Super Bowl Winning Coach on Grit, Growth and Failure | NFL Coach, Tom Cable

Tom Cable (0:01)

At the end of the day, if I'm doing something for others, then I'm being me. Every decision we make in my world, at least in my belief, is I either do it with love or with hate. And so I chose love. How are we growing? How can we be better than everybody else if we just stay on this side of the short fence? Let's step over that and let's go climb the tallest fence.

Let go.

Michael Gervais (0:31)

Okay, welcome back, or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade and training a high-performance psychologist. And today, I am so thrilled to introduce a friend and a former colleague from my time with the Seattle Seahawks, the exceptional coach, Tom Cable. Tom's coaching journey includes three years as an NFL head coach and seven years as an assistant head coach. He was a member of two Super Bowl appearances with the Seattle Seahawks where we won one in 2014 against the Broncos, and then we lost one in dramatic fashion in 2015 against the Patriots.

With over 35 years of coaching experience, Tom has left an indelible mark on both collegiate and NFL levels. His expertise is with the offensive line, but his influence goes way beyond Xs and Os. He's a teacher, as all great coaches are. He's a co-creator of cultures and a problem solver who challenges players and organizations to be honest in their approach towards mastery. Now, this episode is special. Not only do we dive into Tom's stories and insights and his practical approaches to getting better, but in the second half of this conversation, Tom and I get to wrestle with some of your questions around coaching and leadership. We set up a call and phone number and you left us some great questions for us to tackle. So we cover the mindset required to adjust when things don't go according to plan, how to build a trusting environment, personal stories from our time together with the Seahawks, including a never heard before breakdown of the infamous goal line call in the Super Bowl that we lost.

And we talk about so much more.

This conversation serves as a reminder that success is not solely defined by championships, but by the growth and support and love shared along the path. So with that, let's jump right into this week's conversation with the incredible coach, Tom Cable.

Coach, this is awesome. Like, very rarely do I get to sit with somebody I deeply respect and that I've had the chance to work with, and I would consider you a friend. So like, this is rare that I get all three, and I just can't wait to have this conversation with you.

Tom Cable (2:53)

Well, for me, this is really a blessing. I mean, we've talked so many times over so many things for years, and we just spent a weekend together.

And every minute of it, when there wasn't others around, was about something really cool. So, you know, this is a lot of fun and an exciting thing for me as well.

Michael Gervais (3:11)

100%, and it's worth noting why we spent the weekend together. It's probably good context.

Tom Cable (3:15)

Absolutely.

Michael Gervais (3:16)

Go ahead.

Tom Cable (3:16)

The Super Bowl, the 10-year anniversary of Seattle Seahawks in 2014

Michael Gervais (3:20)

I didn't even know that was a thing.

I didn't know that there was reunions like this. I'm sure you did.

Tom Cable (3:25)

Well, not really, but I think there's a reunion for everything. Like, there's one coming up next month when you and I met. This was years ago. I just haven't told you about it.

Michael Gervais (3:33)

Oh, really?

Tom Cable (3:34)

Yeah, but I'll invite you.

Michael Gervais (3:35)

You'll invite me to that party? That's really good. The Super Bowl reunion for me was like, you and I talked about this, is that it was nearly overwhelming. Yeah, and I flew into Seattle, driving from the airport to the hotel, I called my wife, and I was like, what am I doing here?

Like, why am I going back? Like, I kind of like going forward. I don't go back very often because I haven't been with the team for three years.

And so I was like, what am I going back for? And okay, you go, wow, that sounds cold.

But I didn't realize what I was missing by not going back. And it was so overwhelming. The gratitude, the appreciation, the celebration of seeing people doing stuff. And I was listening to how people were talking to you about like how you changed their life. It was awesome. And so I'm so stoked to be part of that team. And then to have this little celebration with everyone.