Sam Acho: Welcome back to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff
Marshall, and we are so excited to bring to you another special guest.
Clif Marshall: Absolutely Sam, I am so fired up today.
We have my great friend.
Ed Schilling with us.
Ed is currently the head coach at Pepperdine University
in Malibu, California.
He's also been an assistant basketball coach with teams like
UCLA Indiana, and he is also been at Memphis among other places.
ed has trained and recruited some of the top players in the NBA,
but more important than that, coach Schilling is a man of faith.
He's a husband, he's a dad.
He's been a mentor in my life and he is really helped me grow
in my faith over the years.
So Coach Schilling, thank you for your time today and thank you for
being on the Sam Macho Podcast.
Ed Schilling: Well, thank you.
It's truly an honor to be with you, cliff.
It's so good to see you again.
And Sam, I've, I heard so much about you over the years with from Cliff when
we were together at Indiana, and so I appreciate all that you're doing and it's
a, it's an honor to be with you guys.
Clif Marshall: Coach, I want to start out by just man telling you how humble you
are because I've known you since 2017.
We, again, as you mentioned, we worked together with the Indiana Hoosiers Men's
Basketball Program, and as I was doing my research and reading up on you a
little bit, I found out you were the all time leader in assist at Miami of Ohio.
University.
So not only are you a great coach, but at one point in time
you were a great player as well.
Who was the most influential coach you ever had in your life?
Ed Schilling: Well, first of all with the assists, I happen to play with Ron Harper.
If any, basketball people know he.
Clif Marshall: Oh.
Ed Schilling: He, he runs, three rings, I believe, at the, with the bulls
and then a few more with the Lakers.
So I figured out early in my career if I just threw it to harp, good things
happen and I got a lot of assists.
So, you know, he's the one that's, is to thank for all those assists.
But, no, appreciate you saying that.
you know, it's interesting, I played for quite a few coaches, but my high
school coach at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Indiana, Jim Rosen Steele.
when I played for him, he was older.
He coached a guy by the name of Rick Mount, who was the first
high school athlete on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Had quite a few division one players, but, I transferred there my junior
and senior year at high school for my junior and senior year.
And the thing that kind of made him special is that you left every
practice wanting to practice more.
he was kind of.
Had his own way of doing things.
He was kind of old school.
He was, a offensive genius.
And, but he would say, you'd be going along, you're going
for an hour and a half or so.
And he'd say, all right, Eddie, go get you a shower.
And then he'd say, send another player.
Go get you a shower.
And we'd like, no coach.
Lemme go a little bit more.
And, but he'd always leave you wanting more.
So we'd be.
He'd make it.
Nah, you've had enough today.
and so we'd go down and we'd be done showered and headed out, and there'd be
a lot of guys still out there practicing.
So, but that was just one example.
But he was a guy that just every time practice ended the games,
man, you just wanted to do it more.
and he was a guy that really just fostered the love of the game in you.
and he would coach you, he'd get on you when you needed to.
But the other, but the bottom line is.
You know, he was there for you when we played pickup games
all summer at the Lebanon park.
He'd sit there on the park bench and watch and, you know, he was just a,
he was a player's coach, but he had a way of just bringing the best out
of you and I came, went from there.
And then I was fortunate to average.
34 minutes a game as a freshman on an NCA tournament team at Miami, university.
But a lot of it was just because of the confidence that he would instill in us.
and his name was Jim Rosen Steel.
but just a guy that, that brought the best out of you and always the
end ever practice into every game.
You just wanted to play more.
Sam Acho: Wow, that's so good.
Well, coach Schilling, now that you're the head coach at Pepperdine, how
are you using your influence to help players both on and off the court?
Ed Schilling: Well, I hope from a spiritual standpoint, and I'm
fortunate, we're very blessed to be at a Christian university,
Pepperdine's at Christian University.
So we start every practice with, well, I get 'em, we huddle up, I'll make a
few announcements, and then we pray before practice starts, every practice.
And then, we also have chapel before every game.
We have, I'm part of a group called Nations of Coaches.
and so we have a team chaplain, we call 'em, character coaches around the country.
And we're in about.
Oh, I'd say 150 campuses now have a character coach for men's basketball.
And so we, I have a chaplain.
if he's not there then I might do it.
But we always have a chapel before every game.
But I think most of all, we wanna just make sure we're trying to
set the best example that we can.
One with our passion, our enthusiasm, also being prepared, coaching these
guys up, but also coach 'em in a way.
That we can be demanding without being demeaning.
And so that's what we're trying to do on a daily BA basis is
to try and set that example.
