How to Build Leaders: Lessons from Yale Football

What this episode is about

The main topic focuses on building effective leadership through teamwork and selflessness, as exemplified by Coach Tony Reno's experiences with Yale Football. Key points include the significance of prioritizing teammates over personal interests, the profound importance of relationships in achieving success, and the notion that true leadership emerges from player-led initiatives rather than solely from coaching.

Key takeaways

• To elevate a team, prioritize others—selflessness breeds unity and success is just the byproduct of that.
• Player-led teams often outperform those with top coaches; relationships cultivate a culture of trust and accountability.
• General McCrystal’s mentorship catalyzed a leadership program; sometimes a single lunch can spark a revolution.
• Building community in sports is vital; winning is fleeting, but the relationships endure long after the final whistle.
• Transformational leadership isn’t about accolades; it's about connecting, inspiring, and crafting lasting legacies through shared goals.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Ryan Hawk (Host) · 17 min speaking
• Tony Reno (Guest) · 40 min speaking
• General Stanley McChrystal (Guest)

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Tony Reno, Leadership Program, Tom Beckett
2. 5:00 – 10:00: Leadership Program, Graham Lamb, Greg Vogle
3. 15:00 – 20:00: Graham Lamb
4. 20:00 – 25:00: Yale Football, Greg Vogle
5. 35:00 – 40:00: Tony Reno, Leadership Program, Tom Beckett, Casey Gerald

Notable quotes from "How to Build Leaders: Lessons from Yale Football"

• All right, Coach Tony Reno. Man, it is awesome to have you here on the Learning Leader Show. Welcome. Well, Ryan, thanks so much for having me. It's an honor to be on and you know when I re when I.

  about Tony Reno · at 0:49

• That. he's he's as we both know, just an incredible person and leader and in everything. so I got hired at Yale and as he said, in 2012 and I took over a program that was, a very storied program, but a program that had.

  about Yale · at 1:55

• And I run into General Stanley Mcrist I'm Wow. I'm This dude's this dude's here. And so I went down to my athletic director, Tom Beckett, and I've been on the job for maybe a month, and I said, Tom, this is what I'm.

  about Tom Beckett · at 3:13

• Goals of what how we could build a leadership program. And my overall goal was I wanted to build a leadership program at Yale with my football team that could be the center…

  about Leadership Program · at 5:23

• I think to your point, I was I've been very I've been very blessed to have a relationship with General Mcrist and guys like Greg Vogle and Sir and all these other people, Graham Lamb, the list goes on and on. And.

  about Greg Vogle · at 7:10

• They leave. our coaches have gone and I've got guys I three guys who have become head coaches, guys in the NFL and you know when they come into me and I'm so excited for that…

  about NFL · at 8:31

• That is really cool. speaking of you being there, I read a story about how you got hired. I'm I'm overly fascinated by how people earn jobs. I think it's there's usually good stories and how somebody became the CEO or how.

  about Casey Gerald · at 35:43

• Happened now is that our players have you know it's it's become the it's it's become the standard that you know winning a championship every year is the standard it's the it's the standard of Y football and you know but how you conduct.

  about Yale Football · at 50:52

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Tony Reno — Person · Main guest · 3 mentions · first at 0:49
  Head football coach at Yale and the central voice describing a player-led culture, leadership development program, and traditions (Gettysburg trip, team creed, bricks).
• Tom Beckett — Person · Referenced administrator / enabler · 2 mentions · first at 3:18
  Yale athletic director who helped Reno connect with McChrystal early on and later is described as receiving letters supporting Reno’s hiring as head coach.
• Greg Vogle — Person · Referenced expert / program contributor · 2 mentions · first at 7:20
  Named as part of the leadership cohort around McChrystal that supports Reno’s program; credited with a recurring concept ('258') emphasizing always-on leadership.
• Graham Lamb — Person · Referenced expert / program contributor · 2 mentions · first at 7:23
  One of the recurring leaders McChrystal brings to Gettysburg; described as a cornerstone mentor in the Yale football leadership program and identified as 'Sir Graham Lamb.'
  All these other people, Graham Lamb, the list goes on and on. And what I found was I've been able to take so much from this group of leaders and every time, every stop, every meeting, every run up the hill at Gettysburg or.
• Casey Gerald — Person · Referenced former player / advocate · 1 mention · first at 36:02
  Former Yale player coached by Reno who encouraged him to pursue the head coaching role and is linked to the letter-writing campaign by alumni supporting Reno’s hire.

Concepts & topics

• Yale Football — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 21:19
  Central theme of the episode, discussing the leadership program and culture within Yale's football team.
• Leadership Program — Concept · Strategy · 3 mentions · first at 4:39
  Key initiative within Yale Football aimed at developing players' leadership skills and team cohesion.
• NCAA Division I — Concept · Framework · 2 mentions
  Competitive level at which Yale Football operates, setting the context for the program's ambitions and achievements.
  Everything we do. And it was hey, how do we build the how do we build the most unique leadership program in the in division one college football that is the center point of all…
• NFL — Concept · Referenced expert · 2 mentions
  Mentioned as a career destination for some Yale Football players, highlighting the program's success.

Places & events

• Yale — Place · Setting · 2 mentions
  Primary location where the football program and leadership initiatives discussed in the episode are based.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 It's such a way to just live life of can I leave people, places, and things better than I found them. How do we get up one more notch of being a group of people that really wants to do things for each other, not for themselves? I always say, hey, you know, put your teammates first and yourself last in everything you do. And if we can do that, then we have a chance. Wow. Best teams that I've been a part of certainly had good coaches, but they were playerled teams. I think the most important thing for me is the relationships with the players.

