Nations of Coaches

At Nations of Coaches, we believe some of the best people to serve coaches are those who have lived the coaching life themselves.

That’s why we’re excited to welcome three new team members who have joined us in recent months:

🏀 Murray Garvin – Regional Director, Kentucky
🏀 Roger Idstrom – Regional Director, Tennessee
🏀 Scott Thompson – Legacy Executive Coordinator

Together, these men bring more than 85 years of coaching experience to our team! They understand the pressure, the sacrifices, the victories, the setbacks, and the unique calling that comes with coaching. Now, they’re using that experience to encourage, equip, and invest in coaches across the country.

Join us in welcoming Murray, Roger, and Scott to the Nations of Coaches family!

That mindset is what makes Cori Close such a powerful example of what coaching can truly be.

The best coaches understand that their influence reaches far beyond wins, rankings, or trophies. They see the people behind the players. They recognize that the habits, identity, and character built during these years will impact marriages, families, leadership, faith, and life long after basketball ends.

Great coaches don’t just prepare athletes for games.
They prepare people for life.

There are moments in sports that never show up on a scoreboard, but carry eternal significance.

For Zak, basketball became more than a game. In one of the hardest seasons of his life, God used a Character Coach to walk alongside him, pray with him, and point him back to Jesus. This is the kind of impact that reaches far beyond the court.

“I grew up in church at First Redeemer Church, where my basketball journey first started through their sports program, but during my first two years of college basketball, I went through some of the hardest seasons of my life and found myself distant in my faith. After transferring to Life University, I began taking my relationship with Christ more seriously, diving deeper into His Word and truly trying to understand who He is and what it means to live for Him.

On December 3rd, after sharing my story with my Character Coach, Coach Eric Johnson, and praying together, I publicly surrendered my life to Christ, and since then I’ve learned that life without Him is empty, but through His grace and mercy there is purpose, peace, and salvation.” — Zak

This photo was taken at Zak’s baptism! Praise God!

The offseason isn’t just about building better athletes. It’s about building stronger people, healthier cultures, and deeper foundations.

This is the season where leadership is formed in quiet gyms, empty offices, early mornings, and intentional conversations. And for coaches who may have never incorporated faith into their life or program before…it’s not too late.

A new season can begin long before the first game tips off. The foundation you lay now, and in your own life, will shape what your team leans on later.

Championships are celebrated. Records are remembered. But identity has to be rooted in something deeper.

Tony Bennett’s words remind us that the greatest legacy a coach can leave isn’t found in trophies, but in a life anchored in faith. The foundation you lay in the offseason will shape everything that follows. Not just your season, but your team, your culture, and your impact. And if you’ve never made faith a part of your life or your program, it’s not too late. This could be the season where everything shifts.

Because what you win is temporary, but who you become, and what you build in others, lasts forever.