Transcript

Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno

From Mick Unplugged Podcast · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 34 min · 7,421 words · 72 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno", an episode of Mick Unplugged Podcast published February 16, 2026 (34 min, about 7,421 words). It mentions 34 people, works and ideas, including College Football, Jay Paterno, Blitz, Penn State, Pennsylvania State University.

What this episode is about

A candid look at leadership under pressure, blending Jay Paterno’s insights on handling high-stakes moments, resilience, and purpose with lessons from his new book, Blitz. It explores how sports parallels illuminate leadership, character, and legacy, including candid reflections on the 1986 Fiesta Bowl and other formative experiences.

Key takeaways

  • Blitz parallels leadership: high-pressure, resilience, and adapting strategy when the scoreboard changes fast.
  • Penn State lens: legacy isn’t static; leadership means preserving core values while pushing for reform.
  • The 86 Fiesta Bowl reveal shows biases and myths crumble; truth-tellers can reshape fan memory and policy.
  • Leaders admit faults publicly; Jay Pno embodies corrective candor as a catalyst for trust and growth.
  • From sidelines to front lines: impact-first leadership travels across roles, not just in a single title.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Penn State, Jay Paterno, Pennsylvania State University, Leadership
  2. – 10:00: College Football, National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, Jay Paterno
  3. – 15:00: College Football, Orange Bowl, Penn State, Fiesta Bowl
  4. – 20:00: mental health, College Football, NIL, Penn State
  5. – 25:00: Values, Leadership, Urban Meyer
  6. – 30:00: College Football, Leadership, Penn State, Fiesta Bowl
  7. – 33:45: Chris Brown, Mick Hunt, Penn State, Fiesta Bowl

Notable quotes from "Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno"

  • What an amazing episode this is about to be with Jay Pno. We talk about a lot of things, but here's some things. His new book, Blitz, it's a sports story that has a ton of parallels to leadership and we're going to talk about that book.
    about Blitz · at
  • Well, it depends on what role I'm involved in. like as a trustee at Penn State, my because is I look at Penn State as something that's been here before us and something that will go on after us. So even though it's a.
    about Jay Paterno · at
  • Mean, they no one knows. So, there's a lot of things that have to happen. College football definitely needs some massive reform right now.
    about College Football · at
  • That was kind of the why. And I felt like a couple things. is number one, I could highlight things like mental health because when you talk about everybody thinks, oh well, everybody's making money. It's great.
    about mental health · at
  • About. And then what we didn't talk we talked about in the book as well is everybody thinks with the NIL stuff, it's great these players make money, but they don't talk about…
    about NIL · at
  • Happened around that where you literally are sitting there saying how am I going to get through this? And the only way you get through adversity is having some values that…
    about Values · at
  • Mike Rob was that guy. And that leads to this next question. So, what's one lesson that coaching taught you in leadership outside of coaching?
    about Leadership · at
  • Mick Unplugged. Don't just listen, take action. Rate and subscribe. Follow me on social and get the full experience at mickhuntofficial.com.
    about Mick Hunt · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Jay Paterno — Person · Referenced person (values influence) · 4 mentions · first at
    Jay references his father’s teachings on values, excellence, and conscience as foundational to his leadership philosophy and the book’s themes.
  • Mick Hunt — Person · Host · 2 mentions · first at
    He hosts 'Mick Unplugged', interviews Jay Paterno, steers discussion toward leadership parallels, and promotes giving away copies of 'Blitz'.
  • Chris Brown — Person · Referenced person (story source) · 3 mentions · first at
    Referenced as the origin of an infamous story about the 1986 Fiesta Bowl pregame event; Jay responds with his account of what happened.
    Before and there was this supposedly a dinner and both teams were there and maybe Jerome Brown got up and said something and some folks walked out. Is there truth in that story?
  • Mike Tomlin — Person · Referenced example (calendar/tampering analogy) · 1 mention · first at
    Jay uses Mike Tomlin as an NFL analogy for anti-tampering norms to argue college football needs a redesigned calendar and stronger rules.
    When the Dolphins had fired their coach, I forget what week it was, maybe week 14, Mike Tomlin, the Steelers on a playoff hunt to try and make the playoffs. If the Dolphins had…
  • Fernando Mendoza — Person · Referenced example (player welfare) · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an example of physical toll and player welfare concerns when discussing playoff expansion and whether players want additional games.
    To 16 or 24? Well, does anybody think to ask the players, do you want 16? Because I look at a guy like Mendoza the other night took a beating and under a 16 team playoff, he's got another game to play, right?
  • Urban Meyer — Person · Referenced endorser · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as praising "Blitz," lending credibility and visibility to the book within the football community.
    To sports and leadership is so strong and you've had some crazy cool accolades, like Urban Meyer said it's one of the best books, in his lifetime that he's read and Paul Finebomb says he says it's one of the best sports books ever, right?
  • Paul Finebaum — Person · Referenced endorser · 1 mention
    Mentioned as calling "Blitz" one of the best sports books ever, reinforcing the book’s perceived quality and impact.
  • Eva Mendoza — Person · Referenced player example · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an example of player physical toll and the implications of playoff expansion (more games after taking a 'beating').
    To 16 or 24? Well, does anybody think to ask the players, do you want 16? Because I look at a guy like Mendoza the other night took a beating and under a 16 team playoff, he's got another game to play, right?

