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159. A Conversation with BYU Wide Receiver Cody Hagen
81 Plays1 month ago
In this powerful and thoughtful episode of the Especially for Athletes podcast, hosts Dustin Smith and Shad Martin sit down with Cody Hagen, standout wide receiver at Brigham Young University, to discuss far more than football.
From elite performance and resilience to mental health, social media pressures, and competing without contempt, Cody offers a rare, honest look into the life of a Division I athlete navigating the sportlight with humility, faith, and purpose.
🔑 Episode Highlights
- From High School Stardom to Division I Football
Cody reflects on his journey from Corner Canyon High School to BYU, including his experience returning from a two-year mission and rebuilding his body for elite competition. - Training with Intentionality
Practical advice for athletes preparing for high-level sports—especially those returning from time away—highlighting sprint work, explosive lifts, and discipline in small daily habits. - “Eyes Up, Do the Work” in Real Life
Cody shares how this core Especially for Athletes principle has evolved for him—from noticing others in school hallways to being fully present in meetings, workouts, and relationships at the college level. - Winning the Hour
A deep discussion on focus, distraction, and being where your feet are in a world full of noise—drawing parallels between E4A principles and the culture at BYU football. - Mental Health & Social Media
Cody speaks candidly about why he stepped away from Instagram, the emotional toll of online criticism (including hostile DMs from adults), and why even “mentally strong” athletes are affected. - Competing Without Contempt
Powerful insights into fan behavior, sportsmanship, and why tearing athletes down—especially after mistakes—misses the heart of competition. - Brotherhood & Team Culture
Cody describes the culture under Coach Kalani Sitake: fierce competition balanced with love, accountability, and care for teammates—on and off the field. - Resilience After Disappointment
Lessons learned from falling short of playoff goals and responding with composure, hunger, and renewed commitment during the bowl game and offseason. - Using the Sportlight to Bless Others
From visiting elementary schools to mentoring younger athletes, Cody embraces the opportunity—and responsibility—to lift others through his platform.
💬 Memorable Takeaways
- “No one wants to succeed more than the players on the field.”
- “Even strong people are affected by what they read online.”
- “If you want to perform better than most, you have to win each hour.”
- “Everyone you see is fighting something.”
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Especially for Athletes: • Website: https://e4a.org • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EspeciallyForAthletes/ • X: https://x.com/E4Afamily • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/especiallyforathletes/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbWc7diAvstLMfjBL-bMMQ
Join the conversation using #E4APodcast
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Credits: Hosted by Dustin Smith & Shad Martin Produced by Shad Martin and IMAGINATE STUDIO
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Hosts
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Especially for Athletes podcast, where we explore essential principles that empower athletes to learn life's most valuable lessons through sports.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Especially for Athletes podcast. I'm Dustin Smith. I'm here with Shad Martin. And our guest today is Cody Hagan. Cody,
Cody Hagan's High School Success
00:00:25
Speaker
welcome. Welcome to the welcome to the podcast, buddy.
00:00:28
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. Cody's been a kid that I think since probably the first time I met him, I thought, man, we've got to keep in touch with this kid. He's going places. And that was several years ago when Cody was in high school.
College Career and Injuries at BYU
00:00:42
Speaker
Cody went to Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah.
00:00:45
Speaker
ah his He had an unbelievably successful high school career, winning state championships and voted first team All-State as well as the Gatorade Player of the Year. Mr. Football it was an All-American, kind of did everything he could do. The second all-time leading receiver in Utah high school history and and now is playing wide receiver at BYU. So, Cody,
00:01:11
Speaker
Congratulations on the season. Tell us what you've been up to since the season got done there BYU and tell us a little bit about the rehab from your injury. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it was a great season. We were excited. Obviously, we came up short from where we want to be. So this offseason, we're definitely going to be putting in a little extra work. Right now, we're just in winter workouts. Then we'll get into spring ball and kind of more football oriented. But right now, just lifts and runs. um And yeah, i tore my labrum last year. so I was playing through that a little bit last year. But now it's feeling strong and healthy and just each and every day, little by little, getting some extra work in for that. But it's been a great offseason.
00:01:49
Speaker
been Been some new coaches joining the
Mission Experience and Fitness Advice
00:01:52
Speaker
staff. How's that been? Yeah, it's been great. ah We've had only a few team meetings right now so far. Mostly we're just with the strength staff, but they're great. Every coach that we've picked up, roles that have been filled by coaches stepping up, we're really excited about the team we have.
00:02:09
Speaker
And Cody, after you you graduated high school, what, four or five years ago, and then you went on a ah two-year mission ah for the Church of Jesus Christ to California. Came back. How long did it take you? Because I know in the athletes that I work with, it can take a second to to get your body back ready for football shape. How long did it take you when you got home to be able to go out and and run and cut like you used to?
00:02:34
Speaker
Man, I want to say like, three, four months, but to be honest, that entire year just a little bit different than what you're used to. By the second year, though, a full off-season, a full summer with the strength staff, that's when I really probably felt more like myself. So I'd say three months, I felt like I could play, but maybe not back to what I was completely.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yeah. Shad, i i get it yeah I bet it was the same for you when you came back from your mission as well. Shad and I both played played ball in college and I, similar, I thought that it was, you know, five, six months. so It ended up being at least a year before I early. That was for you too, Shad?
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah, it felt like I pulled every muscle in my body at one point. It just coming back. I wish I would have In fact, maybe you could give some advice, Cody, because we have a lot that will follow the same path that you have. And you probably had more resources than and advice given to you than Dustin and I had. But, um but you know, i I thought staying in shape on my mission was running.