As much as anything, I can say all I want, we can have all the great
slogans all over the walls, but it's really what are we giving?
What are we.
What are we bringing to, to practice every day?
What are we bringing to the games?
What are we bringing in a text message to a player at night after a tough game?
What, you know, those are the things that we're trying to do to make an impact.
And I've been doing this long enough that I don't need to climb
any ladders or do anything else.
I'm just trying to.
do the best I can to make these players in this program the best it
can be, but also trying to make a difference in these guys eternally.
And, you know, if I could open up a saw, open their head and
pour the Bible in, I would, but it doesn't really work that way.
So what we wanna try to do is just try to be the best example that we can.
praying with them, praying for 'em, and then also making sure
that they do hear the word.
Then the, we trust the Holy Spirit to take that word and make sure, and we
know that it'll never come back void.
So, that's kinda a short answer.
Clif Marshall: That's great.
Coach.
I wanted to ask you, About an experience you had at Indiana University when
you and I were there together in 2018.
I helped you clean your locker out.
you we're gonna move on no longer be with the Indiana Hoosiers.
And I watched you experience that and helped you pack your stuff to, to your
car and clean your office out and.
I always look back on that moment and actually there was a student manager
who saw you and I that evening and he took a picture of us and we were praying
together in the parking lot after you had cleaned all your stuff out.
And I still have that photo and.
This year, I found out in 2025 I wouldn't be returning to the Indiana
Hoosier Men's basketball program.
And I reflected on how you handled that situation.
You handled it with faith and you, just showed me that you had total trust in God.
I want to know, number one, where does that faith come from?
And number two, I want to know what you learned from that situation.
Ed Schilling: Well that's great.
I appreciate you sharing that Cliff.
well, you know, it's never easy.
You know, you say I'm moving on, but you're getting fired no matter what.
What the situation is.
and you know what, if you've been in coaching long enough,
you're gonna get fired.
If you're an athlete, they're gonna come a time where they're
gonna bring you in and say, Hey, we're going a different direction.
We're going with somebody else.
So it's gonna happen to everybody at some point.
And, you know, I just trust in Romans 8:28 that God's gonna work all things
for good, for those who love him, and are called according to his purposes.
And so.
You know, whether I'm getting fired at Indiana or I'm getting hired
as a head coach of Pepperdine.
God's gonna use it for good, for his good.
It may not be for my ease and my comfort, but he's going to use it for a great good.
and even through that Indiana situation, we may talk about it later.
God really did use that for good and in, in ways that.
I did not, you may not see it right then, but you just have to trust that
God is gonna use it for good and okay.
This isn't what I'd have drawn my, my, if I was drawing it up.
I wouldn't have drawn it up that way, but that's how the Lord drew it up and
I had to just trust that, you know what?
he can see the end from the beginning and that's ultimately what we have to do.
And whether we're winning championships and cutting down nets or whatever
the confetti falling down, the bottom line is we just gotta trust
that God's gonna use it for good.
Even the tough things.
The tough things from injuries to firings to.
You know, stuff that man, you're like, how could that be good?
Well, in, in and of itself may not be good, but God is going to use it for good.
And I think the Indiana situation, God really did use it for good.
and by grace he was able to give me a mindset to trust that, you
know, I, you know, sometimes you just, the Lord just comes upon you.
You just feel like, okay.
It's gonna be fine.
And in that case it certainly did, and I think in your case it's gonna be the same.
You're gonna impact even more people, in this next chapter.
Clif Marshall: Amen.
Wow.
Sam Acho: coach, I want to park there for a second.
you mentioned the Indiana situation and that God worked it out for good.
I want to ask you how.
Specifically, you said, oh, we may get into it.
I'd love just to get into it now.
How did God specifically work out you getting fired for good.
Ed Schilling: Well, I had only been to Indiana for two years and I, I.
One of the main reasons that I left UCLA to go to Indiana was because my
dad was not doing well physically, and I'm an only child, and my parents lived
in Indiana, you know, still lived in Lebanon, Indiana, which wasn't far,
wasn't too far from Bloomington, Indiana.
And so my dad wasn't doing well, and I got released, I got let go, but I was
still gonna getting paid for another year.
And so what I was able to do is.
Spend incredible amount of time with my family, but also I was able to see my dad
every single week for the next year or so when it was the last year of his life.
And my dad and I were really close.
I mean, again, my dad was a, you know, he was a basketball coach,
he was an athletic director.
He played some professional basketball, and so we were really close.
And so to be able to be with him in that last year or so,
and also to be with my mom.
