Gordon Ryan recently took to Jake Shields’ podcast to defend his longtime coach John Danaher – responding to critics who have described the legendary instructor as cold or difficult to work with.

Here is what he had to say about Danaher’s personality:

John’s been nothing but a good guy, you just have to show him respect.

According to Ryan, much of the criticism stems from people misunderstanding Danaher’s behavior, particularly during periods when he was dealing with severe chronic pain.

Ryan acknowledged that Danaher “can appear a little cold” at first, but he stressed that this impression shifts as students spend more time with him.

He explained that Danaher has endured years of intense physical discomfort, which takes an enormous mental toll and can naturally affect day-to-day interactions:

For someone who’s constantly in pain with his body falling apart, like you don’t realize how much extra it takes to be constantly nice to people.

He also recounted a time when Danaher’s health issues were particularly severe during their time in New York.
Some students reportedly complained about Danaher’s tone during training sessions, but Ryan was quick to shut that down:

There was some people crying about that…
They’re, like, crying about oh John was mean.

It’s, like, he’s the f*cking best coach in the world!
Oh he f*cking yelled at you? Get f*cking over it, bro.

Ryan went on to describe Danaher’s extraordinary commitment to his students.

He emphasized that Danaher coaches “seven days a week, twice a day” and doesn’t charge athletes for his time:

He never charged me a dime. You just have to show him respect and earn his respect too, though. You can’t just walk in and expect respect from him.

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