0:32 Honestly, that's why I do this. Oh, the wins and and the championships. And it's really not that. It's the relationships. If you want to be elite, I don't know if there's another way to do it. All right, Coach Tony Reno. Man, it is awesome to have you here on the Learning Leader Show. Welcome. Well, Ryan, thanks so much for having me. It's an honor to be on and um you know when I re when I received the email from you I was I was extremely honored and I'm really work really excited to work with you. So, I heard about you from our mutual friend, General Stanley Mcristel, and he originally wrote about you in his most recent book. And so, I also asked him after he wrote about you, and he said, I think this is spring of 2012. He's teaching leadership class at Yale. And he he said, you know, not many things materially affect my trajectory. This is General Mcrist. But this time was different. What was different? I met

1:37 Coach Tony Reno and I'm like, "Wait a second, that stopped me in my tracks." So, tell me, what was it about that meeting more than 10 years ago now that you think you changed the arc of this four-star general's life? That's uh I mean, I don't know how I can respond to that. Um, you know, he's he's um as as we both know, just an incredible person and leader and in everything. Um, so I got hired at Yale and um, as he said, you know, in in 2012 and I took over a program um, that was, you know, a a very storied program, but a program that had fallen on some hard times. And so I I say to people all the time, hey, when you get hired at tw at 37 years old, you know, usually something's wrong. Either that or you're just you're just ridiculously good. And I was not the I was not the ridiculously good. And um so I took over a program that had um you know had some had some issues and um one of the issues was the team had really

2:40 kind of um moved themselves in in a situation where they moved themselves away from the university. So I was looking for a way to bring you know bring someone in the university that might be meaningful to you know these student athletes uh might might be strict strike a chord with them and you know hey you know okay like this is someone that's in the university now we can we can have a way to um to get back in and I'm flipping through everything I can you know teachers and and um you know all different all different people and I run into General Stanley Mcrist I'm Wow. I'm like, "This dude's this dude's here." And um so I went down to my athletic director, Tom Beckett, and you know, I I've been on the job for maybe a month, and um I said I said, "Tom, you know, this is this is what I'm thinking, and you know, would you help me here? You know, I don't have much I don't have I don't have many people in

3:37 the game here at Yale, so I could use a little bit of your uh your your time here." and um he reached out to um General Mcrist's um um secretary and next thing you know Cherylyn reached right back and he said you know the general would love to meet with you and you know I had a I had a lunch with him and um kind of gave him my you know I really like this is this is where I think we're at and would you would you mind help and um he said sure I'd love to speak to the team so you know about three three months in um we were in a in a kind of an older lecture hall at Yale, you know, really historic lecture hall and and he comes in and um he gave this amazing speech about really about just just you know how to work together and how to become part of a university and part of something not just yourself. And you know at the end um I said sir I said you know um I I have a I have a dream to build a leadership program here. And he

4:42 said he said I'd love to help. And you know that was it. And that started you know for me the most meaningful relationship you know of my life. Um and um you know outside of you know my family and and you know he's become um you know um someone who has been a mentor, a friend um someone I I pick up the phone and say you know hey what do you think about this? Um I'm so fortunate and um you know so that started um about a a year or a yearong um uh meetings where we'd have you know we'd have lunch and we'd talk about the goals of what how we could build a leadership program. And my overall goal was I I wanted to build a leadership program at Yale with my football team that could be the center point of of everything we do. And it was like, hey, how do we build the how do we build the the the most unique leadership program in the in division one college football that is the center point of all we do

5:51 and this is how we're going to win. And I think that was that was the the piece that I had no idea what I was really saying at the time. But um you know now you know 12 years later um it's been it's been really the most um really the most magical thing we've done here at Yale. And um just to see the growth of our players. I never knew that that that moment with with him and you know 2012 was going to turn into this and you know he's been the you know obviously the the centerpiece of it. The what I think it illustrates though is finding people you admire or look up to and then make the call, right? Reach out to others with an idea or a vision and get help if needed, right? Because now 12, 13 years later, you're you have a fully fleshed out, baked leadership development program that sets your team up for life well beyond their four or five years with you, right? And so I feel like that's something that whether you stumbled into

6:59 it or you were intentional about it, but this idea of reaching out and speaking with others can really change not only your life, but all of the people that you lead. Yeah. I mean, it's it's so important. You know, I think um you know, to your point, you know, I I was I've been very um I've been very blessed to have a relationship with General Mcrist and and guys like Greg Vogle and Sir um and and all these other people, Graham Lamb, I mean, the list goes on and on. And and what I found was um I've been able to take so much from this group of of leaders and every every time, every stop, every meeting, every you know, every run up the hill at Gettysburg or you know um just on the bus or um you know at a meal um I've been able to really um continue to grow our program and now you know 12 years in like our players are growing it themselves and I don't think they even know But one of the things that is really important to

8:00 us is, you know, we we say all the time like, hey, the goals of our program are you leave the jersey better than you found it. And as you get to that moment, junior senior year, you know, you you plant trees you'll never see grow. And what we found was at the beginning when we were saying it, I don't think we really knew how to do it. And now it's it's the most meaningful thing for our players. Really the meaning most meaningful thing for our coaches when they leave. You know, our coaches have gone and I've got guys I three guys who have become head coaches, guys in the NFL and you know when they when they come into me and and I'm so excited for that moment when they're moving on and just you know just achieving some great things. You know it's like hey you know did I really did I do it? you know, did I did I leave this better than I found it? And our players, our seniors and their exit meetings knowing that like,

8:58 hey guy, you did it. You you left this jersey better than you found it. And these are the things that you did to bring this this program forward. talking about that for me some of the most meaningful things are when you know um I have a I have a older guy who you know graduates and then two or three years later I have a younger guy you say to me hey hey this is how Ryan showed me how to do it and I want I want to do it because he showed me the way and that continues to move us forward and um and and that's been you know something that's been the most gratifying thing for It's such a way to just live life of can I leave people, places, and things better than I found them. I mean, you could you could have that be a daily goal. And I love that that's a big part of the Yale program. I got to ask about Gettysburg.

