The Highest Level Podcast with Evan Burk

Jared Sandler is a play-by-play announcer and studio host for MLB's Texas Rangers. Before commentating in Major League Baseball, he broadcasted in the minor leagues and for USC athletics as a college student.

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Jared about his path as a broadcaster, his front row seat on the Pete Carroll era of USC football, and the unique perspective broadcasting gives him on how leaders and winning teams operate.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

• Jared’s desire to become a broadcaster

• The Path of a Broadcaster

• Highlight of his broadcasting career he shared with his father

• Toughest aspects of the job

• What Pete Carroll was really like at USC

• A broadcasters perspective into teams and how they operate

• Broadcasting for his favorite team

• Not settling for “my numbers”

• The social dynamics of the clubhouse

Taylor Jenkins is the head coach of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies. Before becoming a head coach, Jenkins cut his teeth as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, and Milwaukee Bucks.

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Taylor about developing his coaching voice as a young NBA coach, earning trust and respect in the locker room, and developing relationships that challenge growth within the Grizzlies' organization.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

• Wearing suits as a youth basketball coach while attending Penn
• The desire to coach naturally grew with each experience
• How Taylor found his coaching voice and coaching identity
• "Living in the Grey" and learning to coach in the NBA
• The intentional development of coaches within the Spurs organization
• Coach Mike Budenholzer putting his own spin on the Spurs' culture
• Earning trust and respect with players in Memphis
• How are we going to: 1) Work together and 2) Play together
• Ignoring rising expectations and embracing the progression year to year
• Using organizational skills to prioritize and increase efficiency

Michael Lombardi is a former NFL executive, author, and podcast host. His football career spans over 3 decades, where he served as an NFL executive with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Oakland Raiders. He is the Author of the book Gridiron Genius, co-founded and writes for the daily newsletter “The Daily Coach”, and hosts his own podcast "The GM Shuffle".

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Michael about learning football from Bill Walsh early in his career, Bill Belichick’s ability to simplify the complex, and how leaders can find the right players when building a team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Buy Evan's book, Finding Intangibles

EVAN BURK is an author, speaker, former NFL coach, and podcast host who uses the sports world as his backdrop to engage audiences with thought-provoking lessons of leadership, team-building, and creating championship cultures. Learn more about having Evan come speak to your team by visiting his website, or email him at: evan@coachevanburk.com

In this Episode:

2:00 | Learning football from Bill Walsh early in his career

4:30 | What defined Michael's early success

5:45 | Bill Walsh's Standard of Performance

7:45 | How Michael is still growing as a leader

9:00 | The simplicity of the system with Bill Belichick

10:15 | Admitting mistakes creates accountability

13:00 | How Belichick evolved as a leader over the years

14:45 | Belichick getting players aligned to the culture

16:30 | Finding the right players vs. collecting talent

18:15 | Assessing character in player evaluation

21:00 | Finding superb system players vs. star players

24:15 | How teams can build a resilient culture

28:00 | Understanding why you win and why you lose

31:30 | What makes writing so meaningful?

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Full Episode Show Notes

Connect with Michael Lombardi on Twitter @mlombardinfl, read his book "Gridiron Genius", and listen to his TEDx talk "Leadership is Destroying Culture"

Blaine Scully is a recently retired professional and international rugby player. His comprehensive leadership experience includes being captain of the United States Rugby team from 2016-2019, co-founding the US Rugby Players Association, working as a broadcast analyst with NBC Sports, and advising a number of sport technology companies.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with Blaine about the foundation for success that was built in college at the University of California, the great team cultures he experienced in his professional rugby career overseas in the UK, and how he developed from a star player into a team leader on the US National team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

2:00 | Being a multi-sport athlete growing up

4:30 | Learning to play rugby at an older age

9:15 | Cal Rugby building the "Foundation" for Blaine as a player and person

11:20 | Blaine's leadership education and the "Constant Performance Improvement" at Cal

16:00 | The journey of transitioning into professional ruby in the UK

19:30 | Playing for two historic pro rugby clubs

23:00 | Co-founding the US Rugby Players Association

25:30 | Blaine's evolution as a leader

31:00 | Being strategic with your voice as a leader and empowering others

32:15 | Commonalities in the 4 organizations he played for

34:45 | Gratitude for the journey and "the uniqueness of the experience"

John Thomas is an executive with the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, where oversees basketball development for both Minnesota's NBA and WNBA franchises. As a former NBA player, he played for the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, and his hometown Timberwolves, and was a part of the University of Minnesota's Final Four run in the 1997 NCAA Tournament his senior year in college.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with John about making the Final Four in college, his professional career in the NBA, playing overseas, and returning to the NBA, and the profound impact his basketball journey had on his own personal development.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

