In Session 165, I spoke with Brett Yarris, founder of The Bx Movement and co-founder of the Pro Football Network.

I first heard about Brett when he was featured on The Controversial Exchange podcast with Ryan and Dimitri. In that episode, I recall how passionately Brett advocated for a wider application of our science, and in this regard, he is really leading by example.

In this episode, we discussed how he found his way into Applied Behavior Analysis, how his frustration with the status quo led him to start his own company, how he got into coaching elite-level football players, and how he broke into the crowded and noisy field knowns as the NFL sports media.

In addition to these topics, I think the two most interesting segments of this show came from his discussion of how he devotes a significant amount of consultation and training time to helping individuals with Developmental Disabilities improve their physical health, and then later on in the show, where Brett shares his thoughts on the relevance of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board. That part of the show came towards the end, and without spoiling things too much, Brett doesn't hold back, so you'll definitely want to listen all the way through.

I should also note that there are some over-arching lessons in this conversation, mainly about identifying one's occupational interests and values, and offering novel solutions and/or services to common problems, all while using behavior-analytic principles as a guide. As such, if you've been contemplating striking out on your own, this is a must-listen episode, regardless of whether you care about the NFL, sports, wellness, and so on.

Lastly, for Patreon subscribers, Brett hangs out a little while longer and answers some questions about the upcoming NFL season. In particular, we discuss the 2021 prospects of my son's favorite team, the LA Chargers, and then of course, the New England Patriots. With regard to the latter, Brett shared some insider insight as to why New England cut Cam Newton, and we discussed the AFC East more generally. We ended the Patreon segment with Brett's prediction for the Superbowl.

Here are the links to the resources we discussed in this episode:

Brett's company, The Bx Movement.
Pro Football Network.
The Controversial Exchange episode with Brett.
The More Than Football show.
"Don't Wag the Dog: Extending the Reach of ABA," (Normand and Kohn, 2013).
Dr. Kim Berens' 2nd appearance on the BOP.
The Offensive Value Metric.
Precision Teaching in One Minute (Ryan O'Donnell and Amy Evans).

This podcast is brought to you by:

Applying Behavior Analysis to Football Analytics, Performance Coaching, and Entrepreneurship: Session 165 with Brett Yarris

The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria