April 16, 2025 • 19 mins
Luke Falk, Former WSU and NFL QB joins Ian to talk about the importance of mental strength when it comes to playing football. He shares his own stories and how the mental part of the game affected him in his career. Luke tells us more about Sam Darnold and what he brings, as well as what he expects from the Cougs' new coaching staff and Zevi Eckhaus this season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining us right now, Beacon playing hotline. We talked to
him a couple of weeks ago along with his old
teammate River Craycraft. He's now a Seattle Seahawk, and I said,
you know, at the time we're going, there's Maryor's game
going on, lots of stuff's going on. I want to
get him back on because I want to revisit a
couple of topics, talk about Wazoo spring game, get his
thoughts on the new coaching staff out there as well.
He was in Pullman last week for a couple events.
So joining us right now, I'll introduce him this way.
(00:21):
Of course, he's a current mind and strength coach. Well
to find out what that is in a second, I
could probably all you can all use help with that, Andrew,
you especially My mental strength isn't there No, okay, neither
is mine.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Do push ups?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, do something. But I like to say the all
time leading passer in the PAC twelve conference, Luke Falk
with us right now. Hello, sir, how are you? I'm
doing well? Ian Jessman. How you guys? What we're going?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We're good?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Did they retire your number at Wazoo? Because I mean
shod or standards got his number retire and he didn't
do much? So did they retire your number? There wasasoo yet.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
No, No, I'm pretty sure they gave it to a
walk on after I left.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
But he's starter now starter min Yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Was the year after year after they gave it to
walk One's definitely not a walk on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
He's he's much higher caliber.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I like it. Uh, real quick? What is a mind
strength coach? What are you do in these east help
catch people up a little bit there?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, no, great question.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I mean think about athletes have a strength coach in
the weight room. They've got these coaches out on the field,
But who's really helping them develop and strengthen their mind?
Not talking about you know, the rehab portion. I'm talking
about how to be able to access their full God
given ability out on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Because I look back on my career.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And the games that I played great I was mentally
locked in and the great the games I didn't. I
wasn't there mentally and it had nothing to do with
my physical capabilities. Yeah, I was pretty limited in that
area anyways. But and I think it's the most case
for most athletes. Their mind is either their greatest or
their greatest asset, and I tried or not try, I've
(02:03):
got to proven track record of being able to help
these athletes get to their peak performance. It's been a
lot of fun. It was the game changing thing for
me in my career where I've battled a lot of
self doubt, lack of confidence, you know, insecurities early on,
and then I met with the mental performance coach.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It changed my life.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
So I'm doing the same. It's been a lot of fun.
And you know, it's not that person trying to sell
a diet here. It's not a broke person trying to
sell somebody had to get rich.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I've done it.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I've lived the principles and you know, now been able
to coach people.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Through it too.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So it's been a lot of fun and just got
to sell. It's the most rewarding career to be able
to see a kid win state championships, conference championships, earned scholarships,
but those all fell in comparison to seeing that new
inner strength and confidence that becomes their new norms.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So that's really what I'm after. I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
You know, with the NFL Draft coming up, Luke, the
you know we're seeing you know forty times and cone
times and all this stuff. And you you've played in
the NFL. You've been there and played in Division one
college football for a team that was ranked a lot
under the great, late great Mike Leach as well. What's
the difference between you know, the top player I will
(03:18):
just say, like a good player in the NFL and
a guy that's that's you know, getting cut in August?
Is is it what you just talked about? How much
of it is mental?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I like to ask that question to people and generally
most of them say, you have the mental outways of physical.
I'm like, well, put a percentage on is it at
eighty twenty seventy thirty? And then I said, whatever your
answer is, do you train in proportion of that? And
the answer is a definite no. Right, most people spend
most of their time on the physical portion of the game.
But I do think it's a huge it's a huge part.
I think it is the part you know, you get
(03:51):
these guys talent without mind strength. I always say, is
talent wasted. I've seen it time and time again. I
wasn't the most talented at Washington State. I was able
to piece it together mentally though, and that's what allowed
me to climb the ranks.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
There are plenty of.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Guys that had way more physical capabilities and athleticism than
I had. And then guess what why did I sizzle
out in the NFL? I quit working on the thing
that got me there. I quit working on my mind strength.
I allowed the trappings of success to get the best
of me. I allowed a poor, negative environment to get
the best of me, and I quit working on the
thing that got me there. So I'm a firm, firm believer.
(04:25):
It is the missing link, or it is the key
contributor to whether somebody's successful or not.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
How much of how much of that too is the
pressure that especially young athletes are going through these days,
Like we're the portals open again. I don't know does
a portal ever close? It feels like it's always open,
but apparently it's open again, revolving door. It is right,
it's open again. And I just I'll use a good example.
I don't want to use the kid from Tennessee that's
that's maybe going to UCLA, the quarterback. I'm to use
(04:54):
different one, and not to pick on him because he's
a former Husky, but just I thought it was interesting.
