Mind Strength: A Conversation with Luke Falk

Former Washington State University quarterback Luke Falk (’17 Soc. Sci.) was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week six times, started in 40 games, and set a WSU record with 27 wins. In 2017, his final season with Coug football, Falk won the Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the nation’s top former walk-on.

Falk shares the secrets to his college-ball success in his new book, The Mind Strength Playbook: Master Your Mind. Elevate Your Game. (2025, Maison Vero). It’s a self-development guide that underscores the need for athletes to train not only their bodies but their minds.  But the lessons from Falk translate to anyone.

“Mind strength is the ability to master your inner world so you can handle anything the outside world throws at you,” Falk says. “It’s not about perfection. It’s a tool in your toolbelt.”

Falk talks to Washington State Magazine editor Larry Clark about the book, Coach Mike Leach, Coug football, and lessons that everyone can use to succeed no matter what the world throws at you.

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Coach Luke Falk’s Mind Strength

Transcript

Washington State Magazines webisodes podcast

Episode 45

Mind Strength: A Conversation with Luke Falk

[music]

Larry Clark:

Welcome to Washington State Magazine's webisodes podcast. We bring you stories of fascinating Washington State University alumni research, and more. I'm Larry Clark, editor of the magazine. I talked with former WSU quarterback Luke Falk about his new book, The Mind Strength Playbook, lessons from his time with Cougar football, insights from Coach Mike Leach, and more. 

Today we have Luke Falk, the legendary Cougar quarterback, record twenty-seven wins with WSU. Famously a walk on. But then you got your scholarship after you stepped in and threw four hundred and seventy-one yards and five touchdowns versus Oregon State, if I recall. And no interceptions. Received later the Burlsworth trophy for a former walk-on, and still holds the career passing yards record within the Pac-12. A graduate of twenty-seventeen from Washington State University, welcome, Luke. 

Luke Falk:

Hey, I appreciate you having me on. Thanks, Larry. 

Larry Clark:

Yeah. What a career. And now an author. You have a new book as of last year called The Mind Strength Playbook, where you talk about some of the lessons you've learned and some of the things you share with others. And today, we'll talk a little bit about the book and maybe talk a little bit about Cougar football. Look back. 

What inspired you to write a book? 

Luke Falk:

Well great question. Um, in twenty fifteen, I had loved the guy named Doctor Wayne Dyer. He was like one of those kind of thought leaders that I looked up to in the self-help space. And I actually called my dad up and I'm like, dad, I know what I want to do with my life. This is before my sophomore season. So he actually flew up to Pullman and we had lunch at, it was then called Banyans. I don't know what it's called now. It was at the Palouse Ridge Golf course. And, you know, I told him, hey, I want to do what Wayne Dyer does. I want to speak, I want to write. I want to really help people coach people on being the best versions of themselves. So I would say the seed got planted then. That's when I knew. 

And then when I was done playing, you kind of have your quarter life crisis, I call it, and you're like, what the heck am I going to do now? You know, my whole life was dedicated to trying to be a quarterback and perform and go to the NFL and do all that stuff. Now that's all done. And, you know, that old idea returned to me. And so the original thought I had, I started making a curriculum for mind strength because it was so important for me in my life. You know, before I had worked with a sports psychologist, I lacked a lot of confidence. I had, you know, I just wasn't in a great mentality. I worked really hard, but I never seemed to get out of my own way. And then I started working with the sports psychologist and he's like, hey, you could work on your mind just like you do your body and you can develop, you know, what I would call then mind strength. And so I got to see the power of it. 

And then when I got to the NFL and when I had all this success, why can't I quit working on it? And then I can see how quickly it goes away. It's like, I view it like brushing your teeth. If you don't brush your teeth consistently, they'll rot. Same thing with your mind. If you don't work on your mind and you don't build that mind strength, it won't be there for you when you need it. So I just got thinking. I'm like, well, we have this one-credit class when I was a freshman coming in at Washington State. They really covered a lot of topics. You know, we read a book called Who Moved My Cheese? We talked to a number of people from the department and it was just really like, try to try to get you onboarded and acclimated with college and really more so learn some life skills. And I was like, well, I wonder if this curriculum, this mind strength curriculum could be the thing that these freshmen come into. So I built it in that regard. So I started making the curriculum and then it just molded. I started using that curriculum to then teach quarterbacks, athletes, you name it, got into college coaching. That's what I used with my offense's quarterbacks that I had coached. And then I got out of the college coaching game and I'm like, all right, it's time to write this book. 

