Brian Smith is a Columbia, MO author whose debut book is “Tiger Style: Eight Steps to Create a Winning Culture.” The book details the Tiger Style philosophy which is designed to instill a sense of purpose, resilience, and a winning mindset in businesses, schools and teams. Smith has developed Tiger Style as the head coach of Mizzou’s wrestling team for 27 years. As the winningest coach in Mizzou wrestling history, he has been twice named as the top wrestling coach in the NCAA, and his athletes have won ten NCAA Championships, and some have gone on to become UFC champions and Olympic competitors. He was kind enough to take the time to be interviewed via email.
Daniel Boone Regional Library: Which of the four pillars of Tiger Style do your athletes struggle with the most?
Brian Smith: Believe is the hardest. You must believe in something to make it happen. With anything you want to accomplish the first step is usually the most difficult. We spend a lot of time working on what we want to accomplish, what we want our identity to be and knowing that if we want to do these things we have to believe or as my team says “Live Tiger Style” to make it happen.
DBRL: Tell us about the writing and publishing process a bit. After wanting to write a book for so long, did the final book differ that much from your expectations?
Smith: I really thought writing a book was going to be more difficult than it was. Unfortunately, it was this mindset that cost me from writing it for so long. Fear of something can cost you from accomplishing something. I overcame that fear when people around me gave me support and I realized one day I had the book in my head and just needed to sit down and type it out. The outcome was what I expected and more. I have a whole new perspective on understanding what it takes to do this, and it is a lot of work, but I had some outstanding support from Alex Demczak and many people from Streamline Books who guided me through the process.
DBRL: Your dad was a coach and helped inspire you to become a coach yourself. How do you think coaching as a profession has been different from your dad’s generation?
Smith: Coaching continues to evolve and get better. Like any profession you learn, you grow and use mentors to help you get better. My Dad learned from others and passed that on to me. I continue to evolve as a coach each season and try to do more for my athletes and coaches to make the program improve. Reading, using mentors and having the ability to listen are important to this process.
DBRL: In the book you mention that you struggled with public speaking at the beginning of your career. Do you have any tips for becoming better at public speaking or storytelling?
Smith: To improve as a public speaker I forced myself to do more of it. I would speak at rotary clubs, banquets, camps and conventions. I always wanted to hear others speak and would start to take notes of what others were speaking about, observing their body language, how the tempo of their speech went. I also noticed the best speakers were able to draw people in with stories and humor. From all this I developed these skills through practicing by myself and doing many talks in public and with my team.
DBRL: You have a robust section for recommended reading in the back that’s categorized by topics: mental, culture, coaching, leadership, and books your athletes have enjoyed. Of these topics, which is your favorite type of book to read? Have you read anything in that topic lately you’d recommend?
Smith: I enjoy all those topics, but coaching is my profession, so I do enjoy reading a book written by and for coaches. A couple that made me think and helped me were “Inside Out Coaching” by Joe Ehrmann and “Win Forever” by Pete Carroll. A topic that was not in my book would be history books. I started out as a high school history teacher and enjoy learning history. During covid I wanted to learn more about President Truman, a Missourian, so I found a few books written by A. J. Baime that were hard for me to put down.
DBRL: Where can readers get a copy of your book?
Smith: Readers can get a copy of my book on Amazon.com or at the public library here in town.
