Episodes

Tyler Rosser

For more than four years now he has been the head women’s soccer coach at Ave Maria University, where last November he was named the Sun Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the team to the best season in the history of the program. He also last year became the winningest coach in conference play in program history. Before taking the job at Ave Maria he was the head coach of the Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School girls’ team for three years. He is licensed by the United States Soccer Federation and is an alumnus of his current employer.

Notable guest quotes:

“Growing up I did love God, I loved Jesus, but in terms of the Catholic faith I struggled to know why we do a lot of things as Catholics.”

“Growing up it was always my mom’s influence that helped me stay in the Catholic faith.  And so when I got to college I sort of had a choice to make — do I want to continue with this or do I not want to continue with this, so to speak.”

“That was really the first time in my life — although I probably heard it, but this was maybe the first time that I was actually listening — where I heard that I could have a friendship with Jesus.”

“We don’t initiate the relationship with Jesus.  He is always seeking us.  He’s coming after us gently and peacefully and patiently and kindly.”

“I think that the Lord has really brought me through as an athlete, and He has always put a desire on my heart to coach or be involved in sports some way.”

“I just fell in love at the conference with Jesus in the Eucharist because not only do I have a friendship with Jesus but now I can encounter Him literally on a daily basis whether it be in Adoration or at Mass.”

“I went to India… there was a five-week mission trip… it was working with Mother Teresa’s order of the Missionaries of Charity.”

“I went up to the chapel and Eucharistic Adoration was there and I just got down on my knees and I said, ‘Jesus, like, my whole life I’ve been trying to do things on my own and I don’t want to do that anymore and I just really desire at this moment to surrender my entire life to you completely’.”

“I really learned about the integration of the faith into a (soccer) program and how one can do that effectively.  The Lord, I think, had a plan in those years of preparing me for my role now.”

“The reason I coach is so much greater than wins and losses.  It’s really to help these women get to heaven and ultimately for them to help me get to heaven too.”

Related link:

Tyler’s full bio on Ave Maria website

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association‘s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Leo Lopoz

The Vice President for Athletics at De La Salle High School, a private Catholic school for boys in California. He started there as Assistant Athletic Director in 1999 before taking over in 2006 as Athletic Director. He is an alumnus of the school and has also coached boys golf as well as basketball there. He is also both the founder of the Catholic National Athletic Association AND the commissioner of the East Bay Athletic League.

Notable guest quotes:

“It’s definitely within the La Salle mission to educate the mind, body, and soul, and not everyone’s going to be a football player, not everyone’s going to be a tennis player, not everyone’s going to be a golfer.  So, it’s important to understand and respect each individual student-athlete’s journey.”

“Ultimately when the day is done, we want… every coach to think that their time was served to help make the kids graduate as a man of faith, a man of scholarship, and a man of integrity.”

“Catholic grammar school, truthfully, … going to Mass, being a part of Catholic service, all that stuff that one would presume some of the characteristics of what one would kind of perceive as the traditional Catholic family was where we were kind of going.”

“Everything from Confirmation, I can remember the altar server days, all that stuff that I think made me who I am today.”

“All the stuff that I believe the Catholic Church stands by and is great has been part of my life… and I do believe it’s a guiding light on how I’ve made decisions and where I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

“There’s always a way in the Catholic Church to do something better on a daily basis for others.”

“I think compassion, forgiveness, a lot of pillars of the Catholic faith come into play… from the heart.”

“I think God has put me here to help others.”

Related link:

Catholic National Athletic Association

John Smith

His name is synonymous with wrestling success.  He won six consecutive world championships as a competitor from 1987-92, including gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Additionally, he owns five national championships as head coach of Oklahoma State’s men’s wrestling program, a role that he has held for 30 years. During that time, he has coached 33 NCAA individual champions and five Olympians. He was recognized as the National Wrestling Coaches Association coach of the year in 1994 and 2003 and is a 15-time selection as his conference’s coach of the year. Most recently, he led his squad to its ninth consecutive Big 12 tournament title, with three of his student-athletes claiming individual Big 12 Conference titles in 2021. He has an .863 winning percentage for his career dual match record as a head coach.

Notable guest quotes:

“We were very strong in our faith, not just on Sundays but several days a week we’d say the rosary as a family.”

“For me (his oldest brother) was always really a great role model, not just athletically but spiritually as well.  Just led by his faith.”

“It’s amazing that all ten of us really have still a strong Catholic presence in our life.  And that just tells you about how parents are.  That they’re really the leader of the family.”

