus drivers etc.
Partner with people who are BETTER than you.
All The Best!
Dear Assistant Coach,
Dress for the job you want not the job you have.
In coaching, it’s easy to base your wardrobe standards on your environment or title.
I would challenge you to establish your own standards based on where you’re going not where you are.
Sincerely,
AJH
Dear Assistant Coach,
Build strong bonds w/your fellow asst. coaches & support staff. You are a team. You are not in competition w/each other. Friction on the staff will be felt in the results. Love & respect on the staff will be felt in the results.
Sincerely,
Management
Affirm:
I am headed somewhere incredible. I have so much hope for myself. I am grateful for all the lessons and thankful for all my experiences. I have grown, matured, and learned so much. I am stronger, wiser, and more aware. Things can only get better for me.
@idillionaire
My time as Chief of Staff for the Vanderbilt Men’s Basketball program has officially come to an end.
It’s been a fun ride!
My love for our staff & players will certainly outlast this ‘moment in time’.
I never took it for granted.
Thank you for the memories!
Onward.😊
Thank you for all you’ve done for
@VandyMBB
… A winner in the classroom, community & on the court!
@liamrobbins_
your career has been a master class in defying the odds & making Adversity your Advantage.
With EVERY set back, you’ve gotten BETTER.
Never forget who you are. 😤
Liam Robbins will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury. On and off the court, Liam has represented himself and Vanderbilt in a first-class manner.
🙏 Wishing
@liamrobbins_
a speedy recovery.
#VanderbiltMan
Dear Assistant Coach,
No one cares what ur scout record was for the season. We only care about the team record. That’s like a player bragging about averaging 20ppg on a team that lost 20 games. The best don’t announce scout records, their standards are different.
Sincerely,
AJH
So so so proud of our entire
@VandyMBB
program… student-athletes & staff, both past & present.
Additionally, I’m grateful to all of our alumni, fans, & friends of the program who kept BELIEVING better days were ahead.
Let’s keep advancing!
#BeUs
#AnchorDown
#StackhouseEra
“The way blacks have been treated there... and if I can win that tournament, it would be really big.” -Young Tiger
As we celebrate, let’s remember Young Tigers intentions to make adversity our advantage!!!!
#RefuseToLose
☝🏽❤️🤓
Dear Assistant Coach,
Despite all the great advice you will receive. (Including my own)
Your journey in coaching will be unique to you. Unique to your passion, purpose, talents, knowledge, relationships, location, race, gender, age etc
This is where the magic lives!
Enjoy
Dear Assistant Coach,
Use your social media to promote your program, profession & engage w/your consumer.
It’s irresponsible for you not to use social media to promote your program.
Adapt or die. The internet isn’t going anywhere.
BE WHERE YOUR CONSUMER IS!
AJH
Another trip around the sun for this superstar! 💫🌟
Feeling grateful for the biological mother who decided not to abort me and the adopted mother who loved me first.
From orphan to superstar, and then some!
The Journey Is The Reward. 😊
God has been so good to me.🙏🏽
#DearAssistantCoach
If you apply for a job & fortunate enough to get an interview... whether you get the job or not, YOU WON!
How did I win?
You met “decision makers”, who will 1000% hire again.
Keep them in your network. Send 1 note a year.
Think marathon not sprint.
AH
#DearAssistantCoach
Young coaches...
Define your destination!
Be patient. Be stingy with your time. Learn. Work Hard. Give more than you get. Don’t be sensitive to failure. Build your character as you build your career.
Advantage of Youth!
All the best!
Commodore Nation!
Help me wish
@VandyMBB
Senior, Jordan Wright, a Happy Birthday!!!🥳🎉🎁🎊
@JoWright32_
I pray your next chapter is your best chapter.
Sending positive vibes your way!! 🖤💛⚓️⬇️
Dear Assistant Coach,
3 ways to build your network...
1. Div. II or lower = Attend Div. I practices over Xmas & summer breaks
2. Get to know the 50+ coaches in your league (don’t be stuck up)
3. Write 5 hand written notes per week to Coaches you admire
Sincerely,
AJH
#DearAssistantCoach
Write down your own personal philosophy... minus the Xs & Os
•How will you discipline players?
•What will you do when a player attacks team culture?
•What do you need from your asst. coaches?
•How will you manage staff?
•How will you handle conflict?
#DearAssistantCoach
I have a thought I’d like to share with you.
If you become a very successful HC or AC. Make lots of money & win lots of games.
It means nothing if you never became a better human-being.
A better father, mother, daughter, son, sister or brother.
Do Both.
5hrs on the grill. Coach Stack is the absolute best!!!
@FoodNetwork
@CollegeGameDay
this is the tailgate/cooking content you need to see!
Also donated food to
@nashvillerescue
… Through his passion for food,
@jerrystackhouse
blessed a lot of people yesterday!!
🍔🍗🌭🥩😋⚓️⬇️
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou
•
Had a great time with
@bearssports
last week.
•
#RefuseToLose
☝🏽❤️🤓
Sending positive vibes to
@SheaRalph
and our
@vandywbb
team as they begin
@sec
tournament play.
Lots of made 3s & points off turnovers for the Dores today.
#VandyUnited
⚓️⬇️
Happy Monday to Commodore Nation!
Sitting here watching practice… & must admit, I’m starting to feel it.
Not sure if it’s the Fall weather or how hard our guys are competing but it’s starting to feel like Hoops Season!!
Have you gotten your season tickets yet?
#MemorialMagic
#DearAssistantCoach
Young Coaches...
