Phil Martelli has a new podcast and it’s not just about basketball: ‘There will be ripples from this’

Phil Martelli and John Calipari were in their element as they took a trip down Memory Lane, back to when Atlantic 10 basketball had a larger profile, in large part because of John Chaney’s larger-than-life personality. The stories were flowing and so were the laughs, especially when Martelli recalled chasing after an official who he described as being “built like a soda machine.”

Martelli, the longtime St. Joseph’s coach, was sitting in his Media living room with headphones around his ears and a microphone at his mouth, and Calipari, who made his name at Massachusetts before moving on to bigger things, was inside his new home in Arkansas, where he now coaches. Their conversation was briefly interrupted a few times by technical issues, but the glitches of Martelli’s scrappy podcast start-up didn’t impact the tenor of it all.

Podcasts are made for storytelling, for laughter, for talking about tough issues, for advice, and for so much more. This one, Martelli’s new Make a Difference podcast, had components of all of those.

It seems like everyone has a podcast these days, so it makes sense that Martelli, now back home after five seasons working as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan, would have one as he transitions into a new phase of life at age 70. When Martelli spoke with The Inquirer in April about what was next, he talked about wanting to give back and about continuing to “make a difference.” So the podcast is aptly named, just like his new Making a Difference business venture, which includes speaking engagements that focus on relationships, teamwork, and more.

But why the podcast, when the podcast market seems so saturated?

“Because it fits under the umbrella,” Martelli said, “the idea of Make a Difference.”

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To be clear, this wasn’t all his doing. The man sitting to his left as they taped the episode with Calipari on Wednesday was Jared Phillips, Martelli’s nephew, a 30-year-old former television reporter who was looking for something new and approached his uncle, the brother of his late mother, Pattiann, with the idea. Make a Difference, the brand, is a family thing. Phillips produces the podcast, and another nephew, Tommy Chawluk, is the company’s general counsel. Each morning, around 6:30, Martelli sends his daughter, Elizabeth, his daily “Martelli Minute,” some words of advice that go on his Instagram page.

“To work with them has been great,” Martelli said of his family members being involved. Then he gestured toward Phillips and said: “I know his late mom would be really proud of what he’s doing.”

As the producer, Phillips helps Martelli in planning episodes. This isn’t just a basketball podcast, although Martelli and Calipari chopped it up plenty on the state of the game they love — “the Wild, Wild West,” Calipari called college basketball — and much more, and next week’s guest is Geno Auriemma, the longtime Connecticut women’s coach with roots, like Martelli, at Norristown’s Bishop Kenrick.

Martelli will eventually have on Isaiah Thomas Sr., the Philadelphia councilman who happens to double as a high school basketball coach. Last week’s guest was Randall Miller, a St. Joe’s professor, historian, and political scientist. Martelli plans to have on David Kelleher of local car dealership fame to talk about his community outreach around the holidays. He’ll dip back into the basketball pool, too, with Jameer Nelson.

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“I didn’t want it to be a coach’s podcast,” Martelli said. “I didn’t want it to be a coach’s program where people say I need to know more about zone defense or practice planning. If I’m honest and I say, what have I taken? I’ve taken memories and relationships. Those memories and relationships go way beyond coach Coach Calipari or [Tom] Izzo.

“My interest in doing the podcast was to stay true to that.”

Martelli will still have plenty of time to get up to Bryant University to see his son Phil Jr. coach, and to watch his grandson Phillip play basketball. He’ll get to Penn State, too, where his other son, Jimmy, is an assistant.

There are some similarities in this new world to coaching, Martelli has found. Planning a podcast is like coming up with a game plan, in a similar way that planning for a speaking engagement can be.

“Not that I’m uncomfortable on my feet,” he clarified.

He’ll need to be, since he’s also preparing for some television gigs. He traveled to Washington a few weeks ago to do some broadcasting at the Atlantic 10’s basketball media day, and his first Fox Sports telecast is Nov. 9, when he’ll be an analyst on the call for the Fordham at Seton Hall game in South Orange, N.J.

Martelli said he also has a contract with ESPN and his schedule with that network is to be determined.

All of these things — the podcast episodes, speaking engagements, and game broadcasts — will lead to the next one. And the one after that.

“My sense is that there will be ripples from this,” he said.