Josh Chambers

Econ Major | Director of Process @TerrapinHoops 🐢🏀

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Coach Matt Campbell (@CoachMC_PSU) teaches a clinic here on culture, leadership, and the importance of your organization knowing how and why you do things:

🧫 "Culture is how you live, not what you say." Culture is behavior, not branding. It's not what hangs on the walls, it's what walks the halls! Your team will rarely become what you preach, but it will almost always become what you consistently tolerate, reinforce, and model.

🚂 Communication is the transportation system of leadership. A good leadership train turns complex into simple, digestible, and actionable instructions. Talent, effort, and good intentions can't move very far if the tracks aren't in place or if information isn't flowing like a train. The speed and quality of your communication often determine the speed and quality of your results.

🍓 People can go further when they understand the why behind the what and the how behind the habit. You feel more connected to the outcomes if you know the value of the fruit you're farming. That understanding creates ownership.

The culture at @PennStateFball is being built through relationships, reinforced through standards, and sustained where people understand why their actions matter. 🏗️

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

@CoachHPrice Ordering now ✅

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Great perspective from @NDFootball Coach Marcus Freeman (@Marcus_Freeman1) on why he feels he must remind his players to choose hard:

"Struggle with what you have."

Everyone starts from a different place. Some people are born on third base. Others have never even seen a triple. But growth isn't determined by where you begin, it's determined by the challenges you're willing to embrace.

When you step onto the field, the court, or into any defining moment, nobody cares where you started. What matters is how you've prepared, how you've responded to adversity, and how you've conditioned yourself for the grinding opportunity in front of you. It's a daily choice.

The hard way is the right way.

Choose hard!

Especially when life makes easy available.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

There is beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success
-J Cole

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

@RichlandHC 🤜🏼🤛🏼

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Not exactly a hot take, but I do think titles are coming for Victor Wembanyama (@wemby), not just because of his immense talent, but also because of his extraordinary self-awareness:

Very few people, let alone players his age, understand the relationship between resistance and acceptance to this level.

When I was 22 and I experienced pressure or failure I immediately started fighting with reality.

Instead of viewing his reality of being down 0-2 in the #Finals a problem, he's viewing it as an opportunity to prove he / the @spurs can overcome.

The bigger the problem, the better the story. 📖

[Colin Jonov @ColkyJonov10]

"Detach from outcomes” Is a half truth.

Outcomes matter. Results matter. Pretending they don't is a convenient story we tell ourselves to avoid accountability. Yes, obsessing over the scoreboard during competition kills performance. But outcomes are feedback. They tell you whether what you're doing is working. Ignore them entirely and you're flying blind.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Every event 📍, is an opportunity 📉, to respond! 📈

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Not exactly a hot take, but I do think titles are coming for Victor Wembanyama (@wemby), not just because of his immense talent, but also because of his extraordinary self-awareness:

Very few people, let alone players his age, understand the relationship between resistance and acceptance to this level.

When I was 22 and I experienced pressure or failure I immediately started fighting with reality.

Instead of viewing his reality of being down 0-2 in the #Finals a problem, he's viewing it as an opportunity to prove he / the @spurs can overcome.

The bigger the problem, the better the story. 📖

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

There is beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success
-J Cole

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

via @JoshPateCFB

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Great perspective from @NDFootball Coach Marcus Freeman (@Marcus_Freeman1) on why he feels he must remind his players to choose hard:

"Struggle with what you have."

Everyone starts from a different place. Some people are born on third base. Others have never even seen a triple. But growth isn't determined by where you begin, it's determined by the challenges you're willing to embrace.

When you step onto the field, the court, or into any defining moment, nobody cares where you started. What matters is how you've prepared, how you've responded to adversity, and how you've conditioned yourself for the grinding opportunity in front of you. It's a daily choice.

The hard way is the right way.

Choose hard!

Especially when life makes easy available.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Every event 📍, is an opportunity 📉, to respond! 📈

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

@Tony_Catalina Gotta have it in Cali brother.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Happy Birthday to the 🐐!