00:03:43
Speaker
I would wake up and I would jog every morning, you know, to make sure that i stayed in shape. And now that I know more, I wish I could go back to my 19 year old self and be like, hey, dude, you know find a hill and sprint up it every single day and do your leaps and your bounding and all these other things instead of.
00:04:05
Speaker
going for a jog. i I treated my mission like I was coming back to run cross country instead of play ah a quick twitch sport. You could never stay completely in shape because of your schedule as a missionary, but I'm real curious what BYU and others tell athletes like yourself to do to stay in shape as much as possible.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think you hit it on the head, definitely sprinting, getting all those fast twitch fibers. There's just different muscle groups you hit when you sprint. So definitely sprinting at least, you know, three, four times a week, and then trying as much as you can to do some Olympic lifts, like power clean, some of those more explosive movements.
00:04:48
Speaker
So they gave me, you know, a rough draft of what I should try and do. But in the end, it was just waking up a little earlier than everyone else and trying to do as much as I could every day. The last, especially the last three, four months, really hitting it hard.
00:05:02
Speaker
Yeah. So can you tell us what that looked like? What pattern did you fall into? Did you go to a field somewhere and sprint or did you tell us what that looked like? Yeah, so the last probably three and a half, four months of my mission, and I would jog to a field. My companion would drive behind me. was probably two miles away because he didn't want to jog.
00:05:25
Speaker
And then once we got to the field, I'd put my cleats on, do kind of a workout. They'd send me for the day or the week. Lots of sprints, you know, single leg hops, trying to get some of those muscles going again. jogged back. probably I was probably getting up about...
00:05:42
Speaker
5 15 5 30 like an extra hour to run i'd get back we had some weights luckily some olympic weights and whatever the workout was power clean hang clean try and get some squats in lunges and then everyone knows the upper body workouts but i really just trying to get those legs active Yeah. yeah Awesome. yeah Dustin, you know, that's what I had big problems with is i came came home and, you know, playing baseball, you hit a ball,
00:06:12
Speaker
and your mind takes over, I'm sure football is very similar, but it's not like I'm going to ease myself out of the box, right? And a ground ball is hit and you're, you know, you're sprinting to it. You're not easing yourself to it. And if you haven't used those muscles in two years, it just felt like, man, I was having pains in my hips and in my calves
Impact of Especially for Athletes Program
00:06:34
Speaker
and in my knees. And ultimately my knees is where i ended up with some problems, but...
00:06:39
Speaker
So that's super valuable, Cody. Thanks for sharing that. And great question, Dustin. That's valuable to talk about. Cody, tell us about when when you were in high school and and and probably should have given you this question beforehand. So you could have thought about it for a second. But do you remember the first time that you and I and i knew your dad and your older brother? So maybe you were.
00:07:02
Speaker
already aware of, especially for athletes. I know you came to some of my my quarterback and wide receiver camps. You got sick at one of them, I remember. um i remember that. If you remember, well the first time, especially for athletes, came to your school, you heard the message. Is there anything from the program or the message, the phrases, anything that you remember jumping out at you?
00:07:24
Speaker
And what was that? I'm just curious, your first interaction with it. Yeah, I think the first time you came, i was still in middle school. um And then you came again later. And I remember that time too. But the first time, something that stuck out to me was how you had to go on and the website and like make, don't you call them pledges or like agreements, making commitments that you're willing to follow these standards. And i like that a lot because it made me really think like, I really need to be committed to this. And really just the phrase, eyes up, do the work on the wristbands, gotta get in the frame, and that you wear, that we always wear. And um each time I look down, whether it's on my phone or things like that, it makes me really, really do think ah to look up in the halls to find someone that's maybe not looking like it's their best day or anything at all to help someone and lift them up.
00:08:16
Speaker
Yeah. Well, thank you, Cody. Obviously, having you be a part of this program, everybody knew who you were in high school because of your successes individually and then the the successes of of the team that you played for that's been extremely so you know successful the last 10 years or so. But now that you've you're You're through high school, you're an adult now, you're in college.
00:08:37
Speaker
You know does eyes up, do the work still carry the same meaning? You're not walking in the hallways as much as you did, you know, at a school. But, you know, i eyes up has a lot of different meanings. And do the work, I'm sure has a, um I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but I'm sure you've realized do the work as a high school athlete and student versus doing the work as a college athlete and student. It's a different kind of work, right?
00:08:59
Speaker
Oh, totally. Yeah, just focusing on do the work, kind of like you were saying there. you You thought you were working hard in high school and college. it's It's almost double the amount of time, effort, and film study, a lot of extra work if you're really trying to get yourself out on the field. There's a lot more you have to do. So um having that reminder to do the work, do the extra work, whatever is necessary to help put you in the best spot possible is definitely a great reminder.
Principles of 'Win the Hour' and Social Media Challenges
00:09:27
Speaker
You know, that goes to one of our principles, and maybe I could ask a few questions about that, win the hour. You know, Cody, when we talk about win the hour, we're talking about being focused and intentional about what's in front of you. We live in so such a distracting world right now where it feels like you could constantly be thrown off track from what matters to you the most just by being distracted. and And we really try to help young people know that if you'll figure out what's the most important thing for this hour and then put your time and energy and effort and focus toward that, you could accomplish a lot more in life.
00:10:07
Speaker
Have there been any lessons that you've been taught in connection with that? You know, you're at BYU and I'm sure you got a lot of mental performance coaches and incredible football coaches that help you understand the price of being great.
