005. Nicholas Liberato | Discipline, Work Ethic, Enthusiasm

Nick discussed his experience as a teacher and coach, emphasizing the importance of balance and accepting challenges. He also shared his coaching style and the differences between coaching football and golf. Nick discussed how he incorporated challenges into every aspect of coaching and training for football players, including summer workouts, to prepare them for post-season competition. He also emphasized the importance of hard work over talent in players.

Sal and Nick discussed the importance of being authentic and genuine in order to find success in any field, whether it be sports or business. They also touched on the idea that people often underestimate the effort and mindset required to win. They emphasized the need to not only focus on physical training, but also mental preparation and understanding the bigger picture of how each player's role fits into the team's success.

Connect with Nick:
https://twitter.com/coachnicklib

Connect with Sal:
https://908enterprises.com
http://linkedin.com/in/salliberato

Transcript

Sal  
Welcome to 908ent, the podcast. I'm your host, Sal Liberato. We're here to help you take another step towards success. Now let's get ready to learn the basics from the best. What's going on everyone? Thank you for tuning back in. We have a special guest today, my brother, Coach Nick Liberato. Nick, thank you for coming on today.

Nick  
Hey, what's up? Thanks for having me on Sal really excited about this opportunity. Super cool.

Sal  
You got it. So Nick is the defensive coordinator at Madison High School. He worked his way up over there. Last season, his defense put up some awesome stats. He also coaches golf at the school. But that's all like public info. So Nick, is there any info that you want our listeners to know about you?

Nick  
Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, a huge part of what I do is coach, also a teacher over there as well. But one thing trying to work for and trying to preach through my teaching is a lot of balance, right? So you don't have to be totally one thing or the other. You have some balance, you got things you got going on at work, things you got going on at sports, but then things outside as well. So having a good balance, work life balance is something that I preach a lot through my own actions, but trying to have these high schoolers learn that as well to have balanced lives is they got school, they got sports, they got family, they got friends, all that type of stuff going on.

Sal  
Yeah, that's great. So to start right off, I like to ask everybody, what is the three simplest things that lead to success,

Nick  
Three simplest things that lead to success, right off the top of my head. Definitely, discipline is going to be one major one, you got to have work ethic. And you got to have some enthusiasm. So disciplines, you obviously know what that means to us, then you definitely got to have some work ethic can't just talk about it, you got to be about it as well. And you got to have enjoyment and enthusiasm with what you're doing. Because yeah, there's gonna be some days where it's going to be things that you don't want to do. But for the majority, you got to be getting some enjoyment out of the things that you're doing on a daily basis, day in and day out, whether that's your work, your job, whatever you're trying to do. That doesn't matter what field you're in, you got some discipline, you got some work ethic, you got some enthusiasm about what you're doing on a daily basis keys to success right there.

Sal  
Yeah, those are definitely three great ones. So you're a teacher and a coach, you've been doing it for maybe like, five, six years now. Can you share a moment or experience that inspired you to want to become a teacher or coach?

Nick  
Yeah, so actually finishing up my fifth year now. So pretty cool, cool process with it. Well, not really any particular moment or anything like that. But definitely knew that I wanted to be in coaching. And something that goes extremely well with coaching is teaching for the timetable. And it kind of relates a lot hand to hand with it. So I'd say there's a lot of crossover between how I teach and how I coach. So it just is something that not really one instance, but kind of found myself being pretty good at it. So it's something that I knew that I would want to make my career. So not any one instance. So I know kind of like a blanket answer right there. But it just kind of fits my personality, my style, and again, works really well hand to hand like definitely a design for those two things that go together.

Sal  
Yeah. 100%. So you're talking about your coaching style, like coaching football, as opposed to coaching golf, like how does that differ? 

Nick  
Yeah, I wouldn't say greatly, like very much different, but I actually like it a lot. So kinda I was I was talking about before, like the balance. So football is very intense, very much a lot of work on a weekly basis to be successful, even to have a chance for success. So there's a lot of clocking in, that you got to take care of with the football season, pretty much a year round gig. So this golf opportunity that I got to coach, I knew the head coach from being a teacher in the district and there was a huge influx of aspiring golfers needed some more coaches and things like that, and it kind of fell into a great end of the year position. So I'd say it's kind of my, like, calm before the storm, before football season really gets kicking off. And I'm definitely an improving golfer myself and it's just another opportunity to coach and be with like a different population of students and kids like I know them from teaching. But coaching golf definitely a way different atmosphere than like a Friday night football game. So kind of plays right into the whole balance idea. And it's a cool thing that I really enjoy and I definitely see myself golfing for years down the line.

