E12 Dan McDonnell - Taking His Platform Seriously

Greg Scott: Well, Coach McDonnell, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for coming on today, Coach.

Dan McDonnell: Appreciate what you're doing. I mean it sounds like ⁓ you're definitely doing God's work, so it's very cool

Greg Scott: Well, a lot of respect for you and people know your name there in baseball We get a lot of listeners that are outside of sports and see your baseball resumes impressive. But what we want to start with this morning coach as we go along is talk about your faith background a little bit before we even get into your baseball.

Dan McDonnell: grew up in the Northeast, up in New York. Catholic school kid, went to Catholic school till sixth grade. Then I went to public middle school, went to a public high school. My older brother went to a Catholic middle school, Catholic high school. end up going to Charleston, South Carolina, ⁓ play at the Citadel. you know, when you're in New York, ⁓ or at least I felt like up as a kid in the Northeast, you're Catholic or Jewish. ⁓ I didn't, honestly, I didn't know anybody any different. You know, was like, no, I probably wasn't familiar with it. And then when you're in the South ⁓ and I ended up falling in love with a girl who's a Methodist, ⁓ and was definitely a

Greg Scott: No, there's another option.

Dan McDonnell: you know, an angel sent from God to say, hey, help this kid. And that was like my first involvement with devotionals, maybe a little more intentional reading the word, writing things down. I get to coach at the Citadel. So I'm there to the age of 30. I'm married to Julie. We've got a two year old son. ⁓ I get the assistant job with Mike Bianco at Ole Miss. I always say fortunately about four five guys turned that job down. ⁓ I had, there was no ego, man. I just, I got the phone call and I went on the visit and accepted on the spot. look back on your path in life and. It's not always the way you want it, but when you look back on it, you're like, ⁓ wow, God, you had total control. And I knew I knew that first summer literally within about 30 days. I remember thinking I've hit the mother load. Like I just I landed. got the jackpot. I'm here. This guy, this guy, just being from that Skip Bertman family. And I just, you know, for someone who played at the Citadel and coach at the Citadel and Would never trade those 12 years of my life and and I would encourage anybody if you could coach a military school Wow, you're gonna grow but going from the military school background, which is all I knew Which was great. And then I now I'm in the SEC with Mike Bianco again, he'll be the first to say it's it's the skip Bertman tree Nothing against LSU. It was the skip Bertman tree and I got to just soak all that up. So as my as my coaching resume is and my knowledge is going from here to here, I get introduced to FCA my first experience with Coaching studies, consistent chapels, like we were bold. ⁓ my Christian faith and my just really grew from ⁓ involved with And then I get to Louisville in the summer of and I'm like, where's the FCA guy? Where's the FCA guy? Well, we got one in the city. And he works with some of the athletes, but we don't have like a campus guy. like, we got to get campus guy, you know, and, and, ⁓ and Bobby Petrino leaves at Christmas. We hire Steve, Steve Cragg Thorpe. And I always say his, his gift to Louisville was he helped take our FCA program to a level that, Ooh, man, it is, I won't say it's, sets the bar. It's up there as a model as to, what do you want your fellowship or Christian athlete program to look like? So for 20 years, I've been involved heavily with FCA. so that's, not only is it ⁓ studies ⁓ and spiritual books, just that I, I never done growing up and was definitely intimidated by the ⁓ Chris Morgan, our FCA director said it often, Hey, these books are great. These spiritual books are great. Levi Lusko and Mark Batterson and Francis Chan. These guys are great, but you know where they get that from, right? They get it from the word. Like they get it from the Bible. ⁓ as much as you love these books and you rave about these books and they were, they were, were, they were encouraging, they were challenging. They helped us grow in our walk. Everything was pointing to you got to get in the word. And about five years ago,

Greg Scott: Yep, yep.

Dan McDonnell: I read the Bible for the first time. And then last year, first time I read it with my football buddy, uh, coach rock and Chris Morgan. And then last year we did it for the second time, but we did it with a group from college, a group from high school. did it with my wife and man, and it was so powerful in 2025 that As I was looking for something to do in I love those video series. Kyle Idleman and all these great same thing with the books, these video series. And I love doing all that stuff. But it was like. I felt the Lord saying you got to read it again. And so in 2026, I'm 65 days into reading the word and.

Greg Scott: Yeah. Hello and welcome to 315 Voices. I'm your host, Greg Scott. 1 Peter 315 reminds us to always be prepared to give an account when someone asks for the reason for the hope that's in us. And today's guest is Coach Dan McDonnell Coach McDonnell has been the head baseball coach at the University of Louisville for 19 seasons. He's won multiple conference championships. He's advanced to 10 super regionals and he's played on the biggest stage in college baseball. six times in the college world series in Omaha. And currently there are dozens of guys who played for Dan, still playing professional baseball, including 12 current players on MLB rosters.

