Former NFL standout Joe Ehrmann to discuss transformative power of ‘InSideOut’ coaching at free seminar Jan. 6

The impact of sports on athletes has long been a topic of conversation within coaching, parenting and educational circles.

Kim Chaudoin | 12/11/2019

The Nashville community has a unique opportunity to learn more about the transformative power of sports in a FREE Lipscomb Academy Partner in Education seminar Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, featuring former NFL Pro Bowler Joe Ehrmann.

Ehrmann, author of “InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives,” coach, minister and motivational speaker, will be joined by Jody Redman, former college women’s basketball player and current associate director of the Minnesota State High School League, to discuss the movement to transform the sports culture into one that defines and promotes sports as a human growth experience. 

The event takes place in the George Shinn Center located on the Lipscomb University campus. It begins at 8 a.m. with registration and continental breakfast with the seminar featuring Ehrmann and Redman from 9 a.m. to noon. Admission is FREE, but registration is requested. Register by Dec. 27 at bit.ly/LAInSideOutCoaching. Seating is limited. Free parking and shuttle service is available at Lipscomb Academy’s McCadams Athletic Center, 1027 Caldwell Lane, Nashville.

“At Lipscomb Academy we see our athletics program as an important part of our approach to educating the whole child — body, mind and soul,” said Michelle York, Lipscomb Academy associate head of school for athletics. “As a former high school and college athlete, a coach and athletic director I know first-hand the impact that sports can have in transforming the lives of student athletes and in the lessons that will remain with them long after their days on the playing field are over. I am very excited that Joe Ehrmann and Jody Redman will share their insight on this topic that is a very important one in our society today and hope that the community will join us for this special event.”

Ehrmann and Redman lead the InSideOut Initiative, funded by the NFL Foundation. The organization’s goal is to transform the current “win-at-all-costs” sports culture where the value is often defined by the scoreboard, into one that defines and promotes sports as a human growth experience and to reclaim the purpose of sport as an integral component of education in American schools. The InSideOut Initiative provides a blueprint for systemic change and creates awareness of the purpose of sport in children’s lives, align school communities around this purpose, provide education to school community stakeholders and hold all involved accountable to clearly defined expectations.

“This InSideOut concept is an approach to athletics that is very important to me and very much aligned with what we are doing with the Lipscomb Academy Mustang football program,” said Trent Dilfer, former NFL and Super Bowl winning quarterback who just completed his first year as head coach of Lipscomb Academy’s football program. 

“Our program is a human development program masked as a football team. Of course we want to prepare our student athletes to be competitive on the playing field. But it’s about so much more than that … it’s about transforming lives and preparing our players to be successful young men, professionals, husbands, fathers, church leaders and leaders in their communities,” continued Dilfer. “It’s about preparing our minds academically in the classroom, preparing our bodies through good nutrition and strength building, and preparing our souls through the Christian principles that are emphasized every day in character building, accountability groups, and player development.”

Ehrmann played at the collegiate level at Syracuse University and played professional football for 13 years and was named the Baltimore Colt’s Man of the Year. He was the NFL’s first Ed Block Courage Award recipient, and named “The Most Important Coach in America” by Parade Magazine. The Institute chose him as one of The Most Influential Sports Educators in America for international sport and his revolutionary concepts of transformational coaching are the subject InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives. He is also the subject of New York Times Best-Seller, Season of Life: A Football Star, a Boy, A Journey to Manhood. Among many other awards, the Baltimore Business Journal selected him as the Renaissance Person of the Decade for his dedication and commitment to Baltimore City’s betterment. He was the National Fatherhood Initiative’s Man of the Year and the Frederick Douglass National Man of the Year award. 

A nationally recognized facilitator and speaker, Redman has served as a teacher, coach, athletic director and administrator at both the high school and collegiate levels in addition to being an athlete. As associate director for the Minnesota State High School League, Redman oversees Minnesota’s education program for 500 member high schools that includes a professional development program, continuing education requirements and ongoing support and outreach. Her leadership skills and passion for education-based-athletics led her to develop a movement in Minnesota called WHY WE PLAY, intended to redirect the focus of the win-at-all-costs sports culture. Among many other responsibilities, Redman also serves on the National Federation of High Schools Strategic Planning and Coaches Education Committee.