Books & papers

  • Blitz — Book · Core artifact (book discussed) · 1 mention · first at
    Jay Paterno’s featured book used to discuss leadership, ethics, NIL-era pressures, and mental health; repeatedly referenced as valuable for executives and leaders.
  • Primary Colors — Book · Referenced comparison book · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as a model for writing fiction that closely parallels real events, influencing Jay’s approach to telling true college-football stories without naming names.
    Innocent because there's a lot of things that go on. So I said, you know what, there was a book called Primary Colors which was ostensibly about the Clinton presidential…

Companies & orgs

  • Penn State — Organization · Core organization/topic · 8 mentions · first at
    Central to Jay Paterno's identity (trustee, former coach) and to the episode's discussion of values, legacy, and the Penn State side of the 1986 Fiesta Bowl story.
    It's amazing when you hear it. He admits to me at the end who his favorite Penn State player of all time is. I won't spoil it. You're going to go listen to it. And then we get…
  • Pennsylvania State University — Organization · Core referenced organization · 3 mentions · first at
    Central to Jay Paterno’s identity (trustee, former coach) and to the episode’s discussion of legacy, governance, and Penn State’s role in major college football events.
    Is. I won't spoil it. You're going to go listen to it. And then we get the truth behind the 86 Fiesta Bowl. Penn State Miami. If you don't know, there's an infamous story out…
  • Mick Unplugged — Organization · Podcast / show · 2 mentions · first at
    The show where the conversation takes place; it frames the episode around purpose (“because”), leadership, and Jay Paterno’s book and football insights.
    Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today I have someone who I've looked up to for a very long time. He's a leadership coach, a change maker, an.
  • National Collegiate Athletic Association — Organization · Core referenced organization · 2 mentions · first at
    Discussed as unable/unwilling to govern effectively due to repeated legal losses, contributing to the "no governance" state of college football.
    Well, there is it's not that there's not enough governance. There is no governance. And part of that is the NCA and look, I'm the last guy that wants to make excuses for the NCA, but they keep losing lawsuits. So, they're gunshy.
  • NCAA — Organization · Referenced governing body · 2 mentions · first at
    Portrayed as unable/unwilling to govern effectively due to repeated lawsuit losses, leaving college football to operate reactively and 'lawless'.
    Well, there is it's not that there's not enough governance. There is no governance. And part of that is the NCA and look, I'm the last guy that wants to make excuses for the…
  • Big Ten Conference — Organization · Referenced organization (economic scale example) · 1 mention · first at
    Used to illustrate the financial reality of modern college football (media rights revenue), supporting the argument that the amateur model is obsolete.
    Just the Big 10. This is not and this is not including March Madness. This is not including all the other stuff. This is 1.1 billion for television rights and media rights for…
  • Big Ten — Organization · Referenced conference · 1 mention · first at
    Used as evidence of the sport's scale and commercialization (media rights revenue), supporting Jay's argument that the amateur model is no longer realistic.
    Including all the other stuff. This is 1.1 billion for television rights and media rights for those schools. So it's not an extracurricular activity anymore for kids that…
  • Miami Dolphins — Organization · Referenced organization (NFL analogy) · 1 mention · first at
    Used in an analogy about NFL anti-tampering and coaching-hire timing to argue for similar protections and calendar reform in college football.
    14, Mike Tomlin, the Steelers on a playoff hunt to try and make the playoffs. If the Dolphins had contacted Mike Tomlin before his season was over, there would be hell to pay. they would lose draft picks, they would lose money.
  • Ohio State — Organization · Referenced program setting · 1 mention · first at
    Jay says he set his earlier fiction ('Hot Seat') at Ohio State due to his recruiting familiarity with the state/program, to avoid writing directly about Penn State.
    Stories and I'll create a non-fiction and I'll set it at Ohio State because I had recruited that state for 17 18 years and knew a bunch of coaches there over the years and got…
  • Ohio State University — Organization · Referenced organization (setting for fiction) · 1 mention · first at
    Jay says he set his football-fiction vehicle at Ohio State due to his recruiting familiarity with the state/program, to avoid writing directly about Penn State.
    Of vehicle where I'll take these real stories and I'll create a non-fiction and I'll set it at Ohio State because I had recruited that state for 17 18 years and knew a bunch of…
  • Dolphins — Organization · Referenced NFL team (comparison) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in an NFL example about firing a coach and the consequences of contacting another team's coach mid-season, illustrating desired governance parallels.
    And I think we've got to redo the calendar there. for example, when the Dolphins had fired their coach, I forget what week it was, maybe week 14, Mike Tomlin, the Steelers on a…
  • Virginia Tech — Organization · Referenced organization (historical example) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in a personal anecdote about bowl scarcity in 1992, illustrating how bowl season has expanded and changed.
    Teams weren't going to bowl games. My last year at UVA was 1992. We went seven and four, beat Virginia Tech pretty soundly and didn't get a bowl game because there weren't that many bowls.