Jack McCallister was a three year starter as a punter
for Washington, transferre to Nebraska. Now he's transferring again. Now,
some of these guys are chasing money. But and sometimes
when you're chasing money, there's pressure from the families or
what have you. I'm trying to make the most money
I can because maybe I'll never play pro what have you.
But when you talk about the mental side of football
(05:17):
or college athletics or even the pros, how stressful is
it and how much of the training that you talk
to young people listen, if we're being honest, I mean
you know this. I know this. We work with the
Lensky family. There's there's undue pressure. There's crazy pressure on
young people in sports today. How much of that is
what you're able to help young people with.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, no, great question.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I mean, these athletes are getting bombarded by so much
in the external world. And mind strength to me is
about mastering the inner world so you can handle anything
that the external world throws at you. I'll just use
this old high performance formula that my my strength coach used,
you know, my mental strength coach to use with me,
says Potential plus training minus interference. Well, potentially, I can't
(06:01):
do anything about right, that's what we're given. But we
can work on maximizing our training and mitigating the interference.
So certainly, like you said, who's in your core five,
who are the people that you're interacting with? What are
you taking in social media wise, this, that, and the other.
Who are you allowing in your inner circle? Those are
a big part of the interference portion. What are you
(06:21):
choosing the folks on and not focused on? So a
lot of it is absolutely mitigating the interference. And a
lot of times coaches are an athlete's great at source
of interference. Sometimes parents are an athlete's greatest source of interference.
So finding ways and methods to be able to help
them no matter what is going on in the external world,
no matter what somebody says to you, they have the
(06:43):
confidence and the resilience to be able to handle anything.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So it's certainly a big part.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think it's definitely needed now more than ever, especially
with the way the college landscape's going, because it's trickled
down in the it's trickled down into high school, and
it's going to make its way in the NFL, and
it's going down into youth football, It's going down into
the youth basketball, all these other sports. So mind strength
now is more important than ever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Luke Falk joining us all timely pastor in the Pac twelve,
former NFL quarterback, Wazoo quarterback as well working on the
mental side of the game. Current mind strength coach as well.
For people who miss it last time, we'll do this
real quick. I want to get to Wazu in a second.
But you played with in the same locker room, quarterback room.
You played with Sam Donald, the new Seahawk quarterback. Whath
youd Seahawk fans know about Sam Donald?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Sam's uber talented.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I mean he's one of those guys I talked about
it last time. I mean the revolutions on the football
and that guy throws the spirals unbelievable. And Sam is
the ultimate competitor. I talked about that game we played
in Pullman when he was at USC and he just
would not quit.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And I just saw somebody who has a.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Complete, you know, resolve and wants to do the best
he possibly can be. Was the first guy in the
locker room, last guy to leave out in New York
just wants to get it right, and it's fun seeing
him have the six sys that he's had because he's
super talented. I think he'll be a great fit in
Seattle on you know, I'm happy that he's landed in
a great spot.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
The mental side of things too, You just talked about
everything you talked about in that previous answer before, just
being in that right spot. Who your core people and
you know, who are the distractions and all those things.
Luke coming to a place that wants him, signs him
as a free agent, as Seattle did with John Schneider
Mike McDonald, How important is that for Sam Darnold.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh big time.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I mean, I think the people, especially for quarterbacks is
you know what coaching staff who believes in you. It's
so much easier to do your job when you feel
like you can play with house money and you're not
playing with a you know, a scared mindset in the
sense or feeling like your gut job's going to get pulled.
To rip that from underneath that, I'll give you an example.
(08:52):
My sophomore year, right, coach Leech is saying, hey, Luke
Falk should be considered the Heisman, and my senior year
there was a different story. It felt like, you know,
if I made a bad play, I was going to
get the rud rick from out you know, under from me.
And you can see the difference in my play now.
I didn't do the proper things going in that off season,
and unfortunately coach Leach and I got a little bit
(09:14):
sideways going into my senior year. But there's a difference
when you feel like you've got the confidence and the
support from not only the coach but the entire franchise.
I know that's going to help and benefit Sam greatly.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I think that's also why Gino went. Gino Smith goes
to play with Pete Carroll, who believes in him and
has all that right. Right, we're looking, three of us
are looking each other, and then Sam comes here. Where's
a guy that believes in him? Sometimes it's the right
when you hear it's a right fit. As you speak, Luke,
I'm thinking the right fit is, especially at that quarterback position. Right,
it's the right fit. It's the right fit. Find that
(09:48):
guy that believes in you, and that's that's good stuff,
all right. I want to get to Wazoo a little bit.
You're over there. You spoke to the team, so you're
around the coach, the new coaching staff, Coach Rogers and everything.
What are your impressions of them?
