Waco, Texas – In an era where high achievement often masks profound personal crisis, Dr. Toby Brooks stands as a singular voice challenging the narrative that success demands the suppression of struggle. As the Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning and a Clinical Full Professor at Baylor University’s Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Brooks has transcended traditional academic boundaries to become a globally recognized performance scientist, author, and the architect of the Becoming UnDone movement—a paradigm shift that treats personal collapse not as failure, but as foundational reconstruction.
Academic Foundation and Professional Evolution
Born and raised in Golconda, Illinois, Brooks’ trajectory from a small-town first-generation college student to an internationally cited authority on human performance reflects the very resilience he now teaches. His educational credentials demonstrate an uncommon commitment to interdisciplinary mastery: an Associate of Science from Southeastern Illinois College, a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (where he distinguished himself as one of the Top 25 Graduating Seniors), followed by both Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Teaching and Teacher Education/Physical Education from the University of Arizona. Demonstrating a forward-looking approach to data-driven performance, Brooks subsequently earned an MBA in Data Analytics from Louisiana State University Shreveport and is currently completing a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology at Baylor.
This robust academic foundation underpins Brooks’ multi-decade career across the full spectrum of sports medicine and performance science. As a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), his professional experience spans elite athletic ecosystems including service with USA Baseball national teams, the Las Vegas Raiders (formerly Oakland Raiders), the Southern Illinois Miners, and the Florida Firecats. His collegiate engagements include significant tenures at the University of Arizona, University of Texas at El Paso, Liberty University, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale—experiences that provided the empirical basis for his later theoretical work on athletic identity and burnout.
From Breakthrough to Breakdown: The Genesis of Becoming UnDone
Brooks’ professional narrative took a decisive turn during his fourteen-year tenure at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in Lubbock, where he served as Assistant Dean for Faculty Success, Program Director of the CAATE-accredited Master of Athletic Training program, and achieved the rank of Full Professor. It was here, at what appeared to be the zenith of a conventional academic career—surrounded by accolades, administrative authority, and institutional prestige—that Brooks encountered the catastrophic personal reckoning that would redefine his life’s work.
“I realized I’d been chasing success for the wrong reasons,” Brooks reflects on this transformative period. “What happens when you achieve everything you thought you wanted, but it doesn’t fill the void inside?”
This crisis of meaning—common among high-achieving professionals but rarely acknowledged in academic and athletic circles—became the crucible for Becoming UnDone. Rather than concealing his experience of burnout and identity loss, Brooks chose to investigate it publicly, leveraging his background as a performance scientist to examine the physiological and psychological mechanisms of high-functioning collapse.
The result was the launch of the Becoming UnDone podcast in 2023, which within eighteen months ascended to the global top 10% in Education and Self-Improvement categories, attracting listeners across more than 75 countries.
The podcast’s distinctive methodology—combining rigorous academic insight with unflinching personal vulnerability—has hosted an array of high-profile guests including Israeli Air Force F-16 squadron commander Ilana Golan, former Marine Corps aviator and CEO Quang X. Pham, and financial strategist Marissa Nehlsen, exploring themes ranging from post-traumatic growth to strategic career pivots.
Institutional Leadership and Generative AI Innovation
In January 2024, Brooks transitioned to Baylor University as Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning, where he has emerged as a leading institutional voice on the ethical integration of generative artificial intelligence in higher education. As chair of Baylor’s Generative AI Working Group, he bridges the gap between emergent technologies and human-centered pedagogy, insisting that technological efficiency must serve rather than supplant the developmental needs of learners.
This position aligns with his broader scholarly agenda: Brooks is the author of more than twenty books, over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles, and upwards of two hundred professional magazine publications. His research output consistently addresses the intersection of physical performance, educational psychology, and sustainable leadership—areas where his practical experience with elite athletes informs his theoretical frameworks for faculty development and institutional change.
Recognition and Global Impact
Brooks’ contributions to performance science and coaching methodology received formal validation in 2025 when he was awarded the title of Best Performance Scientist and Coach in Texas by Best of Best Review. The accolade specifically recognized his innovative approach to what he terms “comeback science”—the systematic study of how high performers reconstruct identity and efficacy following professional or personal devastation.