To help her through everything, and as an only child man to be able to be there
for my mom, but also to be with my dad.
Those last, and it was a hard year for him, physically going through
cancer, going through this and that.
So I, God just basically said, you know what, we're gonna meet all your needs.
We're going, the paychecks are gonna keep coming in, but you're gonna
go get to see your dad every week.
You're gonna be there to help your mom through all the different
things, moving them from.
The hospital to a nursing home, back into the hospital.
But I was able to be there for her, but be there for him.
And then also it gave me a year to just really dive into my family and making,
you know, I was dropping 'em off at school every day and being there with him.
And so God really just did an amazing thing and, you know.
You, you could look at it and say, man, you got fired and you're driving
around Bloomington, which we all know is everybody knows everything about
Indiana basketball, but the bottom line is, I got to do something.
That I could.
I mean, how could you ever, if I'm coaching at Indiana, I might
have been able to see my dad once, maybe every month here.
I got to see him every week.
I was there.
My mom needed something.
Boom, I was there.
I remember one time my mom called your dad's falling.
I can't, we gotta get, and so I, boom, I was able to drive down there and help, you
know, go get him and help him up and help, you know, just all those kind of things
that I never could have done otherwise.
So God really did an amazing, just a such so gra, so gracious and merciful
to me by letting me get, go get fired so that I could be there during
that and I'll never, you know, I cherish that year more than anything.
Okay.
Clif Marshall: Amazing coach.
Shortly thereafter, you got hired as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University
in Phoenix, Arizona, and, you guys had a.
Incredible run there.
And obviously just this last year, you finished up your first season
as the head coach at Pepperdine.
I wanted to ask you, as a head coach, as a husband, and as a father, how do you
manage wearing all three of those hats?
Ed Schilling: Well, first of all, one, I think you have to be present
wherever you, your feet are.
You know, if you're at the office, man, I want to be locked in.
I wanna be, be locked in on practice.
I wanna be, you know, whatever that is.
But when I'm home.
I don't want to be at practice.
You know, I wanna be able to be able to step, just like we talk
about in basketball when you're a player, or Sam if you're football.
When you step across that, the line, you gotta be ready to play.
No matter what's happened or what's gonna happen after, you gotta
be able to step across the line.
And I wanna make sure that when I'm at home, I'm at home.
You know, and so that's one thing.
But then also the blessing of being a head coach is my kids can come be in my office.
my youngest daughter loves sitting on the couch, putting her feet up and
hanging out in the office and going and getting into the snacks and all that.
She loves that.
And then they can come to practice anytime they want.
They can run around on the court.
And so they're always welcome at practice.
and I want 'em to come by.
And so April, my wife, she'll bring him by practice.
She'll, they'll drop 'em, they'll be here in the office.
and so you know what the, that I remember early in the career you
think this is so, so important.
And this is, they're nothing important, more important than them kids running
around the office and on the floor.
Yeah.
And ultimately I think it's a good example for our players to one, be able
to see that man, this is their priority.
This is the priority is yeah, my fate, but my family is a priority to me, and
as much as I'm ex, I want 'em to make jump shots and get stops on defense.
What I really want is I wanna make sure this my daughters feel loved and
they know that they're seen and that.
I'm excited to see 'em and they are welcome not only at home
into our living room or bed.
They're welcome here in my office.
They're welcome on the court as well.
So that's one of the ways that, that we wanna make sure
that, man, this is important.
And yeah, we'll have to do recruiting and we go away for road trips.
But, you know, we, the great thing too is with technology, we can get
to FaceTime in the hotel, we can do all that stuff, but when we're
home, I wanna make sure I'm home.
And they know that.
Dad's home, but he's still in the office.
No, I don't want that.
You know, I want him to know I am home with them.
So that's a, that, those are some of the ways.
Sam Acho: That's so good.
And coach, you might hear some of my little ones in the background 'cause
I'm home, but in the office, but I'm listening and I, this is so good because
so often we talk on this podcast about faith and about family and football and
finances and football, basketball, track.
We talk about a bunch of different sports, baseball, but it's
almost like you're prioritizing.
Not necessarily your work, but it sounds like it's faith,
it's family, then it's my work.
And it sounds like you get a chance to compound that a little bit.
Can you share more on, on how that works?
Ed Schilling: Yeah, sure.
Yeah.
it's true.
and you want them to be part of your work if you can.
you know, for example, when we have a recruiting visit, I'll take
one of my daughters with me out to eat, and now she feels like
she's recruiting, you know, she's.
she's 10 years old and she's making a, you know, drawing something up, you know,
come to Pepperdine and handing them, so they'll ju they'll come to, on the
recruiting visits, you know, they're, they can jump in and, so, you know, little
things like that, you know, and they come, they're making stuff, I'm putting
it up in my office and things like that.
