THE IT FACTORY: Pac-12 Football with Yogi Roth

Like you’ve never heard him before, Sam Darnold opens up about life, sport, being a rookie in the NFL and falling in love with the game. He joins The Yogi Roth Show and details his journey toward finding his voice, why his family would never allow him to ‘quit’ anything and his relationship with the word ‘trust.’Yogi and Sam met when he was in high school competing in the Elite 11 Quarterback competition and their relationship continued as Sam arrived at USC, ultimately becoming the starting quarterback and a Rose Bowl/Pac-12 Champion. They also co-hosted the podcast, ‘Season of Sam,’ where they would interview experts in their respective craft and Sam would gain tools from each guest to add to his life.Currently, Sam is the starting quarterback for the New York Jets, after being the 3rd overall draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. This podcast is presented by KonaRed, a leader in the coffee industry that sources some of the rarest, most sought after coffee in the world. It is grown on the volcanic mountain slopes of Hawaii where each coffee cherry is hand picked at peak ripeness. Be sure to visit www.KonaRed.com, where you can learn about their premium coffee beans, cold brewed coffee or Cascara, the Hawaiian Coffee Fruit.To follow Sam Darnold’s journey heading into his second season with the New York Jets follow him on Instagram @SamDarnold.For more conversions around sports and humanity visit www.YogiRoth.com/podcast or follow @YogiRoth.

Bryon Scott joined Yogi Roth during a live event in Los Angeles to discuss his path from a young boy with big dreams in Los Angeles to a key member of the ‘Showtime Lakers’ to the Lakers head coach and much more.During the Showtime era, the Los Angeles Lakers embarked on a historic run through the 1980’s capturing four Championships under head coach Pat Riley and, perhaps more importantly, finally took down their rival Boston Celtics in the finals not once, but twice. Alongside stars such as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was Byron Scott. As the centerpiece of the transition from “Showtime” to the Kobe Bryant era of Lakers basketball, Scott has seen it all in the NBA. In fact, his last season in the NBA happened to be during 18-year-old Bryant’s rookie year, and Scott relished the opportunity to mentor a player who he saw was going to become a star. Scott was also with the Lakers as head coach during Bryant’s final game as an NBA player. He shared those stories and more on The Yogi Roth Show. Hear Scott discuss the challenges he faced growing up, his time at Arizona State, the high’s of playing for the Los Angeles Lakers during one of their most prolific eras and transitioning to the role of coach in the league he spent 14 years in as a player.Learn more about Byron at http://officialbyronscott.com/ or follow him on twitterhttps://twitter.com/official_bscott. The sold out event was created by Thuzio, an events company that celebrates renowned athletes and their shared values in sports and business. Visit them at https://www.thuzio.com/.For more conversations around the humanity in sports visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth.

Chris Burkard is one of the most inspirational explorers of modern times. As an explorer, Chris has traveled to all edges of the earth to capture images and content that millions have consumed. His photography combines powerful, wild landscapes with surfing, camping and human adventuring in a way that compels his audience to appreciate the earth and consider their own relationship with nature. He spoke with Yogi Roth during the 100th episode of The Yogi Roth Show to discuss his travels, creative process, how he sees the world and of course, what it means to be human. Listen in to discover how travel can be the most effective process of improving as a person.Chris also directed the documentary Under An Arctic Sky, where six surfers set sail along the frozen shores of Iceland. Watch that on Netflix or other platforms via http://www.underanarcticsky.com/. If you enjoy books, be sure to read the children’s book that Chris wrote, The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth, one of Yogi’s favorite books to gift to others.Also, check out the Still Frothy Surf Ambassador Team, as Chris Burkard Studio is hosting an event with them on March 8, 2019 called Still Frothy. You’ll watch a short film and learn from six local surfers who are chasing waves around the world. To meet Chris, track his workshops and most recent content visit https://www.chrisburkard.com/. Also, be sure to follow Chris on Instagram @ChrisBurkard – it will leave you inspired and likely booking travel somewhere! For more conversations around the humanity in sports and performance visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth on all social media.