“Daily disciplines over 3yrs will change your life” - Jim Rohn
1. Read 30 mins a day
2. Improve dress & presentation
3. Wake Up before 6am
4. Exercise 4 days a wk
36 months, your external world will begin to reflect the internal growth!
#DearAssistantCoach
Learn Adobe.
It’s mandatory.
Adobe in 2023 will be what Excel was in 2003.
Dedicate 2 hours a day, 4 days a week.
Most athletic departments are waaaaaaayyyyy behind in this area.
A coach/GA/DOBO who possesses this skill has value.
Best,
AH
Dear Assistant Coach,
Access to your Head Coach’s network is more valuable than a 1x bonus or a 2% increase in salary.
Who are their mentors?
Whose in their “coaching tree”?
Ask for an introduction? Or meeting?
Know who they know & build your own ‘warm’ relationship.
AJH
#DearAssistantCoach
Do more than you get paid to do.
The ‘extra’ ... is an investment into your future.
Run your race. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
All the best!
#DearAssistantCoach
Networking Advice:
Don’t be so obsessed with networking UP that you abandon the key relationship to the SIDE & BELOW.
EVERYONE can help you. EVERYONE can provide an opportunity.
EVERYONE can teach you.
EVERYONE can support you.
@SetsForLife314
gets this!
Happy National Girls & Women in Sports Day!!!
🏀 has made everything possible for me.
I was born an orphan.
Adopted and raised by a single mother in High Point, NC.
Growing up, the only thing I aspired to be was a great point guard.
🏀 made EVERYTHING possible.
#NGWSD
#DearHeadCoach
Every time you make an exception for your rules, you’re breaking down your culture.
Don’t have rules that you’re not committed to enforcing.
Less is more.
All the best!
My Guy. Very underrated. Always winning. Super consistent. Doesn’t seek attention. Runs incredible practices. Focuses on process over outcomes. The numbers don’t lie. One of the nations best recruiters.
Ok, I’m done.
#RefuseToLose
☝🏽��️🤓
#AggiePride
Dear Asst Coach,
Deciding that you’re a PRO will be a key moment in your career.
There are so many layers & levels in coaching. Your lack of clarity is keeping you from growth.
When I DECIDED that I was a
PROFESSIONAL I won 5 championships & quadrupled my salary in 5yrs.
AJH
Just want to remind you...
YOUR people will come.
If they’ve rejected you, they weren’t your people.
If they don’t see your talent or vision, they aren’t your people.
YOUR people will come.
#RefuseToLose
☝🏽❤️🤓
🗣🗣🗣 I’m yelling Happy Birthday to the CEO of
#NoCeilings
, the Leader of
@OleMissWBB
, the Queen of the McCuin castle, the Genius of marketing/branding in WBB, the one who puts the “S” in Selfless & the “G” in Giver , my friend...
@YolettMcCuin
🥳🥳🥳
Have A Great Day!
Dear Assistant Coach,
Plan ahead to watch a HS or JUCO game/practice while traveling with the team.
Drop in on a game even if you’re not recruiting anyone.
- Meet a couple new ppl
- Market the program
Always be recruiting!
Sincerely!
🙌🏽🤓
Commodore Nation,
Help me wish junior guard Tyrin Lawrence
@tyrinlawrence
a Happy Birthday!!!
🥳🎊🎂🎁🎉🥳🎂🎊🎁🥳
Tyrin, I pray your next chapter is your best chapter. 🖤💛🙏🏽
#DearAssistantCoach
Watch what you say. Watch how you say, what you say.
Nothing matters more to culture than the way people talk to each & talk about each other.
Culture is the way we talk about our team, coaches & program when we don’t think anyone hears us.
All the best!
#DearAssistantCoach
Your players.
Yea the ones you recruited.
Stop complaining about what they aren’t & find out what they are... use this information to your advantage. This will help your team & Head Coach.
The ability to see the best in others is a skill.
#RefuseToLose
7 Steps To Make Adversity Your Advantage
1. Acknowledge the struggle
2. Accept it- 100%
3. Rewrite it. Create a new self-image
4. Model ppl who’ve faced similar struggles
5. Add EMPATHY & GRATITUDE to your daily routine
6. State your cause
7. Share your struggle w/others
THIS IS MY TEAM, MY TRIBE, MY PEOPLE.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...
ENLARGE YOUR VISION OF WHATS POSSIBLE FOR YOU.
STOP LISTENING TO OUTDATED OPINIONS FROM SO CALLED EXPERTS.
THERE’S TOO MUCH EVIDENCE PROVING OTHERWISE.
ENLARGE YOUR VISION.
#RefuseToLose
☝🏽❤️🤓
#AnchorDown
⚓️⬇️
Dear Asst Coach,
Getting hired is NOT about what you know or how well you do a job.
Getting hired is about what people THINK you know & how well people THINK you will do a job.
Most ppl are hired bc the person who is hiring THINKS they know them.
Charisma is underrated.
AJH
Congratulations to an absolute legend
@r22childress
!
My dreams of becoming a
@WakeForest
Demon Deacon started in 7th grade because of
#22
.
Smooth. Cool. Calm. Rip your heart out.
When his image appeared in the
@HPEnterprise
I’d cut it out & post it on my bedroom wall. 🎩🤓
May this new month of February bring greater clarity, new opportunities, prosperity, blessings, and a full circle of many of the miracles you’ve been expecting. It’s time to step into a new state of mind.
@idillionaire
Amen.
#DearAssistantCoach
Write down your own personal philosophy... minus the Xs & Os
•How will you discipline players?
•What will you do when a player attacks team culture?
•What do you need from your asst. coaches?
•How will you manage staff?
•How will you handle conflict?