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Concrete content for anyone looking to get better. This community is for people who want to grow themselves, and grow the game. We know the game of baseball teaches us so many valuable life lessons!
Episodes
Monday Oct 25, 2021
Monday Oct 25, 2021
#BMBB gear - https://stores.bjscustomcreations.com/better.../shop/home
Bio
- Current Assistant Coach at Hebron Christian Academy (GA)
- Former HC at Lanier HS (6 years) and Norcross HS (4 years)
- Former AC North Gwinnett HS (5 years) and part of a 7A state championship
- Servant leader
- Teacher of people (multiple disciplines from Special Education to Physical Education, and multiple sports)
- Strong man of faith
- Exactly what this podcast is about, helping grow people using the platform of baseball!!!
Notes
- Took a job to be part of a big time athletic school (a winner), but needed to serve and do anything he could do be part of it to get foot in the door
- Baseball is the biggest game of adjustments and COVID showed how baseball can handle it
- Passion is going to die out, love will never fade
- Its all about relationships
- Used to be do what I told you because I am the adult (do as I say because I am authority), and now it is about explaining the why and our purpose
- Be sure you know what you are doing, learning objective, desired outcome, and plan to get there (objective, measurables, and procedures)
- Do not be reactive
- Secret of the bamboo - you never know what is growing on the inside (what you can’t see)
- I’m trying to sell tickets to my funeral everyday
- I want to go to weddings
- Win the human war!!
- If you can get the hearts and minds to play together its special
- How do I get a player to take a bullet for me? If I can win that we will be successful
- Core value during “longhorn for life” and make a curriculum about each core value
- What, why, and what it looks like when its no present
- Daily lesson plan (5-10 minutes) - pillar for the day, quote, challenge
- Its real easy to judge when you don’t walk a mile in their shoes (catchers pitching to pitchers in catchers gear)
- Its not so much about getting people on your bus, as much as it is getting people off!
- “Working Geniuses” - try to get everyone on your staff with each gear of a genius
- Why, idea on why, discernment, get it done, rally the troops
- I am trying to coach every child like they are my own
- Channel all of my stuff proactively through the person standpoint (making better people)
- Mindfulness training - being able to disconnect
- Show me your bank account and you show me what is important
- EV fungo
- Get you to hate your batting average - look at Slug an OBP
- 3-8 hit chart - hard hit contact
- Offensive chart - based on positive/negative of at bats and value as offensive player (Plus chart)
- Coach bible - putting what we do in a slide show
- @coachwyman11 on Twitter
- @coach_wyman
- jonathan.wyman@hebronlion.org
- jonathanwyman7@gmail.com
- 770-361-3628
#BMBB gear - https://stores.bjscustomcreations.com/better.../shop/home
Monday Oct 18, 2021
Monday Oct 18, 2021
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
Monday Oct 11, 2021
Monday Oct 11, 2021
Bio
- Current Coordinator of Sports Performance coach & Assistant Athletic Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation at Salisbury University
- 2018 National Strength & Conditioning Association College Strength Coach of the Year
- finalist for the NSCA College Strength Coach of the Year In 2016 & 2017
- oversees the training programs of 21 varsity teams
- During his tenure as Coordinator, Matt has had the opportunity to work with 14 National Championship teams, 8 individual National Championship athletes, and over 340 All-Americans
- Prior to Salisbury University he spent time as a S&C coach with the Toronto Blue Jays
Notes
- Where are we losing out on the little things?
- When we are stepping up to the rack what routine are using to step into our lift?
- We need to visually be able to see it, so the athlete can relate to it on the field
- Find the opportunities to use
- Tower of annoy (week ¾ of training, week 5 of school)
- Competing against other teams (iron Sammy)
- In understand the process, and the value of the very next move (pitch)
- Going through your mental routine before you do your set
- Bar speed measures
- Need to see numbers hit
- Relating concepts in the moment from what we are doing in the weightroom to the field
- How are we still using the concept later on (week 6 and further) to connect the concepts
- Power of the penny
- Its the compound effect when you pick up a penny each time
- Anytime you saw change on the ground you picked it up and brought it in
- Model to show the daily process and the little things that add up to success
- If you are willing to walk over the little things of life you will not be successful
- The things I can control is my fitness level: strength, speed, and diet
- 6 components
- Lift
- Conditioning
- Recover
- Nutrition
- Physical Skills
- Mental skills
- Put players in pressure situations during conditioning (play man up)
- Play the process right, focusing on doing your job right now
- Assess commitment:
- Jeff janson - commitment continuum
- Define it, assess it, and measure it
- Value in the weightroom
- Attitude - meet outside our weightoom before they walk in to get in the right mindset.
- Difference between elite and average
- Research related to body contact, and the teams with the most positive touches were the team in the championship
- Feedback
- Without value and the vision problems exist
- Values drive the decisions and accountability can happen
- Its ok to give both positive and negative but we are going to get better together
- Lead out of love
- Stay simple - what do the athletes need most?
- Assessment is critical - know where you are, so you can plan on where you want to go
- Constantly on players about down contact time
- If you can’t produce force, you won’t be able to produce force quickly
- Long term athletic development: start in technique, and move forward from there
- One leg sport, and that will be mature exercises once they get to that point
- Change the way you brace - rapid/standard bracing and move to rotational bracing
- Quickly brace because all movements through bracing of pelvis
- Everyone starts around the same movements to begin and then develop from there
- Everyone is squatting but rack 1 is different than rack 2 based on what they need
- We may not be lifting ideally, but we are lifting ideally for that moment
- Relationships help build up our trust for feedback on how they are feeling during lifts/movements
- Repetition and reserve
- RPE - rate of perceived exertion -
- If you are willing to lie to me how hard practice is we have a bad culture and we will not be as good as it can be
- How can we pull ourselves back and be as simplistic as possible to get the most out of our performance.
- Email manein@salisbury.edu
- DM of facebook or instagram - Matt Nein
Monday Oct 04, 2021
Monday Oct 04, 2021
Bio
- Current WVU Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Former Strength and conditioning coach at Glenville State University while serving as assistant athletic director
- Former Intern at WVU, working primarily with the football team where he assisted in all team lifts and run and broke down all strength and conditioning activities
- Harvath also served as a consultant for the University of Charleston baseball team from 2016-20, designing all strength and conditioning programs for the team. He tracked, monitored, and assessed all data obtained from each macrocycle.
- Harvath got his starts in high school serving as S&C coach for Morgantown and East Fairmont HS
- Develops the whole person
- Extremely Passionate
Notes
- Life is all about growing as a human and being who you are allows you to grow and be the best version of yourself
- Once a week staff meeting to go over the whole program and culture is a part of that
- Greatness from yourself before you can get greatness from someone else
- Respect yourself, your teammates, and others
- Representing 1.8 million people in WV
- Intent!! You need to have intent in everything you do
- Trust yourself, your preparation, and your teammates
- In the weightroom you get to see each others sweat equity
- WHOOP bands that monitor load, recovery, sleep, and their strain for the day
- Live to fight another day
- Develop the athlete centered approach!