The actual writing didn't take that long. It was like maybe a couple months from when I had done it, but I had all the format and I had been coaching on it for such a long time. It was just about putting pen to paper and adding some stories in here and there. And so it was a long time coming, maybe, maybe ten years in the making of when I first had the idea to, when I actually got to write in the book. 

Larry Clark:

One thing that struck me was a key idea around this concept of focus, and particularly on things you can control and working toward those things that that will improve your mind strength. With that kind of focus, can you kind of describe a little bit about some of that idea and maybe some of the other key ideas that you have? 

Luke Falk:

Yeah. Well, that's like one of the foundational principles of mind strength, as I had struggled a lot with anxiety. And I know it's a big issue for people today, especially with social media. And one of the first skills that I had learned is you got to control the controllable. And the science behind it is when you focus on things you can't control, your anxiety increases. And if my anxiety increases, what's going to happen to my performance? It's going to go down. How about the quality of my life? It's like, you know, when I drive in a car with my sister. I'm like the bad backseat driver because my sister will be going forty miles per hour and then stop on a dime at the red light. And I'm like, oh, but I don't have control of the wheel. And the more I focus on the thing I don't have control of, I don't enjoy the ride. Well, that's a lot of people in life. They focus on things that they don't have control of, so therefore they don't enjoy the ride. Athletes, business people, you name it. And so by shifting their focus on the things that they do have control of your anxiety decreases, and your opportunity for your performance can then increase in the quality of your life. So if you can get that, it sounds very fundamental. 

It sounds very basic and it is, but it's much harder to do and put into practice. And I like, I'm not a guy or I'm not a coach that like, I don't like to theorize. Okay, what can I do? Black and white roadmap. How can this help me? So what I tell the people that I work with, or when I go give a talk, when you find your that anxiety in your body, you kind of feel that tension. You feel the rapid breathing focus on something you can't control. And the biggest thing is, say, focus on your breath. You can control your breath. And when you get into that state, it's like, okay, when you're nervous, what happens to your breath? It shortens, it quickens, it's in your chest versus when you're relaxed, you're asleep, you're at peace. It's nice, long, deep and slow. So if you can learn how to control your breath, you can learn how to get yourself in the physiological state that you want to be in. And so the technique I like to teach people is the four six breathing method. It's four seconds in through your nose, six seconds out through your nose. And so when you catch yourself, which is the first step to change is you got to become conscious of it. It's like Carl Jung says, right? Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life. And people will call it fate. So all right, I'm noticing that I'm feeling a little bit anxious. Where's my focus on something I can't control? I'm worried about what people are thinking of me. I'm worried about my job. I'm worried about the outcome or the business deal here. Hey, let me shift and focus on my four six breathing. Let me get back to something I can control, get me to a better state. Because as I've learned, is when you get yourself into a great state, well guess what? Your perception and how you view things follows with it. So you increase your state, you increase the way you view things. If I'm in a bad state, I'm in a panic state. I'm in an anxious state. Well, now how I perceive things is from that viewpoint and my response isn't going to be great. 

So I think it's a very, very powerful critical skill. And people can feel it instantaneously. It's not like, like I said, it's not theory. They can work on it. And what's important though is that you got to work on it daily. Like I had a buddy, he came to my talk. I give these talks all over the country and he came to one of my talks. He's my best friend. And he called me up a week later and he goes, hey, that four six breathing stuff you talked about, you said, you're full of shit. Sorry for my language. And I'm like, what do you mean? And he's like, uh, I was golfing the other day and I had a lot of money on the game. And I was nervous as could be on the first tee box. And I used your four six breathing and I never got over that. And I was like, oh, really? How often did you work on it beforehand? He said, well, I didn't. I said, there you go. How are you supposed to access something if you never work on it beforehand? 