00:10:23
Speaker
Are there any lessons you've learned that relate to that principle win the hour that you could share? Yeah, no, totally. they They teach us just like you were sharing there in the hour to just be where your feet are, be present, and give respect to whoever's there, whoever's really sacrificing time to teach you or train you. and i mean, we have a lot of things going on here as a student athlete. You have workouts in the mornings, you got your extra work, school meetings, practices, more extra work.
00:10:52
Speaker
and There's an easy tendency to pull out your phone in meetings or not necessarily win the hour, be where your feet are. um And so there's a lot of training, a lot of focus on if you want to perform better than most, if you want to be the best, you need to win each hour of each day, really.
00:11:12
Speaker
Cody, what let' let's dive into some kind of not sensitive, but but super sometimes difficult to talk about subjects, I guess. um You remember when we came to your school, we talked about you know social media use and mental health and bullying and suicide prevention and all these different things. And every school that that we work with, this is an issue at. I was up at a high school up in about an hour and a half north of where we, the three of us kind of reside.
00:11:43
Speaker
And I asked them a question on i gave them four options, mental health, ah bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, and cheating. And I wanted them to kind of rank what they think was the biggest problem at their school. And every time I do this activity, it's it's interesting to get the responses back because every single time except for one, which ironically was at your high school, um Every time I've done it, everything gets a one vote.
00:12:11
Speaker
So somebody in the room thinks that bullying is the biggest problem at their school and somebody else will think that drug and alcohol abuse. And then there's another person what's serious mental health or it's cheating.
00:12:23
Speaker
Um, ah so everybody has something is one or two. And that and and the case was was up there. um They had ah mental health and cheating were the ones that most of the kids had at one and two.
00:12:36
Speaker
I remember doing it at Corner Canyon in particular because it's the only school I've done it at. That was several years ago that this this particular example happened. You may have been there then. I don't remember, but It everybody had cheating as one or two, which really caught me off guard that every single person had that.
00:12:53
Speaker
and And I remember asking one of the admin there to our coaches, did you guys think it was that? And they they didn't. They thought it was something else. So obviously there was something going on that they needed to look into. But the the one that always makes me the most concerned.
00:13:08
Speaker
is, I mean, they're all serious. um Drug and alcohol alcohol abuse, of course, is serious, but the serious mental health, the bullying, those ones seem to really, because that that tells me that there's somebody in the school right that very second that we're talking that's probably really struggling and that there's some mom or dad that are home right now that are probably really struggling and praying that their daughter their son has a better day.
00:13:32
Speaker
And then we try to help and encourage, motivate these athletes to go and address that. Social media has sort of gaslit all of these problems. And when that became a thing, just shortly before we started, especially for athletes, social media was still just kind of working its way into kids. So we didn't talk a lot about it at the beginning.
00:13:54
Speaker
it It really wasn't in the hands of kids like it is now. in fact, some of these social media apps didn't even exist back then when we started this program. um We asked you earlier in this podcast about your social media before we were recording. and You said you didn't have or that didn't use Instagram, which I love. Did you in high school and what pressures or pitfalls have you seen from people, especially athletes,
00:14:21
Speaker
because of the the addiction to look at me, follow me, like what I post, ret retreatat retweet what I post, what's social media to you and your world been and why are you on it?
00:14:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think the number one thing for me, maybe this is kind of twofold, but one side of it, I feel people just get distracted. um You're wasting so much time on the app. And so that's that's one of the main drivers for me so I can stay focused and not have that distraction. But the second fold maybe to what you're saying more is I do think there's a negative side where maybe you have friends and they post a picture with all of them together and you're the only one excluded. And it kind of hurts. it It doesn't feel good.
00:15:06
Speaker
And before there was social media, of course, there weren't any of those things going on. um And also to that point, maybe you're not getting the likes or the comments, um or maybe there are comments, especially as an athlete, you mess up in a game. you do something poorly and all of a sudden your your DMs are just flooded. I'm sure I have 100 requested DMs right now of, you suck, why'd you drop that, et cetera. So there's there's a negative side, even if you think you're really mentally strong.
00:15:36
Speaker
um because I consider myself like strong, right? I think most people would. But when you start reading those comments, they really do deteriorate and kind of make you feel bad. You don't feel good after reading those. So social media, I think, really does have a pretty negative effect on a lot of mental health issues, especially bullying.
00:15:56
Speaker
That's crazy to think about, Dustin. just i You know, Cody, as you're talking there, we have another principle of compete without contempt, like compete without hatred.
00:16:11
Speaker
Sounds to me like you've seen not just the side of being on the field and trying to hurt someone or or things like that, but there's this weird fan competition stuff. I don't know, even though to call it competing doesn't sound like the right definition because they're in the stands.
00:16:34
Speaker
but They're called losers is what they're called. Yeah. What would you say to people who who take the time to DM ah a player, and you know the guys you play with. Dustin and I play college sports, and I never once approached the plate thinking, I'm going to disappoint everyone who supports us right now. you know like There's no one on the football field that wants to succeed more than the players do or the coaches do.
00:17:06
Speaker
What would you say to the people who take time to go in someone's DMs when they've dropped a ball or made a mistake or run an incorrect route or thrown an interception or whatever? It take time to go at that person in the way they sometimes do.
