Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

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Mar 01 2025

3 Types of Teams During March

Click here to listen to the 2-minute audio version of this article

As a former college basketball coach, March Madness is my favorite “holiday” (insert eye roll from my wife).

I love the intrigue, excitement, and storylines. My wife always shakes her head when I plop down on the couch for days at a time.

There are really three kinds of basketball teams when March rolls around… 

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Basketball, Brackets, Chris Holtmann, Clark Kellogg, College Basketball, Favorites, Holiday, Influence, John Beilein, March Madness, NAIA, National Tournament, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Student-Athletes, Students, Tournament, Underdogs

Mar 18 2024

College of Saint Mary Partners with Bechler Leadership for Basketball Search

The College of Saint Mary athletic director Robbie Shay has announced they are partnering with Bechler Leadership in its’ search for a new women’s basketball coach.

“We believe there’s a lot of potential here,” said Shay. “With our revamped scholarships, first-class facilities, and beautiful location we wanted to maximize the opportunities available to us to get the right coach in place. Bechler Leadership has had great results filling positions at other schools and we’re excited to work with their team.”

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Job Search, Leadership, News, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Athletic Director, basketball coach, bechler leadership, Coaching Search, College of Saint Mary, Executive Search, Job Search, NAIA, Nebraska, Omaha, Robbie Shay, Search Firm

May 16 2023

Will Roleson of College Sports Communicators

Will Roleson is today’s guest on the “Success is a Choice” podcast, hosted by Jamy Bechler. Will is the Associate Executive Director of the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). Before working with CoSIDA, Will was an Associate Commissioner with the Horizon League and Sports Information Director at Kent State University.

Connect with Will Roleson …

✅ Twitter.com/WRoleson

✅ CollegeSportsCommunicators.com

✅ Linkedin.com/in/will-roleson

✅ Full Bio: CollegeSportsCommunicators.com/staff.aspx?staff=3

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Athletic Departments, Athletic Directors, Communication, CoSIDA, Gary Waters, Internship, Kent State, larry desimpelare, marketing, NACDA, NAIA, NCAA, Sports Industry, Sports Information, sports management, Sports Marketing, Sports Trivia

Feb 28 2022

Leaders Growing Leaders: Mark DeMichael

Today’s guest on the “Leaders Growing Leaders” series is Mark DeMichael, the VP of Student Life and Athletics at Indiana Wesleyan University.

During the “Leaders Growing Leaders” series on the Success is a Choice Podcast Network, Jamy Bechler talks with leaders on how they are growing and developing other leaders.

The series tries to examine how various leaders are making the people around them better and building a stronger, healthier culture.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Administration, Athlete Leadership, Athletic Department, Athletic Director, Athletic Directors, Chad Briscoe, Covid, crossroads league, Culture, Greg Tonagel, Indiana Wesleyan, IWU, larry desimpelare, leaders growing leaders, Leadership, Marion, Mark Fauser, NAIA, Podcast

Oct 05 2021

The Coachable Coach: Jared Ronai

Today’s guest on “The Coachable Coach” series is Jared Ronai, head men’s basketball coach at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

“The Coachable Coach” series on the Success is a Choice Podcast Network goes beyond the X’s and O’s as Jamy Bechler talks with some of the best sports coaches.

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Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: basketball coach, Basketball Coaching, Brent Ellis, crossroads league, Culture Matters, Culture Wins, Developing Leaders, larry desimpelare, Lead by Example, men's basketball, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, NAIA, Ryan Cottingham, Team Captains, Team Leadership, Team Retreat, The Coachable Coach, The Leadership Playbook

Aug 09 2021

How to Take a Team from First to Worst

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that it doesn’t go into a fruit salad.” (Miles Kington)

After two different head coaching stints, I was presented an opportunity to coach at a dream job. It was the same type of school I was currently at but had more resources, more stability, a much nicer campus, and nearly every key player was returning from the prior year’s Top-25 team. The coach had left to take a big-time Division I head coaching job and they wanted me to replace him.

When you listen to coaches speak at clinics and conferences, they are quick to outline what they’ve done to rebuild a bad program. Most stories present an example to follow or a cautionary tale. In that dream job, I took the program from first to worst. That’s right, I ruined that team in just one year.

Not only did we have one of the worst seasons in school history and a 16-win DECREASE but we also lost twice to the team that I had just left.