9:54 You mentioned it. You know, we've we've both spent time there with General Mcrist. You guys go every year. I think this is this this coach I think this could be a portable lesson not only for a football coach but for all leaders within business of how to run a good leadership offsite. So could you take me inside the both the planning and the execution of your trip to Gettysburg every year with your players? Is it just the seniors? Is that right? It is. Yeah. Seniors. Okay. So when you take your senior so your senior leaders would much like the senior leaders of a of a of a company they could take their senior people. So both whether you run a team or you run a business I'm curious I think this works either way but the the planning and the execution of your trip to Gettysburg with General Mcrist uh it's you know I say um people ask me about it and um I say it's it's magical.

10:48 It really is. It's um I think the obviously the two things work well incredibly well together. You know, the most one of the most historic things in American history. Um and you're at a place that truly speaks to you. Um and in the Gettysburg battlefield and the town itself, it's just a it's just a really really um as you know um a really special place. But it's our our leadership pro program starts the freshman year with our with our you know our young guys and building them as a class and it's so it's so it's so important for them as freshman when they come in to hey you know I I I learned about this in recruiting you know I learned about um of hey this is something we're going to do and um okay let's start this process and then what happens is you know our pro our program really goes through two three years and then finally it's like okay this is really going to happen we're going to go

11:50 to Gettysburg you know and they've probably they've met General Mcrist they've you know they've they've been you know very very important pieces of of our program as far as leadership um the players I mean um but they don't really know what this is going to be so we get on the bus and it's about a 5 hour bus ride and um I hand them um I hand them a handout of of the of the players, General Mcrist and and and the gentlemen, the people he's going to bring with him, you know, amazing leaders, right? And um what I do is I stand I kind of stand in front of the uh on the bus and so is so if you think about it, there's 20 25 people there, you know, and um and I ask them all to read it at the same time and they do.

12:37 And one of the most um gratifying things for me is they they get done reading it and their head pops up with their mouth wide open and it's like oh wow like we're going to meet these people like we're going to spend time with this these people did this and and they realize the others who Mcrist brings with them Mcrist and everyone else and it's like it's like okay you know these are these are some amazing leaders who've done some amazing amazing amazing things and this is real. Okay. And um so the most important thing about the trip is what we're trying to do is use Gettysburg as a backdrop of of trying to get this group of people to take the next step of being that that much much more connected together. is how do we how do we get up one more notch of being a a group of people that really wants to do things for each other, not for themselves.

13:42 And we think we at this point, you know, we feel like we're we're probably uh you know, a decent way there, but we need something else to really do that. So, we get to the you know, we get to Gettysburg. Um we check in the hotel and we um General Mcrist does an amazing um really setting the scene of like how did these two you know armies get there and um and just talking about how there's people in this room that are very similar to these these people that are fighting this, you know, fighting this battle. And um and the what makes it so gratifying and what makes it so different is they're they're doing these things for the guy next to them, for the people at home, but really for the guy next to him. And that's what's that's what's separating them from, you know, from others. And um as we go uh along the night um some really meaningful conversations happen really amongst the players and a lot of

14:52 it has to do with the relationships they've built over four years and a big part of our program I would say the heartbeat of our program is relationships and um and you know how how will you I always say Hey, you know, put your teammates first and yourself last in everything you do. And and if we can do that, then I then we have a chance like then we have a chance to be someone in a group of people who are chasing elite and and as these as these soldiers were, you know, they were doing things for each other, not not not for themselves.

15:31 So, um, what happens over that that first night is the I think conversations happen between this group of of guys who who really walked into a school together, you know, four years ago, but now they're different people. Now they're now they're sitting at the table of of leadership that they probably didn't think they were going to get to or or maybe thought they'd get there, but you know, it just it just wasn't just wasn't registering for them because, you know, they didn't have to sit there. And as they're sitting in this room at a hotel in Gettysburg, um they really can figure out like, wow, okay, we're here now and now we've got to really if we're going to really left leave this team better than we found it, um we're going to have to really come together. And one of the things we do here, and you know, I I like to say, which I I believe, um and it's always nice when you can believe these things,

16:28 right? Um, but we're the first school in division one football to number our teams. So, you know, this year's team is the 52nd team of football at Yale. And the reason we did it is we were looking for a way for each team to realize that, you know, a big piece of of who they are is going to be is going to be remembered forever, you know, and as as team 52 um has a part of the legacy of EO football, team 152 does as well. And if we really are going to be someone who we say we are, we better we better for sure make team 152 better than team 151. So as those guys sit in that room, there's there's got to be a piece of them that they realize that, okay, hey, we can do this. And as those guys in that battle, you know, how do we do this together?

