CoachDad

Jim Miller
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Sports
  • Updated Weekly

Coach Dad helps dads, coaches, and sports families navigating the pressure, politics, emotions, and purpose of youth sports.  From playing time and parent drama to leadership, faith, discipline, and character, we talk about what really happens behind the game - and how dads can lead well through it.  It starts at home. 

  1. 5d ago

    Why Kids Quit Sports — And What Parents Are Missing

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. There comes a moment many sports parents dread. Your kid gets in the car, or sits at the dinner table, or walks in from practice and says: “Dad, I don’t want to play anymore.” Most dads immediately feel the tension. Do we push? Do we let them quit? Are we teaching perseverance, or are we ignoring something deeper? In this episode of Coach Dad, Jim Miller helps dads, coaches, and sports parents slow down and ask better questions before they react. The obvious problem may be, “My kid wants to quit.” But underneath that are deeper issues: pressure, fear of failure, burnout, identity, expectations, and the parent’s own desire to see their child succeed. Jim walks through three practical steps: Get curious before you get convincing.Separate a hard season from a dead dream.Remember the real finish line.This episode is about helping dads play the long game. Sports are temporary. The relationship is not. The uniform eventually comes off. The bigger question is: who are we helping our kids become after the game ends? This week’s challenge: Ask your athlete: “If you could change one thing about your sport right now, what would it be?” Then listen. Don’t defend the coach. Don’t explain why they’re wrong. Don’t try to fix it right away. Their answer may tell you something you need to hear. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  2. Sep 11

    Why Kids Fear the F-word

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. What is your child really afraid of when they freeze in a big sports moment? Most adults call it a confidence problem. But a lot of the time, it goes deeper than that. In this episode of CoachDad, Jim Miller explains why fear of failure is often connected to relationship security. Kids may not simply be afraid of missing the shot, striking out, or making the error. They may be afraid of disappointing Dad, losing the coach’s trust, embarrassing themselves, or feeling like their worth is tied to the scoreboard. The CoachDad principle for this episode is simple: Fear loses power when relationships are secure. Jim walks through four practical ways dads and coaches can help kids become more resilient: Model resilience yourself.Praise the process, not just the outcome.Let kids struggle safely.Make room for disappointment, then help them move back toward joy through gratitude.This episode is for dads, coaches, and sports families who want to raise kids who can handle failure, learn from mistakes, and keep playing with courage. Because the goal is not just better athletes. The goal is better people. The mission is bigger than the game. And it starts at home. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  3. Aug 28

    Why Coaching Character Makes Better Athletes | Steve Keenum

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. How hard should you push your kid in sports? Steve Keenum says there comes a point when the athlete has to own the motivation, desire, and drive for himself. Steve spent decades coaching football, has served extensively with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and is also the father of longtime NFL quarterback Case Keenum. But some of his most powerful lessons in this conversation come from raising all three of his children—including a daughter who never started a varsity volleyball game. Steve and Jim talk about showing up for your kids, resisting the urge to fight every battle with their coach, developing character instead of simply producing better athletes, separating identity from performance, and helping children develop the strength to climb difficult roads instead of bulldozing those roads for them. Steve also shares how FCA influenced his own faith as a teenager and why he believes coaches have an enormous opportunity to shape young people far beyond the scoreboard. The conversation ends with Steve praying specifically for parents, coaches, and the world of youth sports. The Real Win: Give your child the opportunity to pursue something difficult. Then let the pursuit become theirs. Learn more about FCA: https://fca.org 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  4. Aug 14

    Shaping How Your Athlete Sees Themself

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. Your kid has a great game, and everything feels good. The hits, the points, the plays, the praise — it all feels like a win. But then they have a bad game, and suddenly the whole world feels different. That is when dads and coaches need to ask an important question: Is this just a kid learning how to handle failure, or is this a kid trying to define themselves by how they play? In this episode, Coach Jim talks about what happens when sports become more than a game. When a child’s identity becomes “athlete,” every mistake can feel like a threat to their worth. Jim shares six signs that sports may have become an identity system for your child, how parents can accidentally reinforce it, and practical identity statements dads can use to help their kids compete with freedom. Sports are a gift. They can teach character, discipline, toughness, teamwork, humility, and courage. But sports were never meant to become the source of your child’s worth. Main takeaway: Your child is a person before they are a player. Listen for: Why a bad game can feel devastating to some kidsThe difference between normal disappointment and identity-level pressureSix signs your child may be defining themselves by performanceHow dads accidentally celebrate stats more than characterIdentity statements every sports parent should say oftenWhy faith gives kids a foundation deeper than performanceCoachDad Reminder: When identity is secure, kids can compete with freedom. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  5. Jul 31

