95 - Frank Leoni: Mt. St. Mary’s University (MD)

Bio

• Current HC at Mt. St. Marys (MD)
• Former HC at Marymount
  • four seasons of 20 wins or more
  • 2021 Atlantic East Conference Championship 
    • NCAA High Point Regional.
    • Atlantic East Coaching Staff of the Year award.
  • 6 years in a row won ABCA Academic Excellence
• Former HC at William & Mary
  • averaged 28 victories a year with a top mark of 36-21 in 2008. 
  • 14 players were drafted by Major League Baseball clubs,
• Former HC of Rhode Island
  • took the program from a two-win team in 1994 to back-to-back 30-win seasons by the end of his tenure
  • 2010 inductee into the Rhode Island Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame
• 2015 Martha Vinyard Sharks (Futures Collegiate, now New England)- Co-Manager of the year, League Champs
• Leoni has led three programs to a combined total of 596 wins
• Servant leader and builds communities up!

 

Notes

• Interviewed every returning player - get to know, thoughts on program
• We do not want our guys to be devalued as a person!
• Give each player the fair amount of attention, returning and new
• Peer reviews at the end of the fall - survey the entire group of players and coaches
  • Rank each person according to our values (ACCGL)
    Rank each position (hitters, position, starters, relievers, etc)
  • Pick cy young, mvp, rookie of the fall, and top 3 captains
• ACCGL Core team values (values represented in the principles)
  • Meetings to talk about who they want to be?
  • How can you make core values more tangible?
  • Need to understand what is most important, before we have that conversation with the team
• Team core principles (action statements)
  • Process before results, quality over quantity, everything with a purpose, always compete
• Get better as a person and the results follow
• Overall theme is servant leadership - servant mentality
• Merit system to help quantify behaviors
  • Excel sheet for each player
  • Earn and lose points
  • Everything is tied to playing time
  • 7 or more points to be able to play in the game
  • 3 ways to earn points
    • Academic performance
    • Service hours (2 hours - 1pt)
    • Positive cultural experience
  • Lose points
    • Late
    • Bad grades
    • Bad behavior
  • Send a copy of the points to the team
  • Its about catching them when they do good! Gives kids opportunities to do positive.
  • Guys that do not play all the time, it gives them a value in a program
• 7 days of service inspired by the book Leaders in the Locker Room
  • You need leadership in every level of program
  • 7 different team community service events - team split up between the 7 events, and all ages are part of a team as they plan, organize, and run event
• Off season break up into 4 teams and compete in all non-baseball competitions
• Teach about leadership during the competition - be ready for when adversity strikes
• We are in a people business!
• The more I have focused on culture and people the wins take care of themselves
• X’s and O’s will only take you so far
• If a player does not invite me to their wedding, I feel I had failed them
• Culture through practice
  • Throwing progressions and players leading each other 
  • Skill work - baserunning
    • Conditioning through baseball work, not running poles
  • Hitting - swing practice and hitting practice
  • Team defense - 3 line pitching
• Hitters - can we add value to that guy? 
• Game changers - its how we play the game on the field
  • When we win game changers we usually win the game
  • Any 2K hit, rbi, Homeruns, leadoff batter, base hit bunts, HBP, positive team contributions
  • For every 5 GC they get stickers, 10 stickers for pitchers and they get pitcher BP
• QPA - Quality plate appearances
• End of every week in the spring we talk about the cool things we did and write on a cookie and put it in the jar
  • Bring the jar to the game and put it next to the helmets
• Whatever you deem important you will get better
• Email f.d.leoni@msmary.edu
• Twitter - @coachleoni, @msm_bsb