70 Drew Bailey: Bluefield State College (WV)

Bio

• The 2020-2021 season marked the first year for Drew Bailey as the Head Baseball Coach at Bluefield State College.
• In the 2020-21 season the Big Blue finished 15-12 overall, marking their first winning season in school history. 
• The Big Blue won the first Black College World Series against the Xavier University of Louisiana. 
• Bailey, joined Bluefield State College after four different coaching stops and a professional playing career.
• Bailey spent time as the pitching coach at Concord University before becoming the pitching coach and RECOR for the Bluefield College baseball. 
• He was also the former head baseball coach at Averett University in Danville, Virginia. 
• Bailey played two professional seasons for the Athletics’ organization where he posted a 5-0 record and had an ERA of 2.80 ERA. He racked up 48 strikeouts in 54 professional innings and limited opponents to a .216 batting average

 

Notes

• Surround yourself with great people
• He doesn’t work for me, we work together
• Recruiting and culture
  • Got to be able to recruit and bring in talent
  • Got to have standards and hold expectations
• Creating structure, recruiting, and building culture
• When guys develop mentally and maturity the baseball player develops
• Recruiting goals, alumni goals, classroom goals, ncaa regional goal as a team, 
• Set and communicate our Standards - work ethic, kindness, accountability, 
• “Developmental” team - JV team, we need to treat our last guy like our best guy
• I’d rather lose a close game against a rank opponent than go dominate a bad team
• Can’t process and compete at the same time!
• Video is huge so they can see the adjustment
• Film and feel - we have to film it so we can cue it to be able to feel it
• Measure it to find out what type of pitcher they are - 2 seam or 4 seam, slider or curveball
• Most players struggle to accept their identity, and we need to help them identify who they are
• Pre throw activation - don’t need to throw more than 15 minutes
• Mobility - yoga once a week
• Fast twitch, explosive intense movements/running rather than slow twitch long distance running
• Just because I played professional baseball people assume I know baseball. That is the biggest misconception in our game.
• Some of the best coaches in the game are guys who did not play at a high level
• Passionate, learning, and communicate are staff guys I am looking for
• Most high school kids don’t understand how to hold runners and run the bases!
• Love the competition that breeds in the fall
  • Exit velo competitions - best average of ev wins!
• If you don’t handle your academics you will not attack your baseball as good as you could
• It is a privilege to be able to play
• Adversity of schedule, practice, freedom do it without parents, 
  • Need support - we will support the kids, tutor groups, study hall
  • 3.2 is the standard
  • I have a problem with a guy who is  2.8 and could be 3.5!
  • Grade checks, classroom checks - be where you are supposed to be.
• Expectations not rules
• Guys who are not accountable are not coachable
• Don’t ride that emotional rollercoaster - keep pushing forward and keep working to push through adversity
• What can you control?  If you can’t control it, don’t focus on it
• “Into the real world” session - people from around the community in the real world and what they have done to push through adversity.
• Daily communication to help with their mental game
• I want my guys to know we are setting themselves up to be a better husband, father, co worker, etc
• “40 year commitment” not just 4 year!
• Your reaction to the situation is everything 
• What is your why? What's your playbook?
• Baseball is a platform, we need to serve others.
• Baseball is what we do, it's not who we are.  
• Butch Thompson - “you need to build them up before you break them down”
• Guys will play hard for you when they know you care about them
• I don’t want to treat players differently just because they don’t perform
• abailey@bluefieldstate.edu
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