17:27 Um, so we do that the second day, um, or the next morning. and we um we we take a we take a jog up to um where uh President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. We're up on the top of of Cemetery Ridge at about, you know, 6:30 in the morning and you can just, you know, it's beautiful in a in an April morning where it's, you know, I don't know, 50°, sometimes 40°, who knows, could be 30°. Um, but that has nothing to do with it. What has everything to do with it is the people that are there doing it together and and really taking the moment to to look at what had been done in American history and how there were people working together to really, you know, accomplish something incredible. Um, and that's how we go, you know, within within the uh the first two days. And you know then we do um we stop at a four we we go back have breakfast and and we stop um at a few spots on the uh on the battlefield which

18:34 you know and I think are very um significant because there there there's spots where there was an amazing leadership that was was shown during the battle and it was done um it was done for others. you know, it was people putting themselves out there um to try and make sure that the people they were with um had an opportunity to um really accomplish something uncommon. Yeah. I remember uh Mcrist General Mcrist was so good about like each spot having a teacher and sometimes it was him. So I'm sure he does the same for you guys, but when we went on the early morning run and we got to a couple couple spots before we went back for breakfast and he had like a British special forces guy there. I don't know if he brings him with you guys who had this insane accent and just looked exactly like you would expect a British special forces guy to look and sound. And I was like, "Oh my goodness."

19:34 Like, "This is like a movie." It It literally felt better than a movie hearing the guy describe that specific battle and the leadership that it took to overcome the adversity and oh my god, I just remember thinking like, I can't believe I'm here. Like, this is the coolest thing ever. So, that the fact that you guys do that every year with your seniors is is such a gift for those players. Yeah, it sure is. And, you know, I'm I'm betting it's Sir Graham Lamb. I think. Yeah, exactly. So, he goes is this the same guy who goes every every year with you guys? We've been so fortunate that um the relationships that Jerem Crystal has with uh General Lamb and and Greg Vogle who have been who've been really the um the cornerstones um with him with Jerem Crystal um of our program for the last 12 years. Yeah. and they've become, you know, great mentors and great friends. And, you know, I've been so fortunate and our players and

20:29 coaches have been so fortunate to have these relationships with um these amazing leaders. Co Couple things you said before. One, I love that you number your teams, which I was reading about when I was preparing. Two, I like that you have a team creed, which I believe was written by team 142. I'd like to read it and then have you describe the idea of a team creed and why it's this specific one that came from 142 and that is I vow to believe in the process. I am mentally and physically tough. I compete with passion and overcome any challenges. I stand tall alongside my family at all times. I challenge my brother, believe in him, hold him accountable as I create my own path. I always put team before myself. I strive for excellence on and off the field. I hold myself to a higher standard. I am a Yale football player. Tell me more about this idea of having a creed and how the team came up with it and why it means so

21:27 much to you. So, um the genesis of it was um our first our first trip to Gettysburg um was our on our second team. Um and um we're coming back from Gettysburg and General Mcrist's actually actually was on the bus with us and we're about halfway we're about halfway to uh New Haven and um General Mcrist and I are just talking about what's next. Okay, where we are and what's next and he looks at me and he says, "Does everyone on does every coach know what a Yale football player is?" So I said, I looked at him and I said,"I think so."

22:12 And he, "Does every player know what a Yale football player is?" And I said, "I don't know." So, we get we get talking about elite teams and elite groups, elite companies. um where you know there's there's there's these teams um you walk through a facility there's these companies you walk through a business and there's words there's you know hey we have our core values we who this is who we are and as you walk throughout the company the the business the sports team and you walk up to a player a coach a business member and you say hey what are the core values and they look at you know kind of like what do you mean core values or I I don't even know what they are. Yeah, I know we have core values, but I don't know what they are. And then you talk about elite teams and it's like that. It's that fast because they not only know what they are, they don't not only believe what they are, but they actually believe what

23:13 they are. And so we got talking about some of those teams. And um we got back the next uh you know that Monday and I walked to my walked to my staff meeting and I said, "Okay guys, here's a pen. Here's a pen, here's a paper. What's a Yale football player?" So, you know, staff looked at me like, you know, I had they they like, "What happened to coach Reno this weekend?" You know, and um we came up with it was it was 60 some odd words for, you know, there was 20 guys. Talk about a, you know, completely dysfunctional group.

23:50 And then then I had a team meeting uh the next day and I did the same exercise and it was over 150 words with complete completely, you know, um a group that had no idea who we were. So at that time, you know, second year in, we're really trying to build who we are. Um, I had the players uh elect um a leadership council. So, at Yale, I I um I don't know how many how many people know, but Yale is has one captain. Um it's a one captain system for all sports. The players vote on it. Coaches do not have a vote. The actual ballots are are counted by one of the athletic directors. So, I'll get a phone, you know, I'll get a phone call and hey, hey, Tony, uh, you know, Ryan's, uh, Ryan was elected captain. Um, you could tell them, you know, and however you want to handle it. That's how it's done, right? So, you know, and it's been done that way since, you know, at the beginning of captains at Yale, which is

24:51 really, you know, really unique. So, what what I had the players do was I had them at that time, I had the players elect two two players from each class and the captain. So you had nine people in the group and um I went to the went to the players and I said, "All right, guys, this is this is what um this is my ask. Um we need to come up with core values and we need to come up with a creed and these are the reasons why." And ba basically what I what I just said to you about elite groups and and and people in groups who just have words and I said really I I I am going to be here to help but this has got to be yours.