Meredith Dolhare is one of the world’s most accomplished ultrarunners. She’s completed the most notorious races - the Badwater 135 mile footrace through Death Valley in the heart of summer, the Kona Ironman World Championship, and the Furnace Creek 508 mile cycling race, to name a few. We sat down in Venice Beach, CA to discuss her training methods, career and life story; what I learned is that she's also one of the most impressive and dynamic people in the world of sport. A survivor of sexual trauma and bullying, Meredith has never let anything keep her from achieving at the highest level. She played collegiate tennis at Vanderbilt University, where her team was ranked among the top ten in the country. She later graduated with honors before eventually moving on to professional endurance sports, where she earned sponsorships from the top brands in the industry, including TIMEX, Newton Running, Generation UCAN and others.Throughout her own career, Dolhare raised two young men, both of whom are now in college. She also became active in various charities, even founding her own non-profit aimed at solving the homeless crisis called RunningWorks - a mentorship based organization that seeks to improve the mental and physical well-being of the homeless population in the Carolinas. Learn more about the foundation by visiting https://www.runningworks.org/ and following them on Twitter @running_works. You can also follow Dolhare’s career by visiting http://www.meredithdolhare.com/ and following her on Twitter @MerDolhare.For more conversations around sport and humanity visit www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth on all social media.

Oliver Luck, CEO and commissioner of the XFL, joined The Yogi Roth Show from the Athlete’s First RV in Atlanta at the Super Bowl. From the A1RV, they discussed his excitement around ‘re-imagining the game’ with the XFL, the process of building a relative ‘Start Up,’ and the joy he gets from constructing a league that will provide athletes, coaches and various professionals new jobs.They also delve into the XFL’s freedoms regarding college football players eligibility, dealing with the growing anxiety and depression in sports & some of the changes the XFL will have regarding rules and style of play.Commissioner Luck’s entire life has been based in sports, as he has lived all over the globe building one of the most respected careers in college and professional athletics. A former quarterback at West Virginia and the NFL, Commissioner Luck would eventually find himself as the president of NFL Europe before returning to the United States as the CEO of the Houston Sports Authority and President and GM of the Houston Dynamo soccer team. He would eventually return to West Virginia as its Athletic Director before spending four years at the NCAA prior to leading the XFL’s return to professional football.Follow the XFL’s path to its 2020 kickoff at @XFL202 and Commissioner Luck’s guidance @OliverLuckXFL or visit www.XFL.com as they ramp up to a 2020 kickoff.For more conversations detailing the humanity in sports around the globe follow @YogiRoth or re-visit past podcasts at https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ Also, sign up for the How Great Is Ball Newsletter for annual insights in sport, travel, college football and beyond at www.YogiRoth.com.

Scotty McKnight, a record setting wide receiver from Colorado who also spent time in the NFL, lived an incredible story as an athlete. Today, he has transitioned to sharing the stories of future stars in sports as the President of GOAT Farm Media, which helps professional athletes create, control and profit from the stories they desire to share. As a multi-media expert, Scotty identifies, ideates and creates stories that are shared across the globe. Most recently, he co-produced the series Destination Dallas with Aaron Rogers, chronicling the 2018 NFL Draft and various players such as Arizona Cardinal QB Josh Rosen’s path. We sat down in the Athlete’s First RV at the Super Bowl in Atlanta and discussed his plans for the 2019 NFL Draft and the content he is producing that will appear on Showtime, Sports Illustrated and others, as well as the ‘why’ behind his career choice.For more insight on Scotty and the content he and his team are creating follow @GoatFarmMedia on twitter or visit https://goatfarmmedia.com/.If you’re seeking other conversations detailing the humanity in sports around the globe follow @YogiRoth or visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/.

Known as one of the top 5 greatest American living athletes today, Jim Brown is in the NFL Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and has accomplished much more in his life. Yogi was able to sit down with this sports icon in front of a live audience at a Thuzio event in Los Angeles. Jim Brown, who is also a complicated figure, has been in the middle of sport, entertainment, activism and conflict during his life. At 82, Jim Brown describes himself as a ‘driven person,’ and delves into why he abruptly left the NFL and found his way to Hollywood as an actor ,where he broke down barriers in acting much like he did in life in activism alongside Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and more.His stories will take you back in time at Syracuse, where he almost left college, into an NFL huddle with the Cleveland Browns, a famous summit with elite athletes in 1967 that strove to change the country and even into a recent meeting with Donald Trump.He also describes the details behind his Amer-I-Can program and much more, you can learn more at http://www.amer-i-can.org/ or follow Jim Brown on Twitter at @JimBrownNFL32.Learn more about Thuzio events by visiting https://thuzio.com/.For more conversations around sports and humanity visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth on social media.