“I kept my priorities straight.  I loved wrestling.  I loved trying to be the best wrestler in the world pound for pound.  I loved chasing world championships.  I loved preparing for Olympic gold medals.  But I also always recognized that there’s another purpose that’s much bigger than this and that’s my faith and the salvation.”

“We’re really on fire for Jesus in Stillwater Oklahoma.”

“The one thing I’ve learned about coaching in NCAA is, be prepared for changes… And what doesn’t change is your faith and your values.”

“Building your character, building your faith, seems a lot more important today than it did in the past.”

“You don’t want to see your student-athletes negotiate with their faith.”

“We did get a chance a couple years ago.  We took our team to Italy… We got to spend two full days at the Vatican, which, I’d been to the Vatican several times.”

Related link:

John’s bio on OSU website

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association‘s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

John Scott

He played close to 300 games over eight seasons with seven different National Hockey League teams and he was the MVP of the 2016 NHL All-Star Game. He had played college hockey for four years at Michigan Tech and has an autobiography called, “A Guy Like Me: Fighting to Make the Cut.”  He also has his own podcast, called, “Dropping the Gloves.”

Notable guest quotes:

“That’s what I did for my whole childhood, just skate in the winter and play baseball and lacrosse in the summer.”

“Sometimes I did go out of my way to fight when maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“Nowadays there’s so much hate and just people being separated by the religion and politics, all this stuff.  If you just kind of realize, like, hey, you know what, I can help that person, whether it’s in a grocery line letting someone go in front of you or when you’re driving not beeping your horn, be like, ya’ know what, go ahead, I forgive you, move along.”

“I just chalked it up to I’m pretty lucky, I’m pretty lucky, but looking back now, obviously I found my faith and I found the reason behind all of that; it was God, it was the Holy Spirit kind of weaving me through my life.  And it took taking a step back and realizing, gosh, I could’ve never done this on my own, and there was a driving force there.”

“My wife, she’s very good at reminding me… ‘You have 15 guardian angels because you should not be where you’re at right now’ and I totally agree with here where it’s just like, golly, God is great because I have so many blessings.”

“You really try to pay it back and you try to do the right thing and you’re like, ‘Okay, you’ve given me so much, Lord, I’m gonna go out and try to spread the gospel, spread the Word, raise my kids right, do the right thing, and just be a good human being.”

“Everybody is given so much and it’s just amazing that God doesn’t want anything back, but it’s nice to try our best.”

“I kind of delved into the history of the faith and it was really great where I didn’t just do it because I had to.  I ended up doing it because I wanted to.  It’s such a beautiful faith and the history is so rich.”

“I couldn’t imagine myself being not Catholic.  I try to go to Mass every day.  I do all these things at the church.  I try to involve myself any way I can.”

“The faith is my whole life now.  Everything we do, my wife and I, just kind of revolves around God and our faith and trying to be in tune with that and that’s what I want to talk about… Our whole life is kind of encompassed by the church and it’s so great.”

“I now serve three days a week at the Carmelite monastery.  It’s a traditional Latin Mass.”

“You will never regret going up and serving our Lord just any way you can.”

“Faith is such a strong part of my life, it would be hard to hide it.”

Related links:

John’s official website

(This episode contains a prayer originally excerpted and adapted from Day By Day: The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students by Thomas McNally, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Brad Berry

He played over 250 regular season and playoff games combined in the National Hockey League with two different franchises in addition to playing overseas in the Swedish Elite League. He went on to be a scout for the Vancouver Canucks and later joined his fourth NHL franchise, the Columbus Blue Jackets, as an assistant coach. He also was an assistant coach in the American Hockey League and nowadays has been the head coach of the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team since just over six years ago. In 2016 he became the first rookie head coach in NCAA men’s ice hockey history to win a national championship.

Notable guest quotes:

“There’s a lot of things that are coming at ya’ when you’re away from your family that, ya’ know, trying to do the right thing.  Trying to stay on that narrow and focused road.”

“You talk about being a servant leader, of serving others, and just trying to be a good person, and I really feel that my faith was a big reason why I’m where I am.”

“There was some adversity… I got sent to the minors a couple of times… I think adversity, it’s how you handle it… Faith got me through it.  It was one of those things where God’s in control, and you control certain things but He’s the ultimate control of your life.”

“When you’re kind of busy or focused in that side of it, there’s tendencies to, not forget, but, put on the back burner of the belief and the faith and going to church on every Sunday and serving God… as a young person that’s very easy to do.”

