![\"The](\"https:\/\/news.furman.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Books-scaled.jpg\")
The cover of \u201cCoach to Coach: An Empowering Story About How to Be a Great Leader.”<\/p><\/div>\n
Knight finds a mentor in a mysterious older coach, who is based on a coach Rooney had as a high school athlete in New Jersey who played a significant role in Rooney becoming a four-time All-Southern Conference track and field athlete at Furman<\/a> and inspired him to become a professional coach himself.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the coaching philosophy I\u2019ve taught around the world stems from my coach, Bill Scarola,\u201d Rooney said. \u201cIt was an honor to dedicate \u2018Coach to Coach\u2019 to him.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduating from Furman with a degree in health and exercise science and earning a bachelor\u2019s in physical therapy and a Master of Health Science from the Medical University of South Carolina, Rooney began training under legendary mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie<\/a> in New York City. Not long after, he started training fighters himself and became involved with sports performance training company Parisi Speed School, rising to COO and making connections that led to him becoming a consultant for a number of NFL and college teams as well as special operations forces like the Army Rangers and Navy SEALs.<\/p>\n As the level of his clientele increased, Rooney had a coaching breakthrough.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was working with top athletes, I realized my results weren\u2019t only due to the sport knowledge I had, it was also about my ability to connect.\u201d Rooney said. \u201cAnd that’s when I deep dove into what it really meant to be a coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Rooney was a two-time SoCon champion in the javelin, in 1991 and 1993, and finished third in 1990 and second in 1992. He held the Furman record in the event until it was broken by David Moseley \u201908. He’s also the holder of two Guinness World Records for team deadlifts and pushups.<\/p>\n In 1995, Rooney was selected from an open tryout to be a member of the U.S. national bobsleigh team and spent 1995 to 1997 living at the Lake Placid\u00a0Olympic & Paralympic\u00a0Training Center\u00a0in Lake Placid, New York. His team driver was Olympic medalist and coach Todd Hayes<\/a>, whose history as a national kickboxing champion sparked an interest in martial arts that has led Rooney to achieving a black belt in Kodokan judo and purple belt in Brazilian jiujitsu.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with all the writing I do now, I still feel like an athlete at heart,\u201d said Rooney, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with his wife and four daughters.<\/p>\n Rooney spent over a decade on the editorial council of Gracie Magazine and was a regular contributor to Men\u2019s Health. He credits Furman for helping lay the groundwork for his enthusiasm for writing.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough I graduated as a health and exercise science major, which was my passion, the great education I received in writing and reading from Furman has all come back to what I do today,\u201d said Rooney, who still keeps in close contact with mentor and Furman Professor of Health Sciences Tony Caterisano. \u201cI remember freshman year at Furman, my English teacher said, \u2018None of you should be good enough writers yet to achieve an A in this class.\u2019 I took that as a challenge, and I wrote and wrote until I had learned so much. I was proud of that B-plus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCoach to Coach\u201d came out only weeks before COVID-19 struck, and the ongoing pandemic has had a big impact on Rooney\u2019s company. A silver lining, though, is he\u2019s had time to write a quick sequel set 25 years later, which is tentatively titled \u201cThe Culture Coach: An Inspiring Story About How to Build a Winning Team.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the quarantine, I took the opportunity to spend a handful of months this year as a professional writer,\u201d he said. \u201cThe next book is another work of fiction about how to create a winning team. I think it is my best yet.\u201d<\/p>\n