Devin Radford is the product of three years’ worth of Isaiah McPeak’s mentorship and three more years of work for Ethos as a value, parli, and policy coach. He views coaching and leadership as an opportunity to give back to a field that greatly aided in his high school development.
Additionally, Devin is a full time student at University of South Florida where he studies Kinesiology and Exercise Science. He plans to attend medical school for Sports Medicine shortly after graduating. He believes that the most fruitful life and the most positive impact are achieved when both the body and mind are pushed past their existing limits. As such, he hopes to help others function at their highest possible level, physically and mentally.
Philosophy:
Devin has led two consecutive years of Ethos LD summer camp tracks and worked personally with dozens of season-long students. His coaching philosophy is simple: work hard, play hard. In the words of golf champ, Jerry Barber: “The more you practice, the luckier you get.” Although debate is a subjectively-judged form and its outcomes often seem arbitrary, it offers significant potential for personal growth.
Devin offers coaching that is introspective, focused on bettering self first and winning tournaments second. He enjoys working with students of all experience levels, from national-class competitors to the “well I argue with my parents sometimes — does that count?” novices. In-session, Devin focuses on tailoring content and learning frameworks to fit his students’ individual skills, goals, and needs.
Achievements:
Devin competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate for four years, Parliamentary debate for three, and Team Policy for one. The bulk of his success came from his senior year, in which he placed top 4 in 4 consecutive parliamentary tournaments (one of which he and his partner won), rode a 6-0 affirmative case to finals in team policy, and won a handful of LD tournaments, only dropping one round the whole season.
Along with experiencing moderate success in debate, Devin is also a well-versed speaker. He holds 1st place titles in 4 types of speeches, took 3 speeches to nationals in 2014, and qualified to marathon nationals 2015 with five speech categories. He elected not to compete in either speech or debate nationals his senior year due to family reasons, but carries no regrets about the decision. He considers his greatest lessons to come from the humbling moments of competition, not the moments of success.
As a coach, Devin has helped many to unlock the doors to their own success. In the 2016-2017 season alone, his students won 10 different tournaments across three different leagues, placed 1st in Ziggy’s online preseason competition, and locked out a statewide qualifier LD finals round in California (both finalists were his students). Over a dozen of his students, both novices and veterans, qualified for national championships.
Devin will share his experience with you and invest in your growth as a debater and a thinker this year. Every push that you make to improve, he will match with his own time and effort.