Make Time With the Team the Best Part of Their Day

What actually makes athletes want to be in your program every single day?

In this episode of 4th & 3, Coach Randy Jackson sits down with John Perry and Chris Yeager for a true coaches’-office conversation about how to intentionally make athletes’ time with the team the best part of their day—without lowering standards or expectations.

This isn’t theory or motivational talk. In true 4th & 3 fashion, the focus is on ideas coaches can use the very next day.

The conversation centers on four key drivers of the daily athlete experience:

• Relationships – building trust and connection without losing authority

• Excitement – creating energy and purpose kids feel when they walk in

• Improvement – making sure athletes leave better than when they arrived

• Celebration – recognizing effort, growth, and doing things the right way

From practice design to daily interactions, this episode challenges coaches to think less about motivation and more about intentional moments that shape culture.

🎧 4th & 3 is built for head coaches. Real conversations. Real experience. Practical takeaways you can use tomorrow.

In this episode of Fourth and Three, Coach Randy Jackson sits down with Coach Robert Causey of Leesville High School for an honest conversation about what it really takes to turn a season around.

After starting 1–5, Coach Causey and his staff faced a choice: stay the course or confront hard truths. What followed wasn’t a schematic overhaul—it was a mindset shift that led to a 6–6 finish and a playoff win.

This episode isn’t about X’s and O’s. It’s about the hardest competition any coach faces: you vs. you.

In this conversation, we break down:

• Why the first competition must be won by the head coach

• How a single honest bus-ride conversation sparked real change

• The power of positive energy and daily standards

• When you vs. you matters—and when me vs. you matters

• Simple ways to create daily competitive wins in the offseason

Coach Causey also shares candid lessons on handling losing streaks, managing emotions, and making unpopular decisions that serve the team.

If you’re a coach navigating adversity—or trying to build real competitiveness beyond drills—this episode is for you.

What really happens after the press release?

In this episode of 4th & 3, we sit down with Justin Velasquez to walk through Week One as a new head football coach — the moments that matter long before the first kickoff.

We talk through:

• The committee interview

• His first meeting with the players

• The first two days of offseason workouts and why he implemented a 4-minute warmup

• His first meeting with the football staff and setting expectations

This is a real, behind-the-scenes conversation about leadership, tone-setting, and early decisions that shape a program from Day One.