March 04, 2023 | Read Online

'I Was Winning at Work, But I Was Losing at Home'

The Daily Coach continued its conversation with Drew Maddux about navigating pressure, making career pivots, and overcoming the temptation to compare.

It was a tiny ad in a local newspaper — but it caught Drew Maddux's attention.

So, on a Saturday morning over 30 years ago, he went to a middle school in Downtown Nashville for an AAU basketball tryout.

Over the next couple of hours, Maddux impressed with his play — but he also developed a connection with Ron Mercer, widely regarded as one of the top talents in the country at the time who would go on to become a top NBA Draft pick.

The deep bond they forged that afternoon and over the months to come would captivate the city — and still influences him to this day.

The Daily Coach continued its conversation with Maddux about navigating pressure, making career pivots, and overcoming the temptation to compare.

This interview has been condensed and edited for brevity.

Tell us a little more about about your connection with Ron Mercer. What did you learn from him?

People fell in love with our unique friendship and followed our story really closely. There were all these angles and storylines being presented, but my parents did a great job, and my dad helped walk me through some of that.

Basketball has been overly generous and so good to me over the years, but nothing better than the relationships it’s provided. The friendship with him has really become a brotherhood over 30 years later. He and I were placed on the same shirts and skins team at that AAU tryout — and it a deep bond was formed.

We’re both 47 years old now, played high school basketball together. From him, I learned how to be selfless, how to pursue something greater than yourself in conjunction with somebody else who you love deeply. He was a great accountability partner on and off the court. His friendship means everything to me. Basketball can bring these two guys with two different backgrounds and upbringings but can give you an experience that creates a life-long bond that’s built on love.

You have a great career at Vanderbilt, then you work in the healthcare industry, then you decide to take far less money and get into high school coaching. How did you navigate that period and maybe tune out the voices questioning what you were thinking?

I have an incredible wife. She’s just awesome. You’ve got to have a person who’s with you. But I always say it’s the green light vs. red light theory. Once something’s placed on your heart, it’s a growth opportunity. If you continue to get all green lights as you’re evolving on a decisioning-making process or through a growth process, I think you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t pursue it.

I think the biggest thing was also my family. I was winning at work, but I was losing at home. I was traveling so much. I losing out on moments with my kids. As a man, I think I’m first called to be a great husband, second called to be a great father, and then the rest should start to evolve out of that. I wanted to pursue what it would look like to get that back in balance.

You have three kids, but also decided to adopt two more from Uganda. What led you to that decision?

My fourth-grade daughter at the time began to pray at night for two brothers. We had a lot of ministries and charities we were a part of that were in the foster care, adoption world. But I think a lot of it goes back to my friendship with Ron. That friendship prepared my heart for what was going to happen 30 years later. This friendship that was formed I think was setting me up for two future sons in my house.

I think the biggest thing I learned is the dependency on others. It was so much bigger than anything I could manage myself. There were government regulations, governmental parties, fundraising, travel, the judicial system. There were so many factors in it. I needed to realize, “It’s O.K. if I don’t have all the answers.” Asking for help was one of the biggest things I learned.

Second, if you open your heart up to something, you just never know where it’s going to lead. We didn’t know our two sons were going to be in Uganda. That alone is just mind-blowing. But when your heart gets opened up to something, just chase it with everything you have.

The last thing is just what it means to honor and celebrate each other. They come from a culture in Uganda that honors and celebrates. It’s just a part of the fabric and DNA, and they brought that to our house. They’ve brought what it means to honor one another, to really celebrate big, to love big, and they have transformed our house because of who they are. They’ve changed us forever.

You Tweet some pretty interesting content, and one of your recent posts was about the “7 Musts to Enjoy Your Day." What do you think is essential to having a productive day?

I think we exist in two levels. One is above the line, and that’s your mindset, your habits, your rituals and routines. And then there’s also below the line, which is your heart and your soul. It’s getting your mind and your heart in unison. I’m about being excellent in anything you do, in how you start your day, chase your morning routine, your schedule. Are you organized? Are you disciplined? Are you excellent in everything that you do, little and small?

Two things every day: Excellence. Love the next person in front of you and do the next right thing right.

And then what you schedule and make sure you have priorities within those.

You also have seven rules for life. Are there any that particularly stand out?

No. 4 is "Don’t compare."

We’re in a world with digital and social media where every single moment I can compare myself and measure pretty quickly how I’m doing if I allow that to creep into my mind. When I work with people or coach kids, they’re constantly measuring themselves up against someone else’s highlight film on social media.

But as Dabo Swinney says, “Best is the standard. What is your best?” You have to find ways to not compare and compete against others and to make sure the only competition is the mirror. When you look in the mirror, that’s all that matters.

Faith is certainly a huge part of your life, but you’ve probably had to lead people who are less religious as well. How do you strike the balance to reach an audience who may not completely share your views?

I’ve worked with Nike for over 16 years. I’ve worked in settings where I’ve spoken in secular groups. I just believe you’re always trying to make a connection, and understanding your audience is essential. But whether it’s the Gospel According to John or the Gospel According to John Wooden, there are still universal truths us as human beings should be pursuing.

I’m always very cognizant of what resources I draw upon and want to make sure I celebrate all people’s beliefs and all people’s faiths. And I want them to know they were created for beauty, for excellence and for impact.

Regardless of a faith background, we can all subscribe to the universal truths of we are called to love, to make an impact, and to be excellent in everything we do.

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