Matt Leinart and Vince Young did not grow up together, but ever since the 2006 National Championship game at the Rose Bowl they have evolved together. In short, these two Hall of Fame quarterbacks are connected for life because of a simple game.They joined The Yogi Roth Show and talked about that specific game, what motivated them and their respective teams at USC and Texas, and how their relationship has evolved since that fateful night in Pasadena.Furthermore, this conversation is in front of a live audience at a Thuzio event during the week of the 2018 USC vs Texas college football game, and the crowd was amped the entire time.For more conversations around sport, performance and the humanity within it visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth on all social media.For more information about Thuzio and their events visit https://thuzio.com/.

Jon Gordon, an international best selling author and speaker, joined The Yogi Roth Show to start the New Year. For the last two years, he and Yogi have met to share their ‘word of the year’ on this podcast. For Jon, 2019 is about ‘Expand’ and for Yogi, it’s ‘Create.’ Jon has purposely had a ‘word of the year’ since 2001 and Yogi since 2013.Jon also dives into the concept of turning ‘hopes into habits,’ what has made Clemson so special under Coach Dabo Swinney and many more principles that will cultivate thoughts around your New Year. Listen, share and enjoy one of the world's greatest though leaders message around hope, inspiration, leadership and positivity. To listen to Jon share his word of 2018, re-visit this conversation https://www.yogiroth.com/pod/jon-gordon-seek-create-impossible-2018/. Follow @JonGordon11 on all social media or visit www.JonGordon.com, as well join his new mission around positivity, https://positivebrands.com/. For more episodes of The Yogi Roth Show visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth on all social media.

Max Browne was offered a scholarship at 14 years old and by 18 was the #1 recruit in the nation. He joined The Yogi Roth Show and opened up about recruiting, the highs of his career and how he asked for help during the lows of it. This courageous conversation is one that will shed light on the humanity of college football, the pressures within it and how Max dealt with his anxiety during his emotional journey in college.Furthermore, he will inspire you as Max used football to get multiple degrees at USC and the University of Pittsburgh. Max also spent the 2018 football season in an apprenticeship role with the Pac-12 Networks Yogi Roth, beginning his young career as a college football analyst.Follow Max on twitter @MaxBrowne4 and listen to this episode or past episodes at www.YogiRoth.com. Also, be sure to subscribe to the How Great Is Ball newsletter for insights in college football.

Cody Hawkins was born into football. His father, Coach Dan Hawkins, has been coaching for the majority of his life. But while coaching football is Cody’s profession is does not define him. The current UC Davis wide receivers coach joined The Yogi Roth and shared his experiences playing at Colorado under his Dad, being a player-coach in various leagues around the globe & his ‘why.’He takes you inside the Colorado program and his own mind when he was a student-athlete, as his Dad was fired by the Buffaloes during Cody’s senior season and the game after Dan was let go Cody would be named Big-12 Offensive Player of the Week. Yogi had the opportunity to broadcast that game on Fox and shares his lens on that afternoon in Boulder.Furthermore, Cody also has the travel bug, and once his career in college ended he found that football is widespread around the globe and started leading football clinics that would impact others in unimaginable ways. He described the power of travel and related it to the human experience being about seeking joy and finding oneness within the human race through football. International football gave Cody the opportunity to make a positive impact on people and encourage them to build lasting and meaningful relationships through the game, which truly epitomizes one of Yogi’s favorite sayings ‘How Great is Ball.’ To connect with Cody, follow him on Instagram @CodyNHawkins.For your own ‘How Great Is Ball’ tee shirt visit https://www.yogiroth.com/#style For more conversations around college football and the humanity within it visit https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ or follow @YogiRoth.