Concepts & topics

  • College Football — Concept · Core topic · 14 mentions · first at
    The episode centers on how college football has changed (NIL, governance, playoffs, bowls) and how those changes affect leadership, ethics, and mental health.
  • NIL — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Discussed as a major driver of the current "lawless" environment in college football, affecting recruiting, contracts, transfers, and mental health pressures.
  • Values — Concept · Core topic · 7 mentions · first at
    Jay Paterno emphasizes values as anchors through adversity and success, and as the central tension in 'Blitz' where winning pressure tempts corner-cutting.
  • Leadership — Concept · Core topic · 6 mentions · first at
    The conversation repeatedly draws parallels between coaching and executive leadership: accountability, truth-telling, listening, and values-based decision-making under pressure.
  • mental health — Concept · Core topic · 5 mentions · first at
    Jay connects mental health to performance and leadership, highlighting increased pressures on coaches and players in the NIL/social media era.
  • COVID-19 — Concept · Referenced concept (turning point example) · 1 mention · first at
    Used to illustrate how financial incentives drove decisions (keeping players on campus for TV revenue), accelerating recognition that college football is not purely extracurricular.
    Because we needed that television check.

Places & events

  • Fiesta Bowl — Event · Key referenced event · 4 mentions · first at
    The 1986 Penn State–Miami Fiesta Bowl is discussed as a defining game and as the subject of an infamous Jerome Brown story; Jay provides Penn State’s perspective.
    Penn State player of all time is. I won't spoil it. You're going to go listen to it. And then we get the truth behind the 86 Fiesta Bowl. Penn State Miami. If you don't know…
  • Miami — Place · Referenced opponent/location · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as Penn State's opponent in the Fiesta Bowl (University of Miami), central to the rivalry/hostility story and the game's cultural framing.
    Over to us and say, Are you with the team? Yeah. I live here in Phoenix. I hope you beat the hell out of like they turned the whole community against them.
  • Orange Bowl — Event · Referenced event (historical prestige) · 2 mentions · first at
    Cited as an example of when major bowls mattered more broadly, supporting the argument that bowl season’s meaning has declined.
    BCS, right? Like back in Jay's day, the bowl m you guys were in the Fiesta Bowl all the time, right? The Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl, right? But they mattered even if you were…
  • Texas Bowl — Event · Referenced event (bowl example) · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an example of bowls that draw crowds due to driving-distance fan bases, contrasting with diminished bowl significance overall.
    Games you're seeing that have good crowds are ones that are within driving distance. Houston is in the Texas Bowl or whatever it was in Houston and LSU can drive and you know…
  • Pinstripe Bowl — Event · Referenced event (bowl example) · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an example of a bowl that can still draw well due to local alumni concentration (Penn State fans in NYC).
    Distance. Houston is in the Texas Bowl or whatever it was in Houston and LSU can drive and you know and like the Pinstripe Bowl. Penn State fans. We have a ton of Penn State…
  • Myrtle Beach Bowl — Event · Referenced event (bowl example) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as an example of lower-tier bowls where participation uncertainty increases due to opt-outs and transfer timing.
    December 15th happens and now you got the Holiday Bowl or the Myrtle Beach Bowl and it's like we really don't know if anybody's going to be able to show up.

Full transcript with timestamps

What an amazing episode this is about to be with Jay Pno. We talk about a lot of things, but here's some things. His new book, Blitz, it's a sports story that has a ton of parallels to leadership and we're going to talk about that book. We're going to talk about his because it's amazing when you hear it. He admits to me at the end who his favorite Penn State player of all time is. I won't spoil it. You're going to go listen to it. And then we get the truth behind the 86 Fiesta Bowl. Penn State Miami. If you don't know, there's an infamous story out there that Jerome Brown told us about. It's in a uh 30 for30. Jay tells us the Penn State perspective. It's at the very end. I can't wait for you to listen or watch this episode. So, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to stop. Here is my good friend, Mr. Jay Paterna.

This is Mick Unplugged. Let us uncover the because that thing that drives you. That thing that fuels you.

I'm ready if you are. Let's go. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And today I have someone who I've looked up to for a very long time. He's a leadership coach, a change maker, an author who's redefining what legacy really means. From the sidelines of Penn State to the front lines of public service, he's inspiring leaders to lead with courage, character, and conviction. and his new book, which we're going to get into today, is sparking conversations nationwide and several with my VIP clients. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. The bold, the principle, the visionary, my guy, Mr.

Jay Pno. Jay, how you doing today, brother? I'm doing great. How about you? Man, I am honored to to be here with you. You know, I was telling you offline about the book and and how a lot of my clients are looking at it and reading it and there's a lot of parallels there. So, I'm just honored, one to have you on the show, and two, I want to dive into this book. This is about to be a master class that that you're going to give out today. So, I hope everybody's ready, man. But how are you doing, Jay?

I'm I'm doing great. Uh it's that time of year where football season ends. So, like I feel as a guy that loves college football, I feel lost. Oh my god. We don't have games for like eight more months. And it was an exciting and unexpected year obviously. So, yeah. Other than that, I'm doing great.

I love it. And I I have to pick your brain. We're going to have a conversation on football, too. Before I get there, though, I love asking my guests about their because that true purpose that they have. the mission in life that they have. You know, if I were to ask you what's your why, you're going to tell me your family, your kids, or something like that. But then when I say why, why is that important? That sentence usually starts with well because and I care about that. So Jay Pno today, man, what is your because?