So again, I want them to feel like they're a part of it.
You know, just like I want to be part of what's going on for them in school.
Just like I, you know, I want them to be, Hey, they're, you're part
of this basketball program now.
They're not living and dying on Oh, we're, you know, now they do cry after if we
lose, but I don't want it to be like that.
I want them to feel like, man, I'm part of this, I'm part of the program.
This is it.
And you know, we're, when we pray at night, we might pray for the
game coming up, or we might pray for this player or that player, because
that's part of our life, just like.
It's important for them at school to, you know, something's going
on at school, we're going to talk about it, we're gonna pray about it.
This is a challenge that it's, you know, there's gonna be challenge.
There's challenges at Pepperdine.
We've lost a lot of games this past year.
Well, how did I handle it?
It, you know, how are we handling?
Am I coming home and don't talk to 'em?
Daddy lost no.
They, I want them, they may see I'm disappointed or whatever, but
we wanna make sure we're real.
That we're saying, Hey, you know what?
We can have, we can get beat, we can have a setback, but yet it's not gonna,
that doesn't give me a license to not be.
Kind to my kids that I'm not gonna be kind to my wife, you know?
So I want them to see that no matter if good things or bad things happen,
that they know that dad's still gonna be dad and he's still, you know, I want
them to see that and I think sometimes.
You know, coaches, we can get carried away with this and
think, well, I lost it and game.
And so don't talk to 'em.
no.
We're in this thing together.
And you know, if it didn't go well, well, okay, we gotta, sometimes
you win, sometimes you learn.
We gotta learn and here's how, and hopefully we're setting some examples of
how to handle adversity and then also how to handle success and bringing people in.
We are successful, that it's not just, Hey, look at me.
No, it's look at us and hey, we got to do this.
Isn't this great?
this is fun.
We're enjoying it, and if we lose, man, what could we have done better?
We just gotta go practice harder and we need to get better at this, and we
need, you know, so that they're into it.
They know.
They know what's going on.
Clif Marshall: That's great, coach.
I tell you as an encouragement, keep your family involved because
Sam Acho told his college football coach on our podcast just recently.
The reason he committed to Mac Brown and the Texas Longhorns was because on
his official visit, he saw the family atmosphere, how Mack, coach Mac Brown
had his family around in the office.
And I think there's a lot of coaches who talk about family,
but don't necessarily live it out.
And I just love the fact that you have your wife and kids involved, and I
know that your players at Pepperdine, they appreciate that as well.
I wanted to ask you, I, I mentioned to start the podcast, you had a great impact
on my life and on my faith journey.
in 2018, you gave me a devotional book.
I've got it right here.
Ed Schilling: You
Clif Marshall: everybody to see.
I mean, this thing has been through it.
It's experiencing God day by day, the devotional.
and journal by Henry Blackaby, and when I open it up, there are so many
notes and there's highlights and there's things that I've written
down over the years, man of pain and heartache and great success though.
But as I look back on it, I'm reminded of God's faithfulness
and that's why I journal in this thing every single day since 2018.
But I often remember you giving this to me, and now I give it
to the athletes that I train.
I like for them to have this same book.
So I want to ask you, and I know you've read a ton of books.
I remember going in your office and your bookshelf had the best books.
I want to know what is the greatest book, that you've
read, and how did it impact you?
Ed Schilling: Well obviously the Bible will take that out 'cause
there is no, greater than that.
But, there was a book I, it is called, God Minute for Good by RT Kendall.
Now it was one that somebody gave me when I got let go at Wright State University.
I was the.
I guess the, I was the youngest assistant coach in the NBA when I was with the Nets.
And then I was the second youngest division one coach
at Wright State University.
And we were in the same conference with Butler and you know, those schools.
And I had six years and, you know, had a good run but got let go and somebody gave
me that book and I read it and it really.
really ministered to me and it's about the life of Joseph and man, I'll tell you, if
you ever have somebody that gets fired or has a really tough, something happened,
man, there, that is, that was the most impactful book I've since given it to.
I've given it away to many people over the years.
I'll just order it up and have it sent out because it's a really good one.
And it's about the life of Joseph and as you, you know, his life, that
man, he was gonna be, he was gonna be this, star, so to speak, and,
but has a whole lot of hard times.
Unjustly accused, thrown in jail, this, that, and yet he, he stays
faithful and, doesn't hold a grudge.