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Well, I think we're in good hands us Koob's. I
think Coach Rogers has got a winning formula. I think
he's super loyal. He's a nobs guy. As you can see.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
You know, he reminds me.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Of a little bit ash our boy River Craycraft. I mean,
they're they're very serious, they're they're very about business. But
you can see when he got up and talked in
front of us UH Cougar alumni on one of the nights,
I could see a tad bit of humor if you
just if you get to get to know him a
little bit, I think so he reminded me of Riven
that regard where listen, he's not going to open up
(10:32):
right at the beginning, but he's he's very solid in
who he is. He seems comfortable in his own skin.
And you know, I think he's going to do a
great job. So I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It's interesting because I told we had him in studio Luke,
and I told I was telling I had some friends called, Hey,
what'd you think of coach Rogers and this and that.
I said, I said, he is so different than every
coach that I can remember since. I mean I I
was at Wazoo when Jim Walden was there, and Coach Walden,
God bless him. I still talk to him. He does
a radio show. He's as crazy today as he was
(11:01):
back then. And I mean, whether it was Walden, Hurricane,
Dennis Erickson, the great Mike Price, and then obviously you
know with coach Leech, you know the good coaches that
we've had there, and you know, Dickert was kind of
a salesman and not in a good sense, I don't think,
and Rollovich was nuts. So I mean, it's but it
feels like this is the first guy we've had come in. Honestly, Luke,
(11:24):
that is like what you just said, serious focused, and
it's a different thing because usually we get the eccentric.
At Wazoo, you had the most eccentric, Like you had
a guy that took it to a different level. But honestly,
I mean, Mike Price wrote a Trojan Horse in one
time at practice famously at Wazoo, and then Leach took
that to a whole different level. But this is a
(11:44):
different type of guy, and maybe Luke, it's what's needed
over there right now.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Hey, I think he's the right guy for the times
that we're facing. I think he's all about ball. He's
not looking for excuses. You know, he has a mental
performance coach that he brought over from South the Code.
I think it shows in his demeanor. He's not looking
for the excuse. He's not looking to be the victim.
He's not looking for Wazoo to get the easy cop out.
(12:10):
He's looking for and finding solutions, which is what I
think he's gonna find because his mentality and the way
he approaches the game.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So, hey, Luke, this is Luke Faalkare Jessman McIntyre and
I had the pleasure of being over. I'm sorry I
missed you over at the spring game, but I was
in and out like a bat out of heck. And
I had the pleasure of talking to both the new
offensive coordinator, Danny Foynd, as well as Jesse bobb Att,
our new defensive coordinator. And these guys are engaging, smiling,
nobody's lost a game. They're all excited.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
They just finished spring ball.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
So I interviewed them first and they're all, yeah, Okay,
let me talk about this team. And Coach Rogers when
I interviewed him later in that practice, he stared straight
ahead and he answered everything extremely like militant, not mean,
not rude or anything like that at all, and gave
me like two minute answers on every single detail of
(13:03):
that practice. That is exactly what he sounds like.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The other guys are like, we're all best friends.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
You know, this is so great, guys, wasn't fake because
like the majority of their staff already knows each other,
so they're all really close with each other already. But
Coach Rogers just, yeah, we're gonna do this and you know,
and we're not going to do this. And he wouldn't
give me any secrets, but he's gonna tell me exactly
what they're gonna do without telling me anything. And he
(13:30):
didn't look me in the I except for when he
was done talking. I like it he was off in
the distance because his mind was there in exactly what
he was talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I loved it, guys. I like I like the attitude.
I think it's I think, Luke, what you said too
is true. That's what's needed right now, Like with all
the challenges going on, tell us about the quarterbacks. Zavvy's
got the starting job, but I hear Jackson Potters looks
pretty good as well.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
What do you think, Yeah, well, I think it's Zevy's job,
and I think Jackson does have a lot of talent
and we should be pretty excited about, you know, his future.
But I think it's Zvy's team. He just shows a
leadership and you know, he's so comfortable in his own skin,
at least from the outside looking at it. He's exactly
what you wanted that position. You know. He kind of
(14:14):
reminds me, and I've heard Jack Thompson say, you know,
he reminds Us Gardner a little bit. I didn't get
to know Gardner all that well, but from a Moxie
type of presence. Now, I don't think he is out
there as Gardener with maybe the.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Mike Leach type stuff.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
No, but you know what I mean, he's got he's
got that certain presence to him and so I think,
you know, he's a great fit. It sounds like he
was a guy that tried to help Coach Rogers recruit
some guys back that were in the portal. So he's
just done a great job from that standpoint. And you know,
he's a he's a he's a fine young man. So
it's been fun for me to be able to just
(14:51):
get to talk to him last week. And I'm really
excited for him, So I think it could be a
lot of fun. And seeing what he did in that
Holiday bull Boy, if he can, if he can cake that,
we're in pretty good hands.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, what does that say about about somebody? And I
just he was for he was thirty one for forty three,
three hundred and sixty three yards and three touchdowns in
the Holiday Bowl. And I mean there's part of me
watching that going this looks awesome. Can't wait till next year?
