Oklahoma State associate wrestling coach Zack Esposito. (Photo courtesy of Zack Esposito)
THIS IS THE TABLE FORTY PODCAST
WITH MATT AND LESLEE HOLLIDAY
Zack Esposito is in his sixth season as the associate wrestling coach at Oklahoma State University, where he was also a star wrestler from 2002-2006. He compiled a 120-12 record during his time in Stillwater, helping lead the Cowboys to the NCAA national championship every year from 2003-2006.
In his 13 years on staff at Oklahoma State, he has helped coached OSU to 11 Big 12 Conference championships and 64 individual conference championships.
He joins “Table Forty” this week to talk about cultivating a winning mindset, his faith and just showing up — both in the athletic arena and in our walk with Jesus.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Despite going 13-4 and winning the AFC South a season ago under first-year head coach Liam Coen, the Jacksonville Jaguars have largely flown under the radar in offseason talks about potential Super Bowl contenders. Many experts predict the Jaguars to take a significant step back in 2026-27.
But as Coen enters his second year at the helm, with quarterback Trevor Lawrence returning, he believes his team can not only replicate last season’s success but continue to improve on it. If they do, it will mark the Jaguars’ first back-to-back postseason appearances this century.
“In everything that we do, we are training to say, ‘Anyone, any time, any way,'” Coen said as he addressed his team during the first week of training camp. “We built the standard and the foundation and the way that we want to play the game.”
At 40 years old, Coen is one of the younger head coaches in the NFL, and he’s also a member of the famed Sean McVay coaching tree; Coen learned under the Los Angeles Rams head coach as a position coach for three years (2018-20) and the offensive coordinator for another (2022). In 2024, Coen was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and helped fuel the career renaissance of QB Baker Mayfield. In his first year in Jacksonville last season, he became the NFL’s first rookie head coach to win 13 or more games after his team won four or fewer games the prior season.
During Coen’s coaching journey, he’s established himself as an offensive mastermind and a skilled quarterback developer. He’s also made it known during his time in the spotlight that he’s a follower of Christ.
Coen was a guest on the “Built 4 More” podcast last week with pastor Joby Martin and Denny Thompson, where the coach discussed one of the most difficult experiences of his life and how Christ formed his faith through the trial.
Coen grew up as an only child in Rhode Island, where he was a football fanatic and very close with his mother, Beth. But when Liam was in high school, Beth felt something was off. After numerous appointments, the doctors concluded that she’d contracted Lyme disease. The former marathon runner now struggled to get out of bed each morning. The physical pain was excruciating, and there was little improvement. But the emotional toll grew unbearable.
Four years later, in 2006, Coen was chasing his gridiron dream in college at UMass. He returned home during a school break, and his dad was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. While Coen was at the hospital with him, his mother took her own life.
Coen needed to care for his dad in the immediate aftermath, and then he rushed to return to school and join his team. Suddenly, he was back on a college campus, going to classes and practices like nothing had changed.
“I didn’t probably deal with it right, or well, in that short term,” Coen admitted on the podcast.
But this was different than anything he’d experienced before. The pain of losing his mother in the way he did wasn’t going away.
“Come to find out, 10 years down the road, it creeps up on you when you don’t deal with it,” he said on the podcast. “You don’t process it, you don’t forgive, you don’t have grace. It started to eat at me, and I didn’t know why. I didn’t know what was really happening. I wasn’t feeling right.”
He found people to talk through his traumatic past, and amidst those sessions, Jesus became a frequent topic of conversation. Coen had attended a private Catholic high school and learned many of the rituals, but he had never truly discovered the essence of Christianity.
“I actually began to have a relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said of that time. “And oh my gosh, I started to have more grace, and I started to forgive, and I started to have a little bit more understanding of what she went through and why.”
He had been given new life in Christ.
That new life was only strengthened during his time as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky (2021, 2023) through the ministry of the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) chapter. There, Coen was introduced to a man who handed him a small but extremely helpful packet about the Bible.
“I didn’t know what Jesus did,” Coen said on the podcast. “I didn’t know what He sacrificed. I didn’t know why He was truly put on this earth.”
Coen’s story of unthinkable pain followed by the power of healing found in Christ is a testimony of God’s goodness that he’s shared with his team and those close to him.
“Once I understood [true faith] and learned and was educated, I felt a different vibe,” he concluded. “I felt a different way of wanting to represent God — Jesus Christ, myself, my family, the way that I carry myself, the grace or honesty that you live life with.
“Perfect? Absolutely not. No question. But I know that it helped me when I actually built a relationship with a Power greater than myself in Jesus Christ.”
find someone who looks at you the way Liam Coen looks at Parker Washington
Now, in the hyper-competitive world of NFL football, with a nation’s eyes soon falling again on his sport, Coen has an opportunity to point others to Christ — the Fountain of true life — both in the 2026-27 season and beyond. Jacksonville’s first preseason game is Aug. 15 in New Orleans.