@chambershoops 🎉🎉🥳🎂🎊🎁

Have a great day down there in the Valley! 🌴

So thankful for the example you set🔥

Keep serving!

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Wanting something creates emotional dependence on not yet having it.

Desire itself isn’t bad, but attaching your peace to outcomes GUARANTEES suffering.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

I take notes on every introductory press conference I watch. NFL, NBA, MLB, College Sports... Just trying to excavate any bit of value that leader may share.

Here are my notes from @uscfb Head Coach Lincoln Riley's (@LincolnRiley) introductory press conference from 2021:

Theme: "The Team Is The Strategy."

Opening Statement:

-Immediately thanks Faculty and Staff at USC … Mentor Donny Duncan taught him: “You’ve gotta understand that Football is important, but we’re just a single part of this university. A community is so many different groups coming together and making this a special place. Faculty and Staff you’re a part of that, I’m going to do my best to make sure you’re proud of what we represent and you’re proud of our team.”

“I came here because I believe in what this place can be, but that will be because of what the players do on the field. We’re going to be committed to bringing the best staff in the country to help guide these players... And we’re going to fight like crazy to build this roster. And within that locker room, the best culture in the country. It’s not about an individual, it’s not going to be. It’s going to be about the group. When you care about the team the most, the individual things work out."

-Team First Mantra... Everything they do internally will be to prioritize the program first, and the individuals second.

-“Win Rings, Hold Trophies, Raise Banners” ... These are TEAM GOALS. No individual can achieve any of these things alone.

-Mentions leaving Oklahoma was the toughest decision of his life, get’s emotional talking about talking to his players there. Shows gratitude for the people most responsible for creating this opportunity.

-Not a big believer on projecting the future, focused on the work in front of them, the habits they’re going to be teaching to lay a solid foundation, and the humans he’ll need to surround the player with in order to make the potential of this place a reality:

“I’m not big on false promises or hollow promises. We have to go to work. It’s going to take everyone, but if we all do what we can, some of you guys have seen it happen here, I’m ready to experience it. Our players will be ready, our staff is ready. Now it’s time to go to work.”

-Coach Riley comes across extremely self aware to be cautious against promising some instant salvation that he or his staff can bring, and understands any progress will be directly correlated to the work that they have not yet done.

On the quick turn from losing last game at Oklahoma to taking USC job:

-When he met the leadership at USC it was an instant connection, the logo was attractive, that’s a good start, but really fascinated by the alignment on all levels.

“You better have alignment, that’s what college athletics is at this point. It’s the difference between alignment and lack thereof. There was total alignment here. The university leadership was superb. It was a tough decision, for sure, but I knew in my heart this was the place I needed myself and my family to be.”

-Alignment is commitment! You don't need everyone to think the same way, but you do need everyone pulling in the same direction. Talent can overcome a lot of problems, but it rarely overcomes organizational friction.

On Where the USC Program currently stands:

“I look at the potential. But all of these things are going to change. Rosters, facilities, people. I saw the constants. The history, the place, the leadership, the standard of excellence. Those things exist and have for some time. We’re going to bring the right people on board, players and staff, and work like crazy to maximize those things and get it done.”

-This concept of changing and fixed variables is interesting to me when taking a job. Naturally we look at the job at face value with certain areas that have more importance than others (NIL $, admissions requirements, recent success) but most of those popular talking points when evaluating a job are constantly changing. The act of hiring a new head coach nearly always means those variables are about to be increased. Riley focused on the things under the surface that are more rooted in the university’s environmental and historical advantages/challenges.

-Leaders often overvalue what is visible and undervalue what is durable. Facilities, NIL budgets, and recruiting classes are visible. History, geography, institutional support, and culture are durable. One changes quarterly while the other has compounded for decades.

On what Intrigued him about this place:

“The location, the history, the opportunities here to recruit and build a national championship level roster. The opportunity for my family to live in this place and experience new things is very important to me and my wife.”

-Sees the value of being exposed to new things, culture, and the growth rate impact of these landmarks that are unique to USC.