00:17:22
Speaker
What would you say to that that person? and Well, what i want to say is get a life. And what I probably should say more is um no one's trying to mess up. We all slip up and make mistakes. And there's no reason to go in put someone down when they're already, I can guarantee you if someone messes up on the field, they feel worse than you can imagine. And so just going and typing those things and messaging someone, um and half my messages are from like dads. it's It's insane. It really is. But it really does make no sense. But it if you just think about what they're feeling right now, you would never want to go and put them down even more. Yeah. So why dads? You mentioned it's crazy because it's dads. There seems to be something about a dad doing that, that,
00:18:08
Speaker
It just throws me off. I can't imagine me as 40-year-old messaging some 18-year-olds, hey, like, you suck. Like, what? Like, you ever done this before? You know what i mean? And not no I'm not referencing just myself. There's countless teammates who we just laugh and scroll through these messages of random super fans or super haters from and unnamed schools that that don't like you.
00:18:34
Speaker
Yeah. Well, part of what I was doing there, Dustin, with the dads, can you imagine, i mean, just someone who has kids saying that stuff to a kid, you know, and if someone came at my kids like that, it'd be so offensive. I just, anyway.
00:18:53
Speaker
I don't, I don't understand that it, I don't understand it at any level, even when you go to a you know a professional athlete, a professional sport, and you've got 30-year-olds that are out there playing. I've never, in fact, I was at a hockey game about a month ago.
00:19:08
Speaker
And at the hockey game where the players sit and the fan, it's a foot apart, but there's a big sheet of plexiglass or something that's between the fan and the hockey player, right?
00:19:21
Speaker
And this this guy comes out and this fan is pounding on the glass. I mean, the the the hockey player could have put his face to the glass and it would have been, mean, it can't be more than two inches thick from this guy's hand, right? And he's slapping the glass and yelling at him and the hockey player just ignored him. And I i remember thinking,
00:19:42
Speaker
that guy would never in a million years say or act at all like he's acting if he didn't have the safety of that plexiglass right now. 100%. Yeah, that fence behind him. And I wish so much that that glass had like broken or something or or they had they could push a button and have it drop and watch that guy all of a sudden just just slither into a hole and hide under his seat because he would have gone from, right, Mr. Tough Guy,
00:20:10
Speaker
to just a scaredy cat as fast as as he could have. And, right? And so, if but we say things to people at games that we would never say to that person if we saw him in the parking lot, you know, or in a gas station. or And I think, so i during the game, I said, I think, so tell me if you guys will go along with this, so we could maybe do this in football too.
00:20:32
Speaker
I said to the guy I was with, I said, I think that every professional hockey player gets one pass that they can use during a ah game where they can call out that fan that's in the crowd.
00:20:44
Speaker
And that fan has to come out on the ice and fight him right in front of the whole stadium, the whole arena. They got to incorporate that somehow. yeah They put it on. That'd be awesome. You just got to pull it out of your bag. You say, I'm using my card. You right there behind the glass on the ice right now. Yeah, you can put some pads on. We'll we'll try it out. Yeah. All of a sudden.
00:21:09
Speaker
Of that comedian that said he thinks they should introduce something into the Olympics, the control group. and Oh, yeah yeah. It's just some normal dudes swimming, you know, so they can see how elite the, it's like that. That's the control group is every college athlete gets to pick one in their career. Like that guy right there. I want to. Yeah.
00:21:31
Speaker
Yeah. Cody, you you call them down and say, all right, I want you to guard me. We're going to do a one-on-one. You guard me. to see that. and i they see that fly right by them. Well, they you know they do. they They get out of control and it's becoming more and more a problem and kids are growing up seeing parents and and making these connections to, well, as long as you're at a sporting event and you can act like a moron and say and and and do whatever you want,
00:21:57
Speaker
at a sporting event, it's okay. Now, outside of that, the kid is told by the same dad, probably to respect adults and be kind and don't talk back, right? And and obey the law and do all these
Mental Health and Athlete Support at BYU
00:22:08
Speaker
things. But for whatever reason, you go to a sporting event and and you can do and say, you know, whatever you want. And so Cody, there's, so let's speak to this because the latest latest study I saw, I need to find a more recent one. This was a couple years old, but it said that 30% of division one athletes were struggling from some sort of mental health issue that they probably should be getting help for. So not, I don't know if it says serious mental health, but a a mental health to the degree that counseling or some help might be needed, but only one or only 10% were actually
00:22:43
Speaker
getting help. um I know you have services there that are provided to the athletes at BYU, but speak to the mental health stuff, both in high school um as an athlete, because sometimes people think that a good looking, strong, you know, confident, charismatic kid like you can't ever be struggling with any sort of, you know, mental health issues. And then what do you guys do as athletes, um you know, at Division I level to to treat that?
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah. um I mean, to your point, there's always there's always something going on with everyone you see, no matter no matter who it is, someone and everyone is fighting something. and And that's why I love kind of this principle. When I see eyes up, I think of literally eyes up, looking for those who are struggling. um But in in all reality, everyone's probably going through something. and Especially in college, it's it's a lot more... High school, I feel like, was a little more team. and you're kind of circled with each other college. It seems you're a little more one of v one you're competing and there's not so much lovey dovey vibes. So there's definitely probably a little bit more in college, but we have a lot of great resources.
00:23:57
Speaker
Um, we have a guy named Braden Brown who, um, you can go to no matter what, if you're feeling sad or, um upset, you know, there's a lot of mental health things that go on and he's great at helping us get back on track and and because you really can't compete as well as as you're you're made to do with something on your mind and blocking you from memorizing the plays or ah performing the way you need to perform.
00:24:22
Speaker
how How often does Braden do the coaches or somebody there ah talk with you guys about taking advantage of that resource?