And then I'm thinking, well, this dude's just putting on
a resume. He's putting a resume tape out there right now,
and he's going to be gone. And he was for
three or four days and then he came back. But
(15:22):
now in today's world, the fact that he does come back,
what does that tell you about him? Luke?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, I think he loves Pullman. It's hard not to
love Pullman. I think he loves the fans, the environment,
and my hope to him is that he still plays
with kind of that house money mentality. You know, you're
going to Holiday Bowl, You've got no none of your
coaching staff there, You've got all these people sitting out,
you haven't started a game. It's like, what do you
have to lose? So hopefully he can continue that mentality
(15:50):
because if he does, were we saw what he's capable of,
rather than getting in the scarcity mindset of worrying about
making a mistake and unraveling.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So, you know, it's kind of like the backup effect.
You see a backup.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Quarterback going a game, they play lights out because it's there.
They're really playing fearless. They they're playing with house money.
Leach taught me that, you know, and Leech was always
trying to echo to me, Hey play with house money,
play with house money. And it was easy for me
in my career early on because I was the walk on.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
What did I have to lose? Shoot?
Speaker 4 (16:21):
If I didn't play well, what were they gonna do?
Not feed me for the night like they already weren't?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So make you dressing bowler gym? I don't know actually
they did to do that?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah yeah, rolling the sand pit again, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, I guess. My thing with them is.
I'm you know, we'll see what happens. This is a
weird year coming up. I mean, I don't know how.
I don't know what you told the kids on I
think you talked from Thursday or Friday what you told
the team, But I mean it's a weird year. They're
playing this weird, kind of independent, barnstorming schedule and then
all of a sudden in twenty twenty six, boom, here's
the Pac twelve again. You got Boise State, and you
(16:57):
got all these pretty good teams in your common French
and you start real conference a game. How hard would
it be if you go into the offseason? Do kids
look at that? Do players look at that saying, man,
we got Oregon State twice? Yeah, we play an SEC
team on the road. That's cool, But it's it's kind
of a weird schedule. We're not playing for a conference championship.
How do you approach an offseason if you're afe of
those guys right now?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Yeah, I think they do.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
But I think with the leadership that they have and
coach Rogers, he's going to redirect their mind on what
they need to focus on and the things that matter.
So I think it starts with the leadership of where
what are we focusing on and what's our daily process
and not worrying about the outside world. And you really
could you can make this a call, you know, a
way to be able to unite a lot of people.
(17:41):
It's all about how you look at things, right.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Somebody could look.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
At the same thing and two people could come up with,
you know, two different solutions to it. But I think
Coach Rogers is going to see this and he's going
to find a way. How can this unite us? How
can this how can we use this to be able
to help uh? Kind of that wazoo blue chip mentality,
and I think he's.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Going to do a great job of that.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Always fun talking to you, Luke really is to fun.
Uh are you working? Are you traveling all over the place?
If someone's sitting there saying, hey, I'd like Luke to
talk to my you know, high school team or small
college team or something like that, what do you How
do we get a hold of you? I know how
to get ahold of you, but how get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You just you just call me?
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Uh now go to fulkmindstre coaching dot com. There's some
stuff in there there's a question, or you can book
a complimentary coaching session and we can talk about some
of our options. But yeah, we're doing a Mind Strength
Experience tour right now. So we're we're doing one a month.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
We'll be up in.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Seattle in June at Skyline High School on June twelfth.
Nice thanks to coach Poloor for setting that up. Also,
I have a good Peyton story I forgot loud time.
Got a good Peyton story. I used to call him
Gerber Gerber baby because his mom would.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Always he'd always give us. You'd always give.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
His mom his laundry, no crap. I never saw Peyton
his laundry for like five years while we were at
w Show's mom would always come back and do it.
And you know, he he'd have his little chair set
up so he's playing his video game, so he's just
I joke with him.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
He never grew up, you know, he never grew up.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So I'm glad to see he's making some strides now
as the head coach, and hopefully he does his own
laundry now.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
But first, the only thing that's erroneous about that is
you said you said five years. That's like half of
the time he's.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
At once.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Peyton. We love you, buddy. Oh I can't wait to
see him again.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
He was trying to stay, try to stay long enough
to get the n I L.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
But he just didn't quite make He.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Missed it by like a year or two, and then
he had then he had to go. Then he then
he goes to college and ends up having to deal
with the n I L on the other side. That's
why he's coaching the Skyline now, although I'm sure Skyline's
got its own an il deals at Skyline forgetting his
sakes up there on the ridge. All right, hey, buddy,
we'll talk again. This is a ton of fun. We'll
do this down the road again. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Awesome, thanks, Thanks, there you go.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Luke faalk all time leaving pass Or packed twelve good stuff. Well,
we'll talk more football with him coming up this fall,
I think
Joining us right now, Beacon playing hotline. We talked to
him a couple of weeks ago along with his old
teammate River Craycraft. He's now a Seattle Seahawk, and I said,
you know, at the time we're going, there's Maryor's game
going on, lots of stuff's going on. I want to
get him back on because I want to revisit a
couple of topics, talk about Wazoo spring game, get his
thoughts on the new coaching staff out there as well.