Dan McDonnell: so I just want to, I want to be trending up and I want to be within a step of those that that are doing right. And I want to be within a step of those that, that, that want to do right and grow in their faith.

Greg Scott: I'm so glad you've joined the podcast today to hear all about coach McDonnell, the baseball guy, but also to meet Dan McDonnell, the guy that takes serious the stage the Lord has placed him on in order to give back and to pour into others. I know you're going to love our time today with coach Dan McDonnell. you've got a lot of good stuff in there and I want to, I want to start right the middle what said. We've ⁓ made that point a lot. And that's something that God's impressed on me before is every author that you just named. ⁓ love, ⁓ I love Francis Chan. love Mark Patterson. Levi Lesko is great. speaker and author, Kyle Idleman, I love reading his stuff as well. But you're right, how many times as believers do we rely on another human when God says, you know, I wrote a book too, if you'd like to use that, I think that would be pretty helpful. I hope you enjoyed our time today with Dan McDonnell as much as I did. Talking baseball is always a blast for me, but hearing how Dan continues to grow as a believer so that he can be the best version of himself for those placed in his path, that should inspire us all to do the same in our own assignments. So share the link out to today's episode on all of your social media platforms, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and then anywhere you get your podcast downloads, and then tell someone you know about today's guest or any of your favorite 315 Voices guests in order to encourage and inspire them. And then join us again when someone else will be prepared to give the reason for the hope that's within them on the next episode of 315 Voices.

Dan McDonnell: We're doing the Bible, the Bible project with Tara Lee Cobble. And I would highly recommend, I'm sure there's a lot of really good ones out there. When we did it about five years ago, it was a good plan. It was read the Old Testament, read a chapter of Psalm, chapter of Proverbs, and something from the New Testament. And you did that literally like 365 days. And that was good. But as, as I need in my, my groups that I'm doing it with need, like we, we need somebody to pull it all together. That today's reading went way over my head and she kind of brings it back to earth. I spoke at this inspirational power breakfast and I, and I said, I'm in day two 82 and, as we're seeing 2026 around the corner, trying to decide what am I going to do? And I know there's things I want to do. I want to be a better prayer warrior. I'm not a great prayer warrior, But what am I going to do in 2026? And after I spoke off the stage, someone came up to me and said, hey, coach, I'm also on day 282, but I'm in year three. And I looked at him, he's like, I said, year three is like, yes, a third year in a row. I'm, I'm reading the Bible. And I said, wow. And he said, coach, if you'd have told me three years ago, then I'd be three years in a row reading the Bible. I'd have told you you're crazy. And I just felt like the Holy spirit was tapping me on the shoulder at that moment saying, Hey, I know you're, you're shooting for the finish line. But we're probably gonna have to run this thing back. And so what was really cool was when we jumped into the New Testament, which is like October 1, you got three months, we grabbed a couple people, hey, you wanna do the New Testament with us? And then so those guys that just did the New Testament when you're starting 2026 and you're like, we're gonna run this thing back again. Obviously the two guys that just, they did the three months of the New Testament, they wanna do the Old Testament. And then so my college group from the Citadel grew, my high school group grew. And so I have a feeling as something tells me I'm going to be probably doing this in 2027 that I'm, you know, I think my job is to seek others and invite others into this. you always, know, when you talk about what you're doing, it's never about bragging. I'm not trying to act like I'm holier than now. I'd never want to come across like I'm three steps ahead because we're all sinners, we all fall short. ⁓ But I'm reading it. feel like my platform because I am a coach gives me the opportunity in certain areas to share what I'm doing is just to encourage others, just ⁓ to others along. I mean, I'd like to think if everybody in this country was reading the Bible ⁓ every you know, I think we ⁓ probably a ⁓

Greg Scott: Sure it does, yeah.

Dan McDonnell: I say a little bit different, probably a lot different outcome in our day to day what's going on in this world.

Greg Scott: and you're doing exactly what the New Testament tells us. It's, now that I have it, how can I expand? Make a disciple so that that person can make a disciple. And I'm just encouraged by the way that God is. And you said, like the Holy Spirit tapped you and said, no, stay here. Stay in the Bible. You can do some other things, but, and whether 2027 or 2028, or maybe it's every year for the rest of your life, the Bible is so active and that you can continue to do that. Got you on bounce back and forth a little bit with, with baseball. So you named, you talked about skip Bertman. If you were to look at that, that Mount Rushmore of those, you know, in the eighties, when college baseball went from it's available to starting to really grow that Gene Stephenson Augie, Gerrito, ⁓ skip Bertman Mount Rushmore. I'm going to, I'm going to ask you to brag for a second. If I said, Hey, let's, let's do that same Mount Rushmore, but let's do it since 2010. Man, I think your name's got to be on there, Coach. How has God really used your passion for baseball over the last 19 years you've been at Louisville for some really great success?