- Ask questions based on WHOOP data can open up great conversations
- The body cannot distinguish between athletic stress and academic stress
- Quality if movement rather than the quantity of weight on the bar
- The plasticity is great during the high school level and is so valuable at their age more than ever
- Force plate testing and movement test when they first get on campus
- General physical preparation (GPP) “tissue block”
- Circuit for two weeks to help with guys movement patterns and teach everyone and slow cook athletes longer than need it
- Its ok to regress the movement to get a better movement
- Have everyone on the same page so you can see where to make modifications
- You cannot be married to a exercise, you need to be married to a stimulus!
- Meeting the athlete where they are at to chase what our team needs and individualize to the players needs
- There are some carry over in some of the movements, and movements is a skill, and if an athlete can practice it more they will be better at it
- Sprint based model with acceleration performance
- Thursdays are performance days - time to compete and post times
- Back map from when you need win a ball game
- 22 out of 36 PR the week of big 12 tournament
- Develop a relationship with them to trust when the conversations are real and they say they are sore and can’t work out
- The movement that made you sore, you should do it with less intensity
- We don’t focus on what can’t do, we focus on what we can do. Focus on the solution, not the problem
- We want athletes that want to find a way and find an edge
- Daily performance feedback
- Grading on intangibles that every human has control of
- 1-5 - color coordinated
- Gold
- Navy
- Gray
- Existent
- Resilient
- Defiant
- Difference between gold and navy is how you helped someone else, servant leadership, and buy into each other success
- You need to coach each athlete at least one exercise to show you care to show they are a human
- ABC - Always be coaching
- “Blue collar” jersey - old school, bloody knuckle jersey
- Consistency is the greatest gift of any humans
- Constant evaluation to earn the Iron Mountaineer
- Velocity based training during in season and depending on the athlete and what they can handle
- Sleep is the most paramount durign the summer with the long days
- Some olympic lift and some don’t
- Quality of strength last +-30 days
- In season is lower volume higher intensity
- More weight and less reps and focusing of velocity of bar
- Fundamental movement patterns
- Knock them out
- Quality and execution of movement
- 3 days a week
- Progressive overload
- Gain knowledge
- Eric cressey
- Alex simone
- Simpler things savagely well
- Slow cooking the athlete!!
- Taking the small wins, celebrating the 5 lb PR just like the 100lbPR
- Velocity based training is a piece of the weight lifting program
- Velocity based training on a compound lift
- Sprint progression
- Uphill running
- Karaoke
- Side shuffle
- Sprints
- Resisted
- Fly end runs
- Tues - acceleration
- Thurs - max velo
- Uphill running
- Red flags of running
- Arms crossing
- Looks like swimming
- Long swooping lever
- Knees across the body
- Hyper extended back - do A march, A skip, boom booms
- Stop poles, and running 100 yards
- For every 10 yards we give them 60 seconds rest
- Starter recovery day
- Don’t blow them up - get them moving, temp runs,
- Training baseball players and take that in consideration, and meet them in the middle
- nolanharvath@gmail.com
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Monday Sep 27, 2021
Bio
- CURRENT HEAD COACH AT MANATEE HIGH SCHOOL
- Current GM of Square Up academy
- Current Florida HS director for Knights Knation Baseball
- 2016 – 2019 – Associate Scout – Texas Rangers
- 2017 – 2018 – Head Coach Staunton Braves, Valley League
- 2016 – 2018 – Director of Baseball – Florida Surge Baseball
- 2013 – 2016 – Head Coach – IMG Post Grad
- 2011 – 2013 – Assistant Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator – Millersville University
- 2009 – 2011 – Assistant Coach – University of Maryland
- 2008 – 2009 – Assistant Coach – Florida Gulf Coast University
- 2006 – 2008 – Assistant Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator – DeSales University
- 2005 – 2006 – Assistant Coach – University of Pennsylvania
- 2005 – Professional Player – New Jersey Jackals
- 2001 – 2005 – Player at DeSales University
Notes
- You got to keep competing and pushing ot help these kids be successful in more than baseball
- You need to have a band program, hitting program, defensive philosophy, and having a plan for what we are doing
- Its not about wins and losses, its about how you act and holding kids accountable
- Laying the foundation and getting kids on board
- Have the kids see their progress
- Exit velo testing
- Weightlifting testing
- “Rebranding” is not about what the past didn’t have its about what we do now and moving forward
- Detail oriented and learned how to be detailed in all we do
- Let your coaches coach and do your job
- Understanding what its like at different levels of competition, and demand results
- Relationships and build a program within**
- Learning how to be happy at whatever level in the game of baseball
- If you can get them to believe in you they are going to try to do things the right way
- “Be the Best” program where it is about sacrificing for others and working for the guy next to you
- Inverted triangle where you serve others from the bottom up
- Leadership council - one guy from each class, and coaches pick one
- In charge of holding others accountable
- Meet once a week and discuss how to get more buy in
- Guys that do it right and we voted but we got let go because he did not live up to the expectations
- No rules, just don’t embarrass the team, and I am the judge and jury and executioner
- Little league clinics with local little league
- Half hour coaching clinic with local little league every Friday
- Be at football and basketball games, be involved in school and community is huge trait for good programs
- At the end of the day - what is the goal? The goal is to move on
- How can we prepare them for the option they will have?
- The more pressure you can put on guys lets go!
- More fun atmosphere and create action
- Track meet mentality - home to first in 4 seconds
- Start with baserunning with offensive philosophy
- Bunt to third, and not to 2nd, a lot more ways to score from 3rd with 1 out
- You have to know your clientele and plan accordingly
- What are you going to have the guys buy into and hold them accountable
- Running small ball system gives you a weapon when you run into the buzz saw
- The level when to start small ball depends on the team and their ability
- When we can give them confidence in what they are doing is going to help them play game
- Whether they help you win or not doesn’t matter, getting them excited and wanting to play for us
- High pressure bullpens - 1 pitch to get someone out and create our own toughness
- String across home plate, 9 hole screen, spot on the wall - compete and help them HATE losing
- nolan.neiman@gmail.com
Monday Sep 20, 2021
Monday Sep 20, 2021
Savage Notes
Bio
- Head Coach at Reno High School (NV) since 1995
- Over 700 career victories
- Has won 82% of his games at Reno
- From 2001-2004 teams went 105-13
- 2004 Nevada State champion
- In 2003 his team won 32 consecutive games
- 12 regional titles
- 15 state tournament berths and 4 runner up
- Garrett Hampson was his first big leaguer
- The bottom line of the bio is we are about what we are doing for our players today!
Notes
- If you come see our program you will see a bigger picture of how we help others
- First reason why we are so successful is we have 3 former head coaches
- You are only as good as your assistant coaches
- Second reason we are successful is our program vocabulary
- You need to take a step back and realize why you are doing what you are doing
- Complexity is the enemy of execution - SIMPLE
- We focus on us 50:1 compared to the other team.