Sal  
Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, like you said, Friday night football stadium that's rockin with the band and everything, as opposed to you know, out on the golf course where it's peaceful and quiet with you know, no sound.

Nick  
So yeah, it's kind of like a getaway. It's like it's really cool. And I still bring a little bit of my like football coaching style into it too, but obviously, to a certain extent. It's not like you're going around hooting and hollering and running around like that. So definitely a little bit of a different approach for that for sure.

Sal  
Yeah, that's awesome. So can you share a valuable lesson that you've learned from?

Nick  
Yes, for sure. There's many to count. But one, it's kind of like a motto that I bring to the table to for my athletes is, are you going to accept the challenge? So each day, while you know you have an idea of what's going to go on working with high school kids and working with games where you don't know the outcome, kind of all that stuff as a whole, there's going to be challenges that you don't know that you're going to face that day. So are you going to accept it or are you going to not? So again, sometimes the challenges are easier to accept than others. Some have a way great, or far bigger impact than others. But again, that's kind of the whole idea behind it. Is that something always exciting? Something always you can learn from and that's what I tried to do is bring all that stuff into teachable moments where, hey, there's gonna be things that don't always go your way, so how are you going to respond? How are you going to act around what your teammates? How are you going to act in the face of adversity or some sort of defeat or something like that? So again, kind of back to the blanket statement, not just one specific thing, but a lot of different challenges that present themselves throughout the years, it's how are you going to act when things don't go your way? 

Sal  
Yeah, I really liked that, accept the challenge. So how does that tie into the summer workouts? I know you have a role in you know, writing part of the summer workout, so did you try to tie that in at all to it? Or how did you go about like starting that plan from the beginning?

Nick  
Yeah, absolutely. So as we mentioned before, like, all year round job for coaching football, as well as being a football player. So huge opportunity to take a more of a leadership role with getting the strength and conditioning things going over the summer. So the challenge is definitely brought into that we try to bring it into literally every aspect, because we know where we want the kids to compete at is a very high level and high level for us is postseason. So anytime you're in a postseason situation, there's constant challenges, because you don't make it to the postseason, with being not a great team. So the whole idea behind that is to put them in situations where they have to rise to the occasion or rise above the adversity. So the idea of challenges is brought into the workouts, practice, or even our meetings when we're going over things on the board or installing things. The challenge aspect is brought into literally every single aspect of our coaching, of our training, of our learning, of our teaching for our athletes.

Sal  
That's great. You got to get them comfortable being uncomfortable. 

Nick  
Yeah, I know, that's like a major cliche with it, but it absolutely is. And we talk about like, you can't be a robot because things happen out of our control, and sometimes not as they're supposed to happen out there on the field. And that's the same thing, because we bring that back to things don't always happen as they're supposed to in life. So they have to have an idea and understanding and be cool under that pressure. So again, like you said, with the getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

Sal  
100%. So how do you stay updated with coaching or trying to learn new things, whether that's, you know, a new defense or just new workout, stuff like that? Are there any books, trainings, podcasts, or videos that you guys do or you personally do?

Nick  
Yeah, so definitely, us as a staff, we're talking all the time. So I'm very fortunate to have our head coach is also a phys ed teacher. So we work together on a daily basis and just have conversations literally all the time about what we're doing, or new ideas, or how we can get better at whatever else is going on. So that's definitely a huge thing is constant communication. And then I'm also communicating with other coaching staffs as well. Two of my really good friends. My best friends are head coaches at Dayton High School and then new head coach at Whippany Park High School, so we talk all the time over text, over calls, meeting in person about new ideas and things like that. And then I guess you could call it professional development is the Glazier Clinics, which is all around the nation. But they have one here locally in Atlantic City once a year. So we get emails, updates, get to go down there to the conference to talk and hear people talk from very high levels, from high school, to college, and even to professional coaches, they're gonna get some ideas. And then my own research as well just like looking up things, from articles, to ideas, to videos, to workout plans, all that different type of stuff.