Adam Amin is known as one of the top broadcasters in sports and joins The Yogi Roth Show to share his story. Adam joined ESPN at the young age of 24 and has called major college football, basketball, NBA, NFL games and more during his career.While host Yogi Roth and Adam dive into the details of his professional journey the essence of their conversation is around humanity, as Adam has seen it first hand being the only member of his immediate family to be born in the United States.Adam, whose family was born and raised in Pakistan, defined being human as always wanting to evolve and be better and to appreciate others for the same reasons that you would want to be appreciated. He shared that his favorite word in the English language is ‘empathy’ and said that the most human thing you can do is be empathetic to those around you—even if there may be underlying differences in philosophy or mentality. When one learns of Adam’s father, Mohammed, it makes sense that Adam views life this way. Mohammed moved to the USA in 1978 with the sole goal of creating a life that his wife and sons could join. In 1985, Adams family would join Mohammed and in 1986, Adam was born.Adam also had some incredible insights to share about broadcasting in this currently political climate. He stressed the importance of having perspective in a social media heightened era, and how it is critical for him to use his platform in a thoughtful, educated, respectful, impactful and nuanced way to best serve his audience. For Adam, it all comes down to appreciation and empathy.For past conversations that delve into college football and the amazing stories within it visit www.YogiRoth.com/podcast/.Also, be sure sign up to receive the ‘How Great is Ball’ weekly newsletter for 3 insights each week around college football.

During a historic month in college football and during a historic week in the United States, Yogi Roth shares two stories from his life that have influenced his lens on the world in a unique episode of The Yogi Roth Show.The first story describes his first time at the voting polls as a child and the second story details the city of Pittsburgh and the impact of his mentor, Michele Rosenthal, who lost two brothers, David and Cecil, in the shooting at The Tree of Life synagogue in late October.His hope is that everyone recognizes and remembers that regardless of platform we all have a voice. Visit The Athletic, https://theathletic.com/631206/2018/11/03/love-wins-in-pittsburgh/, to read Yogi's essay on Michele and how 'Love Wins in Pittsburgh' or www.YogiRoth.com for more podcasts around the humanity in college football.

Bruce Feldman is an award winning author, college football personality and one of the most respected members of the media. He joined The Yogi Roth Show and shared the ‘why’ behind the path he chose, how he has always followed his heart and how ‘it all comes down to the work.’Bruce was an art major in college and has since altered his career path to become what I consider to be one of the greatest college football writers of all time. Bruce’s path began in upstate New York and his life journey has led him to work at ESPN, become a New York Times best selling author, a highly regarded author with The Athletic and a Fox Sports college football sideline reporter. His knack for storytelling has allowed him to gain the recognition he deserves for seeking out the stories that should be told. Bruce is relentless in his search to cultivate meaningful stories that not only offer people new perspectives, but often connect to the humanity in college football. When I asked Bruce what “it all comes down to” for him, he immediately answered saying “it all comes down to the work” because if you are failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail. He is clearly passionate about what he writes and the insights he shares with his community.Also, be sure to visit www.BruceFeldman.com, follow him on Twitter @BruceFeldmanCFB, and take a dive into his latest book, The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks for some more incredible content.As always, check back into https://www.yogiroth.com/podcast/ for previous episodes and subscribe to the ‘How Great is Ball’ newsletter for my weekly updates on all things college football.

Trent Dilfer--a 14-year NFL veteran, Super Bowl winning quarterback and current head coach at the Elite 11--is the most recent guest on this week’s podcast episode of The Yogi Roth Show. Someone I consider family, this was a conversation I have been thinking about since we launched this podcast almost three years ago. Our conversation goes into depth unpacking Trent’s path, his passions, and how football continues to impact his life’s journey. In this podcast, Trent reminisces over the time when he first fell in love with the game of football. He said that by the age of 10 his love affair with the game had began, which only continued to grow as he recognized and appreciated the complexities of the game and team camaraderie that came with it. Trent, who lives with a Growth Mindset, has also dedicated this phase of his life to impacting young men in grassroots football through the Elite 11 quarterback camp. There, he and his staff set out each year to guide the top quarterbacks in high school football to recognize and maximize their potential.Trent will take you on a journey from his backyard imagining he was a professional athlete through his NFL career and now, the ‘Why’ behind his role as head coach of the Elite 11.Listen to this podcast to hear more about how Trent is using his athletic journey to help others and the positive impact he is seeking to make the world a better place. I consider Trent to be a 1% paradigm shifter in a lot of different areas, so listen in to see how he is creating a culture to improve society and how he puts everything in perspective to encourage young athletes to become well-rounded individuals. Tweet Trent Dilfer with any thoughts or follow up questions @DilfersDimes, and check out more podcasts by visiting www.YogiRoth.com/podcasts.And if you want more information on college football be sure to sign up for the #HowGreatIsBall newsletter at www.YogiRoth.com, as I’ll bring you three unique insights each week within the game.