• 2:00 | John's beginnings as an athlete

• 4:15 | Ending up at the University of Minnesota

• 6:00 | The essence of culture that was set by Coach Clem Haskins on the Minnesota basketball team

• 8:00 | Subtle ways the coaching staff built the culture

• 10:15 | University of Minnesota’s Final Four run his senior year

• 14:45 | Adjusting to the NBA and the approach of NBA coaches

• 22:45 | Playing overseas and his journey back to the NBA

• 33:45| John’s role as an NBA executive

• 38:45 | Where John focuses in his own personal growth

Ronnie Vinklarek is a football coach that has coached at every level of football: NFL, college, and high school. He now works as a speaker and coach, teaching audiences his success principles through the story of his own coaching journey.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with Ronnie on his unique family circumstance that influenced his decision to become a coach, what he learned from working with great coaches in his career, and the traits needed to be a successful leader and a winning team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

2:00 | Unique family circumstances influencing his decision to pursue coaching

5:00 | Learning to coach by watching others

7:15 | "A great leader adheres to the people around them"

11:00 | Taking genuine care and interest in the people you lead

15:45 | What stood out about the great coaches Ronnie worked with

18:30 | Consistency is better than greatness

20:45 | Leading with an Attitude of Gratitude

22:30 | What makes a great offensive linemen?

25:15 | Team chemistry separates the really great teams

28:30 | "The Chain of Success"

Jonathan Van Horn is a National Soccer Director for Athletes in Action, where he currently works with college and professional teams on character and team development, and also hosts the SHIFT Podcast, which focuses on assisting athletes through successful transitions in sport and in life.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks to Jonathan about how he started working with athletes early in his career, why emotional and character development is more important now than ever, and the immense power of the stories we tell to others and ourselves.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

• 2:00 | Starting to work with athletes transitioning out of sports

• 6:00 | Working a The Ohio State University with football and wrestling teams

• 8:45 | Emphasis on the value of relationships

• 12:30 | Career of mentoring athletes and working with teams

• 14:45 | Where athletes struggle the most?

• 19:00 | The Power of Stories

• 22:30 | Working with athletes and teams through his SHIFT course and framework

• 30:00 | The Importance of emotional and character development

• 37:00 | Looking for character and how to develop character

• 39:30 | Starting with "The Iceberg" when working with athletes

• 41:00 | Jonathan's purpose for writing the book

Jamey Rootes served as President of the NFL's Houston Texans for 20 seasons. Before joining the Texans, he was president and general manager of the Columbus Crew in the MLS, and recently published his book, "The Winning Game Plan".

In this conversation, I talk to Jamey about how to create an identity as a new NFL Franchise, the habits that helped form the winning culture in Houston, and the great mentors that influenced him in his career.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

• 2:00 | The camaraderie that helped Clemson win 2 National Championships

• 4:30 | Being a team executive in professional soccer

• 7:45 | Creating an identity as a new NFL franchise

• 10:15 | Leading from the front office with the Houston Texans

• 14:30 | Building the team culture and having the values drive behaviors

• 18:45 | Importance of trust in building relationships

• 22:00 | Admitting mistakes as a leader and utilizing After Action Reviews

• 25:45 | JJ Watt and Andre Johnson as "Triple Threats"

• 31:00 | Influence of mentors on Jamey's career

• 33:00 | Putting his leadership philosophy into his new book

Brendan Burger is the Director of Equipment for the Los Angeles Rams, and has spent a career working in NFL and college locker rooms with the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Rutgers University, and UCLA.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks to Brendan about leaving college early for his 1st NFL opportunity, developing relationships with Hall of Fame players and great coaches, and the equipment staff being the heartbeat of the team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

1:45 | What does it mean to work in Equipment for an NFL Team?

4:15 | How his 1st NFL opportunity came about before even graduating from college

10:00 | Going to work for the New York Jets

17:30 | How did the team culture change with Rex Ryan in New York?

26:30 | Rex Ryan's authentic leadership style

32:30 | Differences in NFL and college locker rooms

40:45 | 1st impressions of Sean McVay

44:45 | What stood out about the best teams and players you were around?

48:30 | Equipment as the heartbeat of the team

Marc Stcherbina is a leadership consultant and sports broadcaster, and previously played professional rugby and represented Australia on the national team during a 12-year professional career.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks to Marc about the great teams he played for during his professional career, the importance of fair and honest communication from leaders, and how he uses the principles learned from his playing career in his work as a consultant and coach today.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

2:00 | The start to his professional rugby career

10:30 | Developing the ability to fit into any team

15:30 | The progression of his professional career

22:00 | Experiencing teams with family atmospheres and great cultures

29:00 | Are team cultures on rugby teams driven by coaches or players?