#Oops.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Bryan College, coaching mistakes, College Basketball, College Coaching, Culture Matters, Culture Wins, Destroy a Program, first to worst, Jamy Bechler, Knowledge vs. Wisdom, lessons learned, NAIA, Oops, team building, Team Leadership, Wisdom, X's and O's

Jul 21 2021

Leaders Growing Leaders: Kelly Wells

Today’s guest on the “Leaders Developing Leaders” series is Kelly Wells, the Director of Athletics at the University of Pikeville. 

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Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Athletic Director, basketball coach, college sports, Culture, kelly Wells, leaders growing leaders, Leadership Development, NAIA, Pikeville Bears, Success is a Choice, The Leadership Playbook, University of Pikeville

Jul 19 2021

Episode 173: National Association of Collegiate Esports Founder Michael Brooks

Michael Brooks is the Executive Director of the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE).  NACE is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of member institutions and the largest varsity organization in North America.  NACE’s members are developing the structure and tools needed to advance collegiate esports in the varsity space. Areas of collaboration include: Eligibility, Path to Graduation, Competition & Scholarships, IP Rights, and Program Implementation. NACE currently has over 200 varsity esports programs as members, accounting for nearly all varsity programs across North America.  Michael and his work with NACE has been featured on ABC’s Good Morning America, ESPN, Forbes, Fortune, NBC, SBJ and many others.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • What are Esports
  • Why Esports should matter to you
  • How Esports teams are similar to traditional sports teams
  • … and much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Atari, college esports, college sports, esports, First-Person Shooter, Fortnite, Gambling, gaming, League of Legends, Madden, Michael Brooks, Miss Harvey, NACE, NAIA, National Association of Collegiate Esports, NCAA, Overwatch, Stephanie Harvey, Street Fighter, Twitch, video games

Jun 03 2019

Episode 122: Bob Vecchione, NACDA Executive Director

Bob Vecchione is the Executive Director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. NACDA is THE professional association for individuals working in college athletics. Nearly 16,000 individuals and 1,700 institutions belong to NACDA.

During his tenure, NACDA has initiated a multitude of programs that provide value-added benefits to the ever increasing membership. Programs such as the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, NCAA Football, the Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year Award, the NACDA Daily Review, the Disney Institute and the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) are examples of those value added membership benefits created under his tutelage. Vecchione was honored with the Tony Snow Award from the WWP in 2013.

Vecchione is also a member of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame National Board of Directors, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Board and is on the advisory Board of the College Sports Video Summit. He previously chaired the NCAA Football Youth Initiatives Committee.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • What kind of impact NACDA has on athletic programs and student-athletes
  • How athletic directors can best lead
  • Advice for people wanting to become involved in college athletics
  • … and so much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: anton goff, Bob Vecchione, Bob Wilson, Chad Briscoe, Christopher Parker, Coaching, Jacqie McWilliams, Jim Carr, larry desimpelare, Leadership, Martin Methodist College, Mike Hamilton, NACDA, NACMA, NAIA, NCAA, NJCAA, Rob Miller, Rusty Kennedy, Tim Hall, Tim Selgo

Feb 11 2019

Episode 116: Jim Carr, NAIA President

Jim Carr is the president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The NAIA provides opportunities for more than 65,000 student-athletes to play sports at the collegiate level. The NAIA is headquartered in Kansas City. The men’s basketball tournament is the longest running basketball tournament in the nation. Under Carr’s leadership, the NAIA has grown a great deal and has been at the forefront of innovative programs such as the “Champions of Character” and the “Return on Athletics”. 

Carr joined the NAIA in July 1998 as Managing Director and General Counsel and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, while retaining the title of General Counsel, in 2000.  In September 2006, Carr became the seventh President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAIA. He is a graduate of Millsaps College, has an M.S. in sports management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a J.D. from Duke University.  He serves on various boards and councils, including USA Basketball, the Kansas City Life, Baptist Trinity Lutheran Foundation, the Police Athletic League of Kansas City, Missouri Bank and Trust and the Downtown Council of Kansas City.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • Recruiting tips for parents
  • Qualities that make a good coach
  • Differences between the NAIA and the NCAA
  • Opportunities for student-athletes to grow and develop
  • … and so much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Bob Wilson, Brent Ellis, CEO, Chad Briscoe, Champions of Character, Greg Tonagel, larry desimpelare, Leadership, NAIA, NCAA, NCCAA, R-Jay Barsh, recruiting, RJay Barsh, Rob Miller, Rusty Kennedy, The Blind Side, UNLV

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