“We’re not scared to take risks. This is a big jump. But everything about it made sense. It’s not a gamble because I love the situation. We’re going to grow and build.”

-There’s a difference between gambling and investing!!!
A gamble relies on hope. An investment relies on conviction. From the outside, both can look identical. The difference is whether the decision was built on emotion or understanding.

On how fast he can return USC to prominence:

“As fast as we can, we’re going to be deliberate, creative, and intentional with growing our program.”

-Wants to accelerate the process but doesn’t want to trade time for quality. Great organizations move quickly because they are clear, not because they are rushed. Urgency is a commitment to action. Hurry is a loss of discipline. The best leaders create the former without falling victim to the latter.

“No time is soon enough. We’re going to fight like crazy but also take advantage of every moment.”

-The balance between doing things fast and doing things right, in every rep, practice, day, game, month, etc… So important when building something from the ground up.

On the culture and identity he’s looking to build on the field:

“Everything is going to start with the team. No matter what changes in the world. This is a team game, it will always be a team game, it’s going to be won by a team, not an individual. There’s a challenge in creating those atmospheres but that just means coaches and leaders have to adapt to that. The best teams, the best chemistry or culture, have an advantage today more than ever before.”

-Couldn’t agree more with this statement. The emergence of the transfer portal and NIL have not made culture and team connectedness, they’ve made them MORE valuable. Like purchasing power. If something becomes more “rare”, its value goes UP! … When gas is harder to get in the world, the gas prices at Exxon go up. Culture works the same. As the game becomes more transactional, culture and authenticity become more transformational.

-As the transfer portal makes movement easier and NIL makes transactions bigger, the value of belonging increases.

On how he sells USC when it’s at it’s lowest point ever:

-There’s beauty in the struggle, ugliness in success. Come here and build something special in a place where real fruit has grown before.

“I was sold on it by this leadership. The history, the desire to take it to where it should be. There’s so much opportunity here, and opportunities are attractive. That’s already started. We’re going to bring the very best in that value opportunity to do historic things.”

-Opportunity is often disguised as unfinished work. That's why some people see a challenge and others see a burden. Builders are attracted to places where potential exceeds perception.

On his recruiting philosophy:

-Every recruiting decision is a culture decision. Talent determines your ceiling. Character determines whether you ever reach it.

“Great athletes are easy to find. Getting the right people for this locker room, the right people for this culture. That’s the part we’ll really try to hone in on. And we’ll be meticulous with our process of finding the right people.”

-Every team is working off a Talent vs Trust curve. It sounds as if Coach Riley isn’t willing to sacrifice much ‘trust’ to go up on the talent axis.

Overall Coach Lincoln Riley's message was fairly simple:

Don't build on hype. Build on bedrock.

Rosters, facilities. and rules all change. But culture, alignment, trust, and standards endure over time.

-Sounded less like a football coach and more like an architect. He isn't talking about what he wants to win. He's talking about what he wants to build.

The leaders who create sustained success aren't the ones chasing shortcuts as much as they're the ones relentlessly strengthening the foundation until the outcomes everyone wants become achievable AND sustainable.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

I’m fascinated by this concept of turning perceived flaws into competitive advantages:

By weaponizing a subjective “negative” trait, you can turn something anxiety inducing and mentally taxing into something that actually gives you energy. 🔋

🗣️ For example, If you like to hear yourself talk, public speaking becomes easier.

If you love attention, taking the last shot in a pressure moment goes from nerve wracking to exciting. 🔥

🧘‍♂️ If you’re an introvert, you may listen more deeply than, giving you clarity in decisions that overwhelm others.

An overly competitive person may find motivation to win where others find exhaustion. ♟️

✍️ An anxious person may out prepare a peaceful person.

An obsessive person may outwork others. 💪

Deficiencies in certain areas can influence proficiency in others.

Lean into your perceived downsides long enough and you’ll eventually discover their hidden upsides. ♾️

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

The function of great leadership is to create more leaders, not more followers.

[Josh Chambers @JoshChambers]

Comparison is the thief of joy. 🦹‍♂️