33:45 | The leaders that had the lasting impact on Marc

40:00 | The value of honest feedback

45:00 | Marc's transition into life after rugby

49:00 | "The same principles apply from rugby to any business"

53:30 | Working with the Major League Rugby

Chris Canetti is professional soccer team executive who is currently serving as the President of the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee. Canetti has previously served as a team executive in pro soccer and baseball for over 20 years, including 8 seasons as team president for the Houston Dynamo's, and 3 seasons as GM with the Rockies minor league team, New Haven Ravens.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks to Chris about going from clubhouse manager to the GM role of a minor league baseball team in only 3 years, Learning to be a team executive at an uncommonly young age, and how he influenced team culture from the role of team president.

2:00 | Starting out working in minor league baseball

8:00 | Learning Team Management as an Executive at a young age

11:30| Leaving baseball for Soccer

18:30 | How do you influence the team culture from the role of team executive

21:45 | Traits they looked for in the people

25:00 | What does it take to compete for a championship in the MLS?

28:00 | Experiences that stood out in Houston

31:45| Leading the World Cup bid for Houston 2026

Ben Rosenberg and Bret Levine are behavioral psychologists who study how people and teams interact with themselves, and also host “Head Games”, a light-hearted podcast focused on using the psychology of human behavior to help explain current events in professional sports.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with Ben and Bret on the differences of situational and internal motivation, the methods to measure and increase team cohesion, and the importance of accepting roles in creating great team chemistry.

• 2:00 | Head Games: Ben + Bret backgrounds and how they first met

• 7:30 | The challenge of finding teams will to experiment

• 12:30 | Unseen traits of grit + persistence continually coming up on their podcast

• 17:00 | Situations + environments effecting players success or failure

• 19:45 | Team Chemistry and how to define it

• 24:30 | How do you measure team chemistry?

• 32:30 | How much effect one player can have on team cohesion

• 36:00 | Ways to increase team cohesion and the importance of accepting roles

• 40:30 | Teams that stand out in terms of teams chemistry

• 44:30 | What they've learned on their podcast over the past year?

Robert Yip is a sport psychologist and strength and conditioning coach that has worked with individual athletes and team-based sports from soccer, rugby, volleyball and Gaelic games.  He currently works as a performance coach for professional esports organizations, focused on helping players, coaches, and teams reach their peak performance.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with Robert on his transition from traditional sports to working with professional esports organizations, the consistency in players that drives team success in all sports, and how stability in people is needed for team to build a winning culture.

1:45 | Robert's sports psychology background and his early work in Esports

7:45 | What did your work in Esports teach you about working with players?

10:15 | Challenges in developing soft skills with players and teams

16:30 | Importance of Relationships

20:15 | Creating buy-in and establishing accountability

22:15 | Culture vs. Skill: "Culture is everything"

27:15 | The great players want to be coached hard and held accountable

35:00 | "Your best player has to be representative of the culture you are trying to build"

37:20 | Team Building: Know what you want for your culture + in your players

38:30 | The people that drive culture are the consistent players

41:00 | Golden State Warriors + Having players be a model for your core values

43:15 | What has Esports gotten right about building culture? And what have they gotten wrong?

45:00 | Developing esports coaches: "There is no Bill Belichick in Esports"

Victor Cruz began his career in scouting and player development with the Boston Red Sox, worked with agent Scott Boras in player representation for over a decade, and currently represents esports athletes through his firm, Brandy Ro Gaming.

In this conversation, Evan Burk speaks with Victor on how major league baseball teams scout players on and off the field, the lessons he learned on how the Boston Red Sox Built a championship team from their 1st title run in 2004, and how ambition is the force that drives all great players.

1:45 | Interning with the Boston Red Sox while in college

4:45 | Working in scouting + player development with the Boston Red Sox

10:15 | Getting insight on how players were off-the-field

12:00 | "Focusing on whats going on around the game when they are not playing"

13:30 | Understanding players culturally + providing guidance to young players

15:40 | Building a championship team in Boston

20:45 | Understanding the human aspect of baseball scouting + building relationships

27:00 | How ambition drives the development of most players

32:00 | Transitioning to working with Scott Boras + player representation

37:45 | Getting into Gaming + Esports athlete representation

44:30 | Podcasting on MMA with his son

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Find "The Guillotine MMA Podcast" on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Soundcloud, and follow on twitter: @guillotine_mma and on instagram: @theguillotinemma. 

Paul Svagdis is entering his 19th season as the Head Baseball Coach for Azusa Pacific University. Before arriving at Azusa, he spent 6 seasons as the head coach at Pomona-Pitzer, and in 25 years as a college head coach holds over 600 wins and has been named PacWest coach of the year each of the last 3 seasons.

