82 - JT Heenan: Salem University

Bio

• Current Head Coach at Salem University
• Served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in 2019-20, 
• Promoted to head coach during the summer of 2020.
• Previously served as assistant director of operations for West Virginia University baseball
• graduate assistant coach when West Virginia earned a regional berth in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the first time in 21 years
• Former catcher for the Mountaineers
• Heenan served as an Advanced Scout and Director for Prep Baseball Report from 2017-19. 

 

Notes

• The showcase is also a lie detector
• Great resource but it is just a platform
• Gave a coach a time to talk about how to prepare for a showcase
• Use a mundane tak to get better
• The coaches that are more vocal there players are going places
• D2 doesn’t have the roster restrictions so they can take a chance on a kid
• D1 can only have 35 roster spots and you have to get right on a kid
• The most time I spend on my job is retention. 
  • Keeping guys is the most important job 
  • Player 1 or player 50 you need to give them the same amount of opportunity
  • Player 50 could be pitching for you in a big game
• 4 different lineups (evaluate constantly)
• 4 pitching rotations (evaluate constantly)
• We don't split JV and varsity - we try to get guys as many reps as possible and give coaching staff time to manage a game
• Listed out roles for each person on your staff and told them to dominate their role
• When first get on campus meet with each kids, at the end of fall meet with guys to let them know their role based on stats, video, and plan from the coaches
• Develop through the fall and then see where we are, attack it over break, and then compete in the spring 
• If you earned it in the fall, you have earned the right to fail in the spring
• Make it measurable
  • Quality at bats
  • Come to class early
  • Binder done
  • Juice box after practice - reinforcing the last core value of a our culture
    • Give out 1 or out 10 - kids come up, jug the juice/give a speech!
• Made a curriculum for our culture
  • Value
  • Accountability
  • Communication
  • Energy
  • Accountability groups
    • Coach in charge of each group
    • Competitions within each group
  • Lifting groups
  • Hitting groups
• GRIT - dominating the mundane tasks
• Common struggles is what brings team together
• Your common enemy should be being an average team
• I can adapt a plan but I cannot execute a plan I do not have
• At the end of practice do a competition, and not just baseball
• I can recreate pressure, not necessarily the same game situation
• The binder is the commitment to the team - bring it everywhere
  • Hitter, pitcher, mental notes
  • Reinforces our culture
  • Character, process, result
  • Representation of the binder
  • Google Drive is an electronic version
  • Meet in the morning and scaffold it
• PGM - Personal Growth Monday’s
• Have a curriculum but if we need to review part of the process we circle back and go over what we need.
• Why, how, what!
• 1% of your day is roughly 15 minutes
• Best recruiting tool is your players, and the people are what get you there
• Green light moment
• Red light moment
• Hitting routine written out - pre game, adapted pre game routine, 
• Journal each pitch, or each at bat, or during BP (match pre game routine)
• Black and white bullpen report
  • Balls, strikes, 
  • Video embedded
  • Coaches subjective report
  • Player report and gives report of their performance
• Video bullpen 
  • Body language
  • Mechanics
  • Between pitches that make them successful 
• Defensive reps is more accountable for the amount of reps we need to help evaluate all the players and be sure they have the same amount of reps
• Red, yellow, and green runners for defensive baserunners
• Hitters - wall busters, gap to gap, grinder
  • Grinder - bunt guy, slap guy, beat a infield play 
  • Gap to gap  - guys can swing it and bust stretch to double
  • Wall Busters - you have to hit it by the outfielder to get to 2nd
• Green runners - you have green light 
• Yellow runners - you get chance to run
• Red runners - you are not allowed to run
• Scouting reports on the wrist for runners 
• Email james.heenan@salemu.edu
• Twitter DM @hennan_hacks