- We play against the game and how we play the game
- The word I is not allowed in our environment
- The word “perfect” is not allowed in our program
- You are either with us or against us, there is not middle ground
- How to be a great teammate
- What does it mean to be a good teammate? Show examples
- Failure vs success - define the two
- Definition of failure is when you stop playing
- Its a learning opportunity not failure
- What is the definition of success - giving your best effort on behalf of your teammate
- Being relentless and stay in the fight
- Be consistent
- Measurement = motivation
- Give people data to compete
- Everything matters - dugouts, practice, everyone matters
- PILLARS - all decisions run through our pillars
- Its more important the interaction player to player, coach to coach and do not allow anything you do not like
- Catch them doing good! Praise them for their efforts
- There is no better way to get better besides being together! Spend quality time together
- Work the grind, play the game
- Work your butt off at practice, and then enjoy your game
- Practice is for the coaches and games are for the players
- Baseball is a game you cannot rush, there is no clock!
- Spend as much time planning practice as you do actually practicing
- Practices as competitive as possible
- Chart every swing, pitch, groundball etc
- Live pitchers vs live hitters
- Just win today’s practice!!
- A bad practice bothers me much more than a bad game!
- Coach needs to be a facilitator for the players development on and off the field
- At times you need to be a player coach, and another time you need to be honest and put them in their place
- If we are going to demand all of these things from them we need to display those things and walk the walk!!
- It is important you build the relationship through the player to show you care, are prepared, and come with great attitude
- Do a good job where you are at!
- It is important that
- Player to coach - built on respect and trust
- Player to player - earning the respect of your teammates
- Critical to team development an player development
- Players rate each other based on individual qualities
- We all have something to work on. No one is perfect, and it fall back to that philosophy
- Foxhole test - 3 points for person on your back, 2 on your right, 1 on your left
- Hero, highlight, and hardship - each kid gets a chance to speak about who their hero is, personal highlight, and a time they had a tough hardship
- As you see it….
- Players write out the lineup, starters, relievers
- Helps self evaluate
- Mental game is huge for us!!
- Ken ravizza
- Brian Cain
- Justin Dehmer
- The game teaches you how to deal with things
- Our job is to help prepare our players for the challenges life throws at it
- This is the Reno High baseball way RIGHT NOW!
- 10 commandments (the fundamentals of the game) - they don’t change: being a good teammate, throwing strikes, hitting the ball hard, etc will always be there, but we need to find ways to help teach guys and be the example of getting 1% better.
- Legacy of a number - connecting successful people who wore the numbers
- The secret to the teams success is building that relationship, so that player is going to bust his butt for his teammate and get better!! BUILD that relationship
- To be loved, to be taught, to be challenged!
- Some kids need to be hugged, and some need to be kicked
- Pregame
- 2 hours prior to a game
- “Savage time” - 15 minutes early
- Active warm up
- Catch play
- BP
- Game goals - team, pitching, hitting, defense
- Back Cals - talk through hitting approach with who team, go over situational baseball
- Meet as a team, do sprints, play
- 6 phases of offense
- Hitting
- Situational hitting
- Short game
- Plate zone discipline - hit your pitch, look for it, never chase
- Quality swing chart - try to get 2 swings off every AB
- Baserunning
- Base stealing
- Practice checklist, practice what happens the most
- Ranking system - hitters rank pitchers, pitchers rank hitters
- Are you that bad of a hitter that you can’t change your 2 strike approach?
- Do you emphasize it? Do you practice it? Everyone knows
- Figure out with our pitching staff where the ball went, and then train, train, train
- Define what you want, and then track it!!
- Play of the day - defensive play of the day, shirt for the defensive play of the day
- What you honor and what you emphasize has to become special to the players!
- Hustle chart -
- Stop watch is analytics
- What do you want to be good at??? Track it and emphasize it!! Measurement = Motivation
- 5 games - do you win??? Game within the game
- On the bus
- Pre game
- in/out
- Game
- Post game
- Wasting time is a cardinal sin - our time is valuable so lets make it important
- petes@savageandson.com
- 775-690-9316
- Be your own coach. YOU BE YOU!
- Emphasize it
- Everything reflects back on you! You are the leader!!!!
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Palumbo Notes
Bio
- Head coach at Archbishop Spalding (MD) - Going into my 10 year (9th season)
- Played at the University of Maryland from 2005-2008
Joe Palumbo is the head varsity baseball coach at Archbishop Spalding High School. The former Maryland baseball player led the Spalding program to three consecutive MIAA “A” championships and #1 rankings in The BaltimoreSun in 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as Top 50 national rankings in USA Today in 2015, 2016 and 2019. He was named the 2014 Coach of the Year in The Baltimore Sun, The Anne Arundel County Capital-Gazette, and the Co-Coach of the Year by the Varsity Sports Network and the Maryland State
Association of Baseball Coaches Association. In 2016, he was awarded the 2016 Anne Arundel County Capital-Gazette Coach of the Year award. Following Spalding’s 2021 MIAA “A” regular season championship he was selected as Anne Arundel County Capital-Gazette Coach of the Year. He has now coached 38 players that have gone to play collegiately at the NCAA Division 1, 2, or 3 levels.
Notes
- We have high standards, and you need to know how to build a culture
- Culture of high standards and excellence
- My standards are high across the board - in the class, weightroom, hallway, and ball field
- We do not hide our standards
- Character, commitment, and champions
- Champions - other people want to be around you
- You are producing good things day in and day out in your life
- Character - how are you getting results in your daily life, how are you working when I am not around,
- commitment(s) - you have to do the work and if you get on it by yourself and do the work you make even get a commitment (if you want to go that route)
- Champions - other people want to be around you
- The parents are helpful in instilling the culture
- I need to prove myself to the new class every year
- Messages, classrooms, weightroom to bring in people and talk about lessons learned from people who have done it the right way to be champions
- Weightlifting 3 days a week until christmas break (off season)
- In season utilizing individualize program and focus on the movements
- I don’t want you to feel like I was as a freshman when I was behind, so we are going to get you prepared for the weightroom
- Emphasis on form for younger guys and older guys can get after it
- The goal is injury prevention and strength development
- The wrestler and football player can learn a lot of mental toughness than playing baseball
- After fall ball (end of october) we bring up the intensity of weightroom
- January is where we start up baseball activities up until mid february when we have tryouts
- Infield work can be done in a small place
- If we can run a great indoor practice that can separate us from the rest because anyone can run a good practice outside
- You want your guys sharp at the end of the year
- Coaches need to pull themselves back and see what happens at the end of the year and plan for the year
- What gets you on second base?
- Based on your skills we will try and enhance those skills
- Put pressure on them consistently
- You have to have a plan and stick to the plan, so you have a better chance you execute the plan
- You have do everything right and get out
- We are going to play to guys strengths
- Your team should guide your philosophy
- We want to be competitive in the box
- Teachable moment after the game to talk about situations where the approach brokedown
- We need to make adjustments to their adjustments
- Conversations during BP and situational rounds to work on approach (what you are looking for)
- Its ok to get beat for 2 strikes, but we are not getting beat in hitter counts
- Velo BP days are uncomfortable for our hitters
- Coach close or machine juiced up
- Pitcher who has not thrown live in a while he will go in front of the mound to go live at hitters
- BP
- Live
- Baserunning
- Situational
- Defensive position
- Cages
- I try to put the most pressure on our team defense segment as I can.
- Time based to implement and teach
- Then show you can execute 5 in a row and we move on
- If we can “handle the ball” and don’t give up any runs we cannot lose
- If we are going to be really good at the fundamentals we are going to be tough
- We are running until the other team shows us they can stop us
- coachpalumboashs@gmail.com
- As a coach what can you learn today?