Well, it depends on what role I'm involved in. like as a trustee at Penn State, my because is I look at Penn State as something that's been here before us and something that will go on after us. So even though uh it's a difficult job in ter role, it's not a it's not a job although it feels like it sometimes. I want to leave Penn State a better place and continue to protect the things that made Penn State unique in that regard. In terms of writing books, I want to put things down that people can pick up and learn something from and and get something out of it and speak to things, especially with Blitz. You know, I look at college football right now and I say, you know, if people really knew what was going on, there would absolutely be a movement to try and get this thing under control. I know people are frustrated. There are other things I'm involved in. I'm I'm starting to work with some other trustees of the

school to talk about, you know, what comes next in college football. As somebody who wants to help other people lead, I look at leadership in this country and I look at it at the highest levels of what is supposed to look like leadership in this country. What it is, what we think it is and what it really is are vastly different. So I want to keep speaking to that because you know being a leader is not simply lying and and never admitting you're wrong. Some of the greatest leaders are people who listen, who admit faults, and then correct them. And those things have all been lost. So there's a lot of becausees and wise because of the fact that you know I just have all these things going on and there and different roles.

Yeah, you are definitely one of if not the I don't like the term busiest the most involved person that I know. I mean when you look at the tentacles that you have and where you reach man like you're you're involved in making impact in a lot of different areas. And I think that's that's the true definition of you. It's not just being involved. I don't think Jay Pno does anything where he can't make an impact. Is that true?

I Well, I try. I mean, sometimes people don't want you to make an impact and they have ways to freeze you out and you know, but but I think the thing is this. It's um um I am not a perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination, but I would like us to strive towards that as people and help other people do. So when I see things that I there are things I can see around the corner that sometimes other people can't see because of experience or because of people I learn from. I mean I I've been very fortunate in my life to be around incredible people with with great lessons um that I've picked up and write. I make notes all the time.

So if I have the advantage of some information and I can help people or use that to lead people to get to the right thing, I can't sit still and not do it. So that's kind of it's a curse in some ways, but it's also a blessing in some ways.

No, totally agree. Totally agree. And so let's talk about college football. You you've been around it your entire life, and it's at a different dynamic than it's ever been. Regardless of what people thought back in the day when when you assumed or thought players were getting paid, well, now it's a real thing. And there's not enough I don't want to say governance. there's just not enough of something that's there to really wrap our hands around it. I'd love to get your perspective of where college football is today in particular with the NIL structure.

Well, there is it's not that there's not enough governance. There is no governance. And part of that is the NCA um and look, I'm the last guy that wants to make excuses for the NCA, but they keep losing lawsuits. So, they're gunshy in taking a stand on anything. And right, you know, and I understand why. every time they try and stand up for something. And so what is what is passing for governance in college football right now is simply a reaction to the last ruling by a judge somewhere. The House settlement versus the House versus NCA settlement is kind of the law of the land right now in terms of revenue sharing, NIL, things like that.

But it's all it's going to take is another lawsuit to upset that cart. So we're at a point now where the game is kind of lawless. you know, players can sign a contract with a school and then go in the transportal and say, "I'm not going to I'm going to sign with somebody else because they're giving me more money." And now the school's forced to sue the player. And that's not a place we want to be. So, there needs to be in the next year or two, and I'm I'm having conversations, as I mentioned, with a lot of the people trying to figure out where can we get that kind of governance. I tell my kids all the time, and they get hired to hear me say it.

There's two types of people in the world. There's problem people and there's solution people. And problem people, anybody can point out problems. It's not hard to find problems and say here it is. And that's what we got right now in college football. We've got everybody saying it's broken. It's not working. It's not this, it's not that. Okay. Well, what's your solution? Well, maybe we should have a commissioner. Nobody's really coming forward. And I think we're at a point now where we essentially need a constitutional convention that will involve everybody and just say, you know, these are the rules we've had and they're all patchwork and we keep slapping things on it. We got to reimagine this thing and the players should be in the room.

That's the one thing no one's talking about. You know, we're talking about we've got a 12 team playoff. Do we want to 16 or 24? Well, does anybody think to ask the players, do you want 16? Because I look at a guy like Mendoza the other night took a beating and under a 16 team playoff, he's got another game to play,

right? Like that's not the end of it. He would have a 17th game to play, right?

And do the players really want to play 17 games? You know, I don't know. I mean, they no one knows. So, I mean, there's a lot of things that have to happen. College football definitely needs some massive reform right now.

If Jay Paterno were in charge, this is a huge hypothetical, but what would it look like? Like, could you paint an overview of what what could simplify this mess for people?

Well, we have to be honest about what we are now. And and look, I'm an old school guy who loved the amateur model and playing for dear old state or whatever it may be. But the reality is is now the Big 10 last year took in $1.1 billion. Just the Big 10. This is not and this is not including March Madness. This is not including all the other stuff. This is 1.1 billion for television rights and media rights for those schools. So it's not an extracurricular activity anymore for kids that students. So we got to be honest about that. You know when COVID happened, okay, we kept our players on campus. We quarantined them when all the other students weren't here. Why?

Because we needed that television check. And the players and their family started to say, "Well, wait a minute." So rightfully so. So, I've essentially gone from an old school guy to a guy who's been, you know, I have other trustees in the board say, "Ban, you've been radicalized." Yeah, I have because this is reality. So, what we need to do is a admit what we are, b come up with some solutions. And some of those things would include collective bargaining with players because let's be honest, I mean, we can say they're not employees. They are. I mean, no one likes to hear that, but how you classify that, what that looks like, give kids an opportunity to come in and if they want to commit to your school for four years and get a degree, let them go down that path. If a guy wants to come in and say, I want to play college football, but I want the ability to transfer after a year, say, okay, we'll sign that contract with you,

but at the end of that year, guess what? If we don't think you're good enough, we can let you go because you want us you want to be able to leave us, then we ought to be able to leave you. And I think you'll see more parents funnel their kids toward the four-year program model. You would still allow have some mechanisms for transfers and things like that in that model. So I think those are some of the things that have to happen. And I think we've got to redo the calendar there. You know, for example, when the Dolphins had fired their coach, I forget what week it was, maybe week 14, Mike Tomlin, the Steelers on a playoff hunt to try and make the playoffs. If the Dolphins had contacted Mike Tomlin before his season was over, there would be hell to pay. they would lose draft picks, they would lose money.