Beyond the podcast, Brooks maintains an active speaking schedule, having presented at more than one hundred international, national, and regional events.
His secondary podcast, The Professor’s Playbook, targets academic audiences specifically, addressing instructional excellence and faculty mentorship through the lens of performance psychology.
Philosophy of Strategic Reconstruction
At the core of Brooks’ methodology is a rejection of resilience narratives that emphasize mere survival. Instead, he advocates for “strategic reinvention”—a structured process of dismantling outdated identity constructs to build more authentic, sustainable frameworks for achievement. This philosophy, encapsulated in the Becoming UnDone trademark, posits that rock bottom represents not the termination of potential but “the most honest foundation” upon which a meaningful life can be reconstructed.
“Becoming UnDone isn’t about falling apart,” Brooks articulates. “It’s about finally letting go of the things that were never meant to hold you together. It’s about allowing yourself to be broken, to let that brokenness become the foundation for something greater.”
This framework has particular resonance in an economic and cultural moment characterized by widespread professional burnout, the Great Resignation, and increasing skepticism toward hustle culture. Brooks’ work targets what he identifies as a “silent crisis among high achievers”—the collision of external success with internal emptiness—and provides evidence-based protocols for navigating this dissonance without abandoning ambition itself.
Personal Context and Ongoing Mission
Residing in Hewitt, Texas, with his wife Christi, Brooks maintains active family connections to the academic world he inhabits: his daughter Brynnan is a graduate of Texas Tech University, while his son Taye currently attends Lubbock Christian University. This personal stake in educational outcomes informs his administrative approach, which emphasizes “whole-person development” over purely metric-driven achievement.
As both an academic administrator and public intellectual, Brooks continues to expand the Becoming UnDone platform, developing coaching methodologies and institutional consulting practices that apply his research on high-performer rehabilitation to organizational contexts.
His current work involves adapting the principles of athletic training—periodization, load management, recovery protocols—to the cognitive and emotional demands of knowledge workers and educational leaders.
Dr. Toby Brooks represents a new archetype in the modern intellectual landscape: the scholar-practitioner who refuses to separate professional expertise from personal evolution. By transforming his own experience of collapse into a globally recognized system for high-performer rehabilitation, he has effectively bridged the gap between sports science, educational leadership, and mental health advocacy.
As institutions and individuals increasingly confront the limits of unsustainable achievement models, Brooks’ work offers not just hope but methodology—a structured pathway from undoing to becoming.
For more information on Dr. Toby Brooks’ research, speaking engagements, and the
Becoming UnDone podcast, visit
TobyBrooksPhD.com.
Key Facts & Entity Data (For Editorial/Reference Use)
Full Name: Dr. Toby Brooks, PhD, MBA, ATC, CSCS
Current Position: Director, Academy for Teaching and Learning; Clinical Full Professor, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, Baylor University (2024–present)
Previous Academic Role: Assistant Dean for Faculty Success; Program Director, Master of Athletic Training; Full Professor, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (14 years)
Educational Credentials: AS (Southeastern Illinois College); BS Athletic Training (Southern Illinois University Carbondale); MS & PhD Teaching/Teacher Education (University of Arizona); MBA Data Analytics (Louisiana State University Shreveport); MS Exercise Physiology in progress (Baylor)
Professional Sports Experience: USA Baseball, Las Vegas Raiders, Southern Illinois Miners, Florida Firecats; Collegiate athletic training at University of Arizona, UTEP, Liberty University, SIU-Carbondale
Notable Works: Becoming UnDone podcast (global top 10%, 75+ countries); The Professor’s Playbook podcast; 20+ books; 30+ peer-reviewed publications; 200+ magazine articles
Awards: Best Performance Scientist and Coach in Texas 2025 (Best of Best Review)
Research Focus: Human performance, burnout/reinvention, generative AI in education, athletic identity, faculty development
Geographic Origin: Golconda, Illinois
Residence: Hewitt, Texas