00:24:33
Speaker
and I can't speak for other universities, but I do feel like BYU is pretty good at it. I feel Brayden is always messaging us. um we always are ah He's always available for us.
00:24:46
Speaker
um And they bring it up pretty often that he's he's the guy to go to. And there's other people and that are available to help us out to coaches if we have any problems, parents, of course. But and There's some great resources here that it can help.
00:25:02
Speaker
You've probably seen some teammates struggling, Cody, um which I think makes the conversation we had that led up to that that question, Dustin, even more important, you know, must be hard to see someone who you know is going through a difficult time because you've had your eyes up and you're trying to do the work to help them. And then they make a mistake on the field or, or something like that. And all of a sudden everyone's heaping upon them.
00:25:30
Speaker
Uh, I just think that connecting those two, you know, you've seen Cody, obviously you would never talk about specifics, but What's it like when you see someone on your own team that you could tell something's off and and they're they're not feeling good emotionally or mentally or going through a really difficult time?
00:25:55
Speaker
The reason why I ask that is we try to help our athletes when we do presentations to understand that, that sometimes those people you have your eyes up looking for are not outside of your team. They're on your team, right? And you're spending hours and hours and hours with them.
00:26:09
Speaker
um What's that like when you see a teammate struggling and how have you personally struggled? approach those situations because sometimes it's kind of, what do I do here? I don't want to go up. And I think that prevents a lot of people from helping out their teammates who might be having a hard time. How have you got over that and and reached out and tried to help a teammate?
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, no, exactly to what you're you're saying, that point. and It's almost when you're with someone for so long, it's or a really good friend, it's sometimes it's harder to ask how you're doing or is there something on your mind, what can I help with? and Especially in the football world when everyone's trying to be mentally tough and really in any sport, right? You're trying to to out physical, out beat, outwit everyone.
00:26:55
Speaker
and Something I love about our university is Coach Kalani preaches love. and He preaches, you know, circling each other. We're all brothers. um And so when someone makes a mistake on our team, you you rarely see people chirping at them. It's always lifting each other up, helping each other out. So um In general, I feel our coaching staff, Coach Kalani in specific, is really good at helping us understand that we're all brothers. We need to lift each other up, and that sort of thing. One-v-one aspect, I feel and you can you can always tell when you're with someone these many this many hours a day during the week. You can tell when something's off. So something as simple as going and sitting next to them and talking to them. Oftentimes they kind of tell you on their own um what's going on in their heads, but just sitting and being a good friend, I'd say.
Sports as a Unifying Force
00:27:43
Speaker
Awesome. And that's what's so great about sports. And we've, we've brought this up before, but that, you know, you, you inherently, and then it's even more so if you have a coach that, that that preaches it and that tries to live it is you you get this brotherhood or this, you know, almost a family-like feeling. So it is easier to open up and talk to somebody or maybe even bring it up when a person just casually asks you how you're doing. You're you're more comfortable to say, well, I'm actually not doing great.
00:28:10
Speaker
But most of the world doesn't belong to a team like that, right? Most of the kids at BYU, you know they don't They don't have a group of guys there ah with two or three hours a day working out and and you know getting together. and you know And that's unfortunate because this kind of leads me to what I wanted to ask you about next, Cody, was you've seen it on a team, Shad and I have both seen it. um When you get in a locker room, you don't care.
00:28:38
Speaker
you know, what what color somebody is or what political affiliation they they follow or religion they are. Nobody cares. um You just play ball together. And if if that guy was struggling, he could be a different ethnicity, a different religion, you know, from ah from a different state or a different country. And you care about him just the same, right? um So, you you know how has that been at BYU and how do we... Well, let me let me rephrase that.
00:29:10
Speaker
It's kind of a hard question, Cody. You also lived in another state. You live in a state now in Utah and you go to a school in BYU that's fairly Caucasian.
00:29:22
Speaker
and Christian. And, you know, that that's for sure the dominant to color and and religion. um But it's not in, you know, a lot of other areas around the world. and And here where you served your mission, you know, where I served mine, it wasn't.
00:29:36
Speaker
um Shad, where you live, know, out on the East Coast. So how do we treat people better? Because as you know, in the current landscape we live in, in America, there's all sorts of hate going on right now, right?
00:29:50
Speaker
People disliking each other for every possible reason to not like someone. um Again, this is a kind of a deep question here, Cody, but if you were talking to 15-year-old, how would you talk to them about the importance of seeing everybody as people and as is as just a human and not this or that, you know, these these tribes that we put everybody in? Do you have any thoughts on that?
00:30:16
Speaker
No, I think it really is a pretty serious problem, especially in today's um politics-driven, race-driven minds. I feel like everyone has.
00:30:27
Speaker
um But I feel... I feel the general, the general point that I'd have or kind of tip maybe is just see each other as your, everyone's children of God. I guess bringing a religion into is just the way my brain thinks right now, but um everyone's just, we're all God's children. It doesn't matter our race, our opinions, politics.
00:30:51
Speaker
It seems like everything in today's world is meant to divide us, but and If we just focus on who we are, who who we truly are, who we were before we were here, who we're going to be, we're all brothers and sisters and we all are working towards the same goal um and helping each other out no matter who they are. If they may they they're annoying to you maybe in class or whatever it may be, just kind of focusing on that helps me reset and know, okay, like they're trying their best to be a great kid. They're being they're trying to be funny or whatever it is, just helping each other out in whatever way you can.