In this interview, Evan Burk speaks with Paul on how he uses his football mentality in his approach to coaching baseball, finding leadership potential in the recruiting process, and how having a player that sets the standard is a crucial element on all his great teams.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

1:40 | What has impressed you most about your players over the past year since the canceled 2020 season?

4:10 | Teaching baseball over zoom + keeping players engaged in a virtual world

8:30 | Bringing the football mentality to his baseball coaching

12:30 | The adaptation + difference in how he led early in his coaching career to now

16:45 | Recruiting: Worrying less about results and more about how they handled the results

20:40 | Building the team mindset + culture - Does resiliency come from recruiting, or from the coaching staff?

22:30 | Shifting the Culture at Azusa - What stood out to you as the things that really helped flip that culture?

28:20 | Having a Player that sets the standard

33:15 | Being purposeful in his approach to recruiting + asking the right questions

38:45 | What are you looking for when looking at a potential prospect?

42:15 | Are there exceptions that you make in your evaluation? Or pretty rigid in your evaluation process?

44:50 | NFL Team Building: Putting guys in the right system

49:15 | Reflecting on the ability to take teams from good to great

55:20 | What goes into a good baseball nickname?

Clif Carroll is in his first season as the Head Coach for the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Men's basketball team, after having previously served as the head coach at McMurry University and Sul Ross University, and had the privilege to spend his early career working under two Hall of Fame coaches, Steve Green at South Plains College and Bobby Knight at Texas Tech.

In this interview, Evan Burk speaks with Clif on how Bobby Knight's 3x5 index card influenced his approach to coaching, the way his recruiting philosophy changed after having kids, and the lessons of Texas BBQ restaurants he uses to lead his team.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

2:00 | Learning from working under Coach Bobby Knight at Texas Tech

4:30 | What stood out about Coach Knight's leadership?

5:45 | What Clif learned from Bobby Knight - The simplicity of a 3x5 Index Card

8:30 | Coach Leach at Texas Tech and Learning the Air Raid Offense

9:45 | Other sources of inspiration like country music + BBQ restaurants

11:30 | "Great coaches can coach anything"

13:20 | Chris Beard as a young assistant at Texas

16:30 | Using Authenticity in his coaching

20:15 | "Part of being authentic is knowing your weaknesses"

24:10 | Social Media + The "Generation of Celebrity" changing how coaches deal with players

27:00 | Coaches now have to really coach up Loyalty, Community, interaction between the kids

29:30 | Finding intangible traits in the players in recruiting

32:15 | "Circling up the Player" + gathering information

34:30 | How having kids changed his coaching and view of recruiting

35:45 | "I have been really looking for players that are high achievers"

36:45 | Sul Ross and his mentality taking that job.

44:15 | Mentality taking over the UMHB Program

49:30 | The Early Success putting his culture in place at UMHB

52:30 | Expanding his player's horizons with Country Music

Dr. Alex Auerbach joined the Toronto Raptors as the Director of Wellness and Development in May 2020, after spending the previous two years serving as the Director of Clinical and Sport Psychology for the University of Arizona.

Alex is a former football coach-turned-sports psychologist who specializes in sport and performance psychology, and has worked with elite athletes at every level of competition including NCAA Division 1 colleges, multiple professional sports organizations, and Olympic athletes over the past decade.

In this interview, Evan Burk speaks with Alex about how leaders can maximize their leadership potential and feel more comfortable in their roles.

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.

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Topics Discussed:

2:15 | Alex's leadership evolution over his career

4:45 | How organizations and leaders can develop relationships with their people

7:00 | Trusting your instincts as a young leader

9:00 | Real leadership = doing what you need to do for somebody else to be the best

14:00 | Building trust through consistency

17:30 | The importance of honesty and integrity with your team

19:00 | People wanting honesty from their leaders

21:30 | Developing a Self-Reflection practice to improve your leadership

22:15 | Where Alex sees coaches can make improvements

27:00 | Differences in leadership from players vs. coaches

31:00 | The value of radical transparency in people that surround coaches

34:30 | "Not everyone has earned a right to have a voice in the culture"

37:30 | Alex's decision-making process and how he makes tough decisions

Connect with Alex: Twitter

Steve Stigall played college football at the University of Texas, worked as a member of the football coaching staffs at UT and SMU, and currently serves as a Pastor at the Eastside Community Church in Dallas, Texas.

In our conversation, we dive into what led to the rise of UT football under Mack Brown and his leadership, the culture change he experienced first-hand during his time with SMU football, and the moment he knew it was time for a career transition. 

Get Evan’s book, Finding Intangibles, to learn about how high-performing teams are built and the hidden character traits that drive all elite performers and organizations.

To stay up to date with Evan and The Highest Level podcast, sign up for Evan's leadership newsletter.