- You can learn from Nick Saban, Kobe Bryant, and a lot of great people, and lear as much as you can
- If you put the work in to be successful in baseball an you take that same work ethc you will be successful in anything
Monday Sep 06, 2021
Monday Sep 06, 2021
“Mach-ee-es-ski”
Bio
- 11 years as head baseball coach and 1 as Athletic Director at Mauldin HS (SC)
- 36 Players to college, 4 drafted, 1 free-agent signee.
- Former assistant coach at USC Upstate under Matt Fincher and Dorman HS under Ben Waddle (Wah-dle).
- Managed the Brockport Riverbats of the New York Collegiate Summer League in 2007. Has also coached American Legion and Travel baseball.
- Been a member of the USA Baseball Task Force since 2018 scouting for the 14u & 17u Team Championships, along with the several NTIS events.
- From assistant AD, to full time AD at Mauldin since 2020
Notes
- Rely on a tight circle of coaches with any question I may have
- It is so rewarding to see the impact you can have on other programs
- Lean on others who have done it well
- Create the best experience for everyone in every program
- Leadership program within the whole athletic program****
- Build a strong culture within the whole athletic program
- Community service****
- We did a lot of things on a smaller scale and we want to do it on steroids
- Take ownership of what you do and who you are
- It needs to come for a deeper meaning of trust and common ground
- MAVS U - “Motivated Achievers Value Success”
- Based on Tyler Gillum
- Lesson based around the needs of the team
- Be a good teammate, son, study skills, run down
- Group activity, independent activity,
- Have a video and present in front of teammates
- Mavs U becomes the “Cabinet” for the Mauldin HS athletic department
- “What does it mean to be a Mauldin athlete?”
- Cabinet will help with community service
- Community service - miracle league, hospital visits, angel trees, Elementary school after school programs, community clean up
- Kids need to have an appreciation for what they have
- The greatest leader in the world, washed someone else’s feet
- The best leadership is serving other
- The best leadership lesson is serving someone else
- Kids apply and they need to interview to be a part of the leadership task force
- Creating chemistry and not forcing leadership!!**
- Kids need a chance to get to know one another and grow relationships
- Leadership classroom sessions start year 1, as soon as possible!
- Leadership doesn’t matter if those kids don’t care about one another
- Be a good person! Do what you say you are going to do
- Bands based on behavior system. Players moved up with player recommendations and had to justify
- Boat crews - split up the talent and in competitive groups
- Keep them through the fall
- Leader of the crew
- Points for anything we want to compete with
- We are not going to progress the skill until they can verbalize it, teach it, and own it.
- Pinch runner called “game winner”
- We can know everything about a team but if we can’t make plays it doesn’t matter what we know about the other team
- The positive board - write it on the board something positive that has happened in the game. The average fan would not even notice.
- You may never see the finished product, but you need to keep plugging away because something you said will make an impact**
- Curriculum cannot just be 50 straight. It will always change, but you will have your pillars
- Mavs U based on Tyler Gillums Growth U and Brian Cain’s pride program
- Core values and Mission and Vision are voted on each year to own what type of team you want to be
- What does it look like a player, person, and player
- “That’s Mauldin”
- Use the mission and vision statement based on what you want to be about and how you plan on getting there
- Creating chemistry over leadership - what is more important??
- Creating a culture we just want to create something consistent something they can depend on
- We can’t try to do something and replicate something that others are doing
- Coaches need to do things for who they know they have!
- Goes back to growth mindset.
- Twitter - @Maciejewski24
- DM are open!
Monday Aug 30, 2021
Monday Aug 30, 2021
Bio
- Currently serving the New York Yankees Player Development Department as the Director of Dominican Republic Baseball Operations (2019)
- Former HC at Charleson (WV) University from 2015-2019
- staff from three to eight and wins from 16 to 41 in 4 years.
- In years three and four claimed MEC Southern Division Championship and MEC Tournament Championship. Lost in championship in year 2.
- 2 NCAA Regionals
- Achievements-3 consecutive school records for wins 36, 38, 41
- Head Baseball coach at Concord (WV) University from 2010-2015
- Increased the roster from 24 to 38
- -Increased the staff from 2 to 5
- -Set consecutive school records for wins in 2013 (36) and 2014 (38)
- -Won 2 Conference Championships (2011,2013)
- -Appeared in 2 NCAA Regionals
- -Created and Implemented "1000 Hour Project" and "Get to Give" Community Service Initiatives
- -Improved team GPA from <2.5 to above 3.0
- Assistant coach: Concord University, Georgetown Prep, West Virginia University
- Associate Scout for the Milwaukee Brewers
- Learner, Leader, Sharer, Thinker!
- DUDE!!
Notes
- What are the things going to drive wins?
- Are the personnel going to be able to hit those markers?
- Run creation and run prevention and then chase the deficiency
- Be all things to every situation
- Build a style of baseball that protects you from the hills and valleys of baseball
- 2 things happening - what is going to win now, and what is going to win later
- Protecting the ebs and flows of running a program
- We embraced the target on our back
- Signing up for something bigger than myself!
- Make players better and make them better people
- Being a vehicle for a better life
- Believe in the vision!
- We were identifying a gap at the d2 level, and then exploit the advantage of our program.
- Relieve pressure from your own day to provide a better experience
- Who can do x, and who can do them really well?
- Add staff to relieve pressure
- Constant feedback loops know what is in their way to do their job
- The job of the leader is to make sure other people are great at theirs!
- Ton of clarity of expectations for each persons job
- Do I need to do it, or does it just need to get done?
- I don’t need to see the map, just send me a postcard
- Be a multiplier!!!
- Multiplier by Liz Weisman
- Clarity is incredibly important
- What is my job
- What am I being evaluated on
- What kind of decisions can be made
- What does the staff responsibility sheet look like
- Clear the responsibilities
- 4 categories -
- What are they good at, what do they need to be prepared for the next job,
- Hiring comes from intentionally being clear on the people you surround yourself with
- How do I best lead this group of people?
- Communication, empowerment, and accountability
- Expectations communicated
- Put them in the best position to do their job
- Hold them to their actions
- Communication, empowerment, and accountability
- Accountability works both ways - positive and negative
- I am trying to do all that I can to bolster the cultural environment?
- How can they sustain changes?
- If I am setting you up for success, then I have a hand in your development just as much as you do.
- People want to be supported, heard, and included in the process!
- Redeeming qualities and separating characteristics
- Yeah, but…
- You have to continue to extend the finish line and how can I change the circumstances that will make them better?
- Guiding principle that can adapt to new realities
- You need a bold vision that you would not limit yourself to a cut and fast finish
- People movement and people improvement business!! You are directly related to managing systems and moving people!
- There is messaging you give out everytime you take action
- At the end of year do a growth gap to zoom in on how you are doing
- Is the average of our top 50% moving up or down?
- Winner markers and devise a system based on what it takes to win games (hitting, pitching, baserunning)
- Game planner sheet - QAB%
- QAB
- Played competitively and tracked it
- I have a plan on making decisions
- Be transparent and communicate as much as you can
- Drop down in excel to help automate the spreadsheet to eliminate the after game data entry
- Is the reason we are not performing is a lack of preparation or lack of information?
