COL (ret.) J. Craig Flowers
Developing Leaders, Building Character
COL (ret.) J. Craig Flowers
Developing Leaders,
Building Character
COL (ret.) J. Craig Flowers brings a lifetime of leadership experience to Shockley Sports Camps as our coach for Leader & Character Development.
His 25+ years in our military encompassed nearly a decade overseas, including three years in The Kingdom of Morocco as a diplomat and military attaché. His final military assignment was at West Point where he taught and later served as a Director of Cadet Activities and Assistant Baseball Coach for the record setting Army West Point Black Knights.
Craig attended Texas Christian University earning a degree in Economics while playing baseball for the Horned Frogs. He earned a M.A. from Kansas University and is fluent in French. He trained, specialized, and operated in the field of Military Intelligence.
Craig has dedicated his post-military career to helping athletes, coaches, educators, and business leaders understand what separates good teams from elite teams. At Shockley Sports Camps, his mission extends beyond the playing field. Through lessons in character, accountability, resilience, teamwork, and servant leadership, he helps young athletes develop the habits and mindset needed to succeed not only in sports, but throughout life.
Coach Flowers' message is simple: Talent may create opportunities, but character, discipline, and leadership determine how far those opportunities can take you.
Character Before Competition
Athletics can teach valuable lessons, but only when those lessons are intentionally developed. Every season eventually ends. Every game has a final score. Championships are celebrated and then become memories. What remains is the character an athlete develops along the way.
That belief is at the heart of Colonel Flowers’ work with young athletes.
Drawing upon decades of leadership experience in the military, education, business, and athletics, he teaches athletes that integrity, accountability, discipline, resilience, and teamwork are not simply sports skills—they are life skills.
For many athletes, these lessons become the foundation upon which future success is built.
Leadership Lessons from West Point, the Playing Field, and Beyond
Throughout a distinguished military career spanning more than 25 years, Colonel (ret.) J. Craig Flowers served in leadership roles involving military intelligence, strategic planning, international diplomacy, and organizational development. His experiences leading teams, solving complex challenges, and developing future leaders provided lessons that extend far beyond military service.
During his final assignment at West Point, Craig taught cadets, served as Director of Cadet Activities, and helped coach the Army West Point Black Knights baseball program during one of the most successful periods in the team’s history. There he witnessed firsthand how discipline, accountability, preparation, and teamwork contribute to success both on the field and in life.
Those same principles are at the heart of athlete development.
Young athletes face adversity, pressure, competition, setbacks, and opportunities every day. Coach Flowers helps athletes understand that leadership is not reserved for team captains or future executives. Leadership begins with personal responsibility, character, work ethic, and the ability to make good decisions when challenges arise.
Sideline Leadership
Following his military career, Colonel Flowers became a nationally recognized speaker, consultant, and leadership educator.
Through his Sideline Leadership programs, he works with schools, athletic organizations, coaches, and businesses to help individuals develop stronger leadership skills and more effective team cultures.
His presentations focus on practical leadership principles that can be applied immediately:
His ability to connect leadership lessons to real-world situations makes him a sought-after speaker throughout the country.
“A Colonel and a Cowboy”
Colonel Flowers is also the co-author of the Amazon bestselling book: “A Colonel & A Cowboy: Strategies of the Elite”.
Written with world champion tie-down roper Stran Smith, the book explores how individuals from dramatically different backgrounds often discover the same principles of excellence.
One author’s journey was shaped through military leadership and global service.
The other’s journey was forged through the challenges of professional rodeo and ranch life.
Together they reveal how discipline, perseverance, humility, responsibility, and servant leadership create success regardless of profession.
The lessons contained in the book mirror many of the same values Colonel Flowers shares with athletes at Shockley Sports Camps.
Why Shockley Sports Camps Chose Colonel Flowers
Shockley Sports Camps believes that sports provide an opportunity to teach lessons that extend far beyond athletic performance.
While athletes attend camps to improve their skills, they also develop habits, attitudes, and values that will influence the rest of their lives. Colonel Flowers helps bridge that gap.
His leadership sessions challenge athletes to think beyond the next game, the next season, or the next scholarship opportunity. Instead, they are encouraged to consider the type of teammate, leader, family member, employee, and citizen they hope to become.
That perspective aligns perfectly with the mission of Shockley Sports Camps.
Developing Better Athletes by Developing Better People
The ultimate goal of Shockley Sports Camps is not simply to help athletes perform better.
It is to help them become better people.
Through the combined efforts of athletic instructors, coaches, mentors, and leaders like Colonel Craig Flowers, athletes are encouraged to pursue excellence both on and off the field.
Because while talent may open doors, character determines how far a person ultimately goes.