00:31:27
Speaker
Chad, what I was going to ask you to, yeah I wanted to get your thoughts on that because it, maybe it's just closer to my, on my mind right now, just because of things I've seen in the news this last week. And I'm always trying to think, okay, well, how do we, how do we teach kids that we're going to be in front of that you know, this isn't, first of all, I don't think the whole world is as bad as we're seeing on the news right now. I think that the very worst is being broadcast all the time. yeah but It is what they're seeing. And so we've got to somehow teach them that it doesn't have to be this way. But Shad, how how do we do how do we use sports to do that?
00:32:04
Speaker
Or can we, I guess? Yeah, so maybe this is a deeper answer than than you want, doesn't it? I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a peacemaker. yeah And, you know, i so I have a daughter who's...
00:32:22
Speaker
I've kind of worried about throughout her life because she's willing to do whatever is necessary, even in our own family, for there to be harmony, right? To bring peace. And sometimes that that's good if you're surrounded by good people, but but I worry about just someone feeling like the only way to get peace is to submit and agree with everyone else's opinions.
00:32:52
Speaker
And I've but just been thinking a lot about that phrase, peacemaking, that it's a little bit messier than just, okay, fine, I'll submit and I'll agree so that there could be harmony.
00:33:04
Speaker
that there has to be this coming together and having conversations and really understanding one another and and focusing more on what we have in common and common goals that we have. And but that's peacemaking.
00:33:18
Speaker
Submitting and getting harmony is not peacemaking. There are really important things, I think, to consider in the current climate that we're in, even politically. on both sides of the aisle, right? And every, on both sides of the aisle of any argument, the other side would just love everyone else on the other side to capitulate and to say,
00:33:39
Speaker
oh, you know what? Oh my gosh, you guys have been right all along. And the truth is, I don't think we'll arrive at the best solutions in any issue, whether it's a team issue or a societal issue.
00:33:54
Speaker
If we just focus on giving in so there could be harmony instead of having tough conversations, focusing on what we have in common, and then working together toward a mutual goal.
00:34:10
Speaker
And to the last part of your question, that's what's so beautiful about sports, right? Cody, I imagine everyone in the BYU locker room is not the same type of person. They do not view things the same and that there's often conflict in the way we view things, including who should be playing or or what we should be running or whatever it might be.
00:34:31
Speaker
But sports always has that common goal of winning. And the best teams come together and say, okay, what do we need to all sacrifice to get to our common goal? And I think we're missing that in our society right now. We're acting like as Americans, we're two teams competing against each other.
00:34:53
Speaker
When it would be better if we came together and said, no, we're team that is working toward a common goal. and And that's being victorious as a society and having peace and prosperity and doing good for other people.
00:35:09
Speaker
and just feel like we're two teams right now and we need to come together and be a team. And sports teaches us how to do that. So that's probably longer and deeper than, you know, but I do think it's something important.
00:35:21
Speaker
No, I think that that's, I think those are topics that need to be discussed. And and look, if if if you're looking for just a feel good talk about who's going to win the Super Bowl podcast, that's not us.
Athletes as Role Models and Leadership Insights
00:35:33
Speaker
You know, we're we're sports podcasts, I guess. But the point is to hopefully dive into some things that might make its way to a young kid or to a coach of a young kid so that they could actually maybe have a discussion on some things because they're a very impressionable age right now and things they're seeing are going to stick and things that we say to them are going to stick. And so if what they're seeing isn't right or if what they're hearing isn't right, then as adults, and I'd say even as his coaches, especially in parents, but also Cody, as someone who is
00:36:05
Speaker
deep inside of the sport light right now, like you are, I wouldn't necessarily say that you have a responsibility, um but I would say that you have an opportunity, that you and your your teammates have an opportunity to use that sport light to talk about these kind of things. Because you know I can think of my 13-year-old son who you know loves to watch college football that if you were to say something or share something or he heard from you at your at his school or something, talk about something of substance like this, he'd probably remember it the rest of his life, you know? And and where dad says that it might be, eh, that's just dad, you know, talking again. He's always talking.
00:36:48
Speaker
Yeah, you yourre your dad was always talking you, right? We're those 50-year-old dads in the stands. We don't DM people, but that's that's who we are, Cody. Yeah.
00:36:59
Speaker
Cody, I know you, I knew you grew up in a family where, you know, you guys were taught the right way. Your brother was a great athlete. Your dad was a great athlete. I knew your dad from high school. and He was a couple years older than me, but I i knew of him because he was a good player.
00:37:12
Speaker
um Is that something that you think as an athlete that that there's, again, I don't want to say responsibility, but do you feel a responsibility as an athlete to be an example? Yeah.
00:37:24
Speaker
Yeah, no, totally. I think, um you know, opportunity is a great way to word it, but I also think it is a responsibility um where there's some light that you have right now. People want to listen or people look up to you. And and I think there's a lot of great opportunities for, you know, a variety of things. For example, of this Friday, and which is great because BYU is promoting it, our football team is promoting it, but There's a group of us that's going to some fifth graders, their class for an hour and go hang out with them and go talk to them. Hopefully they have, you know, just like we were talking about mental health issues or anything like that. You can talk them through anything, why they're sad or really just make them feel great. And i think it is an opportunity. you're
00:38:08
Speaker
The time of this opportunity is pretty slim for most people. And making the most of it is something I've been trying to do. Yeah. Dustin, can I ask a question?
00:38:21
Speaker
There's something that I feel like all college coaches are elite in certain areas. But Kalani Satake seems to have a gift for one area that's really important to our program. And it's this balance between being a fierce competitor and not hating your opponent.