So there's a lot of people that think that, okay, I learned this new mind strength skill. I'll be able to apply it when I need it. They don't realize it's like any other physical skill or working out your body or any other thing that you do. You got to develop the habit. You got to develop the skill. So just start with one minute a week after you brush your teeth or driving in the car or going to bed at night, work on your breathing, and then just build upon that and it'll be there for you when you need it most. 

Larry Clark:

It's really good advice, you know, and I've heard similar things from people who have talked about breathing being the fundamental. And I'm glad you bring that in, because it does, I think, enhance confidence and builds people's ability to really concentrate and work on the things that they can that they can change. And you talk a little bit about the Falk Five. I'm a big fan of numbers and kind of, you know, putting things into different buckets to help explain. I think, yeah, it means something for people. Can you talk a little bit about the Falk Five? 

Luke Falk:

Yeah. Well, I was originally going to have it be the Falk Four. I was going to cut one of them and my number in college was four. So I'm like, oh, that'd be great. I had a company beforehand called FourQB. But I got right in it. I'm like, well, I can't cut any of them. They're great. So I'm going to, I'm just going to put them in there. So it became the Falk Five. And I will say that people really enjoy that chapter because it probably could be a book in itself because if you just do those skills.

One of them is house money. And I talked about that and this concept of house money. I got it from Coach Leach. You know, when I walked on, I was playing great when I got my moments and my opportunities because I had nothing to lose, right? There was nothing that I had to lose in that case. In a sense, I was playing with house money. It was like somebody gave me one hundred dollars and told me to go to Zeppoz in Pullman, that casino, and go play and have at it, right. I would play fearless. But when I got put on scholarship and now I was the starter, or I was in the number one spot competing to be the starter, I started playing hesitant. I started playing fearful. I started playing like… I had just worked in high school. I had a roofing job. I had just acted like I went a full week's work of roofing, and I was forced to go gamble now. And I'm like, oh, I'm playing timid, I'm playing hesitant. I don't want to lose it. And so he pulled me aside. He said, you got to start playing with house money. He went on this whole spiel and he said, I'd rather you be decisive and wrong than indecisive and right. And you know, Coach Leach and his famous word says, swing your sword. 

And it really got my mind going on this. And when I played at my best and when I see the athletes I coach or the businesspeople that I mentor, when they are operating at the highest level, they have this house money mentality where they just they kind of have like a “I don't give a Falk” type of mentality. You know, if things go, if they don't work out the way that they exactly want, they know that they'll find a way, but they're decisive in doing it, which allows them to perform at a high level. It's a freedom skill. It's like so many people have a fear and worry about how they're viewed, what people think of them, and that really holds them back. There's a guy, he works with the Seattle Seahawks, Doctor Michael Travis. I'm sure you have seen some of his work, but he's coined a term “FOPO,” right. Fear of other people's opinion. I think this house money skill is the thing that can combat that. 

Another one is a great one, especially for these young people. You know, this grit-no-quit concept. You know, you see all these high performers, high achievers that have been successful. It's not that they're more talented. What Angela Duckworth found out is that they have more grit, they have more resolve. They stick with it longer. And this microwave, AI society, especially with the NIL world where I'm at one school here and I'm going to go to this school here, I think kids are missing the opportunity to learn that. So I love putting that in there and showing them. Okay. At the core of it, what really drives whether you're going to be gritty or not is, okay, what's your why? What's your desire? What's the thing that's pulling you there? Is it your desire or is it somebody else's? If it's mom and Dad's, then yeah, you're probably going to fall off the wagon. If it's yours and you know, you have a deeper burning passion and desire, you're going to do everything you can to see that thing through. And so that's fun to be able to describe in that one.

Another one of like, you know, stating what you want as a performance goal. I could go on and on on these, but I guess I'd say, hey, go get the book and go read about it. It's chapter six. But they're really great skills that not only help you performance-wise, but also help you in everyday living. 