He was in Pullman last week for a couple events.
So joining us right now, I'll introduce him this way.
(00:21):
Of course, he's a current mind and strength coach. Well
to find out what that is in a second, I
could probably all you can all use help with that, Andrew,
you especially My mental strength isn't there No, okay, neither
is mine.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Do push ups?
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, do something. But I like to say the all
time leading passer in the PAC twelve conference, Luke Falk
with us right now. Hello, sir, how are you? I'm
doing well? Ian Jessman. How you guys? What we're going?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
We're good?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Hey?
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Did they retire your number at Wazoo? Because I mean
shod or standards got his number retire and he didn't
do much? So did they retire your number? There wasasoo yet.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
No, No, I'm pretty sure they gave it to a
walk on after I left.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
But he's starter now starter min Yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Was the year after year after they gave it to
walk One's definitely not a walk on.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
He's he's much higher caliber.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I like it. Uh, real quick? What is a mind
strength coach? What are you do in these east help
catch people up a little bit there?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah, no, great question.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I mean think about athletes have a strength coach in
the weight room. They've got these coaches out on the field,
But who's really helping them develop and strengthen their mind?
Not talking about you know, the rehab portion. I'm talking
about how to be able to access their full God
given ability out on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Because I look back on my career.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
And the games that I played great I was mentally
locked in and the great the games I didn't. I
wasn't there mentally and it had nothing to do with
my physical capabilities. Yeah, I was pretty limited in that
area anyways. But and I think it's the most case
for most athletes. Their mind is either their greatest or
their greatest asset, and I tried or not try, I've
(02:03):
got to proven track record of being able to help
these athletes get to their peak performance. It's been a
lot of fun. It was the game changing thing for
me in my career where I've battled a lot of
self doubt, lack of confidence, you know, insecurities early on,
and then I met with the mental performance coach.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
It changed my life.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
So I'm doing the same. It's been a lot of fun.
And you know, it's not that person trying to sell
a diet here. It's not a broke person trying to
sell somebody had to get rich.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I've done it.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I've lived the principles and you know, now been able
to coach people.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Through it too.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So it's been a lot of fun and just got
to sell. It's the most rewarding career to be able
to see a kid win state championships, conference championships, earned scholarships,
but those all fell in comparison to seeing that new
inner strength and confidence that becomes their new norms.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
So that's really what I'm after. I love that.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
You know, with the NFL Draft coming up, Luke, the
you know we're seeing you know forty times and cone
times and all this stuff. And you you've played in
the NFL. You've been there and played in Division one
college football for a team that was ranked a lot
under the great, late great Mike Leach as well. What's
the difference between you know, the top player I will
(03:18):
just say, like a good player in the NFL and
a guy that's that's you know, getting cut in August?
Is is it what you just talked about? How much
of it is mental?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:29):
I like to ask that question to people and generally
most of them say, you have the mental outways of physical.
I'm like, well, put a percentage on is it at
eighty twenty seventy thirty? And then I said, whatever your
answer is, do you train in proportion of that? And
the answer is a definite no. Right, most people spend
most of their time on the physical portion of the game.
But I do think it's a huge it's a huge part.
I think it is the part you know, you get
(03:51):
these guys talent without mind strength. I always say, is
talent wasted. I've seen it time and time again. I
wasn't the most talented at Washington State. I was able
to piece it together mentally though, and that's what allowed
me to climb the ranks.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
There are plenty of.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Guys that had way more physical capabilities and athleticism than
I had. And then guess what why did I sizzle
out in the NFL? I quit working on the thing
that got me there. I quit working on my mind strength.
I allowed the trappings of success to get the best
of me. I allowed a poor, negative environment to get
the best of me, and I quit working on the
thing that got me there. So I'm a firm, firm believer.
(04:25):
It is the missing link, or it is the key
contributor to whether somebody's successful or not.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
How much of how much of that too is the
pressure that especially young athletes are going through these days,
Like we're the portals open again. I don't know does
a portal ever close? It feels like it's always open,
but apparently it's open again, revolving door. It is right,
it's open again. And I just I'll use a good example.
I don't want to use the kid from Tennessee that's
that's maybe going to UCLA, the quarterback. I'm to use
(04:54):
different one, and not to pick on him because he's
a former Husky, but just I thought it was interesting.
