with Tom Radke,
St. James Academy (KS) Head Football Coach & Special Teams Coordinator;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A State High School Football Champions;
2020 & 2021 Kansas 4A Football Coach of the Year;
2020 Kansas City Chiefs’ Eric Driskell Coach of the Year;
Piper High School (KS) Head Coach from 2006 to 2010;
St. Thomas Aquinas (KS) Assistant Coach from 2004 to 2005;
played college football for Iowa State University
Every football coach experiences a unique and singular journey as he or she advances over the course of their coaching career. Much like a human fingerprint, every career path and the accumulated collection of life experiences is unique to you as an individual.
For football coaches, the hope is that each experience and personal interaction, leaves us a bit wiser and more fulfilled afterward. After all, by definition, a coach’s role is predicated on teaching others and providing them with the tools they need to succeed in life.
Perhaps no coach better embodies the concept of sharing knowledge than Tom Radke, the head football coach at St. James Academy.
Becoming the head football coach at SJA in 2011, Radke was previously a head coach for 5 years, an assistant coach for 2 years and served as an assistant FB coach & head track coach for five years before that assignment.
In high school, as a student athlete, Coach Radke was a 4-sport letter winner in high school, competing in football, track, baseball, & basketball. He then went on to play wide receiver at Iowa State University & was a 3-year letter winner for Dan McCarney from 1995 to 1997.
After arriving at SJA, Coach Radke led the Thunder to the school's first football state title in 2020 winning the Kansas 4A State Championship. In 2020, he was named the 4A Kansas Coach of the Year and the KC Chiefs Coach of the Year. Radke’s 2021 team followed that up with a repeat Championship in 2021.
Coach Radke serves as an example of a leader who possesses a desire for continued learning, while remaining dedicated to helping others to hone skills and kickstart a journey of personal growth
In this highly valuable instructional coaching video, Coach Radke unveils his best-of-the-best ideas and strategies for building a better program, while showcasing a proven process for helping others to improve, grow and maximize their potential.
Uncovering a treasure trove of useful information, Radke shares tangible plans that are applicable for a wide array of situations.
Building Leaders, Building Trust, Building Your Program
Coach Radke opens with an overview on the philosophy that he’s used to build his championship football program and cites some of the lessons learned along the way.
Following up with a valuable segment on building trust with players and coaches alike, Radke provides incredible insight on the importance of choosing a theme or team motto that’s different from the previous year.
Citing the differences in teams from year to year, Coach Radke explains how rosters comprised of a mix of new players with experienced senior leadership presents different team dynamics each season.
Coach Radke shares a detailed look at his process for selecting team captains and explains it is a far more important task than most coaches realize. Radke cites the benefits of having players who desire to become team captains fill out an application in a process that’s similar to submitting a job application for employment.
Comfort-Zone Traps, Weight Room Culture and Game Day Routines
Continuing the program-building deep-dive, Coach Radke explains the importance of what he calls, ‘Being Bold, Being Present’ which describes the unnatural tendency to break out of one’s comfort zone and choosing the uncomfortable path, which leads to becoming a more well-rounded, more capable individual.
Radke says this is equally applicable to both student athletes and the assistant coaches on your staff. Allowing assistant coaches to stay immersed in a world of comfort zones isn’t doing them any favors. Forcing assistant coaches to step outside of their own comfort zone helps them become more knowledgeable, more well-rounded, and more productive members of your coaching staff.
Coach Radke follows up with some valuable strategies to develop and improve your program’s weight-room culture.
Other topics covered in this riveting video include,
- 1) the importance of investing in your program and why this is a continuous and on-going, yet critical process,
2) why you need to analyze and carefully plan your gameday routines,
3) an overview of using a player-led Leadership Counsel in certain areas of your program and the benefits that come with it,
4) a review and examination of coaches as leaders and more!
This must-watch video is a gold mine of critical information that will help you become a better, more complete coach. Filled with an array of ideas and program-tested concepts, this is a video that helps veteran and younger coaches alike.
Take advantage of the experience and wisdom that Coach Radke has amassed over the course of a highly successful 25-year coaching career and watch this video today!
63 Minutes. 2025.