Larry Clark:

Yeah, absolutely. I read Angela Duckworth's book a few years ago. Learned a lot. And I think that's a key component to, to the success that you talk about. And kind of speaking of success, you know, your experiences at WSU, I think it sounds like led to some of these ideas and really cementing some of these ideas. Can you talk a little bit about some of those experiences, those key experiences at WSU that really fermented and created something in your head about this philosophy and this idea of mind strength? 

Luke Falk:

It was like people asked me what I got my degree in, and yeah, I got it in social sciences, but really, I got my degree in this mind strength, in this performance environment. Each Saturday in the fall, I was going out and I was putting, you know, what I had been working on to see, is this going to work or not? And then I would get the real life moment of, okay, what was the outcome and how am I going to respond to this outcome? So I had a parent one time ask me what are my credentials? And I said RLE. And she said, what does that mean? I said, real life experience. I'm not somebody who's theorized about this. 

Like, I always enjoyed professors who were adjunct professors because, you know, they didn't just theorize on what the markets were doing. They were in a business running. Like I had Buddy Levy as a creative writing professor at WSU. Well, the guy had written a number of books; like he's done it. He knew the process. So now he's got my attention. And so this isn't just something that I read in a book and I go, oh, that's a great idea. I've lived it and I see what has worked, what hasn't. And so WSU just gave me an opportunity to it was like my classroom. It was my classroom to be able to see, okay, what works, what doesn't. 

And really, my whole NFL career, my, my coaching career, I've just had this great opportunity to see kind of plug and play and doing my own research in a non-educational type of way where, you know, I've got the formats, I can cite this and that. It's just, I can see it based upon my RLE so very, very great for me. And I love WSU because it's like I didn't go in there as the guy. I got the opportunity to have to work for things. I got the opportunity to have to, you know, my locker is on the bottom. I have to do the Friday workout and just push my way through it and have kind of that perseverance, which at the end of it really worked for me. I mean, it was all working for me. I mean, it was all part of my story and all helping me to get where I'm at right now. 

And I even tell people, what are the hard things that you've gone through in your life that were really bad, but they ended up working out great for you. Like, I didn't want to be a walk-on. I didn't want that stuff. I didn't want the turbulence that I had in high school. But looking back on it now, it all worked out better for me and I'm so glad that happened for me. And then I say, okay, what's the perspective that you had then? And what's something that's hard that's going on in your life right now? And why wouldn't you keep that same mentality that this is working out for you? 

You know, because there's really two types of mentalities you can have. In a sense, it's like, hey, one, everything is working out for my highest good, or the other is just a random series of events. And I don't know what's going to happen. And I like to believe it's on this side. And then that can help me with my perception and ultimately my response moving forward with things. 

Larry Clark:

That's very insightful, and I think leads to another question that I had. But I think you've answered a little bit. But if you want to expand on it, who is your audience for this book? You know, you talk about athletes and coaches who can gain from this, but are there lessons for everyone? 

Luke Falk:

Yeah, great question. So I had written a book for me and my younger self and what I would want, and I wrote it for my coaches that interacted with me and I wrote it for my parents. And so I think the target or the primary audience was, yeah, okay, athletes, coaches, parents, but it really is applicable to anybody. I actually get more business clients reading the book and giving me like, wow, this is so applicable in what I'm doing in sales or in leading my team or in leading, you know, whatever it is. So I think anybody that picks it up that wants to improve their life, wants to improve their mindset, knows, you know, they work out their body, but they know they're not working out their mind. This is a great tool to be able to do that. 

Larry Clark:

Absolutely. And I think it's at a crucial time as well. And you mentioned AI and I l it seems to me that this idea of improving the way that we think, you know, building that strength in our mind, is one of the ways to deal with all the change that's happening. 