Dan McDonnell: I shook my head and God, can't believe what this has been the last 30 years. I didn't know it was gonna be like this. I'm often thanking God ⁓ for just how much fun I've had, how much I enjoy ⁓ competing. I love the game of baseball. I love helping these kids. ⁓ So it's very humbling. And as we talked about a number that we just hit the other day, it's just want to celebrate players. Just want to celebrate great players. A lot of great coaches and great people have been around and so. You just want to make an impact. You want to make a difference. Definitely while they play for you for two, three, four years, but, and, and several are chasing a dream of being making it to the big leagues, So, you know, I had a Chandler Dale did chapel for us on Sunday. we're what three weekends in ⁓ and we've had three alumni. do chapels already. All three played here. One works at Northeast Christian Church and he's a part of FCA. One was Kama'u Neighbors, probably our spiritual leader last year on that team that made a run the Omaha. And then one was Chandler Dale, who's now 30 years old, has a beautiful family, wife Lily and three boys. And so, you know, as he's speaking to your team and he's sharing the word. It's hard to not be like really proud of and it's not me. It's I mean his parents did an unbelievable job with him and but it's like the responsibility you have to to either help them on this journey on this path ⁓ or bring them in. You know some some come to me I've been on a on a spiritual walk.

Greg Scott: Absolutely.

Dan McDonnell: But many have come not really understanding what it is and just the love on these players and And this is where I saw our boldness at Ole Miss with Mike Bianco with just opening the door for FCA to be a part and allowing them in and having chapels. ⁓ So when I got to Louisville, I was searching for this for this presence. And so we kind of a la carte that first year, just every, every weekend, we just had somebody coming in to share the word. And a few years in, one of my current players sends me a link from I am second. I've never heard of the link. I'm not a I'm not a social media person, not on the internet a lot. I'm really old fashioned when it comes. I've never had a Facebook link, a Twitter account, a Snapchat, never. I've never had one of those accounts. And I've survived without it. So

Greg Scott: think you're gonna be okay without it, Coach. I think you are. Yeah.

Dan McDonnell: One of my current players sends me this IM second link with a story from Chris Coughlin. Now Chris played for us at Ole Miss, was a first round draft pick, ended up being the National League Rookie of the Year. The year he was the National League Rookie of the Year. And I don't, you don't want people to be Christians because you think God's going to give them success, right? It's easy to do that though. It's easy to have. God and this genie bottle and hey, I'm going to follow you. So you're going to bless me with all these things. And the longer you're on a Christian journey, you realize, you know, it's it's ups and downs and you're in the valley and sometimes you're on top of the mountain. But so Chris gives his testimony. And the seeds were planted at Ole Miss, like he heard the word he sat in chapels, he knew about FCA. he got poured into and so while he was in Pro Ball, a teammate, you know, by his acts showed him what it is to be a follower of Jesus and ⁓ they sat in a coffee shop and he gave his to Christ. And so I just remember being at Louisville for a few years, I don't know, four, five, six years. And I just remember being so convicted, like. I gotta keep doing this. I gotta be bold. I gotta put the word in front of these guys and just so they can hear it. You don't have to be a Christian to play for me. But you're gonna be exposed to the word. You're gonna be exposed to what it is to be a follower of Jesus. And you do what you want. I'm gonna love on you no matter what. But when your former players are doing the chapels, It gives you a real perspective as to, what an impact we have in this little time we get to coach him.

Greg Scott: Yeah, and it also sometimes, coach, reminds you of the urgency of the gospel to go, you know, while that swells my chest up that the seeds that were planted long ago came to fruition in Chris's life and in others lives. I've still got guys that are in front of me right now and I've got to take that seriously. you do, you take your platform seriously and your role as a coach seriously for what God's blessed you with there.

Dan McDonnell: And I always want to encourage others as you can see the gray and I'm, I don't know, second half of my life, if you call it that, and I'm 55. Where we are in the Bible right now, I shared with my buddies a couple days ago about I had a grandma who, Grandma Fenton, who I believe where I'm at today ⁓ is through her faithfulness, her prayers. I look back on what she was to her church, how she treated people. ⁓ And as you read the Bible, right, you learn about the second, third, fourth generations. And you sit there and you go, am I being blessed? Why is God wrapped his arms around me and at least I opened my eyes to realize it and I think back of Grandma Fenton and so I'm most of my buddies and all the guys in this group are about the same age and I'm like Not that we still can't do it with our kids ⁓ Because it's never too late God's always right there God can do anything with anybody at any time so whether our kids are right, great if they're not, it's never too late. And who's to say we're gonna have grandkids one day and we can still make a big impact from however many years this earth, right? That's my inspiration to my circle ⁓ of friends.