The same, we need to bring that same kind of idea to college football in terms of the calendar has to be remade so that coaches don't have to jump during the season. We don't need to fire a coach in October because we got to get somebody signed before sign day. So, all this it's going to take an overarching reorganization of of literally everything soup to nuts.

I totally agree. Another thing that I think we need to look at is what we call bowl season, right? You know, again, I'm a huge sports nut and the bowls used to matter even, you know, before the the BCS, right? Like back in Jay's day, the bowl m you guys were in the Fiesta Bowl all the time, right? The Fiesta Bowl or Orange Bowl, right? But but they mattered even if you were not in the Fiesta or Orange Bowl. It truly mattered. It mattered for the seniors as like their last game and then you had the red shirt freshman that might get some play. Like it mattered. Bowls haven't mattered in a very long time. I mean, you have players that opt out. I feel bad for bowl sponsors. I feel bad for folks that attend. How do we fix the bowl game scenario as well?

Well, I don't know that we can at this point because the playoff and and as so many fan bases have made it all about, you know, playoff or bust. The bowl games you're seeing that have good crowds are ones that are within driving distance. Houston is in the Texas Bowl or whatever it was in Houston and LSU can drive and and you know and like the the Pinstripe Bowl. Penn State fans. We have a ton of Penn State fans in New York City, so there was a ton of them there and they and they showed up and even though the weather wasn't great, but I think those are the things that matter. But I think your point is is a great one. The bowl games used to be there weren't 50 of them. Six and six teams weren't going to bowl games. My last year at UVA was 1992. We went seven and four, beat Virginia Tech pretty soundly and didn't get a bowl game because there weren't that many bowls.

Now, that team would be playing on New Year's Day, but I mean, so that's kind of where we're at. So, you know, these things used to be Chamber of Commerce events. The Orange Bowl was like, "Hey, how do we get like a ridiculous number of people to come down here and that week, those days between Christmas and New Year's, let's put a bowl game." The team would come down, they'd be there for a week, and the fans would come down for four or five. Now, it's, you know, teams are getting there three days before the game. It's not really a bowl trip anymore to them. So, I think, you know, there's going to be some bulls that survive, but I think it's got to shake itself out and probably thin the call the herd a little bit. But on the flip side, for the networks, it's they don't care how many people are in the stands.

They're getting three hours of of and they don't care who opts out. They've got three hours of programming to put on and the spread of gambling is such that there are always people going to bet on these things and the fans are more invested. So, I don't think the Bulls will go anywhere. Like you said, they're not as, you know, it's not as exciting as it used to be. No, definitely not. You know, I personally think you figure out how to incorporate bowls into the regular season. I mean, maybe not all of them, right? But you could probably get 15 to 20 bowls that you could do weeks one through four of the regular season.

That way, you still get that competitive juice. The bowl itself actually matters. I I'm not Jay Pno, so I don't know how to figure that out, but to me, that would almost be a good thing. You're going to guarantee players are going to be there, coaches are going to be there. Those are the things that are hit or miss after December 15th, right? December 15th happens and now you got the Holiday Bowl or the the Myrtle Beach Bowl and it's like we really don't know if anybody's going to be able to show up.

Yeah. And I I think when if you sit down and redo the whole calendar, I think some of that will help take care of itself because, you know, you don't you don't have guys that are in such a rush to get in the portal. And if the transfer portal was in February, not January, you wouldn't have so much pressure to get coaches jumping. But we'll see. I mean, that that's all going to sort itself out.

Now, I want to take some time and talk about Blitz. But before we get into the book, I want to get into the why behind the why of the book. So So what made you say this book and now?

Well, couple things. I when my dad died about two two or three years later, I I wrote a book about him. And then um it did really well really well and people said, "What are you going to write about next?" And I was like, "Okay, well that's a good sign that people want me to keep writing stuff." At that point, you know, I would sit around and people would ask what college football's really like and I would tell them stories about recruiting or in the course of a game and what what's like in a headset you ought to write a book about that. So I started to write it and then I realized, you know, some of these recruiting stories, we got to change names to protect the innocent and the not so innocent because there's a lot of things that go on. So I said, you know what, there was a book called Primary Colors which was ostensibly about the Clinton presidential campaign and it was written as fiction. I said, you know what,

that's what I'll do. I'll use that kind of vehicle where I'll take these real stories and I'll create a non-fiction fiction and I'll set it at Ohio State because I had recruited that state for 17 18 years and knew a bunch of coaches there over the years and got to know them really well. So I was very familiar with that program and I wanted to get away from writing about Penn State so that I you know kind of write and challenge myself to write about something that wasn't as familiar. So I wrote a book basically it started it's called hot seat and started with the coach losing the bowl game and the president university shows up at his hotel suite the morning after the game and says look the trustees are all over me on this you've got one year I mean I can hold them off for one more year but you got to win or else it takes you through all the ethical dilemmas that he faced. Well, at the end of that about

two, three, two years later, I kept hearing, well, what comes next? What comes next? What comes next for this guy? And then NIL started to happen. I was consulting on NIL with things and all these other things were happening. And I I said, you know what, what I wrote about before to where the game is now are so dramatically different. I think it's time to write a different, you know, what's happening now and essentially a sequel to that book. So, that was kind of the why. And I and I felt like a couple things. is number one, I could highlight things like mental health because when you talk about everybody thinks, oh well, everybody's making money. It's great.