25:35 And the captain of the team 142 was a um a really amazing leader Dion Randall. He's actually now scout with the um Denver Broncos, but just like selfless, tough, everything was about the team. nothing about him all the things you look for in a leader and this group of nine came up with you know core values and which are in that which are in that creed and they put together this creed and it took them you know I don't know I think might have been half a dozen meetings they introduced it to the team and I said all right guys there's got to be you know there's got to be standards to the game coaches players standards to the game and what are they? And what they came up with was every player on the team to have a Y on their helmet needs to be able to stand in front of their teammates and recite the creep.

26:32 And it has to be perfect. And for some reason it's not perfect, you have an opportunity to do it again, but you don't get a why. Wow. So, um, one of the one of the most magical moments of preeason every year is the freshman getting up in front of the team and reciting the creed. Now the the ask of my only ask of this piece was and this is the only piece I have of of this whole piece was that I said I love all of it but it has to be that the older guys have to teach the younger guys and for some reason if a young guy doesn't get it it's on the older guys so that there's There's There's not a Everybody's in Everybody's bought into this. Everybody's bought into it. Is this similar to I think it was on one of the military movies um where the they had the young Navy Seals stand up in front of the the the group of the other SEALs and recite I I think it was their I don't know if they called it their creed, but it sounds something

27:50 similar. Did you derive that from the military or is this something you just came up with to say, "Hey, everybody's going to memorize this and know it inside it and out and then be able to say it in front of the team." General Mcrist and I spoke about the creeds, the ranger creed, the you know the creeds of all the special op units. Um so we took a we took a piece of that. Um and so must a lot of this did had did come from that. Um the piece of the older guys teaching the younger guys um could very well be you know from special ops but we took that as something we wanted to make ours as well. I love it. I I well just because there's full ownership over you know the the best teams that I've been a part of and I'd be curious to hear what you think about this certainly had good coaches but they were playerled teams. Yeah. the players in practice. If a guy wasn't going as hard as he could go before a coach could even say

28:47 anything, another player would say something that when people ask me what's the difference between because I've been on losing teams, too. What's the biggest difference between the teams that I was on that won a lot versus the teams that didn't? I I think it's that I I I think it's that thing where the the players actually spoke up before a coach can even get to them. Now, the coaches did their thing, too, right? And they created the environment where that could happen. Um, and they built on some of the the player accountability stuff, but I'm curious how you have built and and it sounds like it starts with the creed, a place where the the players hold each other accountable just as much, if not more, than the coaches do.

29:31 So much of it is is exactly what you said, you know, and that was so the creed was the start of it. Now, we don't have a lot of words. We don't have like we have a we have a pyramid with with some um some things that are in it, you know, that we use year year in and year out, you know. Um but the basis, the foundation of our pyramid is our creed. It all starts with that. One of the things that I think is really important is good or bad if if you ever have you know we talk I bring a player in to have a a meaningful conversation I want to point out hey this is you did this really well and and this is right in the creed or you know there's a guy that might be misguided I say hey let's let's go through the creed where do we go wrong it's I mean it is uncanny it's all right there but we've been able to really just bring things really close together and it's not a lot. You know, it's like that

30:29 the old adage like do a little a lot, not a lot, a little. Um, and you know, and that's who we are. But to your point, what we've been able to do is we've been able to really generate the opportunity to make it a player team. And I think I think a lot of our success has become of that and and our ability to to really handle adversity is because of that. Because guys not only there for each other but willing to do things for each other because they know that you know if they're be can be accountable to each other and can generate success with each other you know it's true and it's real.

31:11 I mean it's also right there in the creed. I challenge my brother. Believe in him. Hold him accountable. I mean that's that's the that's part of the ethos of the whole program. Um, in addition to that, and I I love traditions, as you could potentially tell, coach, one of your your other traditions is about the brick. What's the brick? What does that stand for? And why did you institute this? And what do you get out of it? So, um, for me, it's like to, you know, what you're talking about and, you know, this is this is such a this is a such a great uh conversation. Um, so you know, I'm always looking for ways to get guys to learn more about each other in unconventional ways, you know, and and you know, football has a tendency to be um, you know, kind of I don't know, macho might might be a old word that, you know, you and I grew up in uh, you know, in our in our high school, but you know, it is like, you know, guys don't

32:07 want to guys don't want to be as open because they're, you know, they they're kind of afraid to let their guard down. Mhm. So, what we do is we, you know, we go to Home Depot um and we buy these 88 cent bricks and we ask the players, hey, you know, we need we need you to take this brick and um on four of the sides of the bricks, your hero, your hardship, your hometown, and your highlight in your life. And then the other two sides, um we want you to talk about somebody else or your position group. talk about somebody else in the team that has impacted you in in whatever way. And on the last the the final side of the brick, your one word for the season and and why what we do. So our captain and myself, we go on the first night and I get up in front of the team and I talk about, you know, my my six sides of the brick and our captain does as well. And then what we do is we I we basically take the team and you know b mix mix

33:14 them up at the end of every practice or a meeting or in preeason a meal. Um I'll have two or three or four guys stand up in front of the team and talk about their brick and and Ryan the the things that you find out about guys is is remarkable. And you know, I can't tell you how many times I'll I'll I'll have a conversation with a player after and and thank them for being that open and vulnerable with their teammates and their coaches. in our coaches, you know, the same. And you know, with our we we have it with our sports performance people, our trainers, our doctors, like everyone gets up in front of the team, everyone that has a piece of the team because that team that is is really has an opportunity to get closer and closer and better and better.