Greg Scott: Right. Coach, just to reiterate, you mentioned a number earlier when we're recording this, we're in the same week that you won your 800th game as a head coach and more impressive than that, which by the way, that's, don't know the average, but that's over 40 wins a season, but you've never had a losing season. So talk to some young coaches that are some of our listeners. in the athletes of 2025 and 2026 than when you started back in the 2007 season at Louisville.

Dan McDonnell: of the external factors have changed, ⁓ you know, with just because in our world right now, the NIL, the money, ⁓ it's, but it really coaching hasn't changed in terms of why do you coach you coach because you, you love to hopefully help others. You love the game of baseball. Yeah, for me, if I'm honest and, and, yeah, there's a selfish side to me. I love to win. I am, I'm just, I'm very competitive, like really to a fault. there's, as I learned the great Pat Riley said, competition brings out the very best and the very worst. And so my players have seen my worst. I promise you that.

Greg Scott: No doubt.

Dan McDonnell: And so, wins is a, it's a number. You could be the best coach in the country. You might be 500, you might've had a losing record. You gotta realize, college baseball, there's such a gap in resources. Now, 307 Division I schools, The scholarships are at as big a gap as they've ever been. The NIL money, you see it in football, you see it in baseball. Probably 10 or 20, it looks like they're playing with house money, monopoly money. And then there's probably as many fighting their tail off to have money. I get it, the wins is an accomplishment and I guess it allows us to keep coaching for a long time, but I don't ever want to look down on maybe coaches that haven't won as much on the scoreboard And I want to encourage coaches. ⁓ It's about being your best. I think that like that's the message to my players often. ⁓ We just want to be our best. ⁓ I can get you to be your best, the majority of you players and somebody is better than us, then hey, I tip my hat to them, right? You know, and so I even coaches that might be 500 or have a losing record. If you're getting the players you have to ultimately be their best and not as we say, not just between the lines, but. ⁓ In school in the community, what type of husbands do they grow up to be? What type of fathers do they grow up? Type of ambassadors do they grow up to be? I would just want to encourage coaches of all walks. And again, I got my tail whipped by a coach that they don't they have a below 500 record as of right now. ⁓ but could look at him and say he's doing a better job than me. ⁓

Greg Scott: That's right.

Dan McDonnell: He's getting more out of his group of kids right now than I feel like I am. So that would be, you know, my encouragement to all coaches.

Greg Scott: So, do you have a favorite season or run or group of guys? And, and, and I will, I'll take you off the hook. So you say, Hey, the last two years, no offense. ⁓ but looking back over 19 years, I don't want you to sell anybody out, but ⁓ you've been there 19 years and you've been to the world series six times, including last season in 2025. And you've been in the super regionals 10 times, which means there was another. four shots at going to the world. You've been right there on the cusp. a, that's a lot of really teams that gelled and played well together and had a lot of talent. ⁓ is there a favorite one as you look back on that run that we made that year sticks out.

Dan McDonnell: Well, it was pretty crazy when I got the job in the summer of 06. And I learned this from Mike Bianco because when he hired me at Ole Miss, I was known as a recruiter. We let it be known we were going to recruit the best. And so when we had the sixth ranked recruiting class our first year there and we were a two seed, ⁓ in the Tulane Regional. And I just, remember him making a commitment to that group of kids. Look, this guy's working his tail off. We're going to recruit great players to come here, but we are invested in you. And I inherited a group of, I think it was nine seniors, nine rising seniors. I had to sit those ⁓ seniors down and convince them man, I'm here for you guys. ⁓ Yeah, we're recruiting for the future, ⁓ I'm all in on you guys. for that team to play in their first regional ⁓ and win their first ⁓ NCAA and then of course, take us to Omaha. What a springboard that was for our program in 07, our first year here. And it's hard for that team to not have a special place in my heart. All the teams that go to Omaha are so special and you could tell so many great stories about them. But the 25 team came off of two really tough years, you know, and not years we weren't familiar with in our program years we went through two really tough years in this NIL world and where we were as a program and what was going on in our athletic department, man. was, it was, we were in the Valley and, my wife sat me down. This was the, the, the summer of 24 and the blessing of having someone in your life to be real with you. And then she challenged me. She said, you, You you profess to be a Christian and you publicly say these things, but now I don't see it. I see you every day. I don't see it. I don't see it your body language. I don't hear it in your words. And she was right. Now I was in a bad place. I'm just getting kicked in the teeth, just getting kicked in the teeth and recruiting. And we're just... Maybe not committing at the level I want. I'm wanting to commit at or expecting us to commit at and, and, and kids are decommitting from you. That is, I had never experienced that. ⁓ you want to yeah, you talk about a humbling, you know, like coach, can we talk? And I've learned that's maybe the worst text you can get from a, from our crew and just.

