Dave Forman, Director of Strength and Conditioning at Virginia Military Institute, talks to the former NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about becoming a strength coach. Topics under discussion include communication with athletes, appreciating the growth as a coach over time, and creating lasting impressions and relationships with athletes. Find Dave on Twitter: @VMIStrengthShow Notes“So really communication is key I tell him, hey, I’m here to help you. I want to help you be the best you can be, and that’s kind of been our thing, at least as a football program. We want you to be the best you can be athletically, academically, and militarily.” 8:20 “But I think your experiences make you who you are. Makes you appreciate where you are.” 22:28 “And to see how far they’ve come and the work that they’ve put in. And sometimes hard work does payoff. I just think that’s such a cool feeling. I mean, that’s one of my most rewarding moments.” 23:54 “I think at some point, you’ve got to be fairly self-aware and understand what are your strengths and weaknesses and what can I work on and what can I do better… How you do anything is how you do everything.” 34:03 “…that’s really rewarding. But I think they see that. They see that, you know what? I didn’t have all the answers. I can be vulnerable. That’s what I’m really working on is trying to build relationships. I never thought that was important or a thing. And I mean, I was absolutely wrong about that. I mean, that’s really all that matters. That’s honestly all that matters.” 35:27 “Because nobody remembers the ‘X’s and ‘O’s. Nobody remembers if we did five sets of four or four sets of five. Who cares? They remember the experiences that you created, the shared suffering sometimes, but then also the shared overcoming and triumph.” 36:14 “They have that mentality now in life. They’ve dealt with adversity. They’ve dealt with some bad stuff, and they know, you know what? If I keep working, if I keep pushing, it’ll be okay. And later on in life, that’s going to be who knows? Get a phone call and some relative has cancer or you know what? I don’t know; you just went bankrupt or you just lost your job. And you know what? I can do with those things too because I’ve dealt with this too. I don’t know, that’s life lessons in the weight room.” 36:38 “But I try to celebrate our guys, kind of give him a platform, whatever it is. #FlexFriday or something like that. But it’s @VMIStrength. Again, if you want to shoot me a message, please do. I love connecting with people.” 37:56