34:10 And our stadium is a is one of three like in the country. Um it's a bowl the bowl stadium, Yale bowl, Rose Bowl, Michigan stadium, you know, all same architect all came up. You know, we the 65,000 seat stadium and the half of it is is underground. So when you come into our stadium, you walk down this tunnel and what we do in in the in the east season is what we do is we we take everyone who's give who has presented their brick. they build a uh a pyramid in the tunnel. So, one of the things we talk about is like, hey, how are you gonna lay your brick each day, you know, for your teammates? So, as a players go and they lay their bricks, our team, you know, stacks them in the tunnel. And one of the things I'm most proud about is that as the bricks get get laid in the tunnel, the team every day makes sure that they're, you know, perfect's probably not the right word, but you know, laid the laid really really um

35:19 really really um intentionally. At the end of the season, if your team wins a championship, that team's bricks stay in the tunnel. So, and we we put team, you know, team one team 149 or team, you know, 150 in the tunnel right above the bricks. And so, those bricks stay there, you know, as long as I'm here, they're they're in the tunnel. That is really cool. Uh, speaking of you being there, uh, I read a story about how you got hired. I'm I'm overly fascinated by how people earn jobs. I think it's there's usually good stories and how somebody became the CEO or how somebody became the head coach of Yale's football team. And I read, tell me if this is correct, that there was a guy Casey Gerald maybe, and 63 other former players wrote letters to the athletic director, Tom Beckett, on your behalf saying basically, you need to hire this dude, right? Tony Reno needs to be the guy. So that is wild to me. Can can you take me

36:22 inside that story of all of your guys that you've coached writing letters to the athletic director saying that they needed to hire you? Yeah, I was um you know, I can't tell you um just how how um honored I was to have players speak on your behalf and you know um the the coach before me um he was let go and um Casey called me and said you know would you be interested and I said gez you know how can I be how could I not and and I you know I I reminded him I said case you just got to remember like I'm not I might not be as the experience as experienced or as uh old or you what you fill in the blank and he said don't worry about that and um I said okay I said yeah if if they would like to interview me I would I would I wouldn't say no and I didn't know until I was on campus for an interview and um I was sitting with Tom and he he told me that that you know uh a number of players had, you know, had written letters on my

37:34 behalf. Um, and um, it was, you know, one of the one of the most uh, flattering things I ever had happen in my life. And um, so I was very fortunate and Casey, I coached Case and um, you know, he was a defensive back. I was a secondary coach when I when I was here as an assistant. And um, you know, I didn't know maybe maybe after the first couple years they might have been thinking twice about it. Um but um you know I was very fortunate that they um that they did and you know and and um hopefully we've uh we've done them proud. Why do you think all those guys wrote wrote those letters about you?

38:12 You know I think I think the most important thing um for me when I was an assistant coach is the same thing that is important to me now is it's the relationships with the players. you know, um, honestly, that's why I do this. Like, you know, people ask all all the time, what's the, you know, oh, the wins and and the championships, and it's really not that. It's it's it's the relationships. Um, um, all the things that make make this special is is the ability to build relationships with people and and relation for the players and and just see them grow as men. you know, when when we say we want to build the, you know, the the greatest leadership program for division one football players in in um in college football and and and we're we check ourselves constantly to make sure that everything is is go coming from that because it's it's so easy to lose sight of what's you know what the main thing

39:13 is. And I say to the players all the time and our coaches like you can't lose sight of what the main the main thing and we have to always make sure that the main thing is the main thing and if we do that we're doing right by our players. What is the main thing for you? Like what's the main thing for your players? How what what is that? Well, the main the main thing for me is always putting the players first. Yep. players first number one in everything we do and making sure that we're, you know, we are continually building leaders, you know, and there's a lot of times you brought it up, you know, a few minutes ago. It's like, you know, the the the the player or coach fed, right? There's two different ways of of running a team and we're so playerled.

40:00 Sometimes you have to bite your you have to bite your tongue because like leaders leadership doesn't just happen like it happens organically and it has has to have failure in it. Um because if if there's not failure in it then you know it's you're never going to get the the greatest part of leadership which is you know a group of people coming together to accomplish a common goal. Um, so sometimes my coaches come in and you like they want to they want to take the, you know, they want to take the, you know, the the um the wheels and I'm like, "No, this is we got to let them figure figure this out." Like they'll they'll they'll come to us. It's like it's like it's like parenting, isn't it?

40:41 like it's it's it's so hard, you know, but when they fall off the bike, you want to be there and you want to like catch them and you want to pick them up, but you know that it's better for them if they actually get themselves up off the bike crash. Even if they're crying, you know, it's like it's so tough, right? Especially for typea a control freaks like a lot of football coach like I am a lot of football coaches are. You want to do it but you also know for the betterment of the person for the betterment of the team that sometimes you got to for lack of a better word chill out or like stand back and that's how do you balance that? Like that's really hard. It is because you know I think that you you think you know what the best thing is right but essentially you know the for me in my my role um I have a guy um who played for me Sebie Little and he's he's he's a incredible leader and um he uh he runs a high

41:38 performance program and you know he always talks about presidential leadership and a lot of that is is really um really really finding a way to lead people but not do it for them. You know, and trust your leadership and your ability to groom them. And it's a you know, for us like our leadership is is a you know, a a four-year pro program. You know, it's uh you know, as as my friend uh Greg Vogel says all the time, it's it's 258. you know, it's like it's not you it's got it's all all the time and it's all the time um of finding ways to to help these guys build um and build together. And it's okay to have failure because if you're going to have a player team, you got to be okay with that. And I don't know if everyone is. And I think in in corporations it's it's very similar, you know, but if you want to if you want to be elite, I don't know if there's another way to do it. It's the best and the hardest thing to do because

42:47 it also takes time. I I remember doing this. I ran um sales teams before doing this full-time coach and my favorite teams, my best teams, the ones that absolutely destroyed the number, you know, whatever goal the company set for us were playerled. Um, and there was a little luck involved uh of like maybe making a few good early hires. Um, but then once you know, then then you you empower them and you have like a little mini leadership council within your sales team, like it's it's literally it's very similar to a football team or to any sports team where then you you you got to give them power and control and say like, "Let's go." Like, you come up with the themes and ideas. I'm here.