Greg Scott: Mmm. New world, yeah.

Dan McDonnell: how dumbfounded you feel when they're like I've decided I want to open up my recruitment. I've decided I want to go elsewhere. I've decided. ⁓ And you just feel like you feel betrayed. You know, it's like, man, we we were all in on you This was me. I was in the valley and kids were calling and and I just felt ⁓ I felt like a failure felt betrayed ⁓ was angry in that summer going into the fall of 24 was like it's time to get your act together and The blessing of being in the Valley is you seem to turn to God more in the Valley than when things are cruising, you know, and rolling. And that's just being honest. You know, yeah, go to Omaha and give God the glory. When you're in the valley, whether it's because of a illness, sickness, someone in your family, it's a lot easier to be your knees ⁓ And that's what he wants. ⁓ my testimony the last few years, I've shared what it's like to be in the Valley and where in the Bible it talks about being in the Valley. that's where you get to know God. Athletes and got that mic in front of them and I want to give God the glory. nothing wrong with that, but...

Greg Scott: Sure, no, no, ⁓

Dan McDonnell: Your relationship didn't grow with God on the mountaintop man. It it was in the valley. Mike Lynch pastor in Atlanta calls it the ⁓ in the desert is what calls it being in the desert and we've all been there right What that 25 team did. Wow. I mean that, you know, right now they're the bookends of our program. The '07 team springboarded us into, you know, becoming, guess, a national power. And the 25 team didn't just show us. I think the 25 team showed a lot of teams that. the way the college athletic world is now, think where it's 10, 20 years ago, was like, okay, these are the top four, and you know, and last year you got Murray State is in Omaha, right? so I, learned so much that that 25 team is, is going to be celebrated an awful lot too.

Greg Scott: Sure, yeah. ⁓ of rose to national not that you weren't already in the national spotlight, but rose a little bit from your press conference last spring. ⁓ You'll know where it It was either one of your ⁓ press conferences in Omaha, may have been the one after you won the super, where you really stopped and said, listen, let me just talk about what I've been doing the last year. I've been reading the Bible every day. I've been memorizing scripture. My faith walk has grown. ⁓ So while this is Dan McDonnell's in a better place ⁓ than coach McDonnell is now. And talk about that press What of attention, negative and positive did you get right after that?

Dan McDonnell: Yeah, the weekend before we won the Nashville Regional, And so you're preparing for the super regionals. So you realize, all right, you're gonna get another press conference opportunity. Win or lose, I just always pray that the Holy Spirit is with me. There's a reason I'm in front of these microphones and cameras and. and so ⁓ you're about to go into game three. It's you win, you go to Omaha, lose ⁓ your season's over. And as you pointed out, ⁓ I'd also lost in some regionals. ⁓ You know, I know what that feels like. So I just kind of said, you know what? I got a lot of feedback from what I had said in Nashville about. What I had been through the previous years and my wife and how she had challenged me. And so, well, let me share what I've been doing since she challenged me. ⁓ And so said, I'm just going ⁓ to talk reading the Bible and hopefully a lot of people will click on TLC and Bible Recap and hopefully that'll encourage a lot of people to dive in. And so I just remember the line came to me that just because you read the Bible doesn't mean you go to Omaha. me, it changed who was ⁓ as a leader, as a coach, someone pouring into these kids, how ⁓ I responded when things went bad, I handled success. ⁓ Was I perfect? No, not saying was a perfect coach, but I was a better coach probably in 25. than I was in 23, just with my words and my conviction. And yeah, hopefully I was a better husband and a better father. And don't recall getting much negative backlash. Where we as Christians ⁓ is... We give negative backlash when kids mess up which is kind of, it's a head scratcher to me. I had a player in Omaha years ago that ⁓ got caught on ESPN and with the words and how he had ⁓ acted and. ⁓ love this kid. mean, this kid is you just love him. You just want to wrap your arms around. He was fun. The coach, but like I said, competition, gets the very best and the very worst and the most disappointing response from that was, was from the Christians who would reach out by email, I guess was, and the things that they would say, to just, ⁓ they were some nasty emails. And you're like, ⁓ Where do you see yourself better than this young man? Do you not realize the grace you've been given from God? Are you not a sinner yourself? And that was disheartening, but it was very educational for me. ⁓ Chris Morgan, my FCA director, he calls it Christian arrogance. know, it's the Pharisees right ⁓ I say it every morning, ⁓ know, has God called me to Jesus to today? Now, when I first heard that statement a decade ago, thought, well, man, that's kind of arrogant. me being Jesus to others? I'm not Jesus. But when you think about it, it's like, no, that's exactly why Jesus came to earth, yes, ⁓ to die our sins, but to give us a model to say, hey, see how I treated the poor, the tax collector, the sick, and do what I did. And so... ⁓ You know, that's kind of the challenge. sure when we're reading the Bible, we're the Pharisees. We're the tax collector. ⁓ We're sinners. ⁓ But many Christians don't think ⁓