Nice. So those clinics, you get to meet a lot of different coaches and like network and stuff like that.

Yeah, it's basically a huge networking opportunity. So go down there, you know, with your staff, or whatever it is, you get to sit in and listen to some information. But like I said, it's local here to New Jersey down in Atlantic City. So a lot of New Jersey coaches go so you see some of the coaches that you know, maybe you get to meet some new coaches, some staffs that you play against or whatever else is going on. But again, it's just, everybody's there for the same reason to go get some ideas and share some ideas and get better. So even though we're competing again, to each other, it's definitely a cool atmosphere, because that's kind of the offseason. So it's not like we're going at each other with it, because obviously that time to save for Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. But it's a cool opportunity to get down there network and make some connections and meet some new friends and things like that.

Sal  
Yeah, definitely. I'm sure everybody has like a totally different mindset in that setting as opposed to, you know, game day, like you said, so that's neat that that's, you know, available to you guys.

Nick  
Yeah, way more relaxed have a setting for sure. 

Sal  
Yeah, definitely. So another question, we got a little this or that question. Does hard work beats talent or does talent beat hard work?

Nick  
So I'm gonna go with 11 out of 10 times, I'm going with the hard worker kid over the kid with the talent because obviously you want to have some dudes on your team. But what I'd rather have is a kid, kind of accepting that challenge 10 out of 10 times than a kid who has the talent. But again, sometimes it's always almost like the cliche of like, the talented kid doesn't always work as hard. Not always the case, not not even in the slightest. But I know where I'm putting my money. If I'm betting on the situation, I'm going with the hard worker over the talent like I said, 11 out of 10 times there.

Sal  
Yeah, a lot of people have said that. I know that there's a you know, a full phrase to it, we left off the end. But a lot of people have said that, you know, hard work beats talent. That's what they feel and that's their opinion. So that's neat.

Nick  
What is it when talent doesn't work hard or something like that? 

Sal  
Yeah that's technically the true saying.

Nick  
Yeah.

Sal  
But I wanted to leave the end off to leave it open ended to see what people thought and a lot of people have went with the hard work beats talent.

Nick  
Yeah, and you know, what I sometimes do, it's easier said than done. Because at the end, when we're competing, we're trying to win and stuff like that. But you got to put the values of what you're trying to teach and what you're trying to preach and get across. Definitely the hard work is outweighing the talent more often than not. So that's definitely the situation that we're trying to preach with that. But again, don't get me wrong, you got to have some talent to be out there and play. But I think if you work hard, you have the ability to develop those talents and become better at whatever you're trying to do.

Sal  
So then, hard work beats talent, talent, beats hard work, obviously, doesn't matter. Everybody's going to face an obstacle. So what way do you go about trying to overcome obstacles? And then what about for your players?

Nick  
Yeah, so there's definitely times as a coach, where you're like, what's going on this and that. And something that I think gets you set up for that before those challenges even arise is being highly prepared and having the week planned out, so that you're organized on your end. Because if you come up as a coach, and then you're trying to figure stuff out on the field, you look like you don't know what you're doing. And if you're doing that, then you don't know what you're doing. So you've got to be prepared for all these different things going on. And then what we try to do to to get our kids prepared, is have meetings before and after practice, obviously, let them know what's going on for the week. But also to make practice intense, more times even so then the game so that when they get to these types of situations, it's not the first time that they're having to react on their feet, or think on the fly, or go make some sort of spectacular play. We practice these things as much as we possibly can. And again, to keeping composure as a coach and not freaking out when something doesn't go well. They're going to follow our lead as coaches because we're going to be their leaders on and off the field. So staying cool, staying calm, staying collected, and showing them that, hey, if something doesn't go our way, that's fine, we're gonna get to the next play. That's what you got to do. And also, there's times to be animated and energized and jacked up. 

Sal  
Yeah. 

Nick  
And then there's also times to be calm, cool, and collected. So demonstrating those and saying, Hey, we're going to be all right. In times of, maybe something isn't going our way. They're gonna follow that lead and stay cool and just go out there and play.

Sal  
Well, yeah, most times people take on how the boss is.