43:29 I got your back. I support you. But then when once you see that machine get rolling, oh my goodness, it's like impossible to stop it. And then then they become like a recruiting machine. I wonder how that works for you guys too because it attracts other high performers. They want to be a part of that team whether they're inside the company or outside the company. And that was one of the most gratifying parts was seeing how it was like this magnetic pull for other high achievers wanting to come to your team. H have you seen that?

43:59 Because now you guys have gotten so good. Like you're winning a ton. You win championships. You got to get good players to do that. I got to imagine part of all of this stuff you started building with General Mcristel many years ago is what's probably had that mag magnetic pull for for great people and great players to come to your program. Oh, flat out. We we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today without that relationship with General Mcristell and and his influence and and and the others influence that work with him uh to get we are now. It's really interesting what you said because um you know eight nine years ago, you know, we would bring recruits to campus and um the players really might not we'd had some players who really understood, you know, understood who we, you know, who we were and you know what the what the mission and vision was. Now, I mean I mean Ryan, we bring kids to campus.

45:00 They're on on campus. there, you know, getting hosts. They're hosting people and they'll come into my office the two days, you know, two days in and go, "Coach, this this is not our kind of guy." Oh, yeah. And I will 100% trust them. I mean, last year we had three players we brought on campus and we, you know, we didn't take in the class. three really good players and they explained to me why and I you know okay man it's your team and um yeah I don't know you know I don't know how many other programs run that way but that's how we run and um it's really like as you said like that's so empowering for your players though I mean like that's true because because you might look at the tape and you're like guys this guy can really take the top off the defense you know, you're like, "We really want this guy." And you're like, "No, the character element comes before that." Yeah, absolutely.

45:59 And, you know, it's it's it's um I think it's really, you know, it's really um amazing that, you know, our guys do it at such a high level and, you know, it's it's and they understand it at at such a high level. you uh you you mentioned earlier about the reason that those letters were written was because you're in it for the relationships. You love building the relationships. Can you like go inside your thought process? Like what does it actually look like? Specific examples if you have those that's even better of because I think we all realize like yeah it's probably important to have good relationships with people. It's more gratifying. It's more fun. But what do you actually do to develop such good tight trusting relationships with both I would imagine your coaching staff and and your players?

46:52 I just think it it's it's um a couple things. One is is that you know you have to give your players the ability to do what you told them told them you were going to do in the recruiting process. Mhm. Um, now it doesn't have anything to do with playing time or, you know, that's hey, that that's going to work itself out on the field. Um, but it's how you going to treat them. Um, and and how you're going to, you know, spend more time with guys that, you know, that might not be playing as much. Um, because and and let them understand the, you know, how important they are to the team. And you know this at the end of every practice, you know, we um we award um we award the the the player of the day, you know, on offense and defense.

47:37 Um and um and and I'll tell you, Ryan, like for me, um and and I'm fortunate, you know, 90% of the time I'm usually the one that's awarding it. And I'm looking for the the guy who does the uncommon. Um you know, it could be a scout team guy. Um it could be a guy who was like injured but he was like busting his tail making sure his teammates got extra water or was you know um the guy the guy who was um you know uh was making sure that uh he was signaling because you know he knew that you know um that's all he could do that day or you know all the things that are uncommon or you know a guy who was stepped in for someone because someone was injured and you know he made a he made an amazing play. And that that's like I think that's the most important thing. But the reason the reason I I do it that way is because that's that's what matters the most to me. It's like, you know, it's not it's not the guy who

48:40 scores all the touchdowns or makes all the blocks or the tackles. It's it's the guy who does the the small things um for his teammates, who lives by the creed, right? Who who makes the creed true, right? That's values aren't actually they're not values unless you do them. It sounds simple but like you know we go to companies all over the place and you see values there there's values on every company's walls right the the the real point is like the leader the CEO which is you catching people living out those values and then yelling it from the rooftops. this is the player of the day because this this guy lived out our creed today. And and coach, one of the things we focused on throughout our entire conversation is just this your people first approach, your players first approach. The fact that you've said that every class is they're not necessarily judged based on wins and losses, but by leaving the jersey better

49:36 than they found it. But you also are in an industry where you have a very visible scoreboard, right? You either win the game or you lose the game. you win the the Ivy League or you don't. And if you spend enough time losing, you get fired, right? You're in a resultsoriented business, you will eventually get fired if you lose too much. How do you balance out this idea of players first, of relationships, of process, all of that, with the fact that you also are in a pretty black and white industry of wins and losses? And if you don't get enough W's, they they kick you out of there.