And he, and it just takes you through the whole progression and a lot of
things that you don't even realize when I was, you know, we know the story and
you've read, I've read it many times.
I've read through the Bible every year for the last, I don't
know, 25 years Bible in a year.
And, but there's things that.
Man, that book just really brought to light.
And when you're going through something like that book really ministered to me,
probably unlike any other book, that one did, God Meant It For Good by RT Kendall.
Sam Acho: That's so good.
Coach, you have a story about a time that you worked with Kobe Bryant.
I'd love to hear that story.
What happened, in
your experience
Ed Schilling: Okay.
Sam Acho: with Kobe?
Ed Schilling: Well, I mentioned I was one of the youngest, I was
the youngest coaching assistant coach in the NBA at the time.
And so I had just gone from high school coach in Indiana at Logan Sport
High School to an assistant at UMass.
When we went to the Final Four, with, I was assistant with John Cala
Perry, and we had, Marcus can be on that team and then I went and was
an assistant coach for the Nets.
So in 310 days I went from high school.
To college to the NBA.
And so, you know, we got the job right after our, final four run
and all that, the seasons ended.
and Coach Cal asked me to be his assistant.
and so, you know, here we go.
And it's not like today where they have like.
20 assistant coaches behind the bin I mean, there, there was
like, you get three assistants.
That's it.
And you guys are doing it all.
So one of the things that we would do is obviously we were
getting ready for the draft and so we would go and work guys out.
You know, we had the seventh pick in the draft that year.
And so we'd go pick 'em up at the airport and usually have dinner with
them and then we'd work out the next day.
And, so this particular time I went and it was a kid going right from high school.
To the NBA and again, it wasn't the, we didn't know him like LeBron coming out,
you know, he wasn't quite like that.
He was a McDonald's all American.
But he wasn't a household name.
Like, you know, now there's so much more with social media and stuff
that people kind of, they know about everybody, but then it was
like, okay, he's a high school kid.
Well shoot less than a, just about less than a year ago.
That was my guys I was working with at Logan Sport High School.
So hey, he's just another high school kid to me.
So we went and had dinner and when the GM was eating with us, aki, he
was real kind of quiet and all that.
Well the GM then left and we were chopping it up and hanging out and so the next
morning we get up and we work out and Coach Cow and I are working them out.
You know, he was good.
I mean, he's like, you know, come off.
We'd put him through a whole series of stuff and usually after about 40 minutes
when it's just one player, they're dying.
They're looking at the clock like, yo man, is this almost done?
and, but this guy, I mean, he was going, I mean, he was, you know,
whether it was shooting drills, coming off, making shots back,
cutting, dunking, everyone transition drills running as running, like.
You can then back in the day, I was still could play a little bit.
So we'd go from half court and he'd guard you, and he looked kind of thin,
but he was pretty, he was wiry strong.
And so it was like, wow, this kid's pretty good.
And so we'd go for about 45 minutes, almost an hour.
And finally Coach Cal's like, all right, that's good.
Hey, we'll be in touch with your agent.
All right, we'll see you.
And so he left.
And so I'm scooping up the balls.
You know, it's a little bit more sophisticated nowadays.
and the kid, and he taps me on the shoulder and he says, Hey, can you show me
some more of those drills we were doing?
I'm like, sure.
So we go and it's just the two of us in the gym now.
And we're going through stuff and it's 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15, 20 again.
Now we've already gone through a crazy hard workout where we try to almost
break 'em to see how hard they'll go.
And so we just, we keep going.
It's 30 minutes, 35, and we're still going.
We're going hard sweat's, pouring, we're going and we're both into it.
Finally, I look, I'm like, oh shoot, you got a flight to catch?
You know, we've gone about 40 minutes and I'm like, go shower.
We gotta go.
And, so I, as he's going in the shower, I'm calling Coach Cal and I'm like,
coach man, this kid's gonna be special.
He goes, yeah, did you see how he shot the ball?
And I said, forget it.
That's not what's gonna make him special.
He said, yeah, you're right.
How about how he ran that?
I said, that's not it.
he goes, well, you talking about how athletic he was, he dunked
all 20 of those on the back cut.
I said, Nope, that's not it.
And he says, what do you think he's gonna be so special for?
I said, he wants to be coached and he wants to work.
And so long story, we ended up, coach Cal and I both wanted him,
but the hi, his dad actually got on the phone and called and said, Hey,
if you draft him, he's not coming.
And Cal's like, what do you mean he, this isn't college, you don't choose.
He goes, well.
He'll go play in Italy.