“Through the Catholic religion of my wife and her parents it was a big driving force that made it strong.”

“You want to be the best at what you can do but you can’t leave the people in your life behind, you can’t leave God behind, and you gotta take time for that.”

“I always believe God has a plan, and it’s not one that you know with certainty what that is.”

“Never keep looking over the fence at what could be or should be or whatever.  Be blessed and be grateful for what you have.  And blessed and grateful is what I am.”

“Part of being a Christian is always giving back, being a servant of God.”

“I always wake up every morning and I have two or three things that I recite to myself here.  And there’s one that really hits home for me and it’s the great commandment of Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4.”

Related link:

Brad’s UND bio page

(This episode contains a prayer from the National Catholic Coaches Association‘s “The Leadership Papers,” although originally credited in there to The Coach’s Bible.)

Tony Hunter

He was a tight end in the National Football League, having been the twelfth overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, with whom he played for two years before going on to play two more seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, all following a collegiate career as a four-year starter for the University of Notre Dame where he led the Fighting Irish in receiving each of his last three seasons and was first-team All-American as a senior. During his time with the Bills, he made the NFL’s All-Rookie team. Plus, during his NFL career he won a division title and got within a game of the Super Bowl, and along the way he played alongside future Hall of Famers.

Notable guest quotes:

“My mom was a single mom of four who basically dedicated her life to the betterment of her children.  That’s my angel.  She passed about six years ago.”

“(Gerry Faust) was talking to me about coming to (Archbishop) Moeller (High School).  I had been in public schools my whole life up until that point, but Moeller was a private, Catholic school that was a part of the Greater Cincinnati Catholic School League.”

“I decided I wanted to give Moeller a shot, and… it turned out to be the best decision I ever made in my life… And while at Moeller I converted to Catholicism.”

“A lot of people who saw me play as a youngster… felt like I could’ve played pro baseball as well as play football.  And also basketball… I was a two-sport All-American in both football and basketball in high school.”

“Coach Faust was a devout Christian Catholic, very spiritual person… watching how he worshiped and the kind of human being that he was, he really took on a fatherly role for me in high school.”

“I used to go in for prayer by myself.  They had a little chapel in the school that was basically open all the time and I would go in there in high school.  And at Notre Dame… I was right next door to the school church, which was always unlocked for the most part.  And I would always go in and sit down there and be at prayer.”

“It’s tough, when… basically your full-time job is playing football and being a student at Notre Dame… It was very tough at times and… I think it was my spiritual foundation that really got me through that.”

“It was a blessing.  It was a great time for me and my family.  I was the twelfth pick taken in the first round (of the NFL Draft).”

(This episode contains a prayer adapted from one by an unknown Confederate Soldier, as seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)

Vince Guider

The North Lawndale Kinship Initiative Director for Old St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Chicago, directing a ministry of community development. In that role he has set up a neighborhood sports collaborative called the North Lawndale Athletic & Recreation Association. Many people know him as coordinator for youth and young adult parish ministry, which he started doing 35 years ago and to some degree still goes on now. As a student he was the football manager for the team at his Catholic high school where he was able to learn the skills and the science of coaching, which he used when his parish started and needed a coach for a CYO football team, and that led to a whole career of coaching youth athletics across a variety of sports.

Notable guest quotes:

“I’m a cradle Catholic; baptized as an infant, lived in a Catholic household, pretty much in the pews on Sunday and in the pews of the world every other day of the week.”

“I grew up on Chicago’s south side.  Two great parents, two great Catholic parents… we always lived a short few blocks from our parish and our life pretty much centered around Catholic life.”

“That experience taught me the ministry of athletics, the ministry of coaching.”

“Somewhere a seed was being planted in me saying, you know what, I’m going to be around sports the rest of my life and I’m going to do this too.  I’m going to be a coach.”

“It was about more than sports, it was about relationships.  I was molding young lives… it turned into a whole career.”

“People don’t come to Old St. Patrick’s to go to Mass.  People come to Old St. Patrick’s to be disciples and to be church outside of church.”

“We knew that we weren’t going in there to drop in and be the knights on white horses saving that neighborhood.  We knew that that neighborhood could help save us as a congregation too.”

“That’s been absolutely central to my life and that is direct contact with the young people of God and those adults who work with them.”

Related links:

North Lawndale Kinship Initiative
North Lawndale Athletic and Recreation Association

(This episode contains a prayer seen in Play Like A Champion Today’s prayerbook for sports, God, Be In My Sport)