Nothing about my journey to become a performance coach has been traditional…
Yet here I am.
Most coaches have a story that looks something like this: Getting a degree, doing some GA work for a time while getting your Master, intern/shadowing, get certified, gain experience, and keep looking for opportunities to find a place to make your own.
This was not my story, yet here I am living my dream as a performance coach.
If you are someone who has not gone the “traditional” route but still wants to find a way to coach and make a difference, I hope my journey will help give you the confidence to take that step.
Because it IS possible, and it IS worth it.
My Background
As an athlete, I had a cup of coffee with a D1 Football team as a player before finishing my degree in Criminal Justice to begin work in law enforcement in 2007.
I then spent 14 years doing police work. From day 1, I surrounded myself with people to mentor/coach me to be better.
During my career, I coached police officers in some fashion for 12 of the 14 years of my career.
This helped me find joy in coaching others to make them better.
I quickly found myself finding as many opportunities as possible to coach officers in skills, fitness, and the academy to keep sharpening my skills as a coach.
In 2015, I ended up taking a leap of faith and volunteered with a local high school to run the weight room for their football team.
Early Performance Coaching
I quickly realized I knew nothing from my own personal experiences and had to learn as much as possible to help these kids.
I took as many courses as I could get my hands on, and read as much as I could understand in the first couple of years.
I coached at this high school for four years, each one being different based on what I learned and saw work (and fail) on the field.
Our athletes were getting stronger, but still not performing well in the sport. I knew I was still missing a big piece of the performance puzzle…
Speed is King
This began my introduction to speed and movement beyond the weight room.
In 2017, I spent a weekend with Loren Landow and his staff and I quickly realized this was the missing puzzle piece for my athletes.
What I learned led me to keep digging into the speed world, learning from programs like EXOS, Altis, local college coaches, and anyone else who could help me improve my coaching.
We started seeing some success coaching speed, but my full-time day job no longer allowed me to coach at the high school. However, I still had kids and families asking me if I could help them get faster for camps and combines, and to help improve their performance on the field.
I spent the next couple of years coaching in different facilities that had enough space to sprint at least 10 yds, including two local schools in order to help as many kids as possible.
With a few more years of coaching athletes under my belt and more learning from some smart coaches, I had the confidence to start training athletes on my own out of my garage, on the street, and in local parks.
I did this for almost 3 years, helping dozens of athletes improve their performance.
At this point, I began to look at opening up my own training facility. I was pretty gun-shy about leaving a job with guaranteed pay to start something from scratch without an obviously successful background to attract athletes.
This is when I learned the importance and necessity of relationships and community and the massive difference they can make.
Leaning on Relationships + Community
I knew Darren Hansen for several years through a network of coaches and would pick his brain periodically to help me when I was stuck.
Darren told me about Les Spellman, and invited me to a speed camp he was holding in Pocatello, ID to come learn from Les and the Universal Speed Rating team.
I drove to Pocatello, ran hill sprints, met Les and Cici, and learned more than I could have imagined in a 24-hour period.
Beyond the physical skills and coaching I was exposed to, I was amazed at the way the USR team took the time to get to know me, answer my questions, and coach the athletes at the camp.
With this experience, I knew this was the group I needed to be around to help me grow as a coach.
Why is that story important?
It gave me the confidence to open Veritas Athletic Performance 6 months later.
The first thing I did was become a Speed Lab before I even officially opened my doors.
Outside of the data, technology, and assessments of the platform, I know being part of the community would prove to be priceless for my business.
Fast Forward to Today
I’ve been able to get in front of and coach almost 600(!) athletes, and build a business to where we are on the verge of sustaining an income for my family through coaching.
I’m from a small town in Western Nebraska that does not have as many resources as other parts of the state.
The USR crew and platform has given me the ability to conduct camps for three different high schools over the past two years to help kids (like myself at that age) who need an extra boost to their performance.
Being able to give back to the community where I grew up is amazing knowing they have access to additional training that can help them reach the level of competition they have dreamed of their entire lives.
Takeaways to Make the Leap in Your Performance Career
Wrapping this up, if you are not going down the traditional coaching path but want to create a lasting impact, here are my personal recommendations:
1. Get started. Somehow (volunteer, intern, shadow). Reading and learning are great, but nothing will teach you like actually coaching.
2. Surround yourself with greatness. People who make you better. Never be the smartest person in the room.
3. Be invested in Education and Improvement. Don’t do the same year of coaching over and over again. Find resources and coaches who will push you and make you think about how and why you are coaching.
4. Bet on yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, don’t ask anyone else to do the same.
5. Community IS priceless. You can’t do this on your own for very long. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Nothing about my journey to opening my own facility was traditional… yet here I am.
If your dream is to impact athletes through coaching, know that you can get there too.
About the Author
Matt Erdman is a Southwest Speed Lab Director for Universal Speed Rating and the owner of Veritas Athletic Performance in Wellington, CO. Matt has been training athletes in Northern Colorado since 2015, helping numerous athletes reach their goal of playing or competing at the next level. Connect with Matt on social below:
@coach_erdman on Instagram