Greg Scott: Yeah, we forget about the grace that was required for ourselves. In fact, we would love for God's grace to be abundant in our life. ⁓ But for everybody else, you really need to tow a pretty tight rope. And sometimes ⁓ the faith community can act that way.

Dan McDonnell: if anybody listens to this, My challenge would be ask yourself the last time you saw a homeless person You're probably driving. What did you do? Did you stop and love on that person or did you drive right by? And take it from somebody like me, believe me, I go to McDonnell's, I buy breakfast burritos, I keep a bag in my car. Over the weekend we have Chick-fil-A and sandwiches for the team, and I'm always gathering all the extra breakfast sandwiches. And I enjoy handing them to homeless people by the stadium. But I'm not gonna act like I'm perfect. I'm not gonna act like I don't drive by homeless people often. I don't have the mentality like I don't wanna deal with that right now. don't wanna. don't even feel sorry at times. Like I'm a sinner. And so I go through days and periods like that myself, you know? those are the things that kind of come to mind as I'm trying to encourage,

Greg Scott: You certainly have encouraged me, just me listening to how you're open to the Holy Spirit saying, I need you to minister over here. I need you to plant a seed here. I need you to use your platform here. And there's nobody following you around with a camera to say, Hey, let's make sure I get this, me handing out breakfast sandwiches. Let's make sure we get credit for this. I'm not on social media, but we could really use this. But placing all of our lives for us to help.

Dan McDonnell: I just want to encourage others to do it. Yeah, I don't want to be on the evening news. ⁓ My wife and I and my kids, my family has been a part of it for ⁓ over a decade. Dr. Kevin Elko, one my good friends, He called it the Walmart challenge. I call it the Walmart. Dr. Elko challenge. Years ago, had, you know, during Christmas, pay off somebody's layaway, help somebody buy a bike, do something kind for somebody. So I did it. It's probably been at least maybe 12, 14, 15 years I've been doing it. So. whether I got my two, when they were young boys, now they're older, my wife, somebody is gonna be with me and we're gonna go in Walmart. We seem to be there right around, if it's not Christmas Eve, it's the day before Christmas Eve. So it's like right up to Christmas. ⁓ have bunch of cash in my pocket. and we walk up and down the toy aisles and we pray to the Holy Spirit, God point out to us who we can help. And it's intimidating. I'm not going to lie. Like walking up to somebody, you know, and saying, hey, I just I feel the Lord calling me to see if you need some help this Christmas season and and if I can help you financially and. It's How many people? Just break and start crying. four out of five accept us ⁓ the gift from God. ⁓ usually get ⁓ rejection a year. I hate to say ⁓ it's guy, but it's usually a male. and it's probably because we wait till the last minute to get our gifts ⁓ and we're fun.

Greg Scott: I've heard of guys that do that.

Dan McDonnell: And we're financially fine. So I don't, I'm not dogging them for, for, would probably reject too, right? If someone was asking, And so this year there was a guy that was kind of walking up and down the aisles for a while

Greg Scott: Right. Yeah, yeah.

Dan McDonnell: I felt the Holy Spirit say you got to go ask this guy and so I walk up to him and I said I said hey I'd love to help you this Christmas if you'd allow me and he said I'm I don't understand what you're saying I said look my wife and I we we'd like to we'd like to help you with the gifts you're buying ⁓ can we can we give you some some cash and And it's the first time, like said, we've been doing this for maybe 15 years. I gotta look at the exact year we did it. Most people don't know who am. ⁓

Greg Scott: That was going to be one of my questions. How many out of five know who has come up to them? Yeah.

Dan McDonnell: No, they don't. don't. I'm in a city of over a million people. It's ⁓ you know, Christmas Eve. Most people ⁓ some reason, they just don't want to.

Greg Scott: You couldn't do it in Omaha in July, I'll tell you that.