Mike Macdonald in February 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY JASON ROMANO, FEATURING MIKE MACDONALD
Mike Macdonald was named the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 2024 and immediately made a big impact, leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2025-26. Prior to becoming the Seahawks head coach, he was a longtime assistant coach with the Baltimore Ravens, Georgia Bulldogs and Michigan Wolverines.
Today on the podcast, Mike Macdonald shares about winning the Super Bowl, developing a culture in Seattle, being outspoken about his faith, and what it means to “run it forward” in 2026.
THIS IS THE SPORTS SPECTRUM PODCAST HOSTED BY JASON ROMANO, FEATURING CORI CLOSE
Cori Close is the head coach for the UCLA women’s basketball team. In her 15 seasons at UCLA, she has 358 career wins, back-to-back Final Four appearances, and her first national championship in 2026.
Today on the podcast, Cori Close joins Jason Romano to share about her experience leading UCLA to the women’s national championship, clinging to Christ during this past season, what it means to abide in Jesus, loving her players well, and the Gospel impact she wants to make with the platform she has.
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente (far left) celebrates winning the World Cup with his team, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
There is an “i” in the Spanish word for “team” — equipo — but Spain certainly didn’t exhibit a self-centered style of play on Sunday — or all tournament long — on their way to winning the World Cup for the second time in the nation’s history. And just like their first World Cup title in 2010, the Spaniards needed an extra-time goal to break a scoreless tie, secure the victory, and begin the celebration on the streets of Spain.
On Sunday, that goal came from Ferran Torres in the 106th minute. Argentina, the reigning World Cup champions who had been defending valiantly all day, were down to only 10 men after a red card, and finally, the Argentinians broke.
“Proud of this generation of footballers that have been growing on this idea — loyal to the idea — of giving our best, being an example of a team, a family, of being great footballers with extraordinary potential and talent,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, who at 65 years old became the oldest coach to win a World Cup, said in Spanish on the field after the game. “Especially I feel proud, because truthfully, being able to accompany them on this journey, for me, it’s an honor.”
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente talks about the emotions of winning a FIFA World Cup ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WqBB9BzU07
Spain’s World Cup started inauspiciously enough, with a 0-0 tie against Cape Verde. But La Roja gained momentum with wins over Saudi Arabia and Uruguay to win Group H. They then calmly took out Austria, Portugal, Belgium, and pre-tournament-favorite France to advance to the final.
Some of the best soccer players in the world were on Spain’s roster during this World Cup, but what defined La Roja’s trek to the title was the remarkable team-first mentality they displayed throughout their eight games. They only conceded one goal all tournament long (against Belgium) while eight different Spaniards recorded at least one goal. When asked about his game-winner in the final, Torres’ comment exemplified that mentality.
“It was a goal scored by 47 million people,” he said, via Reuters. “It wasn’t even mine or from the 26 players.”
Playing as one organized unit is central to de la Fuente’s coaching philosophy and a distinct feature of his approach to international competition since being named Spain’s national team coach in December 2022. He is credited with enhancing the “tiki-taka” playing style of Spain’s national team, a style characterized by rapid passing and player movement requiring everyone to be in unison.
“I’m so proud of this generation of footballers who have grown up with this philosophy, remained true to it, made it even better, and set an example as a team and a family,” de la Fuente told reporters Sunday via Reuters. “They’re excellent, world-class footballers with exceptional talent.”
De la Fuente led Spain to the Euro 2024 title, and his teams haven’t lost in 38 games across all competitions, a record for any team from Europe or South America.
“In the past, people were surprised about footballers being talented and skilled and being good people,” he said Sunday. “We are the most united team, and that is thanks to having people with solidarity, values.”
One of de la Fuente’s values is his Christian faith. When asked before Spain’s semifinal tilt against France about any pregame routines he had, de la Fuente talked about prayer.
“I pray every day, but not because I’m at the World Cup or trying to get a result,” he told reporters, via News Nation. “… I think it would be unfair to ask God to help me and not help my rival. I ask for other things, good health especially. And that He gives me the opportunity to continue fighting.”
Another common refrain in de la Fuente’s prayers is gratitude.
“Every day when I get up, I thank God that I’m well,” he said. “I look at myself and I say, ‘Another day that I can enjoy life.'”
De la Fuente’s mentions of faith often have an apologetic flair to them. In an interview with El Mundo in October 2023, he admitted that he at one time had drifted from the Christian faith of his youth because he was beset by doubts. But, God led him back to Himself.
“I decided to draw closer to [faith] again and rely on God for everything I do,” he said. “There are not just one, but a thousand reasons to believe in God. Without God, nothing in life makes sense.”
Furthermore, before beating England to win the Euro 2024 final, de la Fuente was asked about his faith in the face of such high-stakes competitions.
“I am free and I can choose what I have to do, and both my experience and my intelligence invite me to believe in God,” he answered, via Evangelical Focus. “God gives me security and strength. … If I pray today and tomorrow, it’s because I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
Today, as de la Fuente closes his eyes and bows his head in prayer, he will be doing so as a World Cup champion.