00:38:42
Speaker
In fact, in our presentations this year, we share some of his words from that speech he gave at Rice Eccles Stadium, you know, that they're our brothers and we wouldn't be here without them. In regard to competing without contempt, without hatred,
00:38:57
Speaker
What have you seen in Coach Satake and those who work with him? What have you learned about that balance? Because I could also hear him like, they don't know, but they're about to find out. like That guy has that fire in him, right? He's a competitor, but then he just seems to have this something that tempers that competitiveness, that it never crosses that line of hatred for opponent.
00:39:26
Speaker
Would you speak about how he creates that culture on your team and maybe some things behind the scenes that he does daily to create that within you all? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong. He is, he's fierce. Coach Connie is fierce and he's a competitor and he wants to win. Um, but i think he knows when to have that mode game mode, but also have another side of things like we were just discussing of love and learn and brotherhood and compete without content.
00:39:54
Speaker
Um, He's a great example for all of us and a great leader, and especially after games, um maybe a game that you didn't play as well or a game that you lost. He's always coming up and talking to seriously, one by one with each of us, all the coaches are, telling us that, you know, we gave it our all and, know,
00:40:12
Speaker
um Something he always focuses on and tells us after a loss is don't let anybody know that you lost like your family. Don't treat your family different. Don't spend the rest of your day sulking or your girlfriend or your wife. They shouldn't know um if they didn't watch the game. They shouldn't know if you win or lose is something he tries to to talk to us about. and Having that, you know, being able to be confident Great being with your family after a loss, not dragging it out on them is something he talks a lot about too.
00:40:44
Speaker
that like that. That's really good. You know what though? I could help Kalani in that. Just don't play Texas Tech. Yeah, let's not talk about that. that when you go Then you guys never have to worry about ever ever going home sad to your girlfriends and wives, man. Stop playing those guys.
00:41:02
Speaker
No, I think that that might, we've never really talked about that, Shad, but Cody just brought up a point that When we we say compete without contempt, we on purpose say compete first because we don't want to under you know undervalue the importance of competition. It's not just
Handling Losses and Coach Influences
00:41:19
Speaker
be a good sport. Like the principle could be sportsmanship.
00:41:21
Speaker
We could talk about what sportsmanship is and shake somebody's hand and help them up if you knock them down. And I always tell football players, I don't care if you do any of that. You don't have to help a guy up if you knock him down. He can get up himself. It's a violent game.
00:41:34
Speaker
You go back and be with your teammates. If you want to help them up, great, but you're not a bad sport if you just laid a guy out on a tackle and you don't help him up and pat him on the butt and ask him if he's okay. it's it's in the It's easy to see from the crowd, but you know when you're out there in a football game, there's a lot of juice going through you and you just lit a guy up. You're going to celebrate with your teammates. Now, that's different from standing over a guy.
00:41:56
Speaker
right. And flexing on him or saying something dirty online to him, you know, or about him or something like that. Or, you know anyway, you know, there's a difference in competing. And I think, and sometimes being very competitive gets looked at as, well, they're not a very good sport because they, so you know, they, they want to win so badly and no, that's fine. That's, we need that.
00:42:16
Speaker
But you said something really important that I think falls in into compete without contempt. And that is, don't take, you so we say contempt, which means, you know hatred or animosity towards something or somebody.
00:42:28
Speaker
When you lose, you shouldn't have hatred or animosity towards the loss, Chad. So if you have hatred or animosity towards the loss, you feel sorry for yourself because you lost, you then go
00:42:45
Speaker
pour that out on other people because you're sad, you're mopey, you're, you know, upset, which i I do all the time after losses. I bring it home and, you know, and then it affects the way I am around my kids or my wife or something. So part of competing without contempt might mean that, look, when you lose, you've got to figure out how to leave it in the locker room when you walk out to some degree or leave it in the car.
00:43:09
Speaker
But once you go to walk into your house, you've got to leave it there because you now have to go and be, brother a friend or a husband or right wife or whatever it is. And you know that's interesting. I liked what you said there. And by the way, just so you know we talk about Kalani and BYU a lot, but I've known Morgan Scali for longer than I've known Kalani. In fact, Morgan and I were texting back and forth last week, shortly after he ah got the job and and I was telling him how excited I was. he's a super passionate guy, just like Kalani. And they're like really tight.
00:43:43
Speaker
and But he's the same kind of guy that he'll rip your face off and throw it at you five and in in one setting. But then in the other setting, that guy is as nice and as humble and as... Talk about a dude who wants to do good for people.
00:43:58
Speaker
The University of Utah's head coach, Morgan Scali, and then BYU's coach, Kalani, those two dudes... um or as good as they come. And Cody, youve you've known both of them growing up. I'm sure you met Morgan when Utah was recruiting you.
00:44:13
Speaker
um You had a head coach in high school who's now a head college coach. You've been around good coaches your whole life. Maybe maybe i this will be my last question, Chad, if you have ah one to finish. But Cody, talk to me about the importance of coaches in your lives and and listening and following counsel of coaches.
00:44:32
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I really do think sports teach you so many lessons that without sports, I won't have learned on my own. um I think competing without content, just like you guys were saying, there's no hatred. um But coaches in specific, and especially Coach Carey in high school, he...