Dan McDonnell: No, that's exactly right. But this one guy said, are you the baseball coach? I said, yes, I am. he thanked me and rejected our help. He said, no, he said, go help others. And so we helped others. And it was an awesome night. Well, the next day, my phone's blowing up because this guy decided to go home and put a story out on one of those social media platforms. It was a super positive story, very uplifting story. He chose a nice picture of my wife and I that he must have pulled off the internet. ⁓ so one of the radio stations wanted to interview me. so it was ⁓ that's why the Holy Spirit made me go up to that guy. So that guy would then write about it. Word would spread, not for Dan McDonnell's profile, but to say, we can do God's work. We can be Jesus. That's it. And so like when I do the breakfast sandwiches, no, I don't have anybody purposely videoing me, recording me or this and that. if I get a chance to talk about it, if I get a chance to challenge people,

Greg Scott: Yeah, to inspire someone else.

Dan McDonnell: and we're all guilty, ⁓ you show up on Sunday, ⁓ you there, you're convicted in front hundreds or thousands of people, you go back to your normal life. Transformation is only gonna happen if you're in a small group. So my transformation, that's what FCA, being in coaches studies, being with others, and as coaches, so all right, so we're challenging each other. And so through these coaches studies over the years, we've been challenged. So, okay, everybody bring an envelope of cash next Tuesday for our study. And you're going to hand it to the person to your left and everybody hands the envelope of cash. Okay, you got one week. You have to give that envelope to somebody. You have to help somebody and we'll all share our story next Tuesday. And like, so we've been doing stuff like this. but I'm only doing it because I'm in a small group, spiritual group of guys. And that's it. And so, and so I only share those stories. It's not like I woke up and had an aha moment one day, you know, it's like, it's the Holy Spirit speaking to Dr. Elko, Dr. Elko sharing it on his podcast. That's why I want to share things to just to motivate and challenge others. And so,

Greg Scott: Being challenged. Yep.

Dan McDonnell: We're reading the book, If by Mark Battison. Chapter five or whatever it is, talks about fasting. I just as I reading it, I'm smiling. I'm going, ⁓ no. I just I know what's going to happen on Tuesday. We're going to talk about chapter five, fasting. We're definitely going to be challenging each other. I just know it's coming. And so there we are. Chris Morgan says, all right, guys, that's the, know, one guy in the group has fasted. The other four coaches have never done it. All right, here's what we're going to do. Next Sunday night is your last meal. You're not going to eat Monday all day and night. Tuesday morning, we'll be here at 10 o'clock Tuesday. So from Sunday night to Tuesday and, and you can drink water and black coffee. That was over a decade ago. I literally fast every Monday, at least from Sunday night to Monday night dinner. Every, every Monday.

Greg Scott: Just like a weekly reset for you.

Dan McDonnell: Yeah. And, and, and yeah, there are a lot of health benefits to it. know as well, but it's a spiritual

Greg Scott: Sure, sure.

Dan McDonnell: It was so powerful the first time we fasted. We had to go home. We had to tell our wives. And then next week we had the fast until Tuesday night. ⁓ And we were going to meet dinner. And so it was Sunday night. Can't eat all day Monday, Monday night. Can't eat all day Tuesday. We're going to meet at a restaurant. these five or six coaches with their wives were, I mean, and you talk about. ⁓ just the emotion at that table and what came to fruition and sharing. so, you know, I just. And so as I go through all these moments in my life, I just I just want to challenge and encourage others. Another one that I like doing, there is a Kroger gas station by my campus and our campus, you know, like a lot of college campuses, you get you get there's a little bit of rough area, low income area, whatever you want to call it. And so ⁓ often as I'm up my gas, so I'm filling up and a car will pull up. And if I just feel the Holy spirit, I'll just kind of my head around the gas thing. I'll say, would you let me bless you today? Can ⁓ I pay for your gas? And again, I haven't many people turn me down. ⁓ I mean, ⁓ it's like the emotion.

Greg Scott: I'll be honest coach, if I'm in Northern Kentucky, I'm going to fill up with gas at the Kroger closest to the Louisville campus, dude. That's where I'm headed.

Dan McDonnell: But you could see like the emotion on their face and it's, you'd have no idea what I'm going through. I mean, it's real people that are really struggling. And like I said, they don't know who I am. God, I'm not doing it. they talk about the baseball coach. It's just. ⁓

Greg Scott: Yeah. It's a blessing.

Dan McDonnell: Who has God called us to be Jesus to today? was a challenge that I got from my pastor who was a college baseball player, Tyler McKenzie, ⁓ 12 to 15 years ago. And ⁓ doesn't mean we're going to nail it every ⁓ but I think that's the challenge that should faced with.