Well, Jerry West had talked to him and he had everything worked out for him to
go to the A trade to come to the Lakers.
We were the only ones that could mess it up with the nets, but the
owners were like, man, you can't draft somebody and him not come
and you take a high school kid, you first New York Media will kill you.
So we ended up taking Kerry Kittle, who was ended up being a really good player.
All rookie team and all that, but didn't quite have the career Kobe Bryant had.
But, nonetheless it was, when we went to play him, Kobe came in the locker
room and found me and said, Hey.
I just wanted to say thanks.
I've been doing those drills you showed me that day in June.
I've been doing 'em ever since.
I just wanna say thanks.
So, you know, the point is that one of the all time greatest, one of the biggest
attribute that I took when I worked him out was one, he wanted to be coached.
Two, he really wanted to work.
And then the other thing is he showed gratitude and so, so often kids
today, they get what they can get, but they're not grateful for it.
He was grateful for it and he was willing to work and he wanted to be coached.
Clif Marshall: What a story.
That's something that can be shared to athletes of all ages
and a lesson that can be taught.
I remember you talking to our players at Indiana about that.
At and I never forgot that story.
And, man, what a great testimony about Kobe Bryant.
I want to ask you, as a head coach at Pepperdine University, what is the
most challenging part of your job?
Ed Schilling: Well, I mean, nowadays things have changed even
since we were together at Indiana with the transfer portal and the
NIL and things like that, it.
it's made it more challenging.
one, the fact that, you know, I look at my roster and chances are.
95% of 'em are not gonna be with me the next year just because of
the way the transfer portal works.
And that's how it was.
I took over the job, a little over a year ago and I had one
scholarship player that stayed.
By the time I got the job, they'd all been in the trans, so I had
to put together a whole team.
And it was basically that even the transfer portal dated basically
being there was only a few days left.
So, you know, I had to put a whole team together and this year the way
things happened with graduations.
Guys go into transfer, man.
You gotta almost do the whole thing again.
And so, you know, that's one of the hard things is before like even we're
at Indiana, you'd have a couple, like when we had Romeo Langford, you know, he
was probably gonna be there for a year.
But now you have a whole team like that.
And so that's challenging, you know, and you can either sit back and complain
about it like, man, this stinks.
This is not how I got.
Or you can say, you know what?
I've got an opportunity to impact more people in a four year period rather than,
I got kind one group for four years now.
I got four different groups, so I've gotta try to look at, even though it's
a big challenge and how it's changed.
I can look at it as an opportunity that, hey, I'm gonna get a, have an opportunity
to try to pour into more people's lives over the course of several years,
hopefully I'm here for several years.
But that's one of the biggest things is just that transfer portal that
you've got less time with these guys than you did in years past.
You know, when you, when before this transfer portal.
Sam Acho: Coach, you've played and coached in nearly every level of basketball.
You've coached some of the greatest athletes, but my question is.
How do you win both on and off of the court?
Ed Schilling: Well, I think you have to have an anchor, you know, and you better
have, whether it's, for me, it's my faith.
You know what?
My family, but whatever it is, you better have an anchor because you
can get blown all over the place if you're just going on wins and losses.
and so you, what's your anchor?
what can you count on?
Like things are going great or things are going bad.
What do you come back to on a daily basis?
And for me, it's my faith and you know, no matter what that I'm gonna
get in that word in the morning.
and it's gonna, that, that Bible is a mirror to me and it's going
as I read it, I see myself.
And I'm like, whew.
Oh man, I gotta repent just like the Israelites needed to repent or I look
at the, you know, and so one, you have to have an anchor and then you
have to build your life in such a way that you create habits to really keep
yourself grounded, through the good times and the bad times, and in between.
and so that's the biggest thing.
and then the other thing is that you don't wanna live or coach in fear because fear.
Fear will make you stay in the office for days on end, watching
tape till your eyes bleed, thinking, oh, I gotta, I can't lose this game.
We gotta, and so you can't coach in fear.
You've gotta coach in faith that you know what I'm gonna do, what needs to be done.
I'm gonna try to be excellent in what we do, but not to the point where it's
impacting the things that matter the most.
and I think that I, what I've learned over the years of doing this and
30 years of coaching is so often we spend, coaches spend so much time
because of fear that they do stuff.
They waste, they spend a lot of time that's really unnecessary.
make sure you have your scouting report.
Make sure you're play, make sure you're organized.
But don't coach in fear, coach in faith, be prepared and then
go out and do your best and let the Lord take care of the rest.