- Doing your job so well it makes others peoples job easier
- How can I help a coach prepare for their next job?
- What do you need to be exposed to, to be ready for your next job?
- Used continue, start, stop feedback for coaching staff to help customize coaching duties
- Follow on Twitter @ABWright9
Monday Aug 23, 2021
Monday Aug 23, 2021
Bio
- Head Coach at Loyola Blakefield since 2017
- Former Don assistant coach 2012-2016
- Former Atlanta Braves scout from 91-95
- Assistant for Baltimore Johnnies (similar to Cape Cod league)
- 2 number 1 draft picks
- 2nd pick overall
- 4th pick overall
- Dundalk CC assistant from 1990-1994
- Assisted with multiple Baltimore metro teams over the years
- Has coached 4 big leaguers
- kid driven
- Players first coach!
Notes
- When you come to my school you will be one of my guys for life
- Checking on guys after they leave the program
- Connect with alumni, even if it is just an email
- You have to get the players (you need talent)
- You need to have the culture (expectations)
- Players need to buy in
- Each year there is a different level of buy in
- The most talent doesn’t always win, but the most talented team of players
- Get the last guy on your team to be all in is when you get something special
- Buy into the culture, buy into the baseball teaching/philosophy
- Adjust to how players feel about the team and play for each other, not just for themselves.
- I do less messing with hitters
- You need to drive the baseball to play at a high level
- I am kid driven - more what the kid needs and develop the kid****
- ETF - embrace the fear
- Fear of the totality of hitting the baseball
- Fear of making mistakes
- Know it is going to happen
- Don’t run from it
- Its ok, and let go at it, and have fun with it
- Give players test based on the playbook, based on our system
- Either put the play on, or you take it off
- Take away as much thinking I can from the player, so they can just play and react instinctively
- If the kids make a mistakes I take responsibility for that, and I need to teach it and go back over it again
- Aggressive offensively, and make other team give up outs to get to the next base.
- Defensively we do not want to give up anything
- We teach during practice, and during games kids go have fun, learn, and coaches get feedback on what they need to practice.
- Getting practice done with JV and Varsity, together to teach everyone, and also get kids home in time to study and have family time!
- I am watching all the time
- Talking to kids during BP to talk about life or even get feedback from players on practice
- We are going to do the things that we do the most during games!
- Generally see the biggest improvements from our outfielders, they must go all out for the baseball.
- Every BP ball that comes off the bat we go for it 100%
- 2 guys at each position - next guy comes right up after each rep
- Infield throws until their arm is done, but make each play, you just may not throw it.
- Get corrected right away, and get the praise right away
- Its easy to beat up, but you better praise em up!
- Machine pitch intersquad to get as many situations as possible, keep it moving
- Intersquad, 3 teams, pitcher has plays off the L-screen
- I am training everyone to be leaders, each person needs to lead their life.
- Every team has a hierarchical of players/leaders
- First thing is to LEAD yourself - find out who you are and what to embrace and stay away from
- Kids teach kids - share what you know with other players
- Be authentic, be real - the kids will know, and you will not fool them.
- Be upfront and honest with kids right away
- “Baseball class” - if players have problem in “baseball class” we don’t want parents to talk to us, but in “geometry class” they call the teacher
- How to compete to get on a team, and compete against your best friend for a position on the team.
- I’m in the business of helping kids!
- @baseballcoachk
- Email - terphouse43@aol.com
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Bio
- 21 seasons as HC of Woodlands HS (TX)
- 482-155
- 14 district championships
- overall record in 27 years as a head coach is 640-275
- 3 state championships
- 3 time national COY
- 3 first round draft picks
- 2017 HOF class of the National HS Baseball Coaches Association
- 57 All State Players, 16 All Americans and has had 26 players taken in the MLB Draft
- 2006 his Highlanders were crowned the national champions by Baseball America
- Extremely humble and high class individual
- Legend!
Notes
- Routines
- Red lights, yellow lights, green lights
- Green lights -
- The higher level you go the more mental the game is
- The 6 inches between your ears controls the 6 feet below
- The difference between winning and losing is execution
- Use telescope approach (whole year) and then break it down
- The mental game helps you be where your feet are
- Mental toughness is about helping you stay present in the moment
- The past is your ego and the future is your pride, and being in the moment is about being humble.
- Routines are huge and teaching in practice and executing in games
- When you get to the game - you take off your clothes and you are no longer a student, son, you are all in and focused in on the game
- When you leave the game/line - you take off your clothes and go back to being a good son/boyfriend/community member
- Drop in the brick, bring a toilet to flush the error
- So what, next pitch to help stay in the moment
- Work on breathing - easy to do when things are going well, but to have the ability to slow it down when the game speeds up and recognizes.
- Players should have their routine, so when they are waiting they are doing their routine
- When the at bat starts you have work your routine (in the hole, on deck, etc)
- Understanding what a players release is and work on it
- Defense get out of the circle
- Purposeful reps to be sure they are aware of their release routine (make them bobble)
- Pitcher wipes the mound (to wipe away the last pitch)
- Classroom session, mapped out practice, and execute in practice
- The lightbulb may not come when we have them but when
- We are trying to develop the champions off the field, and the championships on the field work it out
- First days of the fall we are only in the classroom
- Develop core values - called “family values”
- Excellence - be your best
- Competitive
- Energy
- Selfless
- How are these visible in the community, classroom, home
- What kind of service can we do for the community?
- Challenger league - go help and host
- I wanted to develop a program, not just a team
- Getting to know each of your teammate is crucial
- Present the values - what do we think of them??
- How do we demonstrate in the classroom, community, home
- We have to model the behavior
- Put all kids in the program in small groups and have a leader and they get to know each other, and at the of the fall we have a draft to put together team for “Dell Challenge.” Captains choose
- Costume Halloween game
- Boat crew leaders in charge of attendance to tell coaches who is absent
- Once you think you have this game figured out it will humble you quick
- 80-85% pitcher/hitter battle, so we need to dominate that battle
- We are focused are on the things that happen the most
- Rapsodo to help get numbers to get recruited and help develop a pitcher quicker
- YOU NEED TO BE YOUR BEST HITTING/PITCHING COACH
- Driveline Axe bat trainer for overload/underload bat speed training
- Stations where you choose what works for best for them, along with what WE are doing
- We are trying to give them ownership
- Book studies
- Mind, body, spirit - getting a little bit better each day
- Practice what I preach!
- Focus on the process and play one pitch at a time
- Summer homework - live your family values, read the book, and do a one page reaction paper on it, watch Miracle the movie and look for family values.
- Creating habits versus setting goals.
- What habits will you create to make a big difference?
- We all have those dreams, and look at your habit and do they reflect your goal?
- Raise or lower your goals based on your daily habits
- Fill out your weekly schedule so you know where you time is going
- Log your week!
- Reflect and see where your time is going
- Then fill out your schedule
- If you have a goal you want to achieve then your time need to match that
- Don’t try to do it all, find out what works for your guys!
- reastman@conroeisd.net
Monday Aug 09, 2021
Monday Aug 09, 2021
Ryan Alexander Bio
- Current HC at Grove City HS (OH)
- Finished 13th season at GC
- Record 244-100
- Conference championships. 6. 2010. 2012. 2014. 2015. 2017. 2021.