    The Hidden Costs of Youth Sports for Families

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. Youth sports cost more than money. Most families know the visible costs: team fees, uniforms, gear, lessons, gas, hotels, tournaments, and meals on the road. But the hidden costs are often harder to count. In this episode of Coach Dad, Jim Miller talks honestly about the full cost of youth sports — financial, emotional, relational, lifestyle, spiritual, and family cost. This is not about quitting sports. It is about leading your family with wisdom. Jim walks through the questions dads and sports families need to ask before saying yes to the next team, tournament, season, showcase, or training commitment. He also introduces the free Coach Dad Total Cost Audit, a simple tool to help families count more than the money. The question is not just, “Can we afford this?” The better question is, “Is it worth the cost?” Download the free Coach Dad Total Cost Audit: [coachdad.live/audit] Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ea7mcYCMvMw Coach Dad is for dads, coaches, and sports families trying to lead better at home, in the stands, and on the field. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  6. Jul 25

    From Iowa to UTSA | Kris Reupke on Failure, Grit & Fatherhood

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. In Coach Dad’s first guest episode, Jim sits down with Kris Reupke — husband, father, coach, business owner, former Division I pitcher at UTSA, and owner/manager of DBAT New Braunfels. Kris shares his story from small-town Iowa to junior college baseball, UTSA, coaching, business ownership, and fatherhood. Along the way, he talks about mental toughness, failure, preparation, recruiting, youth sports pressure, travel ball, and what it really means to develop young athletes. But the heart of this conversation is bigger than baseball. Kris opens up about learning the difference between being a coach and being a dad, especially on the ride home after games. He talks about the moment he stopped trying to correct everything and started asking better questions, listening more, and giving his son room to process. Jim and Kris also discuss what coaches look for beyond talent, why parents matter in the recruiting process, how athletes are shaped by the environment at home, and why youth sports should produce better people — not just better players. This episode is a practical, honest, faith-and-character-centered conversation for dads, coaches, and sports families who want to lead kids well. The mission is bigger than the game — and it starts at home. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  7. Jul 17

    Good Dads Are Accidentally Crushing Their Kid’s Confidence

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. Most dads who crush their kid’s confidence are not trying to hurt them, they are trying to help. They see the swing that needs work, the missed free throw, the bad body language, the mistake in the field, or the moment their child should have competed harder. So they correct. Then they correct again. Then they correct again on the ride home. But what feels like helpful coaching to Dad can start to feel like constant pressure to a child. In this episode of CoachDad, Jim Miller talks about how well-meaning dads and coaches can accidentally crush confidence through over-talking, comparison, result-based praise, visible disappointment, and too much correction. Jim uses the picture of a dripping faucet to explain how small comments, repeated over and over, can become the loudest voice in a young athlete’s mind. You’ll learn how to build durable confidence through unconditional love, belonging, safe risks, process-based praise, and a better balance between encouragement and correction. Because the mission is bigger than the game — and it starts at home. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

  8. Jul 10

    How to Win Without Losing Your Kid

    We want to hear what’s happening in your sports family. Tap the Fan Mail link here and send us your question—or leave us a voice message. What is the win costing? In this episode of Coach Dad, Jim Miller talks about the cost-benefit analysis every sports family needs to make. Winning is not wrong. Competition is not wrong. Excellence is not wrong. But if winning starts costing your child’s character, peace, joy, honesty, or relationship with you, the price may be too high. Jim opens with a simple picture: standing over a box of glazed donuts. At first, all you think about is how good it looks. But as you mature, you start asking a better question: “What is this going to do to me?” That same question applies to youth sports. This episode challenges dads, coaches, and parents to stop measuring success only by wins and losses. A kid can go 3-for-3 and still have a bad process. A kid can go 0-for-3 with three lineouts and still have great at-bats. The goal is to focus on process, effort, character, and relationship — not just the scoreboard. Jim also gives families a practical “Win Check” to use after a tournament, season, or stretch of games. These questions will tell you more than a trophy ever will. The mission is bigger than the game, and it starts at home. If this episode helped you, follow Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts. Then send this episode to one dad, coach, or sports parent who cares about winning but wants to keep the relationship healthy. 📩 Join the Coach Dad email list for weekly encouragement, practical tools, and honest conversations for sports dads, coaches, and families. Credits:  Photo/Video: Noah Miller, Micah Miller Video Editing/CoachDad Theme music: Asher Miller 🎧 Listen to Coach Dad wherever you listen to podcasts.  Contact: team@coachdad.live 📹 Video Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachdadlive 🤝Want to support the CoachDad launch? https://coachdad.live/partner

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About

Coach Dad helps dads, coaches, and sports families navigating the pressure, politics, emotions, and purpose of youth sports.  From playing time and parent drama to leadership, faith, discipline, and character, we talk about what really happens behind the game - and how dads can lead well through it.  It starts at home. 

Information

  • Creator
    Jim Miller
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 CoachDad
  • Show Website
    CoachDad