00:44:51
Speaker
was kind of the first coach to really rip me. And, um, in the moment it never feels good, but when you realize they're doing it just out of love, they know your potential. They know what you can be, especially when a good coach, like coach care, coach Kalani, um, Scali, when they can come up to you after and, you know, talk to, uh,
00:45:11
Speaker
tell you how much they love you, and ask you about school, talk to you about your life, your brother's family, whatever it is. Having a really good coach in your corner, um especially when things go south and they can lift you up and help remind you of your potential is definitely very, very important.
00:45:29
Speaker
And i don't think I'd be the man I am today without great influences and like those coaches and even my dad. and My coach all growing up, Definitely would rip me every game, right? But definitely would also come up to me after and tell me how great of a job I did or how much he loves me and is excited to see me yeah ball out.
Resilience and Season Highlights
00:45:51
Speaker
That's Thank you. That's good. That's awesome. Cody, I had one question related to your season this year because I thought it was really cool. Obviously, you guys were hoping for a college playoff berth, and for much of the season, you were right there in that mix and ran into it just a bad matchup with Texas Tech. It just felt like ah they were strong in all the areas that were bad for them to be strong and for you guys, you know. and um But then you lose that conference championship game,
00:46:24
Speaker
You have to watch, hoping by some miracle you make the playoff, and you don't. That must have been just that turn of events, you know, hoping to win the conference championship game and or at least perform well enough to make the college football playoff, and then that doesn't happen.
00:46:43
Speaker
And now you as a team have to turn around and play a really good Georgia Tech team, that you kind of would rather have been somewhere else, but this was the reality that you were facing.
00:46:58
Speaker
It was impressive to watch you perform as a team. And that's an example of resilience, right? When life doesn't go the way we want it to we accept our reality and we give our best to it.
00:47:12
Speaker
Were there any moments in that whole episode that I just said that stick out to you that helped you, that you feel helped you and your team be resilient and prepare for that bowl game or perform well, even though it was a little bit of a disappointment to be there?
00:47:28
Speaker
Yeah, um totally. I think there's a ah part of that is composure. You know you want to be in the mix. and You want to be in that playoff and compete and show who you really are. um And I think there's some composure of knowing, okay, it's honestly, it's out of our hands. We play the best we can um and be the best team we can be with that one loss before that playoff decision. and Maybe we don't get what we want, but it really...
00:47:56
Speaker
felt like it lit a fire in us and to go and prove what we truly are, right? And in that bowl game, I felt like we all played as a team and and there's a lot of, you know, let's show who we really are. we may not They may not respect us, but let's show them who we really are. feel like that was the message that was ah said throughout those last few weeks and especially this offseason.
00:48:19
Speaker
It's not that was enough. It's definitely not. That's definitely not the the conversation we're having now. It's do you really want to do that again or you do you want to go be great? So it's a lot of extra work this offseason compared to last season and the seasons before. So we're feeling feeling ready to go. yeah It's really cool, Dustin. I've heard you teach a lot.
00:48:40
Speaker
Let failure be your fuel, right? So many people use failure setbacks as excuses instead of fuel. And so that's that's cool to hear that. I have one last question, Dustin. Do you have anything to say on that, Dustin? No, I'm good. Yeah, go ahead. I was just going to say, you were involved in one of the coolest plays that anyone's seen twice, but that tornado play.
00:49:05
Speaker
Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes. Is that what it's called, the tornado? It's what people call it. I think that's a common term for it. Yeah. ah yeah You know, you coming from one side and Bear Bachmeier just turning in circles like he's an ice skater and then handing you that ball. What did that feel like when you got the ball and just saw the end zone in front of you? And that's pretty much all you saw. And then you flew. Holy cow, you can fly, Cody. So tell us about that play that will be remembered for a long time.
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah, we we would always joke about it because we ran, I guess I ran that play twice and we were two for two. um And we kept joking that, why don't we run it anymore? But every every team knew it was coming after that. But and yeah, we joke with Bear because he's just spinning circles that he gets dizzy. ah By the time the play is over, he just stands there and gets his proprioception back and then starts walking again. But yeah. No, it's a great feeling. That was my first game was my first touchdown on that play. And then Colorado had one of those two that put us up in the fourth quarter. And just being able to contribute um on a kind of a fun play like that is definitely a big milestone in anyone's mind ah to help the team and help us get that victory.
Conclusion and Gratitude
00:50:22
Speaker
So definitely cool. Definitely great experiences.
00:50:26
Speaker
Well, Cody, listen, man, thanks for hopping on with us. like we We appreciate you for a lot of reasons. You know, being part of our program for, gosh, it's got to be almost 10 years now. um And, you know, wanting to wear that wristband, wanting to be an example. You know, i don't know how many guys we have at BYU that wear that wristband now. But is we used to have more, but we do have some. And but you're definitely the guy we would say is kind of our you know, our our poster boy of of ah what it means to, you know, be a ah football player the way that that it's supposed to be. You're super athletic, but you're also fierce competitor, kind and humble and all the things that, you know, an athlete should be. And so watching you grow up, and your brother as well,
00:51:13
Speaker
You know it's been fun for me to watch and and wish you nothing but success, man. Best of luck. Keep that shoulder healthy. And yeah, man, look forward to watching you out there scoring touchdowns next year.
00:51:24
Speaker
Thank you. Appreciate you guys for having me and everything that, you know, your program does and definitely does help lift everyone up. So appreciate you guys. thanks Thanks, man. Well, thanks for joining us. Eyes up. Do the work.
00:51:36
Speaker
Thank you for joining the Especially for Athletes podcast. To learn more about Especially for Athletes organization, get a copy of our book, The Sport Light, or to bring our program to your team, school, business, or organization, visit us at especiallyforathletes.org.