- State playoffs. 2 trips to state final 4. 2011 and 2012
- Players to college/pro over 75 to college. 3 drafted. 2 still playing.
- Highest rank. #1 in state in 2012. #17 USA Today.
Notes
- 8 week shutdown for pitchers with on ramp
- See what showcase or camp you have coming up
- Limit throws for 2 way players - don’t take infield, put balls in buckets
- Pitchers give their own pitching plan for when their days start and what it looks like
- What you do day before, day after, two days, etc
- Lift, rest, active rest, arm care, etc
- Create your own plan based on what they know, how bought in they are, so you are either given a plan or creating it
- Letting kids being so individual to get what they need and their routine
- Outfield with outfield, infield with infield, and feel their throwing progression for different throws to prepare themselves
- Always trying to pick something up and if it works for you, use it!
- It is doesn’t feel good, we can’t do it! ***
- Everyone needs to have their own plan and know their arm so if they don’t have a team that is organized he can fall back
- Non stop teaching of the way we want to play the game (Dirtbag and Nasty)
- Dirtbag mentality - dirtbag competitions and rewards given at the end of practice
- Classroom sessions
- Presentations, memories of past dirtbags
- Bright green shirt - offensive, defensive, or energy giver and they would wear it the next day to practice/game
- Bring alumni back to help instill and be around to help maintain the consistency of the dirtbag culture
- All weather balls
- Give a full week of tryouts -
- 2 days to show what you have on the mound (15 pitches)
- Rating scale
- Inf velo, exit velo, bat speed, ground ball, outfield footwork, catcher pops
- Competitions all week
- Talk to every single kid and the competitions lead to good talks
- If we have a game tomorrow, this is where we see you - constant communication all year!
- Those roles are not sticking and you need to perform in practice and game to keep them
- Always evaluating how you good of a teammate you are
- Mulch sale for big fundraiser - get out mulch easter weekend
- Everything is going to be under scrutiny so we need to think about it and protect ourselves
- Pitchers used to get skinnier and skinnier and I want to keep guys thicker and more muscular, so we need to do sprints and not 3 miles!
- Kids running charts
- Armed forces (pitching chart) - + and - for quality pitches
- Quality at bats
- Hustle chart (little things)
- Charts can be different based on what your team needs
- On a strikeout drop your bat and go hit the pole, say what you have to, get it out of your system, and when you get back be a good teammate
- Twitter - @coacha8
- ryan.alexander@swcsd.us
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Bio
- Start the Horizon High School program (AZ) in 1980
- 2007 National Champions
- 6 Arizona 5A State Championships
- 3 Arizona 5A State Runners-up
- 20 Regional Championships
- 7 National Invitational Championships
- 881 total wins 809 wins in Arizona which the most wins for a coach in Arizona history.
- 3 first round draft picks. 28 overall players drafted in MLB
- Over 200 players gone onto to college and played
- USA Baseball staff member
-
Coordinator of USA 14U and 17U olympic development program.
-
2018 started the 16U program
- 2010 USA Baseball COY
- 2012 USA Baseball Development COY
-
- Arizona Baseball Coaches Association HOF, Arizona Coaches HOF, High School association HOF,
- National HS BCA COY in 2018
- 5X Arizona COY
Notes
- To be a good teammate, don’t care who gets the credit and we will be in good shape
- Taught you how to practice, and then gave you ownership
- Pound the fundamentals and make sure you are efficient
- Took a lot of things personal as a young coach
- The joy playing like a kid is what keeps me moving forward**
- I hope I never forget what its like to play like a kid! ~Kris Bryant
- Play multiple sports and give “active rest” - play other sport, work on hitting, skills, etc
- You have to train the athlete and be athletic to be great
- Play for now, and if you play they will find you, and play for now and the end will take care of itself
- Do you want to be good or do you want to be great? If great, then the expectations went up
- Every pitch BP
- Make other players better
- Want to and not a have to
- You should not “have to” come to practice, you need to “want to”
- If i teach them how to practice and then give them ownership
- Mental game is coached up more than it used to be due to the negative leadership that wanted positive outcome (“my way”)
- When you think you need some help you come ask me and then we are all in!
- Everyone is an individual and a little different, so you need to say and do things that works for them
- Standards instead of rules - standard has more worth
- Ownership is a big deal - you have no control over and it develops trust
- There are program absolutes! Hustle, trash talk, class
- Model the behavior and calming during post season/pressure situations
- Being honest with players is the best thing you can do for players
- I care enough to tell you the truth
- You need to be careful with your words because conversations stick with the players
- When we make mistakes we must own it, and the players see that and then they will own it when they make mistakes.
- Captains meeting once a week to keep everyone mind right and see who needs a kick in the butt or a pat on the back
- Start with a quote and talk about how it impacts each person
- Baseball is not my life, and baseball humbles you, so start with a quote and see how it impacts our life
- Interview in the fall - 1 on 1 to evaluate strengths and weaknesses
- Based all year
- Figure out who the person is
- See if they have good self awareness
- USA baseball Manual - write down my experiences
- Process versus results - everyone except us is result focus
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable to get past it (feeling rough)
- If you are playing a team sport, you should always put in extra time for your teammates**
- I will really emphasize the little things, and role the player did during the game
- Every player needs to have a role no matter the talent
- Practice plan
- Quote
- Practice in 10
- Dynamic
- steals/baserunning
- Bands
- Throwing program (and be OUT there)
- Go stealth when kids cannot say a word
- If you lose the clubhouse your done, and it starts with communication
- I don’t go too long because I want every rep quality rep
- Team defense or position drills depending on the staff
- Good footwork is paramount to being a good fielder
- Relays with live baserunners. Run till you get out (then work on rundowns).
- “What happens in the game the most often?”
- No catcher pop ups everyday, because it does not happen everyday
- Winning 1 run ball games
- Throwing program
- Baserunning - “the coach is just your stop sign”
- Live baserunning with outfielders - put in situations
- I can’t expect them to perform in situations we have not covered
- Situational baseball
- Speeding the game up
- Competitive bullpens
- Scripted
- P-I-T-C-H (horse for bullpen)
- Pace - 12 seconds or less between pitches
- Intensity
- Practices are for coaches, games are for the players. If I do my job I should be able to sit in the stands
- How can I play you if you can’t do your job? Do you want to be good or great?
- Playing time is huge! Sit the player if he is not acting right, and you
- Give pitchers permission to get hit
- No words on the field, the tunnel (cage) is our classroom
- Is this practice going to help us win a game or lose a game?
- Baserunning and bunting - special teams of baseball
- 1st/3rd game - score as many ways as we can
- Runner on 3rd and score the game winning run
- Evaluate our strengths and weaknesses as a coach
- How can I score with the team that I have?
- Hit with 2 strikes - embrace and get more mentally tough
- Pitch recognition - look at the bullpen, hitters take and say where it was
- I know how to pitch a kid how they take a pitch
- Taking pitches is as important as hitting pitches
- huskycoach2@gmail.com
- 602-291-1952
Monday Jul 26, 2021
Monday Jul 26, 2021
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
Monday Jul 19, 2021
Monday Jul 19, 2021
Bio
- Current HC of Madison Central HS (Kentucky)
- Coach Roof just finished his 21st year as the head coach of Indians' baseball team.
