Be a Better Sports Parent, Coach, and Athlete—in Under a Minute: The Top Takeaways From Greg Olsen’s Interview With Tom Brady

The Big Idea

Tom Brady’s success didn’t come from dominance—it came from doing hard things, over and over again, for decades. In this episode of Youth Inc., Brady and Greg Olsen open up about parenting, pressure, failure and what kids really need from the adults around them—especially when the game doesn’t go their way.

What Stuck With Us

“It was a blessing that it was hard.”
Brady didn’t start playing football until high school. He didn’t start on the freshman team. He was buried at Michigan. Picked 199 in the draft. But every time, he clawed forward. “If they put me on the field, they’re never going to take me off.”

“I got better at every level.”
Olsen talks about being the younger brother, the role player, the grunt. He didn’t peak in college or even in his first NFL seasons. He just outworked people. “I was better at 30 than I was at 21.”

“What are you going to do about it?”
After a rough basketball game, Brady didn’t analyze his son’s shot. He asked him this instead. It wasn’t a critique. It was an invitation.

“You can't coach every kid the way you were coached.”
Olsen admits he had to unlearn his own intensity. The fire that fueled him didn’t work for every kid—including his own.

“Support them, but don’t protect them.”
Let your kid fail. Let them walk the bases loaded. Let them come home crying. That’s the point. “Better they feel that now at 12, than for the first time at 18.”

Try This

For Parents

• Let your kid walk through failure.
  Brady shares how important it is for young athletes to experience struggle, not be protected from it. “Hard is coming,” Olsen adds—and it’s better to learn how to navigate it now.
• Ask better questions.
  After a tough game, Brady simply asked, “How are you feeling?” Then, “What are you going to do about it?” Not: “Why’d you miss?” or “What happened?” But: What now?
• Say yes to the dream—even if it’s not yours.
  Brady’s middle son is into anime. His response? “Dude, we’re going to open an anime studio.” This isn’t about football—it’s about following their lead, wherever it goes.
• Notice when your fire isn’t their fire.
  Olsen talks about trying to push his kids the way he was wired—until he realized that kind of fight didn’t land the same way. “Just because it worked for me, doesn’t mean it’s the right fight for them.”

For Coaches

• Don’t protect them from pressure—prepare them for it.
  “Let them pitch with the bases loaded,” Olsen says. “Let them take the last shot.” That’s where the growth happens—not in the perfect game, but in the comeback.
• Reward what they do when no one’s watching.
  Olsen reminds players: “If you went 0-for-3, but you trained all week—did the cage work, did the prep—that matters more than the result.”
• Model accountability, not excuses.
  Brady’s seen even the pros fall into “It just wasn’t my day.” But the great ones? They reflect. They ask, “Where did I fall short?” and “How can I improve?” Start building that mindset early.
• Lead like the guy they’ll still want to hug in the hallway.
  Olsen’s best coaching memory wasn’t a win—it was a player who’d never scored a touchdown running up to hug him two months later. “That’s what sticks.”

Final Thought

You don’t have to raise a pro athlete. But you do have to raise someone who knows what to do when life doesn’t go their way.

And that means stepping back when it's hard. Listening more than lecturing. Coaching effort, not just performance. And reminding yourself: the moments you want to fix are usually the ones they need to grow through.