Jack McCallister was a three year starter as a punter
for Washington, transferre to Nebraska. Now he's transferring again. Now,
some of these guys are chasing money. But and sometimes
when you're chasing money, there's pressure from the families or
what have you. I'm trying to make the most money
I can because maybe I'll never play pro what have you.
But when you talk about the mental side of football
(05:17):
or college athletics or even the pros, how stressful is
it and how much of the training that you talk
to young people listen, if we're being honest, I mean
you know this. I know this. We work with the
Lensky family. There's there's undue pressure. There's crazy pressure on
young people in sports today. How much of that is
what you're able to help young people with.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, no, great question.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I mean, these athletes are getting bombarded by so much
in the external world. And mind strength to me is
about mastering the inner world so you can handle anything
that the external world throws at you. I'll just use
this old high performance formula that my my strength coach used,
you know, my mental strength coach to use with me,
says Potential plus training minus interference. Well, potentially, I can't
(06:01):
do anything about right, that's what we're given. But we
can work on maximizing our training and mitigating the interference.
So certainly, like you said, who's in your core five,
who are the people that you're interacting with? What are
you taking in social media wise, this, that, and the other.
Who are you allowing in your inner circle? Those are
a big part of the interference portion. What are you
(06:21):
choosing the folks on and not focused on? So a
lot of it is absolutely mitigating the interference. And a
lot of times coaches are an athlete's great at source
of interference. Sometimes parents are an athlete's greatest source of interference.
So finding ways and methods to be able to help
them no matter what is going on in the external world,
no matter what somebody says to you, they have the
(06:43):
confidence and the resilience to be able to handle anything.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
So it's certainly a big part.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think it's definitely needed now more than ever, especially
with the way the college landscape's going, because it's trickled
down in the it's trickled down into high school, and
it's going to make its way in the NFL, and
it's going down into youth football, It's going down into
the youth basketball, all these other sports. So mind strength
now is more important than ever.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Luke Falk joining us all timely pastor in the Pac twelve,
former NFL quarterback, Wazoo quarterback as well working on the
mental side of the game. Current mind strength coach as well.
For people who miss it last time, we'll do this
real quick. I want to get to Wazu in a second.
But you played with in the same locker room, quarterback room.
You played with Sam Donald, the new Seahawk quarterback. Whath
youd Seahawk fans know about Sam Donald?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Sam's uber talented.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
I mean he's one of those guys I talked about
it last time. I mean the revolutions on the football
and that guy throws the spirals unbelievable. And Sam is
the ultimate competitor. I talked about that game we played
in Pullman when he was at USC and he just
would not quit.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
And I just saw somebody who has a.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Complete, you know, resolve and wants to do the best
he possibly can be. Was the first guy in the
locker room, last guy to leave out in New York
just wants to get it right, and it's fun seeing
him have the six sys that he's had because he's
super talented. I think he'll be a great fit in
Seattle on you know, I'm happy that he's landed in
a great spot.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
The mental side of things too, You just talked about
everything you talked about in that previous answer before, just
being in that right spot. Who your core people and
you know, who are the distractions and all those things.
Luke coming to a place that wants him, signs him
as a free agent, as Seattle did with John Schneider
Mike McDonald, How important is that for Sam Darnold.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Oh big time.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
I mean, I think the people, especially for quarterbacks is
you know what coaching staff who believes in you. It's
so much easier to do your job when you feel
like you can play with house money and you're not
playing with a you know, a scared mindset in the
sense or feeling like your gut job's going to get pulled.
To rip that from underneath that, I'll give you an example.
(08:52):
My sophomore year, right, coach Leech is saying, hey, Luke
Falk should be considered the Heisman, and my senior year
there was a different story. It felt like, you know,
if I made a bad play, I was going to
get the rud rick from out you know, under from me.
And you can see the difference in my play now.
I didn't do the proper things going in that off season,
and unfortunately coach Leach and I got a little bit
(09:14):
sideways going into my senior year. But there's a difference
when you feel like you've got the confidence and the
support from not only the coach but the entire franchise.
I know that's going to help and benefit Sam greatly.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
I think that's also why Gino went. Gino Smith goes
to play with Pete Carroll, who believes in him and
has all that right. Right, we're looking, three of us
are looking each other, and then Sam comes here. Where's
a guy that believes in him? Sometimes it's the right
when you hear it's a right fit. As you speak, Luke,
I'm thinking the right fit is, especially at that quarterback position. Right,
it's the right fit. It's the right fit. Find that
(09:48):
guy that believes in you, and that's that's good stuff,
all right. I want to get to Wazoo a little bit.
You're over there. You spoke to the team, so you're
around the coach, the new coaching staff, Coach Rogers and everything.
What are your impressions of them?
Speaker 4 (09:59):
Well, I think we're in good hands us Koob's. I
think Coach Rogers has got a winning formula. I think
he's super loyal. He's a nobs guy. As you can see.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
You know, he reminds me.