Nick  
Yeah, for sure. So let's say official makes a call that we don't agree with, if I snap and lose my shit, and then go off the deep end, and the kids are going to do the same thing. Yeah, but if I'm like, Okay, no problem, whatever, like, don't agree with it, don't have to agree with it. What's the next play? What are we going to do? What's the next call? Just move on to the next situation? And then the kids will take on that role as well.

Sal  
Yeah, so then touching on that, is there like anything you guys do like specifically to help the kids with this? Because this is like not really football related at all? 

Nick  
Yeah, for sure. So I have kind of along the lines of accepting the challenge, it's very much so from like the Pittsburgh Steelers saying of the standard is the standard. I don't take that word for word. But I tell our kids to uphold the standard. So we have a standard of how we're going to play, how we're going to prepare but also and more importantly, how we're going to act. So that's that's definitely weaved into all of our practices, all of our meetings, all of our talks, all of our learning, all of that type of stuff is going on because they're there representing not only themselves, but they're representing the Madison Dodgers and the community of Madison as well. So it's, we talk about that a lot where it's more so than just you, more so than just the football team. You're representing the colors, you're representing the maroon and gold, and you're representing the M. So that's more so than just you, just our team, that's community and that's years in the past and years in the future.

Sal  
Yeah, no, it's definitely interesting. So then how do you feel like being in a community like Madison helps with the success? Because that's definitely good tradition, great town. Is there like any correlation there anything with being in a town like that?

Nick  
Oh, 100%, because as I just mentioned before, and as you just said, there's a lot of history in rich history at that of success. So that's something that we talk about all the time. Because again, it's important to be in that moment in that year, and like this is now but you've got to understand and respect that this isn't just something that just came up out of nowhere. There's years and decades of loyal community members that have built the community to what it is and the team to what it is now. So understanding that your actions on and off the fields, not only are yours but again to you're representing the colors, and you're representing the Dodgers as well. It's something that we definitely try to drive home because it means more it has them get a little bit more of an understanding and more of an appreciation for what they're able to do. Because there's some been some pretty cool things in the past that have happened for Madison Dodgers. 

Sal  
Yeah. 

Nick  
And we're, we're planning on some pretty cool things to happen in the future. So tying those two together, is extremely important.

Sal  
Yeah, I forget what book I was reading, but it was talking about a huge thing to success is knowing that you're able to do it, and it's been done before. So that totally applies to Madison. Not that you know, somewhere that's never won, or won championships can't do it. But the fact that it's been done there before, and it's in front of these kids, I feel like that, you know, gives you guys definitely a leg up just knowing that you can do it and it's been done before, within whatever organization you are in.

Nick  
Yeah, that's huge. And what I tried to do too, is positively spin it like not that you're comparing them to other stuff be like, Yo, but this is the same opportunity from the same town, from the same community you guys can do this too. And not being like, Oh, this team is better than that team, but like how you said, but I'd love to check that out and see what that's all talking about. Because it's been done before you can do it again, for sure. So that's definitely something comparable there.

Sal  
Okay, so the name of the book was the 10x rule, I feel like it kind of applies with winning and losing, I guess, I mean, in business, but in this instance, for games. So basically, it talks about that nobody is trying to lose, but people don't put in enough effort, energy, or the mindset to actually win. They underestimate what it's going to take in your mindset, in your energy, and your effort of what you actually have to do to win. So it's a really good book and I feel like there's a lot of, it's a business book, but there's a lot of correlation to sports. When I was reading it, I was like, Oh, this applies to football or sports, whatever. But that point was definitely true in business. And I was an athlete myself, so I know it's 100% true in sports. You have any thoughts on that?

Nick  
Yeah, 100%, because kind of what we were talking about before, like being prepared. So everybody goes out there, and you think all the work just happens on the field, whatever it may be. But yeah, there's a lot of behind the scenes, and there's a lot of accountability and rest, taking care of yourself, like all these sorts of things go into whether you're going to win or whether you're going to lose. And the thing is always I feel like coaches always say to you hear this, it's like, there's the guys out there working harder than you or this or that, or whatever. And everybody always says that, but you never really know because you're not at other teams practices, you're focused on what you're doing. I think that's what you need to do. But what you have to do is just maximize your time to be able to say we couldn't have done anything more that week or that day or that practice to get better. So driving home, that intensity of again, being like, do all that you can do, use all the reps that you have available, learn as much as you can, ask as many questions as you can, get as knowledgeable as you can, that week, that practice, that season to do your best. So that's going to set you up for just that opportunity to go out there and win. Because again, you got to think you're working, the opponent is working as well. It's just a matter of the combination between who's working as hard as they can and who's putting the pieces together as best that they can, player wise and coaching wise, to put the best product on the field to win on a Friday night or win on a Saturday afternoon.

