"The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

NFCA

458 episodes listed below

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Softball coaching, from practice plans to program culture.

The gist

The Dirt NFCA Podcast treats softball coaching as craft, leadership, and daily administration. Its conversations move from exit meetings, pitcher management, and practice priorities into culture, equity, mentorship, and the relationships that keep programs moving.

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About "The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

The Dirt NFCA Podcast is built for the daily realities of softball coaching. It sounds like a professional development room where the examples are specific, the questions are patient, and the answers are allowed to take their time. The show often starts with something a coach has to handle right now. End-of-season meetings, pitcher management, early-game evaluation, practice planning, and staff roles all get treated as real work rather than side notes. The conversations rarely stay technical for long. A question about exit interviews can become a discussion of disappointment, honesty, and how to close a season when almost every team ends without a trophy. A conversation about leadership can move into administrator trust, parent complaints, clear expectations, and the difference between support and blind defense. That is where the show finds its shape. It treats coaching as a mix of teaching, communication, logistics, and character formation. Softball is still the center. Guests talk about bullpens, reps, bunting, stealing, competing, scoring late, and getting players comfortable on dirt after indoor preparation. But the show keeps returning to the human parts of the job. It asks how coaches build standards, how they mentor athletes, how they handle legal or generational questions, and how they learn from difficult seasons. Its Title IX and Hall of Fame conversations add a longer view, connecting current coaching problems to access, gender equity, HBCU leadership, and the women who helped move the sport forward. The format is interview-heavy and warm. It can feel repetitive around sponsor language and archival prompts, but the core appeal is steady and useful. The Dirt NFCA Podcast serves coaches who want to hear how other coaches think through the profession, especially when the answer is not a clean tactic but a better way to lead.

Made for: The show is for softball coaches, athletic administrators, educators, and serious followers of the game who care about how programs are actually run. It especially suits listeners looking for practical language around leadership, player development, staff roles, and equity in athletics.

What sets it apart: Its strength is the way softball specifics become coaching education: a pitcher-management question, exit meeting, or D3 leadoff check-in often turns into a broader lesson about standards, communication, and athlete care. The show keeps the conversation close to lived coaching experience instead of packaging it as generic leadership advice.

In their own words

Weekly podcast facilitated by the NFCA featuring a member coach, expert in the field, or other entity who will provide insight to the sport on a different topic in each episode.

As heard by us

Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026

Softball becomes a clear case study in managing people, setting expectations and making consequential decisions under pressure.

"The Dirt" NFCA Podcast treats softball coaching as an operating job, where leadership shows up in expectations, staffing decisions, player development and difficult conversations.

Read our full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Parent blowups meet lineup pressure, and you get answers sturdier than "build culture."

Press play if you want

practical ways to support coaches without defending every mistake
Joanna Lane asking how vulnerability, roster buy-in, and small gestures shape a program

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

softball coaching practiceend-of-season meetingspitcher managementprogram cultureleadership expectationsTitle IX and gender equityathlete mentoringhigh school and college coaching

Talks about

Business & Finance

Best episodes of "The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

End-of-Season Meetings | Mickey DeanApr 15, 2026

A plainspoken guide to end of year coaching conversations and exit meetings.

This episode centers on end of year team action items, with Mickey Dean talking through exit meetings and the choices coaches make after the last game.

Tips For Being A Great Leader | Jon SaxtonApr 8, 2026

Leadership here means clear expectations, steady support, and honest correction when coaches need a teachable moment.

John Saxton's talk with Joanna Lane treats leadership as ordinary work: setting boundaries, backing people up, and turning mistakes into something useful.

2026 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee Veronica WigginsApr 1, 2026

A Hall of Fame conversation about the standard a coach carries beyond the field.

Veronica Wiggins's Hall of Fame conversation is strongest as a look at what it means to carry a standard after the job has grown bigger than the field.

Let's Talk Hitting | Shena Hollar | Lenoir RhyneAug 20, 2025

A practical hitting and practice-planning discussion built around reps, roles, and team buy-in.

This conversation focuses on hitting, practice planning, and the everyday work of keeping a roster aligned. Sheena Holler comes across as experienced and practical, with the strongest moments tied to reps, role clarity, and the slow work of getting players to buy into a…

A Profile In Coaching | Nicole Quigley-Borg | College of San MateoAug 13, 2025

A grounded coaching conversation about trust, family, and the daily work behind a strong team.

Nicole Quigley-Borg's conversation on the DIRT NFCA podcast stays close to coaching, family, and the steady work of building trust with athletes.

Coaching In A New Place | Brooke Kalman | DrexelAug 6, 2025

A rebuild starts with listening, not slogans.