More pressure on coaches, more pressure on players. So, that was part of it. And I thought it would be good to kind of peel back the curtain as to what's going on in college football without naming names and let people fans understand what this thing has become. And uh so that was really the why.

Amazing. And you know, one of the things that I I have on my question list for you was the mental health component. And you know when I talk about you know my clients and VIPs that we discuss your book and that they have copies I start there because mental health is real you know when you talk about from a CEO CRO VP of cell when you talk about that level of people it is almost like you're being the head coach the offensive coordinator the the defensive coordinator because usually with these major corporations you've got a board of directors and they're looking at reports and they're looking at outcomes which is just like the president of a university or the athletic director, right? Like winds matter and and you've got people making noise. And I thought how you approached mental health and even some strategies there were were really important, man. Talk to us about just that proponent. It doesn't even have to

be from the book. It's in the book, but why mental health matters and what people should be looking

Well, I think the thing about it is without this you cannot be successful. I mean, people you would say to me, you know, you are a coordinator. You're calm place, 100,000 people in the stadium. There's 12 million people watching on TV and you got 35 seconds to make a decision. And how do you you know, how do you deal with that pressure? And and I would say, look, that's not the pressure. The pressure is, you know, the the week up to it and the worries and and it's year round when you coach. If you're if you're a football coach and your phone rings at 12:30 at night, it's not the academic advisor telling you, "Congrats, you got 15 guys in the deans list." It's usually, hey, we got a problem with kids, you know, and there's a difference between the NFL and the and college. In the NFL, they're grown men.

When they leave your building, they're on their own. They're they're responsible for themselves. When you're a college football coach, whether you want to own that or not, you have a responsibility to be a figure in their life. The pressure now for a coach is I've got to my phone is on my hip constantly and when the phone rings I've got to answer it because I've got to this recruit might be changing their mind or the a now with NIL and revenue sharing you've got agents now that you're talking to when you recruit a kid where it was just the parents [clears throat] and you don't know how reputable that person is and now you've got all these other things. All these things can become very uh almost drown drown you essentially in all the stress and the pressures because you never there's no pause button because the minute you hit pause somebody else is calling that guy and offering NIL money. So, those are

things I thought was important to talk about. And then what we didn't talk we talked about in the book as well is everybody thinks with the NIL stuff, it's great these players make money, but they don't talk about the mental health of a part of if part of my gig is I've got to post after a game that I drink this energy drink or I drink Gator, whatever it may be, and I have a bad game and I go on and post because I'm on social media. If I just threw a interception that causes the game, there is going to be a whole lot of incoming at me and no universities really prepared guys for that. They didn't prepare guys to hear from their family.

I know you love being at school A, but there's more money at school B. So, we we're going to yank you at school B. You got to go to school B because our family needs that extra x amount of dollars. So, all those things are important and we don't talk about it. It's stigmatized still to this day for for especially among men and leaders, men or women that that's almost admitting a weakness rather than being seen as a strength.

Yeah. You know, and the parallel again to sports and leadership is so strong and you've had some crazy cool accolades, you know, like Urban Meyer said it's one of the best books, you know, in in his lifetime that he's read and Paul Finebomb says he says it's one of the best sports books ever, right? How does that make you feel when you hear not just your peers but but legends endorse the storytelling component of the book?

Well, it makes you feel good about it because I mean one of the things when you write you want somebody to read it and appreciate it and you know and you spend time. It's where I used to sit down and think about okay if we run this guy here and put this guy here and now how do we get somebody open? I look at writing the same way, like I've got to put these words and sentences in positions that make sense and get the reader to move from point A to point B. So, I construct it almost like it's playbook where now I've got to or a game plan where I've got to get down this charts. When people read it and it resonates, um that really really means a lot to me. But at the same token, I'm never satisfied in terms of like I I'll pick up my book uh every once in a while, read a chapter here, read a chapter, I'm like, "Oh, why did I do like and and and it becomes when you're writing it, you're most dangerous

editor?" Because you constantly and it's great. I let other people read it first. I let them, you know, give me feedback and stuff because I'll never I'll never stop editing if I'm not careful and then it never gets done. W with Blitz and with Hoti both. I had a guy who's written 25, 30 books who I'm friends with and he finally said, "Jay, it's done. Just get the damn thing done." Okay, good. Got it. You know, like it took somebody to kick me in the rear end to finally go, "Okay, here we go."