50:17 Oh, 100%. And you know, I think um if you look at the top of our pyramid, um every year it says elite football team. Um and that's and that's in in in a lot of ways, right? That's, you know, how we conduct ourselves on and off the field. you know, how how we conduct ourselves um as teammates and you know, the success we have like are we able to win football games and um you know, we all all of those things you know lead us to being an elite football team. What's happened now is that our players have um you know it's it's become the it's it's become the standard that you know winning a championship every year is the standard it's the it's the standard of Y football and you know but how you conduct yourself is also a standard of football and you know how you are as a teammate is alo a standard of y So I think the the biggest piece is that you know this is the players have really elevated um really the mission and vision you

51:32 know of you know being hey let's let's win some games when we first got here or um now it's like hey now we're you know we want to be an elite team and to be an elite team we need to do these things. It it the the the cool thing about it when you're so processoriented, so relationship focused is if somebody I'm just I just keep rereading your creed like I did leading up to this because I love it is the fact that if you actually live that thing out every day and if you're a player or you're a coach or you're anyone a part of your program and then you could honestly ask yourself before you're going to bed each night, did I live this out honestly? Did I do it for real? And if all of your people are being able to say, "Yeah, I did that today." And then they say that, "Yeah, I did that today." And the next day, and the next day, you're going to win a ton of games. Like, you're going to win a ton of games if everyone's

52:27 affirmatively living out the creed. So, that's when I love the the process matching up with the results is like if you actually live that thing out each day, my guess is you're going to win a ton of games. Absolutely. you know, and I think um now to where we've gotten and it's this is all the players, you know, I mean, I always say like to the guys like I'm a such a small piece of this. Um our players are just amazing and how you know how they've really bought into each other. Um and and and like you said, they're willing to um congratulate and like bring each other along like you know, hey, when there's a guy that might might need some, you know, need some seasoning sometimes, um they're they're willing to bring him along. They're not going to they're not going to let it just go by. Um but yeah, that's the goal, right? It's like they understand that if we don't do these things, our our chance to have success is is going

53:26 to be diminished and sometimes it will be impossible. Yeah. Coach, one more before we run. U I mean, you're you're working with young leaders who are going to go out in the world and and leave a dent, right? And so I'm curious for the person who's like a recent college grad, uh maybe some of your your your players and former players, but in general, a recent college grad who wants to leave a positive dent in the world, but they're not like like a lot of us when we're that age, we're not exactly sure what we're going to do or how we're going to live that out. What are some general pieces of life slashcareer advice you'd give to that person?

54:05 So when when we bring players here to Yale um I say to them two things is hey we're gonna in recruiting um we're going to help you become the best version version of yourself self um in in all you do and and as I mentioned earlier you know we're going to make sure that we do our very best to make you an elite leader um we're going to do a version we're going to make sure that we make sure we maximize your football ability because you know our players all want to have an opportunity to play at the next level. We've got we've got uh eight guys in the NFL right now. Um and the last piece is which is probably the most important one outside of leadership is we're going to help you find your passion.

54:52 Like you know and and that's the piece that I say to guys um sometimes at Nauseium is hey what's your passion? What do you love doing? Mhm. You know, and and sometimes, you know, you know, like you don't you don't know that, you know, but um I continually try and fi try and help them find their passion. And we have a a great crew of people that do a much better job in our in our um player development program. It does for that. But for me, that's it. So like one is find find your passion because it's going to be a lot it's going to be a lot more fun going to work each day doing something you have passion for.

55:30 Um, and then the sec the second piece is is like is is find a find a way to leave it better than you found it. Whether it's your family every day or it's or it's your your your church or your your community or your business, whatever it is, just because if if you feel like you can leave it better than you found it every day, like a small that 1% every day, I mean, think about, you know, how much better you're doing for everybody else. Man, I love that. I so feel that. One of my core values, coach, is being thankful. And the way I live that out to to to hold to make sure it's true is to leave it better, which means to leave people, places, and things better than I found them. And that's the question I ask at the end of the day is did I do do that? That's the only way to truly live out that value because I think when you've been given a lot, you should give a lot. And one of the ways to give is just to leave it

56:20 better, right? Leave people, place, and things. So that's why I'm so in line with with with what you're saying when it comes to um you know like leave the jersey better than you found it because if you really think about that like they these guys especially coming in now they're finding it in a really good spot. It's a it's in a really good position. So to leave it better is hard. That's a challenge and I think uh is a great challenge for people. They're going to be so better off when they leave Yale than than when they got there. not not not only you know counting the fact that it's such an amazing aca ac academic institution but being a part of your football program is going to uh help them um be such an amazing leader. Coach, I really appreciate this man. I love the intersection of sports and leadership and football and just what how it can change people's lives. So um thank you for being here and and I would love to

57:10 continue our dialogue as we both progress, man. Oh, absolutely. This has been a this has been a joy and um you know I I as you said like we we're uh we're saying the same thing over and over to so um I really appreciate you having me on and I look forward to uh doing this again at sometime. Love it. Love it. Thank you so much, man.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "How to Build Leaders: Lessons from Yale Football"?

Ryan Hawk (Host), Tony Reno (Guest), General Stanley McChrystal (Guest).

What is "How to Build Leaders: Lessons from Yale Football" about?

The main topic focuses on building effective leadership through teamwork and selflessness, as exemplified by Coach Tony Reno's experiences with Yale Football. Key points include the significance of prioritizing teammates over personal interests, the profound importance of relationships in achieving success, and the notion that true leadership emerges from player-led initiatives rather than…

What is mentioned in this Ryan Hawk episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Tony Reno, Yale Football, Leadership Program, Yale, NCAA Division I, NFL. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "How to Build Leaders: Lessons from Yale Football"?

The episode runs 58 min; the transcript is about 10,310 words in 63 timestamped sections.

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