Kalman's appearance on The Dirt turns on a familiar coaching truth: the first job is earning trust. It traces how the Drexel hire followed her stop at Gettysburg College, where she arrived after a regional appearance, and how recruiting first drew her toward coaching in the…

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Find your next episode

About "The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

In their own words

As heard by us

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Best episodes of "The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

Podcasts like "The Dirt" NFCA Podcast

Episodes

Making Sense of the Numbers | Matt Brown | Extra Points

Creating A Good Fit | Nevin Caple | LoveAthlete

The Power of Relationships | Megan Bartlett | Arizona State

25 Years Later: Teaching The Events of 9/11

All-things NIL | Kristi Dosh

Mental First Aid | Dr. Megan Buning | Florida State

Supporting the Student in Student-Athlete | Christy Connoyer | Saint Louis

Taking Over A Program | Benet Higgs | New Mexico State

Planning For A Successful Season | Claire Rietmann-Grout | The Positive Coach

Coaching Spotlight | Heather Tarter | McKendree

Growing The Game Internationally | Joni Frei | Canada Futures

Coaching Spotlight | Joe Guthrie | Northeast Alabama CC

My Coaching Journey | Sonja Garnett | Saint Mary's

My Coaching Journey | Andrew Rich | Boise State

Developing A Champion | Ron Pezzoni | Madonna

Building A Successful Program | Brittany Hendrickson | Mt. Hood CC

A Profile In Coaching | Amy Weaver | Messiah

Being A Coach AND A Mom | Wendy Hogue | William Carey

Five Questions For NFCA Super Members

Mastering Authentic Connections | Braden Eads | Braden Eads Leadership

A Day In The Life Of An AUSL GM | Jami Lobpries | Portland Cascade

Postseason Pitching | Lance McMahon | Alabama

End-of-Season Meetings | Jacquie Joseph

End-of-Season Meetings | Mickey Dean

Tips For Being A Great Leader | Jon Saxton

2026 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee Veronica Wiggins

Fifty Years of Title IX Throwback Episode

Quick Hits from the NFCA D3 Leadoff

In-Season Pitcher Management | Maddie Holub | University of North Carolina

The Job of a Pitching Coach | Pat Conlan | NFCA Team

Kids These Days: Effective Strategies for Coaching Gen Z and Beyond | Betsy Butterick and Friends

Making An Impactful Recruiting Video | Brian Chidester & Brian May | College Bound Jocks

Technology and Innovation | Anna Nickel | GameChanger

Celebrating Girls and Women in Sports | Karen Rudolph

Mental Planning For Your Season | Breanne Smedley | The Elite Competitor

Marketing Yourself | Katy Young Staudt | Job Search Consultant

Being Prepared & Organized For The Season | Luke Wesneski | Alfred University

Let's Talk Hitting | Shelby Shelton | Paris Junior College

NFCA Team Tips For Convention

Choosing The Right Time For Changes | Lindsay Leftwich | NC State

Baseball, Softball And The Pros | Ashton Lansdell

Lessons From A Championship Season | Christine Hutton | University High (Colo.)

Let's Talk Pitching | Sara Driesenga | Central Michigan

Quick Hits | Diane Miller | Nebraska

Mental Toughness Training | Shawnee Harle | Winning Matters

Supporting Coaches | Scott Fitzgerald | Purcial

The Mental Game | Dr. Jack Llewellyn | Sports Psychology Consultant

Helping Coaches Support Student-Athlete Well-Being | Endure Athletic Mental Fitness

Sept. 11 Remembrance | Gene Reardon | Central Methodist

Pitcher Development on the High School Level | Sean Payne & Steven Isaacs | Floyd Central (Ind.)

The Coaching Journey | AJ Robinson | Cal State San Marcos

Let's Talk Hitting | Shena Hollar | Lenoir Rhyne

A Profile In Coaching | Nicole Quigley-Borg | College of San Mateo

Coaching In A New Place | Brooke Kalman | Drexel

Developing Culture In Your Program | Lizzy Ristano | Athlete Assessments & WeCOACH

Data Science & Analytics | Dr. Scott Nestler | Florida

Getting Set For The Season | Mark Montgomery | Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Making Your Equipment List | Drew Wyrick (South Hills HS) & Taylor Taylor (Cleveland Central HS)

Creating an Inclusive & Supportive Environment | Lauren Lappin (Arizona) & Kirk Walker (UCLA)

Parent And Coach | Jen Steele (Delaware) & Jexx Varner (Robert Morris)

The Psychology of Student-Athletes | Kristen Galloway

Developing Young Pitchers | Texas Glory

Celebrating Your Student-Athletes | Tim Hofmann | Florida State

A Profile In Coaching | Rob Nelson | Lima Senior High School (Ohio)

The Other Side of Recruiting | Stacey Nuveman Deniz | San Diego State

The Evolution of the Game | Diane Laffey

The Evolution of the Game | Deb DiMatteo

Mental Health | Valerie Alston | Valston Coaching

Quick Hits For Your Offense | Ryan Greenwood | Indiana Fusion

Let's Talk Pitching | Megan Rhodes Smith | Tennessee

Working On Your Team's Mental Game | Matt Phillips