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Of a little bit ash our boy River Craycraft. I mean,
they're they're very serious, they're they're very about business. But
you can see when he got up and talked in
front of us UH Cougar alumni on one of the nights,
I could see a tad bit of humor if you
just if you get to get to know him a
little bit, I think so he reminded me of Riven
that regard where listen, he's not going to open up
(10:32):
right at the beginning, but he's he's very solid in
who he is. He seems comfortable in his own skin.
And you know, I think he's going to do a
great job. So I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
It's interesting because I told we had him in studio Luke,
and I told I was telling I had some friends called, Hey,
what'd you think of coach Rogers and this and that.
I said, I said, he is so different than every
coach that I can remember since. I mean I I
was at Wazoo when Jim Walden was there, and Coach Walden,
God bless him. I still talk to him. He does
a radio show. He's as crazy today as he was
(11:01):
back then. And I mean, whether it was Walden, Hurricane,
Dennis Erickson, the great Mike Price, and then obviously you
know with coach Leech, you know the good coaches that
we've had there, and you know, Dickert was kind of
a salesman and not in a good sense, I don't think,
and Rollovich was nuts. So I mean, it's but it
feels like this is the first guy we've had come in. Honestly, Luke,
(11:24):
that is like what you just said, serious focused, and
it's a different thing because usually we get the eccentric.
At Wazoo, you had the most eccentric, Like you had
a guy that took it to a different level. But honestly,
I mean, Mike Price wrote a Trojan Horse in one
time at practice famously at Wazoo, and then Leach took
that to a whole different level. But this is a
(11:44):
different type of guy, and maybe Luke, it's what's needed
over there right now.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
Hey, I think he's the right guy for the times
that we're facing. I think he's all about ball. He's
not looking for excuses. You know, he has a mental
performance coach that he brought over from South the Code.
I think it shows in his demeanor. He's not looking
for the excuse. He's not looking to be the victim.
He's not looking for Wazoo to get the easy cop out.
(12:10):
He's looking for and finding solutions, which is what I
think he's gonna find because his mentality and the way
he approaches the game.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
So, hey, Luke, this is Luke Faalkare Jessman McIntyre and
I had the pleasure of being over. I'm sorry I
missed you over at the spring game, but I was
in and out like a bat out of heck. And
I had the pleasure of talking to both the new
offensive coordinator, Danny Foynd, as well as Jesse bobb Att,
our new defensive coordinator. And these guys are engaging, smiling,
nobody's lost a game. They're all excited.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
They just finished spring ball.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
So I interviewed them first and they're all, yeah, Okay,
let me talk about this team. And Coach Rogers when
I interviewed him later in that practice, he stared straight
ahead and he answered everything extremely like militant, not mean,
not rude or anything like that at all, and gave
me like two minute answers on every single detail of
(13:03):
that practice. That is exactly what he sounds like.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
The other guys are like, we're all best friends.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
You know, this is so great, guys, wasn't fake because
like the majority of their staff already knows each other,
so they're all really close with each other already. But
Coach Rogers just, yeah, we're gonna do this and you know,
and we're not going to do this. And he wouldn't
give me any secrets, but he's gonna tell me exactly
what they're gonna do without telling me anything. And he
(13:30):
didn't look me in the I except for when he
was done talking. I like it he was off in
the distance because his mind was there in exactly what
he was talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I loved it, guys. I like I like the attitude.
I think it's I think, Luke, what you said too
is true. That's what's needed right now, Like with all
the challenges going on, tell us about the quarterbacks. Zavvy's
got the starting job, but I hear Jackson Potters looks
pretty good as well.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
What do you think, Yeah, well, I think it's Zevy's job,
and I think Jackson does have a lot of talent
and we should be pretty excited about, you know, his future.
But I think it's Zvy's team. He just shows a
leadership and you know, he's so comfortable in his own skin,
at least from the outside looking at it. He's exactly
what you wanted that position. You know. He kind of
(14:14):
reminds me, and I've heard Jack Thompson say, you know,
he reminds Us Gardner a little bit. I didn't get
to know Gardner all that well, but from a Moxie
type of presence. Now, I don't think he is out
there as Gardener with maybe the.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Mike Leach type stuff.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
No, but you know what I mean, he's got he's
got that certain presence to him and so I think,
you know, he's a great fit. It sounds like he
was a guy that tried to help Coach Rogers recruit
some guys back that were in the portal. So he's
just done a great job from that standpoint. And you know,
he's a he's a he's a fine young man. So
it's been fun for me to be able to just
(14:51):
get to talk to him last week. And I'm really
excited for him, So I think it could be a
lot of fun. And seeing what he did in that
Holiday bull Boy, if he can, if he can cake that,
we're in pretty good hands.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah, what does that say about about somebody? And I
just he was for he was thirty one for forty three,
three hundred and sixty three yards and three touchdowns in
the Holiday Bowl. And I mean there's part of me
watching that going this looks awesome. Can't wait till next year?
