Win More, Live Better

To celebrate the production of 300 episodes for Win More, Live Better and more than 40+ conversations with championship coaches across sports, Zach steps back to examine a larger question: What are the common themes great coaches consistently reference for sustaining excellence?
In this masterclass episode, Zach references past guest conversations and explores the six core roles and responsibilities that head coaches must master in order to sustain excellence, for themselves and others. 
Learn More About Zach:
Email Zach -- Zbrandon1022@gmail.com
Explore 1:1 coaching with Zach -- Schedule a free call here.
Download my free Win More, Live Better Leadership Playbook here.
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.

When it comes to athletes, coaches see their qualities such as competitiveness, perfectionism, insecurity, confidence, work ethic and need to prove people wrong, to name a few. What they don’t always see is where those behaviors and qualities come from. Using Landon Donovan's journey to become a US soccer icon, this episode highlights what he can teach coaches about empathy, the motivation beneath the behaviors we see, and why learning more about where someone has been can help us better support where they’re going.
Learn More About Zach:
Email Zach -- Zbrandon1022@gmail.com
Explore 1:1 coaching with Zach -- Schedule a free call here.
Download my free Win More, Live Better Leadership Playbook here.
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.

Leadership requires knowing when to use the mirror and when to use the spotlight. When your team falls short, can you examine your own contribution before pointing elsewhere? When your team succeeds, can you step aside and give others the credit they deserve? Using a story from Tim Cook’s leadership at Apple and a recent leadership workshop, Zach explores why ownership and recognition both require courage and why leaders have to recommit to both again and again.
Learn More About Zach:
Email Zach -- Zbrandon1022@gmail.com
Explore 1:1 coaching with Zach -- Schedule a free call here.
Download my free Win More, Live Better Leadership Playbook here.
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.

You can hold the retreat, organize the team-building exercise, bring in the guest speaker, and put your values on the wall, but some of your most important culture-building opportunities happen in the ordinary moments in between. In this episode, we use Zach Mercurio’s research on mattering to explore what happens when people feel seen, heard, valued, and needed (and what happens when they don’t).
Learn More About Zach:
Email Zach -- Zbrandon1022@gmail.com
Explore 1:1 coaching with Zach -- Schedule a free call here.
Download my free Win More, Live Better Leadership Playbook here.
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.

Jay Johnson is the head baseball coach at LSU and one of the most accomplished coaches in college baseball.
In five seasons at LSU, Johnson has led the Tigers to two national championships, winning the College World Series in 2023 and 2025. He became the fastest coach to win multiple national titles during his tenure at a single school and has twice earned National Coach of the Year honors.
His head-coaching journey began at his alma mater, Point Loma Nazarene, before he spent eight seasons as an assistant under Rich Hill at the University of San Diego. Johnson later led Nevada to its first conference championship and guided Arizona to two College World Series appearances, including the championship series in his first season.
Across 14 seasons as a head coach, Johnson has won more than 500 games and developed 34 Major Leaguers, including Kris Bryant, Paul Skenes, and Dylan Crews. Five LSU players under Johnson have been selected among the first six picks of the MLB Draft.
Here's some notable highlights from our conversation:
[5:15] — The Hardest Decision of Jay's Career
[8:35] — Coaching Lessons From Rich Hill
[13:51] — Model What You Want From the Team
[18:04] — Learning Not to Make Losing Personal
[20:58] — The Loss That Changed His Leadership
[26:25] — Jay Johnson’s Four-Part Hiring Process
[30:43] — If Everyone Agrees, Someone Isn’t Needed
[34:53] — Defining and Evaluating His Coaching Process
[38:38] — Bringing Outside Expertise to Help Your Staff Grow
[41:43] — Coaching the Best Pitcher on the Planet
[45:57] — Players Confronting and Demanding the Standard
[48:55] — What Skip Bertman Meant to Jay Johnson
[53:07] — Never Waste a Failure
[56:24] — Helping Players Achieve Their Dreams

Learn More About Jay:
Follow Jay and his coaching journey here.
Learn More About Zach:
Zach's Email -- Zbrandon1022@gmail.com
Explore 1:1 coaching with Zach -- Schedule a free call here.
Download my free Win More, Live Better Leadership Playbook here.
You can watch the video recordings of the podcast on YouTube here.