Luke Falk:

Oh, totally. Totally, totally. So candidly, you know, I've shifted my business quite a bit. And what I've done is I've created my book into a program for high school athletic departments. I was getting these schools that were buying my book and I'm like, all right, well, how many kids are actually going to pick it up and read it? So what I did is I made it into the audio format. I did coaching videos, short coaching videos. I got these quizzes, this breathwork visualization, all that stuff. And then they can get certified at the end. So there's, you know, mind strength certification. 

And we know that there's such a problem with the young generation right now and what they're facing, right? They got an uphill battle, political tension, AI, you name it, right? Social media, this, that and the other. And what we know is today is going to be completely different tomorrow. What are we doing to equip them? Right? We talk about it. We talk about the problem, but nobody's really doing something about the solution. So I'm on a mind strength movement right now. That's like my purpose, my mission with what I'm doing. I want to create a national mind strength movement and get every one of these high school student-athletes mind strength certified. Because think of the net positive impact that's going to do, you know, to the teams, the community, the schools, their families, their future spouses, their kids, your business, you name it. 

And I want to create one of the greatest generations that we've had. And I think that no matter what happens in the external world, to me, my strength is all about the ability to master your inner world so that it doesn't matter what's going on in the external world, you'll have the way to be able to call an audible redirect. Go here, go that way. But if you don't have the right mindset, you're going to be SOL. You're going to have a victim mindset going, well, you know, AI came in, there's nothing I can do about it. Or you'll have the mindset that goes, oh, how can I use that to, to help out? How can I use that to better society and what we got going on? So that's what I want to create. I want to create a generation who takes ownership, who has great mind strength and make that across the nation. Man, what, what is that going to do to our country and our society and the world as a whole? So that's my mission. That's my passion. 

I've got a lot of schools that have signed up, hopefully get WSU signed up. I just talked to them this past week about getting their student-athletes. But, uh, you know, that's what fires me up along with the coaching and all that stuff. But it's like, and the nice part with these coaches or with these high school programs, it's like virtually the same price as a book. So it's like you get so much more for the price of a book to get your kid's mind strength certified and say, hey, we're doing something about this problem. 

And I'm not claiming to be a mental health expert and all that, but I am claiming to have had the experience of that. I know when I learned these skills and tools and I use them. My life is exponentially better than when I don't and when I don't, man, it's a long, long, dark road. I agree, you know, I mean, we're at a time when these kind of skills and this ability can really help out. And the younger people today, you know, especially these kids that have gone through the pandemic and they're facing, like you said, all the turmoil in the country and their lives and social media. 

Larry Clark:

You know, I love to hear you say that it's a passion to bring these ideas to them and give them these skills and this ability to learn. So I appreciate it. 

Luke Falk:

Yeah. Thanks. No, it's a total passion of mine. I don't want to be one of those guys that goes, oh, they're just, you know, there's nothing that we can do. No, no, there's something we can do. Why don't we. Why don't we attempt? And I think that I think this young generation, they could be honestly, they can be one of our best. They just need to learn and have the format and the skills to be taught. And if I look back on my time, if I wasn't introduced to my sports psychologist who then set a sequence of events for me that I started reading books like from Tony Robbins, John Gordon, Wayne Dyer, I mean, all these great peoples who have, you know, coached at the highest level, what would my life look like? I don't know. 

So I want to give those kids the same opportunity without having to spend five thousand dollars to do it, or ten thousand dollars to do it, or however much it is, because, you know, this coaching isn't cheap, but the program man, highly affordable, highly effective. The best way I'd do it is get the program, have the book as well, highlight it, go through it. 

I always say this too. It's like, you know, I believe that application of knowledge is power, not knowledge is power itself. Like if I know the answer C and I put B, that's not very powerful, but if I know the answer C and I put C, okay, now that's that's where real power comes into play. So rather than being a serial reader, which I've been in my life, what I'm focusing on now is I want to read less, but absorb and apply more. And this book is meant for application. It's not like I'm leaving you in the dark and showing, hey, this is house money. I don't show you how to maybe do it or this is stating what you want or this is, you know, this idea, but there's no coaching to get there. So that's the fun part about this exercise. There's a number of different things.