Sal  
Yeah, so like the title is called the 10x rule. So let's just say in football since I forget what the exact examples were in the book, but if, you know, you think you have to run 10 sprints over the summer to you know, be in shape you need to run 100.

Nick  
 Yeah.

Sal  
So that's like the whole premise on it, but it's really good stuff.

Nick  
Yeah, the biggest thing that I think people can do with that, too is because coaches because everybody thinks it's always just the physical aspect, it's the mental aspect as well. So like, yeah, you got to run, you got to run your sprints, you got to lift your weights, you got to do what you got to do. But you also got to get in the playbook and learn 10 times as many more plays, or learn 10 times as many more philosophies or watch 10 more clips on Hudl, or whatever else it may be, because it's all the combination of it. Because if we talk about this all the time, if you don't know what you're doing, you can't play. So if you don't know where you're supposed to be and get there when you're supposed to be there, it doesn't matter how big, strong, fast you are, you ain't going to be playing because you're not going to get the job done. So again, tooI like that though. So run the 10 more sprints, but watch the 10 more plays, read the 10 more articles, whatever else is going on. It's the mental aspect of it too. 

Sal  
Well, it ties into the playbook too. Because anyway, in those football, so you need to know your assignment, you have to know 10 times that to know everybody else's assignment. 

Nick  
Absolutely, for sure. What we also do too, and I do this as well, on the defensive side, like let's say we're running something I say you got to know your job, but you got to know the guys in front of you and to the left and right of you, like how does it all work together? So I think putting that extra info in there, too, it doesn't like jumble it. But I think it makes more sense because it shows the bigger picture of how all these pieces working together. So kind of to the point of that is learning not only your job, but why is it you're doing what you're doing? How does it fit with the guys around you, and with your teammates around you to go out there and achieve success? 

Sal  
Yeah, that's definitely great. So as we come to a close here, what final piece of advice would you give to our listeners to help them take another step toward success? Whether that is in you know, sports, if that's business, if that's, you know, just in life in general?

Nick  
Yeah, for sure. So success means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. What I've found through my coaching and my teaching, sort of gaining roles, and gaining experience is just to be authentic. So you can't be anybody else you got to be who you are. Because if you're authentic, and you're genuine with what you're doing, success is going to find its way to you and you're going to find your way to success. You can't do something else or be somebody else. You got to do what you do and and do it how you know how to do it. So being authentic and being genuine. Again, that's going to allow you to do your best job with whatever that means. If you try to follow somebody else's role, like you can get inspiration, but you can't be somebody else. Gotta be you, gotta be authentic, gotta be genuine, and that's how you're gonna find your way to success with whatever you want to do. 

Sal  
Yeah, definitely. That's a great point, though, because a lot of coaching is taking stuff from other people, but making it your own.

Nick  
Oh, we just say that it's all recycled and reused just in a little bit of a different way.

Sal  
Yeah, no, it's true for business, it's true for anything. If it's working, it's working, but you just have to turn it and make it your own. You can't just copy it, and then think that you're going to do good because the other person is doing that. You're not that person, so making it your own is huge in anything, whether that's business, sports.

Nick  
Yeah no doubt. You got to put your spin, make it your style, and then it's going to come across as again and is going to be genuine and authentic. Because again, recycled and reused, that's all that football coaching is there. So again, you can make some tweaks and adjustments. But again, everybody tries to get to the end zone, or prevent people from getting to the end zone. But there's a lot of different ways to do it. 

Sal  
Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you very much for coming on. If anybody wants to connect with you, you're on just Twitter, right? If you just want to give him your Twitter, so if anybody wants to connect.

Nick  
Yeah, building up my Twitter following here from my coaching profile, there is @CoachNickLib. So very short, simple to the point there. And yeah, you can reach out to me there or connect or whatever it is on there. @CoachNickLib.

Sal  
Okay, awesome. Thank you very much, Nick, and thank you for everybody for listening.

Nick  
Thank you, appreciate it Sal.