- During his career at Central, his teams have a record of 526-224-1,
- won the Kentucky 11th region title in 2015 and 2018,
- and was the Kentucky 11th region runner-up in 2021, 2014 and 2005.
- The Indians' have also won 18 district championships.
- Roof was named 11th Region Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2014.
- Coach Roof has been the head coach of the East/West All-stars six times.
- Works with USA Baseball
- Prior to Madison Central, Coach Roof was an assistant at Eastern Kentucky University for four seasons under Hall of Fame Coach Jim Ward
- From 1998-2000, Roof served as the Recruiting Coordinator, and the Colonels won the OVC in 2000.
- He was also the head coach of the Durham Braves in the Coastal Plains Collegiate League.
- Great guy, constant learner, huge work ethic!
Notes
- 16 Day Baserunning install - its not just running the bases, its putting the pressure on the pitcher and as a results we get more fastball
- Day 1 - 1st base
- Day 2 - sliding (you can’t be a baserunning team without getting dirty)
- Pull guys
- Story time - criss cross applesauce
- Day 3 - leads at 1B
- Day 4 - leads at 2B
- Day 5 - leads at 3B
- Day 6 - dirt ball reads
- I want you to ask why, I want you to know why we do it, and it creates more buy in!
- You read the catcher on the dirt balls - read the knees
- Measured leads, what is your time 1st to 2nd
- Teaching from game 1 to the end of the year, and always teaching and adding to the journal
- If you can play catch at a high level you can execute a run down
- We stop doing everything and all situations, and focused on what happened most frequently
- Why didn’t my player understand? It is on us coaches! We need to find something and stop complaining!
- Find a way to compete and find a way to win
- Look at everything you have and hold true to what is working.
- Know your guys
- Know what you are trying to do
- Focus on yourself
- Finding the right fit for each person and individualizing to fit the players needs
- When players take charge of their own development that is a win for our program
- Run producer or run scorer - speed guy or heavy hitter
- 1st third - find our roles, find who can play, may lose games due to development
- 2nd third - learn from our mistakes
- 3rd part of season - here is who we are
- Made a google classroom for the team
- Book study in the fall
- Players texting me about a book that was personal to them
- Memorize a quote for the beginning of practice
- Classroom sessions
- Trying to develop men! Can we get them to maturity?
- The individuals get better collectively and WE get better
- 4 things that can happen once the pitch is throw, so control what you can!
- Hit it hard and get out
- Hit it hard and get a hit
- Hit is soft and get out
- Hit is soft and get hit
- Be the best you can
- Family, hard work, and toughness
- Family - accept your role, roles can change, play for each other
- Hard work - doesn’t matter get better, if you aren’t where you want to be, then you find a way to get better
- Toughness - when the game is on the line are you going to perform?
- Serve each other, get better, toughness to handle the pressure
- How? Get 1% better each day
- Batting practice
- Charting defense
- Expand your range - layout in practice, and sellout in practice
- Dirtbag chart
- What does a dirtbag look like?
- Give him a shirt at the end of the game
- 2 strike adjustment
- Team AB
- Sacrifice myself for the team
- Put it in play
- Measuring it makes it more significant
- Wear a pitch get a chicken sandwich
- What can we do to promote the things that no one seems to care about? The little things
- Make it competitive and reward the winners -
- Have a group of guys you can trust that can help you in situations. “The grass is brown everywhere!”
- Developing the person, and loving your team - tell them you love them!
- Have a common goal and develop the man!
- Email steve.roof@madison.kyschools.us
- 859-661-2414
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Monday Jul 12, 2021
Bio
- Current head coach at Louisiana University at Lafayette, Ragin Cajuns!
- Former head coach at Sam Houston State winning the conference championship 3 of his last 4 season at Sam Houston State
- Became the first Sam Houston State team to go to a super regional in 2017
- 16 players went into the draft during his tenure
- Former Ragin Cajuns assistant coach in 2012-2014
- 2014 was the first time Louisiana ever had a number 1 ranking, but it was Deggs second time when he was an AC at Texas A&M and they were ranked #1 in 2009.
- First mid major to ever be consensus #1 at the conclusion of the season
- Former Texas A&M and Arkansas AC
- First experience as head coach was at Texarkana and led them to their first ever trip to the JUCO world series, helping develop future All Star Hunter Pence
- A man of faith
- A leader of men
- Best selling author
- A fierce competitor
Notes
- Too many of us wrap our identity into what we do, instead of who were are
- Two types of people, humble and people about to be humbled
- I don’t care about what you have done, I care about what you are going to do about it.
- The sin is not getting back up!
- 15 to 28 book that told my story about being broken and redemption
- Press conference went viral to tell my story and use a platform
- try to be transformational not transactional especially when it comes to win and losses
- We make one promise - we will develop the well rounded man!
- When your identity is wrapped up in what you do, you are not fully there mentally and will fill it with other sources
- Graduation, team gpa, community work
- “Master key” = degree that will open doors
- Become very good at the things you do control!
- Attitude, energy, concentration,
- It is a culture of over achieving - taking pride of what things no one else cares about
- We are in the relationship business
- 1-1 is important
- Teaching and test
- “Professional development” - half hour before a lift or practice
- Binder of “Cajun Baseball”
- Two things to have a shot - organized and united!
- Classroom, guest speakers, and one on one times
- Clarity of mission and understanding
- Culture is leadership and action on a daily basis
- Master coach - 1. write things down, structure and organize it. 2. Test the guys!
- attitude , approach, tenacity, toughness
- Not every pack is created equal
- The structure/framework stays the same but what we do inside needs to adapted and evolved
- You will always need them more than they need you!
- Loyalty is everything!
- No player is worth burning a bridge with another coach
- You need to be upfront, honest, and authentic, and when you are you they will do what they can for you!
- When you are unafraid to be embarrassed in front of the guys you lead, you got it! Just own it, lead from the front, and don’t throw everyone under the bus.
- Your offense is only as good as your personnel
- The power of contribution - wolfpack baseball! Team centered
- Team at bats -
- Pride yourself on who you are for the success of the pack
- Guy on the bump is the buffalo, and we need to surround him (like wolves) to get him out of there
- Callous mindset that loves to fight and not focused on the result/record, they want to scrap!
- The success of an individual is determined by the team, but the teams success is NOT determined on one individual
- Results are temporary, and the relationship with your boys is forever
- Runner, bombers, hitters, ballplayers and we train them accordingly
Monday Jul 05, 2021
Monday Jul 05, 2021
Moseley notes
Bio
- Current Head Coach Hoover HS (AL)
- 2021 state finalist
- 2017 7A Alabama state champion
- 5 area championships in a row
- 44 have gone to play college in 7 years - 16 D1
- Member of the USA baseball staff
- Pitching coach 14U national development program
- Pitching coordinator for 14U national development program
- Assistant coach 15U trials
- Pitching coach for the 2018 15U World Championship USA national team
- 18U national pitching coach
- Former Head baseball coach at Virgil Grissom HS
- 1st and 2nd round picks
- Won over 400 wins as a head coach
- Incredible person
- Man of faith
- Learner and leader!