Again, there's so many parallels. There's so many great points in this book. You know, you talk a lot about leading with values, which I think is tremendously important. You hit even social topics, right? You talk about race, you talk about income, you talk about a lot of things that are real world. And again, if you're listening, if you're watching Blitz, and I'll have I'll have links in the show notes in the descriptions. It's a book that no matter who you are, no matter where you are in life, like this book is going to talk to you. And again, Jay, I applaud you for talking about values in this book because I don't think in society, we talk enough about it. I think now, you know, we we do a lot of what can I do to go viral or what can I do to make people laugh and we almost do that at any cost in society, right? you brought that sense of values first in the book. I'd love for you to just spend a moment

talking about not just the book but in life why values matter to you. Well, I think like I said, I've lived a pretty interesting life in a lot of different ways and there's been some there were some very very difficult times um when my dad died and some of the things that happened around that um where you literally are sitting there saying how am I going to get through this? And the only way you get through adversity is having some values that ground you and anchor you. The only way you don't lose yourselves during yourself during times of success because that's even more dangerous than adversity cuz once you get to a certain position, a friend of mine once said to me, there are two people that rarely hear the truth, pretty women and rich men because everybody wants to be around them. And I know that's probably sexist to say it or whatever, but the point being is the reality is is success sometimes gets you

to lose those values because you think it happened simply because you're just so wonderful and people tell you how great you are and you lose a sense of what's important and you want to stay where you're at at any cost. And that's the important thing in this book is this coach knows that if he doesn't keep winning, he doesn't keep his job. And that this job is not a it's not a birthright. It's not something promised to him. And there is this constant play between the values that he has and cutting corners to stay where he wants to stay. And I think that that comes through and that was one of the things I really wanted to stress is that, [snorts] you know, it comes down to something John Adams once said. He said, you know, no matter how high or low my estimation in the eyes of the world, my conscience is clear. And that's more important than anything. And that was one of the things my dad Joe used to

tell us all the time. He said, you know, there's two success and excellence are different. Success is how the world views you. Excellence is something internal into what how consistent you are and how you stay true to your values. So to me, without values and look, it's not just sports. I see this in politics and everything and business. We're at a point now where it's not about what's right or wrong. It's about how much money can I make, how can I get mine, and you know what? Everybody else be damned.

Right. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Jay, I know how how busy you are and I appreciate, you know, spending some time with us before I get you with my rapid fire top five questions. Where where can people follow and find all the amazing things that you have going on? Because again, we talked about the book, we talk about sports, but you also do coaching, consulting, you do keynote speaking, and I want to make sure that I connect you with everybody that that listens and follows the show.

The easiest thing is jvpaterno.com. It's j a y the letterv paterno.com. That's kind of houses everything. Um I do a t football TV show. All those different things that I do. And then on what is it? Twitter X whatever we're calling it now. I'll probably always call it Twitter the day till the day I die just cuz that's how I started on how many years ago. But it's J PNO. Uh Instagram is JV Paterno. So those are the best ways to kind of keep keep up and all my contact info is on there and you can get the books there. You can get books on Amazon, you know, wherever you buy books. So, there's a lot of different places you can find what I'm doing and follow me. But I blog on the website mostly about college football, but now that it's the offseason, I'll do some other things. And uh so that's where you can kind of find everything I'm up to.

I love it. And I'm going to tell you this, if you are an event organizer and you are looking for a dynamic speaker, reach out to Jay D. I promise you, he brings it. He's relevant. He energizes the crowd and there's never a dull moment um in his keynote. So Jay, I'm there for you, brother. All right, rapid fire. Five questions. You ready?

I hope. I'll find out whether I'm ready or not. There you go. I did my research, Jay. I don't know if you know this or not. You have a COVID year of eligibility left. You have one more.

Can you Can you still sling it? Not Not well enough to be that anybody's going to pick me up off the co waiver wire.

I don't know. There there might be a school or two that needs you after I see all this movement that's going on. your favorite Penn State player of all time is.

Well, if you go all the way back to when I was five, John Kaplleti won the Heisman Trophy when I was 5 years old. And when I was five, I would write him notes. I couldn't even spell his name. I just put 222 because that was his number. So, my dad would take these notes. So, after he won the Heisman Trophy, he signed a black and white photo. That photo's been in every uh office been I've taken it with me to every office that I've worked in. Um, but I mean if I other than that like if I said the best favorite guy ever coached I don't want to touch that because somebody will see this they will call me and go wait a minute what I'm chopped liver you know like I'll if I say Michael Robinson Daryl Clark will call me if I say Daryl Clark Michael Robinson or Zach Mills or or Spice Adams will call me and say wait a minute I should be your favorite player. You recruited me out of Detroit. So I'm sure

I'll hear from somebody if I name one. I heard Mike Rob first. So we're going with Mike Rob. Perfect.

Gez. Perfect. So, I'm in trouble now. No, no, no, no. What's the best It's not a bad choice, though. I mean, you talk about a guy that was You talk about a great leader. I mean, he's one of the great leaders I've ever been around.

Mike Rob was that guy. And that leads to this next question. So, what's one lesson that coaching taught you in leadership outside of coaching?

I I think this is is you know, a lot of leaders want to impress everybody with what they know. [clears throat] Okay? And when you coach, it's not what you know, it's what they know. And so you have to constantly understand that everybody learns differently like Mike Robinson pro processed the game plan differently than somebody else and you know and you had to have the ability to reach people where they are in terms of how you explain things and listen to them because they'll give you feedback. And I think the other thing too is the most important thing about coaching is um you got to hold people accountab account accountable including yourself and you got to be able to hear the truth and tell the truth because the minute you don't and I think we underestimate that young people want to hear the truth anymore. We we've gotten the point where we got to tell them everything they want so we can keep them in the NIO world

rather than saying this is the standard. We know you can meet it. We're going to help you meet it. You're not there yet. And I think you're seeing that a guy like Signetti in Indiana who is not afraid to tell the truth to his players and they are responding to that. And I think that's those are things that in coaching are important and in leadership are important.