And that's the anchor that we have to have, is that we're anchored in
faith and my faith is in the Lord.
if you're not anchored in the Lord, then you better find something.
I don't know what it is, but you better find something that can keep
you grounded through the good times and the bad, or you're gonna be blown
all over the place in this business.
Clif Marshall: Great insight there.
Coach.
I want to ask you about your fitness routine.
The one thing I can remember about you being at Indiana is.
Man, you got after it in the weight room and you were consistent,
like you never missed a day.
And I watched Sam Acho just yesterday on ESPN as he was talking about Dion
Sanders, because Dion Sanders had a, you know, a, a huge media event today, so to
speak, press conference regarding his.
Cancer.
And one of the things that Sam said, in regards to Dion was health is wealth.
And I know just watching you how important your fitness is.
How do you make that a priority even now as you're a head coach?
Ed Schilling: Well, it's actually easier as a head coach, but, my, my routine,
I'm a, my, my wife kinda laughs at me, but I'm up at 5:15 every morning.
I get up and I either do, you know, me on my push and pull stuff, so I, if
it's a pull day, I go down and I get my pull-ups in and then I go up and I get my.
Hour in the word.
So I'm gonna spend an hour, so I get my five minutes in, I get my pullups,
or I get my pushups in to wake me up.
I get in that word and I get an hour in that, and then I go and I walk the dog.
Now walking the dog at Pepperdine's a little different, because I tell you,
we live on campus, so I'm up at the top and so I walk the dog down, but
then we gotta walk the dog back up and so it's a little over a mile 0.2.
So I get to walk in and, Do the breakfast, do that stuff, and then
when I get to the office, I get things opened up, maybe do one or two things.
And then I go get my workout in.
It's about 30 minutes.
If it's a, if it's a pull day, I'm getting my pull exercises in, and some core.
And then if it's a push day, I'm getting my push stuff in and some legs.
and so now I've gotten my, either my pullups or the pushups before
I've gotten my time in the word.
I've got my walk in.
Now I've got, I got my 30 minutes in and it's still basically, you
know, nine o'clock or nine 30.
So I try to get it in and, you know, I've seen over the years people that.
They don't take care of themselves and one, so you're either gonna pay by
spending some time each day, or you're gonna pay by being sick and you're
gonna be have poor health and you're gonna have poor energy and you're
gonna spend the time in the doctor's office or in the bed being sick.
And so, you know, I'm gonna do everything I can.
Just like somebody that goes and has a heart attack and now all of
a sudden they walk every morning or they watch what they eat.
So I'm gonna try to do it on the front end.
And as much as I can to do my part, and I'll let the Lord do
his at whatever he wants with me.
But I'm gonna try to do my part, to keep myself in the best health that I can.
Not just for me, but also for my kids and my family.
I wanna make sure that I'm gonna be.
And the best health that I can for them.
So for me to not care about my body and fitness and things like that's because
that's being selfish, that I'm not gonna be all I can be for my family.
I wanna be able to run around there with my girls.
I wanna be able to be there for.
to help what I need to help out with my wife.
So I wanna do all that.
And so I wanna make sure that I'm in the best health that I can.
You know, the, there's a saying.
I do a quote every day on my social media.
I have a thought for the day.
So I think I had one the other, oh gosh, a little while ago, but
I'm trying to remember it now.
But it's like a man that.
That is healthy, has lots of wants.
A person that's unhealthy has one.
They wanna be healthy.
So, you know, I wanna make sure that I'm doing my part the best I can to
be as healthy as I can for my family.
Sam Acho: That's so good.
There's so many nuggets and so much wisdom and so much insight.
We're so grateful.
Last question for me, and then Cliff's gonna help close us.
Ed Schilling: Hm.
Sam Acho: What was it like coaching with a coach like John Kalari and
what made him such a great recruiter?
Ed Schilling: Oh goodness.
Coach Cal is great.
I mean, the one thing working with him is we had fun every day.
I mean, you came in, you never knew what was gonna happen.
I remember one time he calls me and Eddie, the chill.
Get everybody ready.
we're gonna go to Signature Airport.
We gotta be there at 7:00 AM.
Okay, so we get there and we go to the airport.
We don't know what's going on.
We get on a plane, we fly to Dallas.
Bill Parcells is the football coach of the Cowboys, Dallas Cowboys.
So we get there.
We watch, we're gonna go watch his team.
But before that, we go to the Dallas Mavericks.
We watch the morning session of their training camp, then we
go watch the Cowboys practice.
We go and watch the whole practice, watch him do his thing, talk to Jerry Jones in
the office for a little bit afterwards.
