Vernon Griffith, co-owner of Virginia High Performance and high school strength and conditioning coach, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about opening Virginia High Performance, transitioning from the military to strength and conditioning, and impacting youth athletics.Vernon Griffith, CSCS,*D is Co-Owner of Virginia High Performance, where he functions as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has trained hundreds of athletes, ranging from 10-year-olds to collegiate athletes. Additionally, Griffith serves as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the nationally-ranked Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School football and basketball teams. Find Vernon on Twitter: @VernonGriffith4 | Find Scott on Twitter: @scottcaulfieldShow Notes “The whole goal was to get into youth athletics, to work with teams, to truly change kids’ lives.” 3:38“I thought the private facility would give me a better avenue to be able to still put my family first.” 5:50“All my other friends were going to college to play sports, or for education, and I was like ‘What am I going to do?’” 7:50“[The military] set me up for success, it set my family up for success.” 8:00“In four months, I lost I think it was like 30 something pounds—but I did it the wrong way.” 9:15“I felt terrible, I felt so old… and I was like ‘there’s got to be a better way to do this’ and so that’s when I started reading.” 9:50“It started to fascinate me, and I was like ‘this is kind of what I want to do.’” 10:03“The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.” 11:31“Be the coach that you needed.” 14:13“We have these kids at such a pivotal point in their life, and we can teach them everything that we find valuable.” 14:40“We can make them stronger with a pencil in their hand… but we choose not to, we choose to just make them stronger with a bar in their hand.” 14:47“We’re missing a huge opportunity to truly change someone’s life.” 14:56“It’s not bench and squat and deadlift—it’s how we communicate.” 15:08“We don’t talk about how to communicate… and we expect young coaches to step in front of a group of 10 – 20 people and just do it.” 16:05“I’ve learned so much from the kids that I work with.” 17:30“In the private sector, I have to adapt.” 18:00“I just want to provide these kids with the best me.” 18:35“Athletes are not going to tell you what’s wrong right away.” 21:55“It’s asking questions to open up dialogue.” 22:35“If you are a good person, we can give you the tools to be a good coach.” 25:30“Honestly, I like to have individuals that don’t have much experience.” 26:00“I am a grey area coach, I don’t think things are black and white.” 26:14“I want coaches to have that mindset of being fresh, trying to be innovative.” 26:26“Most people think of training a military person or tactical athlete as just beat the heck out of them.” 29:29“The second you look at a tactical, military person… as an athlete, you just look at the picture different.” 29:48