Totally agree. Totally agree. All right. The greatest game that you've witnessed in college football.

Geez. Well, I think the Fiesta Bowl in 1986 when we beat Miami for national championship was probably the greatest game because it was just and to this day it still is the highest uh Neielson rating of any college football game in history to this day by a wide margin because it truly became this bigger than the sport event. And it was on a Friday night. It was January the second. A lot of things went but there's been so many so many games other than that. But that that was that was one I was part of that was just to this day defi and the game was never more than a one-score game. So one play that game. Yeah. one play, one missed tackle and and you lose. And for both teams and

and so I mean it was and the intensity, you know, I was that was my freshman year. I was on the team and the pregame warm-up,

I mean the vitrial, I mean it was literally I mean when you saw those teams hit each other, it was true dislike. And I remember uh during co NBC Sports Network replayed it.

Yeah. And so I made my son watch it and his friends are watching. They're texting him and they're going, "Oh my god, there's like 52 targeting calls and it's the second quarter. Like none of these hits would be allowed now." Yeah. I mean, these guys hated each other. It was incred.

It was bad. It was bad. So, this wasn't a setup. I'm actually glad that you said that because my last question for you was going to be I remember the hoopla and Jerome Brown talked about it, right? the the pregame festivities the day before and there was this supposedly a dinner and both teams were there and maybe Jerome Brown got up and said something and some folks walked out. Is there truth in that story?

Absolutely. So what they what these bowls would do is they would do events and they would bring people in because the sponsors wanted they had people that want they wanted to be around and you would sit at a table with some people and this was a big steak fry at this place called Rawhide which was like a fake ghost town outside of so it was all country you know kind of a western type thing and so both teams were supposed to get up and tell jokes or rap or sing or whatever. So, our guys got up and they made some jokes about Jimmy Johnson's hair because it didn't move and some other things and and Jerome Brown later said, "Well, they said some things that offended us." Well, they had camo. They got off the plane and fatigued

and talk about we're here for a war and they had their sweats on. So, they all ripped off their sweats and they had the camo on. They and Jerome, I'll never forget it was maybe 20 feet in front of me. He said, "The Japanese sit down with the Americans before to eat before they bomb Pearl Harbor." Hell no. We're out of here. They left before dinner. Okay. And as they're walking out, one of our guys goes up on the mic and said, "I think the Japanese lost that war." And which was a great line. But what the Miami guys didn't realize was they they then, you know, cuz there was media there and they said, "We hate Country Western. We don't want to be there." And the air the Fiesta Bowl had brought in a lot of college-aged girls to be at this event, too. Many of which were, you know, very friendly. So I'm like, "Okay, you guys want to storm out? We're good.

That's fine." Yeah. More people for us to talk to. The funny thing is after they said all the stuff about we, you know, we hate Country Western. The every time we went out to dinner and had our Penn State football stuff on, people would come over to us and say, "Are you with the team?" Yeah. I live here in Phoenix. I hope you beat the hell out of like they turned the whole community against them. And that was so it was all very real and it just kind of ratcheted up the whole thing and that made it that's one of the reasons I think it was so widely watched was because it did become this bigger than life is there going to be a fight on the field all these things it was just this tension.

Yeah. Amazing man. Well Jay I'm honored to spend time with you. I could talk to you and pick your brain forever but I probably can't afford your consulting services so I won't do that. There's not I'm not sure there's that much brain to pick at my age.

No, man. But just honored that you spent some time on the show. I'm gonna send links to everything that you have in the show notes and the descriptions and on social. Again, if you're watching or listening, go give Jay a follow. Um, definitely go get that book. And here's what I'm going to do, Jay, because I believe in the book this much. I've already given it to some clients. I'm gonna buy 30 copies. And the first 30 people that message me, and I don't care if it's Instagram, LinkedIn, text me, whatever the word blitz, I'm going to give you a copy of Jay's book.

Sounds good. I hope they enjoy it. They definitely better. How about that? They definitely better. Jay, I appreciate you, brother.

Thanks, Mick. I really appreciate it. And for all the viewers and listeners, remember your cause is your superpower. Go Unleash. You've been plugged into Mick Unplugged. Don't just listen, take action. Rate and subscribe. Follow me on social and get the full experience at mickhuntofficial.com. Keep building, keep leading, and most importantly, keep dominating.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno"?

Jay Paterno (Guest), Host (Mick Unplugged) (Host), Jerome Brown (Guest).

What is "Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno" about?

A candid look at leadership under pressure, blending Jay Paterno’s insights on handling high-stakes moments, resilience, and purpose with lessons from his new book, Blitz. It explores how sports parallels illuminate leadership, character, and legacy, including candid reflections on the 1986 Fiesta Bowl and other formative experiences.

What is mentioned in this Mick Unplugged Podcast episode?

34 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including College Football, Jay Paterno, Blitz, Penn State, Pennsylvania State University, Mick Hunt. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Beyond the Game: Mental Health, Pressure, and Purpose with Jay Paterno"?

The episode runs 34 min; the transcript is about 7,421 words in 72 timestamped sections.

More from Mick Unplugged Podcast

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated October 29, 2026.