The Yogi Roth Show

It was 2001.I still remember the email: mj@usc.edu. It came from Mark Jackson—someone I knew from working summer camps at USC that summer.“Give me a call,” it read.That call changed my life.It opened a door—not just professionally, but personally. It gave me a glimpse of what a grounded, intentional, meaningful family life could look like.Since that moment, Mark has been a friend, a mentor, and now, with both of us in the Big Ten Conference, a kind of colleague. Back in the early 2000s, we’d spend hours in Pete Carroll’s office—absorbing his leadership philosophy and, just as importantly, reflecting on our own lives.Then came the summer of 2008.Coach Carroll challenged us to write down our life philosophy. Like a class assignment, we each returned with a typed-up document that felt like a book report. I was single and 25. Mark was married with four kids.His response?Family. Faith. Friendship. Fun.Those “Four F’s” became his compass and they still are.From interning with the Patriots to working on staff under