Larry Clark:

Kind of changing a little bit of the  focus, thinking back on your time with WSU. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Mike Leach a couple of times, when he first arrived and then about his book with Buddy Levy. You mentioned Buddy. Just a really interesting and fun person. So I do have to ask, what other lessons do you have? And do you have a favorite Leachism that stuck out for you? 

Luke Falk:

Golly. I mean, I got a lot of them and they're all throughout the book. Um, yeah, I think there's a couple that from like a life's perspective or leadership perspective that I use with me all the time. In fact, I'm even going to be presenting on it tomorrow, is you're either coaching it or allowing it to happen. He had that in his coach's office, and I just love that it doesn't allow any excuse making. It doesn't allow any victim thinking. It puts you are both the problem and you're the solution. 

He also had a thing for quarterbacks that I didn't get at the time, but it was in the same concept, the same realm. Like all sacks are on the quarterback. And for all you Coug fans out there, you know that I didn't take this to heart because I got sacked about thirty-five times a year. You know, I probably led the nation. I probably have all the Pac-12 records in that too. But you know, what he was saying was genius. It's like, if I view every sack is on me, then I'm not looking to the offensive line, or I'm not looking to external factors to improve for me to get better. I'm looking at, okay, could I change the play? Could I have got rid of the ball? Could I have scrambled? Could I have checked it down? Could I have done something different? And this mentality could go into different areas of quarterback play. If a receiver dropped the ball, did I have the right pace? Was it the right read? Did I, you know, spend time with them after practice or if we missed a signal? Did I hold a signal meeting like you're taking ownership for you so you can improve the situation? And I just love that. And I actually tweeted about it because I didn't put it in the book. It was I got this, I had this aha later and it got, you know, a couple million views on social media across the multiple platforms. I'm like, yeah, because it resonates with people. They see that that certainly is so powerful. 

So those are probably my favorite Leachisms, like from an actual mind strength perspective. And then I always try to remember this too. Like Leach was just so cool in crunch time situations. I mean, his state. We talked about state earlier, really impacted all of us. So in a crunch time situation, he wasn't panicked. He was a coach. What do you want? Probably a touchdown, like in a joking way. Or I come in at halftime, and people have heard this story, where he's on Rosetta Stone practicing Spanish and we're down twenty-four to seven and he's like, there's nothing these guys are doing, go out there and rip their ass, you know? But his coolness impacted us. So then we went out there and we played loose. We played like we had house money and we were really, really good in the fourth quarter and those game winning drives during that era, because it started with him, because it started with how cool he was. 

I've said it many, many times, and I just feel like I got to continue to do it. But like without Coach Leach, oh man. Like none of this happens for me. Like I owe that guy everything. Yeah, he was a pain in my ass for a little bit. Yes, I didn't have the right mentality later on. And I took him for granted at those times. But having the perspective and the time and the opportunity to really be in college, coaching myself and see what he was able to do and able to accomplish. I have nothing but respect for him in that regard. Was he perfect? No, but he was the perfect coach for me at that time in my life. 

Larry Clark:

Speaking of mind strength, such a broad range of interests and expertise that he had built up from reading and learning. And you could tell that he really believed it. 

Luke Falk:

He built a lot of mind strength through us from a physical boot hill, Leach beach, you name it. There was a lot of mind strength that had been there. And, then one of my favorite mind strength skills that I think people get a kick out of is the “what, not how,” you know, able to handle tough coaching and criticism. And I can't tell you how many times I had to use that with Coach Leach, him just ripping me in front of the whole team. Okay, what's he saying? Not how is it being delivered? Okay, great. Let me go from there. And then sometimes he would just rant, rant, and you just had to, you just had to kind of take it. 

Larry Clark:

Yeah, but always entertaining. 

Luke Falk:

Always entertaining. Always. Maybe not when I was on the receiving end of it and, uh, at times, but pretty entertaining. 

Larry Clark

I was interviewing Jeremiah Allison and he was talking about something with, karaoke with Leech. I don't know if you were involved with that, but that was one of the oddest things I think I had ever heard, you know, with him singing. Apparently it's not something that should have happened. 

