Coach Dan

Areas of Expertise

  • Weight Loss (Body Composition)

  • Functional Movement Training

  • Strength and Power Training

  • Sport Specific Training (Basketball, Golf, Swimming, Soccer, Football)

  • Basketball Skills Training

  • Core, Stability, and Corrective Exercise Training

Education

  • M.A. Sport & Fitness Administration | University of Houston

  • B.S. Exercise Science | Nebraska Wesleyan University

  • NCSA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist

  • RRCA Certified Running Coach

  • ACE Certified Gait Analyst

  • DBC Level One

  • Pain-Free Performance Specialist

Favorite Quote

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
- Michael Jordan

My Story

He/Him/His

I have always loved sports, and my sport was always basketball, but I’ve never been a great athlete, so I focused on skill - and I practiced all the time. I worked at the pool in the summers and on my hour off I’d drive down to the gym just to get shots up with my coach, while still in my lifeguard shorts. During one summer league game I heard a pop in my knee. I didn’t know it, but I’d torn my meniscus. Tweaks happen all the time and I figured that’s all it was. That fall, I played on what I was told was just a sprain, to the point that I couldn’t bend my knee. I decided to skip playoffs to get surgery so I could be ready for the next basketball season.

That season didn’t go as planned and left a sour taste in my mouth; I slowly let go of the idea that I’d play in college. Still, as I entered college, I wanted to stay close to the game, so I became our team manager, doing everything except suiting up. I began to notice in the year since I’d torn up my knee, I was feeling much better. The week our season ended, I told coach that I wanted a spot and that I wanted to play. He recognized how hard I worked, and he gave me my shot.

I ended up playing at Nebraska Wesleyan University for 2 years. I loved every minute of it, but I also knew when it was time to walk away. We got a new coach and a new system that was fun, but just required a generally higher level of athleticism than I possessed at the time; I was smart and humble enough to recognize that. During my last year playing basketball, I had gotten involved in our strength and conditioning program, interning there for 4 semesters. With no more basketball commitment, I had a lot of freedom, but also a lot of responsibility to our soccer teams and swim teams, but mostly our women’s basketball team. I loved the other side of the game, and helping my friends find success. The women’s team won the most games they’d won in ten years that season, and have consistently been on the rise since then. I like to think I had something to do with that. I got my degree from NWU in Exercise Science in 2017. From there, I went on and got my Masters in Sports and Fitness Administration from the University of Houston.

I tell this long story because it’s been a huge part of what’s shaped me into not only the coach I am today, but who I am as a person. I believe everyone who walks through the door at Perform For Life has a story like this, some part of life that wasn’t easy but that made them a better person. That’s what gets me up every morning. I’m not trying to win championships anymore, but I’m excited to get up and go to work where I get to be around people who are building on their stories and becoming better. Helping in that writing process is what I’m here to do.

My Philosophy

I believe everyone has an insatiable drive inside them. However, sometimes they’ve never tapped into it or recognize that it’s even there. To me - among other things - fitness, exercise, and any athletic endeavor is a great way to find it. Whether it’s your job, family, friends, faith: I believe your experience and passion for those “it” factors, the ones that help you find your drive, are better with exercise because our bodies were made to move!

Being a competitive person and experiencing setbacks has taught me that one of the most important things to be able to do in life is to be adaptable. That was a hard lesson to learn, but without that piece, I couldn’t have grown. I believe that so much of success happens “between your ears” as my grandpa would say, and I want to help train that as much as any muscle or movement. If you can get your mind right, you can get your life right. And, if you can get your mind right, you can get your body right; moving, feeling, and looking a way that makes you happy. I want you to be happy; training your body and mind, pushing limits, reaching goals, and setting new ones is a great place to start.

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