And then I'm thinking, well, this dude's just putting on
a resume. He's putting a resume tape out there right now,
and he's going to be gone. And he was for
three or four days and then he came back. But
(15:22):
now in today's world, the fact that he does come back,
what does that tell you about him? Luke?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, I think he loves Pullman. It's hard not to
love Pullman. I think he loves the fans, the environment,
and my hope to him is that he still plays
with kind of that house money mentality. You know, you're
going to Holiday Bowl, You've got no none of your
coaching staff there, You've got all these people sitting out,
you haven't started a game. It's like, what do you
have to lose? So hopefully he can continue that mentality
(15:50):
because if he does, were we saw what he's capable of,
rather than getting in the scarcity mindset of worrying about
making a mistake and unraveling.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
So, you know, it's kind of like the backup effect.
You see a backup.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Quarterback going a game, they play lights out because it's there.
They're really playing fearless. They they're playing with house money.
Leach taught me that, you know, and Leech was always
trying to echo to me, Hey play with house money,
play with house money. And it was easy for me
in my career early on because I was the walk on.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
What did I have to lose? Shoot?
Speaker 4 (16:21):
If I didn't play well, what were they gonna do?
Not feed me for the night like they already weren't?
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So make you dressing bowler gym? I don't know actually
they did to do that?
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah yeah, rolling the sand pit again, I guess.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, I guess. My thing with them is.
I'm you know, we'll see what happens. This is a
weird year coming up. I mean, I don't know how.
I don't know what you told the kids on I
think you talked from Thursday or Friday what you told
the team, But I mean it's a weird year. They're
playing this weird, kind of independent, barnstorming schedule and then
all of a sudden in twenty twenty six, boom, here's
the Pac twelve again. You got Boise State, and you
(16:57):
got all these pretty good teams in your common French
and you start real conference a game. How hard would
it be if you go into the offseason? Do kids
look at that? Do players look at that saying, man,
we got Oregon State twice? Yeah, we play an SEC
team on the road. That's cool, But it's it's kind
of a weird schedule. We're not playing for a conference championship.
How do you approach an offseason if you're afe of
those guys right now?
Speaker 2 (17:19):
Yeah, I think they do.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
But I think with the leadership that they have and
coach Rogers, he's going to redirect their mind on what
they need to focus on and the things that matter.
So I think it starts with the leadership of where
what are we focusing on and what's our daily process
and not worrying about the outside world. And you really
could you can make this a call, you know, a
way to be able to unite a lot of people.
(17:41):
It's all about how you look at things, right.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Somebody could look.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
At the same thing and two people could come up with,
you know, two different solutions to it. But I think
Coach Rogers is going to see this and he's going
to find a way. How can this unite us? How
can this how can we use this to be able
to help uh? Kind of that wazoo blue chip mentality,
and I think he's.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Going to do a great job of that.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Always fun talking to you, Luke really is to fun.
Uh are you working? Are you traveling all over the place?
If someone's sitting there saying, hey, I'd like Luke to
talk to my you know, high school team or small
college team or something like that, what do you How
do we get a hold of you? I know how
to get ahold of you, but how get a hold
of you?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You just you just call me?
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Uh now go to fulkmindstre coaching dot com. There's some
stuff in there there's a question, or you can book
a complimentary coaching session and we can talk about some
of our options. But yeah, we're doing a Mind Strength
Experience tour right now. So we're we're doing one a month.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
We'll be up in.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Seattle in June at Skyline High School on June twelfth.
Nice thanks to coach Poloor for setting that up. Also,
I have a good Peyton story I forgot loud time.
Got a good Peyton story. I used to call him
Gerber Gerber baby because his mom would.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Always he'd always give us. You'd always give.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
His mom his laundry, no crap. I never saw Peyton
his laundry for like five years while we were at
w Show's mom would always come back and do it.
And you know, he he'd have his little chair set
up so he's playing his video game, so he's just
I joke with him.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
He never grew up, you know, he never grew up.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So I'm glad to see he's making some strides now
as the head coach, and hopefully he does his own
laundry now.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
But first, the only thing that's erroneous about that is
you said you said five years. That's like half of
the time he's.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
At once.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Peyton. We love you, buddy. Oh I can't wait to
see him again.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
He was trying to stay, try to stay long enough
to get the n I L.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
But he just didn't quite make He.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Missed it by like a year or two, and then
he had then he had to go. Then he then
he goes to college and ends up having to deal
with the n I L on the other side. That's
why he's coaching the Skyline now, although I'm sure Skyline's
got its own an il deals at Skyline forgetting his
sakes up there on the ridge. All right, hey, buddy,
we'll talk again. This is a ton of fun. We'll
do this down the road again. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Awesome, thanks, Thanks, there you go.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Luke faalk all time leaving pass Or packed twelve good stuff. Well,
we'll talk more football with him coming up this fall,
I think
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