As part of The Hidden Opponent’s (THO) Coaches & Professionals Program, THO caught up with Dave Downey, Strength Coach at Brown University to discuss maintaining a work-life balance, his career, his book "Imposter Coach". and the role he plays as a coach in his student-athletes’ development and well-being.
Tell us about your career. How did you get into strength and conditioning?
I’ve been in strength and conditioning for 11 years now and fell into it by chance. I was a mediocre high school athlete and was much better at training than I was at practice. I found an internship on a list and needed one to graduate and working with college athletes was way more interesting to me than physical therapy or training the general population. Something definitely romantic about being a team, something larger than yourself, winning and losing together, going through it all. I was terrible at it at first, too scared to jump in and coach, it took me a long time to get comfortable and learn to command a room. I’ve worked at a lot of places at this point, interned, and volunteered at Princeton and Moravian. Then I became an assistant, and up to assistant director at Lafayette College, the head of Fairleigh Dickinson University, and now I coach at Brown University.
What is your “why” behind coaching? What do you enjoy most and why do you continue to coach?
Selfishly, I love to compete and I love to win. But the biggest driver for me is helping people meet their biggest dreams. I love the world of college sports, the excitement and. Drive that these athletes have to compete, the willingness to work and become better people through academics and athletics. I also really like having my hand in a lot of different areas, whether it’s strength and conditioning, nutrition, sports psychology, leadership, and athletic training. College sports also allows you to mold the leaders of tomorrow and these athletes will go on to do great things beyond sports; I love playing a small part in that.
What inspired you to write Imposter Coach? Can you give a synopsis of the book for someone who may be unfamiliar?
I spoke at a very small strength coach meet-up and felt like I died on stage. After this long in the field, I felt like I should have a grasp on telling other coaches what I do to train my athletes. I started talking to other strength coaches about how they felt and noticed some common themes. Intellectual phoniness, self-doubt, feeling like any success is just based on luck or deceiving those around you into thinking you’re competent. Their stories reminded me of my own, where I was told that I should find another line of work instead of following what I really wanted.
The book goes through my story of coming up in strength and conditioning, difficulties of working for free up to being an Assistant Athletic Director. How interns and graduate assistants are treated and how the industry, as a whole, lays the groundwork for having imposter syndrome. Then we get into learning about what imposter syndrome is, and strategies and solutions for combating it. In later chapters, we expand into positive psych and well-being, as well as developing your coaching leadership philosophy. There are also included worksheets to get you thinking about how you can improve your situations.
What purpose do you hope Imposter Coach serves for coaches?
I hope to help any coaches who are dealing with imposter syndrome. Doesn’t matter if you’re an industry veteran, or just starting in undergraduate internships. I want those upper-level coaches to remember what it’s like to start in this field, and how much impact you have over those under you. Make sure you are helping them grow. Then for those just starting, to give them a framework and be ready for how difficult this industry is. It doesn’t just hold true for strength and conditioning, anyone in the college sector can benefit, sport coaches, athletic trainers, administrators, athletes, everyone.
How do you maintain a healthy work life balance with the busy schedule of a coach?
A huge factor is being off when you’re off. It’s so easy to take work home, answer emails, take calls late at night, etc. Especially if you’re working on the floor all day and don’t have time to do all that work between groups. It’s really about setting boundaries and making sure that you protect them. At the end of the day, you are the only one who can do that. Prepare for some tougher conversations and be ready to say no when the time comes.
What is something (if anything) do you wish athletes knew about coaching?
Done correctly, there is a ton of planning that goes into everything we do. Everything is mapped out, every part of off off-season, thanksgiving break, winter break, any holidays, non-traditional games, of course, every game in season and training load is managed to the pound. There are also hours of research and collaboration with sport coaches and athletic trainers, adjustments on the fly, injury adjustments, reaching out to other strength coaches in the sports we work with, and continuing education that’s required of us as well. We look at studies on injury rates as well as maximizing performance with as much technology we can get our hands on; there is just so much to juggle at once, which sounds like a drawback, but is honestly one of the best parts. Every year is a new puzzle, new athletes, different teams, different games, different needs, and different combinations of variables. It is extremely satisfying to put all the pieces together and see what works.
How would you describe your coaching philosophy and style?
My mission statement is to be the relentless positive coach that I didn’t have, to invest holistically in the development of all athletes regardless of position to reach their full potential. All that means is investing in every athlete’s goal regardless of how “important” it is. It’s just as satisfying when the last man off the bench gets his first minutes as a starter getting to the next level. Then I have my 5 Pillars:
Over Communication – Reach out first, don’t live in a silo
Precision Effort – Build a plan and stick to it. Apply the stimulus and get out
Maximum Intent – Lead with a purpose, don’t waste anyone’s time
Character – Lead with honesty, be authentic, admit mistakes
Elevated Purpose – Sports aren’t everything, see the big picture
How do you handle pressure and expectations, both personally and for your teams?
One thing I’ve always been very good at is compartmentalizing and living in the moment. Stay present and handle what’s in front of you. Make sure to understand that just like whatever you’re building, a training program, your athletic career, your working career, everything is a constant work in progress. Nothing will ever be “finished” or “perfect,” but continuing the strive for excellence, and celebrating every bit of progress no matter how small can make pressure from anything seem more manageable.
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