Greg Scott: Coach, know that you and I, there's a ton more that I'd love to just, and I know our listeners would love to hear from you on. It's been a wonderful conversation, but I know you're short on time today and I'm going to honor that. But all of our guests on 315 Voices go through a 315 challenge. And so the first thing I'm going to challenge you with is the three, what are three books that you would say have impacted your life outside of scripture?

Dan McDonnell: Three is my number, I'm a big fan of three. would say Mark Batterson's If, since I talked about that, that was a really good book that had a lot of challenges in it. I said about the fasting one, I think the fasting one is pretty fascinating and it's caught a lot of attention because of the health reasons too. There's a lot of intermittent fasting that's out there. ⁓ Let me let me give a non spiritual book, maybe Chasing Excellence ⁓ by Ben Bergeron is a CrossFit trainer. And he takes us through training three athletes. That I think. Very inspirational, educational. You know, I have so many coaching books in my brain. ⁓ Let's say Levi Lusko, Through the Eyes of a Lion, because that you know, that was about his who had the eyes of a lion and he lost his daughter at a young So. Two spiritual books and ⁓ if chasing excellence is a little scary, The Compound Effect is a very good motivational book because it talks about win the morning, midday, or evening. Win one of those three segments. And when I think of win the day, or at least win one of these segments, for me, it's about winning the morning. And I can win the morning because I can get in the work. I can set the alarm clock. I can get in the word. And physically, I can do my exercise.

Greg Scott: And you mentioned through the eyes of a lion, ⁓ someone gifted me that book right after we lost our son back in 2017. it was super impactful for me to read that. And I'm thankful to pastor Levi for having written that book. a, that's a great suggestion. The one in the 3-1-5 challenge, and this is going to be tough Who's the one most famous recognizable name in your phone ⁓ would hit you back if you text him or call him right now?

Dan McDonnell: Well, Will Smith is our former. Catcher from Louisville, who he hit the game winning home run and in in game seven, Lou Jays, but that that that doesn't count because he he played. He played for us.

Greg Scott: Yeah. I knew it was going to be tough because you can name a lot of people. Baseball people do know Will Smith and Dalton rushing. mean, you're, catcher university there for a while coach.

Dan McDonnell: What? I don't, you know, it's, ⁓ for me, the sports world of, mean, I'm, you know, Carl ravage, I could text or Harold Reynolds or the, I'm thinking of these people that you see on MLB network or ESPN. So I don't I don't I don't you know it's it's gonna be somebody tied to the athletic world ⁓ and I try not to be one that's starstruck or anything like that. It's like, we're all children of God. Hopefully we're following him.

Greg Scott: The five in my 315 challenge that we go through is a little harder. If you could spend five minutes with anyone throughout history, just five minutes, which is not very long, who would you choose to just sit down with and whether have a conversation with for five minutes?

Dan McDonnell: To me, just seems like Billy Graham had such the wisdom is unbelievable, right? So like five minutes with Billy Graham, feel like you would hope he's just, hey, I got five minutes, tell me everything ⁓ because he's got such wisdom. But if you were to ask me. who I could, if I could choose who I could get five minutes with today, I would, I would say my dad who passed, over a decade ago or my father-in-law who all passed ⁓ 20 years ago. Like if I could have five minutes with my dad, ⁓ McDonnell or five minutes with CJ Underwood, I would, I would give the attention ⁓ that you kind of wish I don't want to say we did when they were alive but maybe the challenge as to if you're asking that question, then we should take those five minutes with our spouse or with our children and make it the best five minutes, right? Like be present and and we're all challenged with that because of the phone and and we're getting distracted and and things of that nature. So I think it's a it's a great question.

Greg Scott: about that.

Dan McDonnell: And I think it's an area that hopefully we excel in.

Greg Scott: What a great twist on that question of, know what, I've got some people, but what it reminds me of is I want to be present with the ones I actually can spend five minutes with right now. I think that's a great take on that question coach. And I certainly appreciate your time and your willingness to come on with us today, coach. You've been encouragement to me, if no one else.

Dan McDonnell: Well, thank you. It's often funny. I say when, you know, I'm asked to speak at an FCA event, it could be coming off of a loss. And I got your text. I mean, I literally got, well, felt like physically, but it was, you know, got kicked in the teeth last night and not good coming home, didn't sleep worth a darn. moving a little slow this morning, but once I got in the Word, once I got my workout in, and once I got to spend an hour so just again talking about ⁓ our faith and our love of Jesus Christ and what we're trying to do. That's how you, I say, win the day, right? We're trying to win the day and let's win segments. And yeah, I won this morning. I might have lost last night, but I won this morning. So thank you because that's the Holy Spirit. you're doing God's work, as I said at the beginning. And I appreciate you taking the time.