Luke Falk:

No, no. And then him running routes, he would always like, you know, if you're cutting left, you would cut off your right foot. He wasn't that coordinated. Like he's truly the outlier. Where I'll be working with quarterbacks, I'm like, hey, yeah, generally you want to get a guy that's played the position. He's the only guy that I know that never really played, but he was excellent at being a football coach, and that would be infuriating at times, too, because he would pause the film and be like, just throw it here. And I'm like, okay, he doesn't even know that angle, I can't make that throw because the linebacker or whatever, but he just kept it that simple for you. And I think it really helped it dumbed down the game to help you play with not having as many weeds in the mind, as a lot of players or coaches try to. They just try to overcomplicate it. And he just simplified everything. And I think that's what a great teacher does, a great coach does is, can take a very complex thing and simplify it to make it applicable? 

Larry Clark:

Finally, before kind of wrap-up about the book, I assume you still follow WSU football. 

Luke Falk:

I do, I'm sure and you probably saw I tried to make some waves in the WSU football world. 

Larry Clark:

Oh yeah. Yeah, and I love that. You saw probably the twenty twenty-six season coming up. Any particular games that you're really looking forward to, where the Cougs can shine? 

Luke Falk:

Well I think they can have a great year. I think what Kirby and his staff are doing, I've heard nothing but good things, you know, about them and the type of program that they're building. It sounds like they've got some backing from the athletic department, which you need. You need everybody in alignment. So I think it's going to be a great year for us in the new conference. I really am optimistic and hopeful and think we can dominate year in, year out. 

The game I'm most excited about besides the Apple Cup, of course, is there's a game right in my backyard here in Logan, Utah, against the Utah State Aggies. So anybody that comes to Logan, you know, I'm going to figure out a place to maybe we'll do a big Coug barbecue out in my dad's backyard here in Logan or something. My house is not as bigvfor accommodating the thing, but my dad, he's got a nice backyard here, so we can maybe have a tailgate, have a good time. So I'm really looking forward to that one. 

Larry Clark:

That's great. That'll be a great one. 

Luke Falk:

It'll be great that we're back competing for a conference championship. I think that always helps, you know, the intrigue and fan viewership and all that. And then, hey, we got a legit opportunity. We play great football. I mean, we could find ourselves in the playoffs. And I know that's what Coach Moore's mindset is. Hey, we want to win the conference and be able to get that kind of Group of Five spot. 

Larry Clark:

So again, mind strength playbook. There's the crimson and the gray on there. How can people learn more? 

Luke Falk:

Yeah. Go to my website coachlukefalk-dot-com. They can go there. They can also if they want the book, it's on Barnes and Noble, Amazon. I think quite a quite a few platforms in that regard. And then, um, yeah, I think it's at the Bookie at WSU. I think they still got some copies of the book and stuff. So, but definitely, you know, follow me on social media. Everything's coachluke falk and I got a blog that I do weekly. I got a newsletter, I got quite a few followers that get a little mind strength nugget or a story here and there. 

And you know, what's fun with my writing and my coaching is, I'm, I'm not as robotic as I was as a player. As a player, I'm like, you know, nobody. I showed no emotion, very stoic. And then as a writer, it's like, man, I opened it up and same thing as a speaker. It's my real me. I just, I never allowed myself to go there as a player. So it's been fun, this phase of it. I enjoy it so much more than I did playing. And I know I'm really in my sweet spot. 

Larry Clark:

Well that's great. So everybody who's listening, all that will be in the show notes so they can connect with you. Learn more, read your newsletter, read your blog. Thank you again, Luke. Really appreciate it. As always. Go Cougs. 

Luke Falk:

Go Cougs. Thanks, Larry. Appreciate it. 

Larry Clark:

Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the podcast, follow us and give us a good rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. You can find more stories and episodes at magazine dot wsu dot edu. This episode is produced by me, Larry Clark. Our music is by WSU emeritus music professor and composer Greg Yasinitsky.

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