Then we go to dinner with Bill parcels for about three hours and he's just, you
know, just talking and I'm just listening.
Get back on there, go back to the airport.
We fly back on the private jet drive back home.
That was the day.
And so that, that's kind of how Cal is.
You never know what's coming.
the only negative with working with Cal is.
He keeps you busy.
you're always doing something, but it's a good time.
It just, you're away a lot.
but what makes him such a great recruiter in my opinion, is if he
could be with a, he could be with a group of fortune hot 500 presidents and
CEOs, and they think he's one of them.
They think he's a CEO of one of the top companies in the world.
He can go into a home of a recruit that has a dirt floor
and they think he's one of them.
and he's got the ability to connect with anybody, whether it's, somebody that
doesn't have two nickels to rub together, or if it's somebody that you know is
runs a multi-billion dollar company, they all, he can connect with all of them.
And I think that's one of the things he does.
he's got that personality that he can be right there.
And I always think of the scripture you wanna.
You want to be all things to all people so that you might win a few.
Well, you know, coach Cal can be all things to all people so that
he can recruit a few and get 'em and win games, so he does that.
But you know, the one thing about Coach Cal is he is as
loyal a person as there is.
You know, if you're one of his guys, you're one of his guys
and he's gonna be there for you.
if things, you know, I remember when I was at Wright State when I, you know,
ultimately got let go, he's like.
Hey, you always got a job with me.
You just coach and you coach the way you do the things you think's.
Right?
You always got a job with me.
And sure enough, when I, after six years at Wright State, I went to be with him
at Memphis, you know, and he found a po, you know, he's like, if I don't
have one, I'll make a position for you.
So, you know, that's how he is.
he's super loyal.
He can connect with anybody and you know, he's just got that gift to be able to.
To connect with anyone and I think part of that too is just they can
read that he's gonna be loyal.
He, you know, if you're one of his guys, he's gonna be with you.
Clif Marshall: Wow, coach.
I always like to take some cliff notes during these interviews
and I've taken some great ones.
today with you, and I wanted to share a couple of those.
The first one is, I believe, you were talking about reading the Bible, right?
Reading over, you know, reading books.
And I read a quote recently.
It said, read many books, but live in the Bible.
And you mentioned that you've read for, I think, 20 some years
now, the Bible in one year.
this was a quote I believe from John Wooden and just, commend you for
that and learn a lot, by watching you get in the word every day.
And that's my next point.
The second cliff note that I took is.
David Pollock, a great friend of mine who we've had on this podcast.
He says, you have to be selfish in the morning.
And I said, well, what does that mean, selfish in the morning?
And you kind of explained that to us, you know, getting up at five 15 in the
morning, spending an hour in the word.
Training your spirit and then you go and you train your body right after that.
Even as a head coach at Pepperdine, as busy as you are,
you're making time for that.
So my third cliff note was you said it, do your best and trust God with the rest.
I think all of our listeners, here on the Sam Tcho Podcast can resonate with that.
So thank you for the cliff Notes.
Coach Schilling, thank you for your time and thank you for being
a great friend and mentor of mine.
Ed Schilling: My pleasure.
Cliff, it's a truly an honor to be your friend and your brother, Sam.
It's a real blessing to meet you and to spend a little time together.
So thank you guys.
Sam Acho: thank you so much, coach and, Before I even close, I do want to thank
Cliff 'cause so much of the conversations that we have, the people we have on this
show, it's 'cause of the trust currency that Cliff has built with people.
Like you coach, you've been coaching for 30 years, you've co you've trained
Kobe Bryant, you've coached in high school, college professionally.
Yet as soon as you hear a or a text message or a call from
Cliff, you say, Hey, I'm on.
And so Cliff, I want to say thank you for being a man of your word as well.
Because that's one thing I think we miss out a lot on.
People aren't really men of their words, so thank you, cliff.
And then Coach Schilling, thank you as well.
I mean to hear you said, every day I wake up at five 15, I get my pushes,
get my pulls, and I get in the word for an hour, and then I go back and do
my workout after an hour, after a 1.25
mile walk.
There's a level of consistency that I think a lot of people can learn from.
So thank you for teaching us that over the last few minutes.
Ed Schilling: Well, thank you guys.
Honored to be with you.
Thank you so much.
Sam Acho: Yeah.
And thank you all for listening to the Sam Macho podcast, featuring Cliff Marshall.
We can't wait to hear what you think.
Not only about this episode, but other episodes.
We're so grateful to have you along this journey with us and
Coach Schilling, thank you as well.
We'll see you all next time.