We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caleb Coe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Caleb, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

A defining moment in my career was while I pursued my doctorate of physical therapy. I was burned out of PT schools and I had barely scratched the surface of my education. I was sick of the uncertainty of working with people in pain. I felt responsible to fix it right away and felt like I wasn’t given to tools or information to help. Imposted syndrome was eating away at me, and I was told I needed to have all the answers (or at least pretend I did). I felt an incredible amount of pressure and responsibility for my patients getting healthy or not.
I was cynical of the simplistic and old school explanations we had for pain and injuries, so I decided then and there to change the game by opening my own practice, where I focused on high quality, one-on-one, sports rehab that is tailored to each patient.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Caleb Coe, and I am the owned and founder of Big Cat Sports Performance. I was an All-American linebacker during my four years in college, and during that time, I completed my undergrad in exercise science. From college, I went on to complete my Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Dayton, along with becoming a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Through graduate school, I was struck by how outdated the lectures were, while claiming to be evidence based and up to date. I was extremely burned out of seeing patients in pain, yet being given only simplistic and textbook explanations to help them.

This sense of imposter syndrome and frustration is what caused me to pursue knowledge on my own and open my own practice, Big Cat Sports Performance. At BCP, we pride ourselves on quality care that is personalized and prescribed by physical therapists who are trained specifically to work with athletes. Our treatments are completely individualized to our patients needs, and we work to seek answers with our patients, without trying to force them into a box. Instead of getting our patients back to their previous level, our goal is to elevate the previous level. This ensures our patients are stronger, more resilient, and more athletic, than they were before the injury.

Since opening our practice in January of 2023, we have had to the opportunity to work with high school, college, and professional athletes. We have become an official partner of the USFL (United States Football League) and have worked with hundreds of patients to achieve athletic success. We continue to grow daily, and we’re so thankful for the successes we have seen thus far.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

Something I find detrimental in the field of physical therapy, is to never quit pursuing information. Often times, I see physical therapists or strength coaches who are simply unwilling to lift their eyes from the textbooks in front of them and are convinced that their patients must fit somewhere in those perfect boxes. Always being willing to learn more is so important and it was on my quest to find answers for my patients, that I ended up finding the most helpful information.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Something that helped build and maintain my reputation within my market was my ability to admit when I don’t have the perfect answer. I always tell my patients to beware of the overconfident PT. There is value is admitting when you don’t know the perfect answer, then showing your willingness to work until you do know the answer. This level of honestly is worth its weight in gold in the health care industry, and it’s something clients will greatly appreciate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bigcatperformance.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigcatperformance7/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigcatphysicaltherapy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-coe-pt-dpt-cscs-846061156/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bigcatperformanceandpt/featured

Image Credits

Wesley Seyfang at HSLD Sports Media @hsld_sportsmedia and @hsld_seyfang on Instagram