Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your

most important job being a dad. These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical

wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

This is the kind of coach you have to be.

A father is a provider, a protector, a rule setter, a friend.

They are an educator and an exemplar. They are also, whether their kids play sports or not, a coach,

because we have to coach our kids through much in life. We coach them through new experiences,

through the games of school and work and relationship,

through life's challenges and troubles. This role of coach, as essential as it is, is difficult because of all the stereotypes we have of coaches. There's Mike Dicca, there's Phil Jackson,

there's Lombardi, and there's Tom Izzo screaming in a kid's face on the way to victory.

Which is best? What kind of coach should we

be? We asked David Epstein, who we've raved about here before, and as expected, he gave us an

interesting answer. Both through my own experiences and through reporting books and articles, he said,

I think I've done a 180 on what I think is the central role of a coach. When I was young,

I was into the in-your-face rah-rah kind of coach. I thought that was pretty cool. I couldn't be

further from that now. I notice even with editors, I want someone honest and calm since I don't need to

be fired up. And if anything, more often I want to be calmed down.

But overall, I think the role of a coach is someone who can't really tell you what to do,

but more walks hand in hand as you figure out what works for you.

And I think that includes finding your appropriate level of arousal for whatever you have to do.

Some people have to be jacked up and others calm down for the same

...