Beyond The Bench
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A podcast generated by three Iowa athletic directors for athletic directors. Each week we will talk about current program issues we are all dealing with as AD’s, some hot topics and we will have some fun along the way talking about things happening with our family and friends. We’ll talk with special guests including athletic directors currently doing the job, retired AD’s and people we work with inside and outside of the school who help to make our programs successful. Join Todd Gordon, Scott Garvis, and Aaron Stecker for Beyond the Bench.
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Episodes
BTB – Season 4 – Episode 14 – Sponsored by Hometown Ticketing, Varsity Bound HQ, Gipper, Superfan, Inc. and Jamy Bechler – Coach Erik Link (University of Missouri Football)
Season 4 – Episode 14 features a discussion with Coach Erik Link (@coacheriklink), Tight Ends/Special Teams Coordinator for the University of MIssouri Tigers Football Team. Erik offers some great insights to leadership and relationships that will help you do what you do no matter where you do it. BTB is proud to have HomeTown…
BTB – Season 4 – Episode 13 – Sponsored by Hometown Ticketing, Varsity Bound HQ, Gipper, Superfan, Inc. and Jamy Bechler – Coach Jim Johnson (Grace Athena High School)
Season 4 – Episode 13 brings a great discussion with Coach Jim Johnson from Grace Athena High School in Rochester, New York. Coach Johnson was the coach of Jason McElwain (J-Mac), the athlete on the autism spectrum who came off of the bench in his only game (senior night) to score 20 points in the…
BTB – Season 4 – Episode 12 – Sponsored by Hometown Ticketing, Varsity Bound HQ, Gipper, Superfan, Inc. and Jamy Bechler – One Word for 2022
Episode 12 is our One Word episode with repeat guests from last season and one year ago. Taylor Chapman @taylormchapman from Spencer, IA @spencertigerad and Michael Harrison @coachharrison1 from Ponte Vedra, FL @pvsharkssports join us for our special One Word episode. You may need to listen in a couple of different chunks but we would…
Meet The Hosts
Todd Gordon, CMAA
Todd Gordon has been an educator for 36 years, serving nine different school districts. He has worked in small schools, a large multi high school district and every size in between, including a stint as an administrator at a small Christian College.
Prior to his role as an athletic director, he served as a head coach for 27 years which translated to 68 total seasons as a head coach in volleyball, basketball, track, golf and baseball. He has served as a full time athletic and activity administrator for the past 16 years in Treynor, Carlisle, Des Moines Roosevelt and currently serves the Greene County School District in Jefferson, IA.
Todd has been married to his wife Deb for 37 years and they have three married children and five grandchildren. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, playing the piano, smoking meat, brewing beer and playing golf.
Twitter – @toddagordon
Follow his work at toddagordon.com and sign up for his weekly newsletter here.
Aaron Stecker, CMAA
Aaron Stecker has been an educator for 27 years, the past 22 years at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has taught and coached most of his career in the state of Iowa, but he did spend three years in the St. Louis area prior to landing at Kennedy.
Stecker has served as the activities administrator at Kennedy for 14 years now. Prior to taking on the role of AD, Stecker was a biology and chemistry teacher and coached primarily football and track & field. He began his career at Ackley-Geneva in 1994 and moved to Hillsboro, Missouri in 1996. An opportunity to return home and coach with good friends and college teammates lured him back to Cedar Rapids and Kennedy HS in 1999 where he continues to work today.
Aaron and his wife, Janette, have been married for 25 years and have three adult children. When not leading and managing events at school, Aaron spends his time in his yard at home, exercising, reading, and trying to find time to just get away from it all for a bit before the next thing comes along
Twitter – @crcougars
Scott Garvis, CMAA
Scott Garvis holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from Drake University & master’s degree in sports management, and is certified by the National Interscholastic Athletic Association as a certified master athletic administrator. He has been recognized by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association as an “National Athletic Director of the Year Finalist” and was recognized by the National Interscholastic Administrators Association with the Bruce Whitehead Distinguished Service Award. As a leader in the sports industry Garvis has presented to athletic administrators across the country and his ideas on athletic leadership have been published in numerous professional journals.
Under Garvis’ leadership at Newton, the athletic department made significant strides in becoming a leader in Iowa athletics. Scott Garvis served as director of athletics at Newton for 6 years. In that time Garvis firmly placed his stamp on Newton Athletics and positioned the program among the most innovative in the nation.
Twitter – @pocketad
Check out Scott’s website at scottgarvisconsulting.com
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