🎙️ Train Smarter. Fuel Better. Get Recruited.
The Student Athlete Performance Podcast helps you maximize performance, improve nutrition, and stand out in recruiting. Hosted by Nick Lemke, RD, each episode features elite athletes, coaches, and experts sharing proven strategies on training, recovery, mindset, and college recruiting. Whether you’re an athlete, parent, or coach, get the tools you need to level up in sports and beyond.
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What College Soccer Coaches See That Your Highlight Film Never Shows
Every text message. Every phone call. Every visit. Every time a coach watches you play.College soccer coaches are collecting data on you constantly and the athletes who understand that are the ones who get offers.
Karrigan Falber is the head coach of LeTourneau University Women's Soccer. In her first year as head coach, she took a program that hadn't had a winning season in seven years and turned it around, setting a program record with eight shutouts, including five straight. In this episode, she unpacks what she's evaluating in recruits and what separates the athletes who earn playing time from the ones who don't.
We get into what coaches see when they watch you that has nothing to do with skill, why your consistency throughout the entire recruiting process matters more than any single showcase, how to build the kind of soccer IQ that makes coaches fight to recruit you, and why female soccer players are coming into college programs overtrained and what to do about it.
Karrigan also breaks down the one mindset shift she installs in every athlete she coaches — the difference between who you are and what you do — and why the players who grasp it play better because of it.
If you play high school soccer and want to know how college coaches are really evaluating you, this one is worth your time.
Connect with Karrigan:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/karrigan_falber/
X: https://x.com/CoachKarrigan
Connect with Nick:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicklemkerd/
X: https://x.com/nicklemkerd
20 Aug 2026
He Won 4 State Championships and Still Walked Away — What Every Athlete Needs to Hear
Coaches are leaving athletics at a rate that has never been seen before. Reagan Smith is one of them and his story is worth understanding.
Reagan spent 16 years as a high school football coach without a single losing regular season. He won four state championships. He sent nine players to the NFL and has a tenth projected one in Arizona State transfer, Omarion Miller. And then he walked away.
In this episode, Reagan gets completely honest about what drove him out — the NIL era gutting his recruiting pipeline, the pressure from parents and social media, wages that didn't keep up, and a version of the job that stopped resembling the one he signed up for. He also shares something most championship coaches won't admit: winning a state title felt empty. And understanding why changes how you think about everything you're chasing.
We get into what actually separated his championship teams from everyone else, why coaches waste enormous amounts of practice time on things that don't move the needle, what his "focus, effort, details" mantra really means at the play-by-play level, and the three things he would tell every high school athlete who wants to play at the next level right now.
Reagan also gives the most direct recruiting advice you'll hear — why your D1 dream might actually be a D2 opportunity, why the six-hour radius rule changes your chances overnight, and why a 10-to-15 play highlight reel will do more for you than a 12-minute one that only mom and grandma watch.
If you play or coach high school football, this one is worth your time.
Connect with Reagan:
X: https://x.com/CReaganSmith
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reagan.smithcoachsmith
Connect with Nick:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicklemkerd/
X: https://x.com/nicklemkerd
13 Aug 2026
What an MLB Strength Coach Sees When He Watches High School Baseball Players
A strength coach who spent 20 years in the Major Leagues can read a high school player in seconds. And what he's looking at first has nothing to do with how they swing or pitch.
Jose Vasquez spent nearly two decades as head strength and conditioning coach for the Texas Rangers and is now a physical therapist working with baseball players across the Dallas area. In this episode, he shares what he watched separate the players who lasted in the big leagues from the ones who had the talent but burned out early — and what that means for high school athletes right now.
We get into why the eye test at a showcase matters more than most parents realize, why spending money on showcases before your son's body is ready is money thrown away, how high school players are losing entire years of development by never putting the ball down long enough to build real strength, and why one bad night of sleep can wreck your body for two to three days — the same way a hangover does.
Jose also answers the question every sports parent eventually asks: when should a high school athlete start lifting weights? His answer isn't what most expect — and it has nothing to do with age.
Plus he breaks down the exact weekly schedule he builds for his top high school athlete, currently one of the best players in Texas, and the three things every high school baseball player needs to be doing right now to give themselves a real shot at the next level.
If you play high school baseball and want to know what an MLB coach actually sees when he looks at you, this one is worth your time.
Connect with Jose:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jvazquezptcscs/ (https://www.instagram.com/jvazquezptcscs/)
Connect with Nick:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicklemkerd/ (https://www.instagram.com/nicklemkerd/)
X: https://x.com/nicklemkerd (https://x.com/nicklemkerd)
Who has been a guest on Student Athlete Performance
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jacob Cabezudo
Laura Stark
Sal Marinello
Coach Fred Alcazar
Coach Czar
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 41 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
61
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
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Questions about Student Athlete Performance
Who hosts Student Athlete Performance?
Nick Lemke RD and Nick Lemkerd host the show. Published by Nick Lemke.
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The show publishes monthly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Student Athlete Performance take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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