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The Masculine Wilderness Podcast · Epik Project

Winning at Home: Coaching Boys Into Men with Spencer Crace

·51 min·3 clips
"Bad teams, no one leads; good teams, coaches lead; great teams, players lead."
Tom Perez starts with thanks. He says this is the final episode of 2025, recorded a couple of days before Christmas, and invites listeners to support Epic Project through epicproject.org. Spencer Crace comes in as a college football coach. He talks about teams that trust roles, set standards, hold one another accountable, and put the goals of the team ahead of ego. He contrasts that with teams that need constant direction and says player-led teams are the ones on the edge of greatness. The conversation then moves beyond sport. Crace says sports teach people how to get comfortable being uncomfortable, whether the pressure is a barbell, a nose guard, or the demands of adult life. He also points to the mix of backgrounds college teams bring together: rural towns, different religions, political views, and other life experiences that make belonging and growth feel real. Home stays central. Crace says a man should win at home first, because being steady as a husband and father helps him show up more clearly at work and on the football field. Perez keeps the conversation focused on how those ideas carry beyond football, and Crace says this is the kind of formation he wants sports to offer young men and the wider culture.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about accountability, leadership, and carrying better habits home.

Tom Perez and Spencer Crace keep the focus on how habits off the field shape the way a person shows up for the game. Crace comes back to accountability, learning to sit with discomfort, and the steadier habits that carry into being a husband, father, and worker.

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Why you'd press play

You want leadership talk that starts at home.

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