Notes
- 5 zones
- 1 is off the plate left side
- 2 is on the corner
- 3 is down the middle
- 4 is on the corner
- 5 is off the plate right side
- If its up in on the hands
- Scripted pens - fb in the 1, 2 seam in 4
- Script the first 10 pitches in the game
- What gets him comfortable in the game - breaking ball glove side or two seam inside
- These are the first 5 pitches and do you like him
- You can train whatever you want on the strike zone, but if you don’t know what the umpire is calling it doesn’t matter
- Release points (on nose, ear, and off face)
- What are you getting ready for? Focal point
- Flatground teaching points
- Feel, release points, finger over the ball
- In the summer - work with bullets, based on the last performance
- Tunnel - keep it in line from me
- Just like in basketball, shooters shot, and throwers throw
- You need to throw with more on the line to give you feedback
- The art is how much the guys needs in between starts
- Dealing = needs more adversity in between to keep edge
- Struggling = keep confidence high in between
- Look at them as pillars not rocks and stones - long toss, lifts,
- Form to Rate these 3 things everyday with some notes - soreness, effort, and feel (whatever are the pillars)
- Things that don’t work are easier
- Open your home to your team
- 5 zones
- Coach for the events that matter the most!!
- Look for moments to bring them aside and make a meaningful relationship
- In big moments I am going to touch them (encouragement)
- Try to talk to each player individually
- Live out life as much as I can in front of the team
- Character development
- Everyday is doing character development, that doesn’t separate you, that is how you live your life
- Fall - gets a day
- Spring - pre practice and discuss how it relates to life
- 24 hour principle - if it is important in 24 hours we will discuss it then
- Culture
- Be there consistently
- Be in the front, when you need to be in the front, be in the back when you need to be in the back
- They need to know you will take the bullets for you
- Start with shading on the pitch
- Have pinch hitters ready early
- Start practice with a new situation - new situation each pitch and get rolling
- Video the session to discuss next day
- Pitchers throw live or throw flat ground to hitters
- Hitters go in with 0-2 count
- Work on your stuff
- Email - amoseley@hoover.k12.al.us
- Twitter - DM are open: @moseleyadam
Monday Jun 28, 2021
Monday Jun 28, 2021
Davis Notes
Bio
- Head Coach at Sherwood HS (MD) since 2012
- 140-36
- 4 time regional champion
- MSABC district coach of the year 2016 and 2019
- AC at Sherwood started in 2009
- 2010 state champion
- AC at Georgetown Prep and Rockville Express
- At the end of his career at Frostburg he was the all time leader in hits, runs, at bats, and games played.
- A DUDE!!
Notes
- Post practice plan in the PE office and guys check it and post to group chat
- Hack attack for multiple uses
- Dirt ball reads
- First and thirds
- Pop ups
- Bunting with a little pace
- Using pocket radars to give immediate feedback for a kid to swing with a content
- Spray charts for opposing players
- Fastball taken for a strike
- Can’t take the best pitch of our at bat
- Especially in “GO” counts
- Guys who take more fastballs in counts tend to be weaker hitter
- Conversations with players about what they are seeing and having an approach
- Each conversation is different based on the player
- Getting kids prepared for college
- Call pitches, picks from dugout, signs from a wristband, practice preparation
- Picks - verbals and non verbals around
- As many touches as possible in a short amount of time
- 4 man fungo,
- 3 rotation PFP
- Lineups are defensively based
- Offensively changed our philosophy based on how we swing it
- If the players know you genuinely care about them you can ask the world of them
- We are doing this because I do not want the seniors to cry at the end of the year
- If I won’t, they don’t! If I go to everything they know I am bought in.
- Make it feel big league, as good as it can!
- Twitter - @woodbaseball1 DM’s are open
Monday Jun 21, 2021
Monday Jun 21, 2021
Bio
- Current head coach at James Madison High School
- 26th season at Madison (31st overall)
- Langley HS (1 year)
- Marshall HS (8 years)
- 2 VA state championships
- 1 perfect season, which was recognized as one of the best high school teams of ALL time
- 14 Liberty Conference Championships
- 1 Concorde Conference Championships
- In 2018 Gjormand was named Conference Coach of the year for the 7th time
- Region 6 Coach of the year for the 4th time.
- Home Plate Club’s high school coach of the year
- National Baseball Coaches Association (BCA) East Coast coach of the year
- finalist for the BCA’s national coach of the year award
- Founder of MVP International where multiple sports are played all throughout the world
- Incredible clinician speaker
- Leader of men!
- Mental game master!!
- 26th season at Madison (31st overall)
Notes
- Learning how to lose is just as important as learning how to win
- Take the reigns early and then loosen it up as you go
- Unload christmas trees for lions club in the community
- Phases of the season
- Phase 1 - pre season and off season, friday life lessons
- Phase 2 - spring break - tournament and compete for something
- Phase 3 - conference play - win as much as we can, we only count wins, we lose and we get back up
- Phase 4 - conference tournament
- Phase 5 - regional tournament
- Phase 6 - state tournament
- You always need to overachieve no matter how good you are
- You are not a 9 hitter, you are 1 of 9 hitters!
- Post goals at the beginning of the season in the locker room
- I have been there, but I have not been there with this team!
- Glue guys - do the things no one sees and keeps us all together
- In baseball we can’t ride the emotional rollercoaster
- We need to stay at a level and feel where it needs to be
- My captains are my seniors, because as a senior you deserve to be a leader and it gives you the opportunity to put it on a resume.
- If they are not ready for that leadership then it is on me!
- Players win games, coaches lose games
- Winning can be the bridge to misery
- Rise and shine or rise and wine, be careful
- Follow on twitter @coachpudge8
- email at James Madison High School
Monday Jun 14, 2021
Monday Jun 14, 2021
Bio
- Current Head Coach at North Hall High School (GA)
- 2021 AAA Georgia State Champions!
- First as a head coach
- 2013 won 3A state championship as assistant coach
- 116-33 overall record
- first year (2018) as head coach the Trojans finished 24-7 and made it to the Sweet Sixteen
- in year 2 the Trojans finished 21-16 and made it to the Final Four,
- year 3 the Trojans were 12-4 and ranked #1 in AAA before the Covid shortened season.
- Region Coach of the Year honors during the 2018 season
- AAA Coach of the Year in 2019
- Constant LEARNER!
- A DUDE!!
- 2021 AAA Georgia State Champions!
Notes
- Keep a card and write down any learning point throughout the game
- Extended column - these things that can help us or hurt us in the playoffs
- Become Practice plans
- Hope to cross off items as we go
- If I am going to ask a kid to get better I need to be specific
- It's on me to be specific
- Write MAY on their bullpen ball
- The playoffs are like a high wire - regular season is low and then as you get longer in the season the wire gets higher and you have no net!
- Team goal of 950 field %
- Outfield - NO GAPS
- Infield - can’t play infield without good feet
- 200 ground balls a day -
- Only throws full speed or DON’T THROW
- Game speed feet if you can’t throw game speed
- Your expectations as a coach turn into players’ actions!
- Positions are rented!
- You better watch out for the teams that fight for positions
- When you get to the point of vulnerability you don’t back down from confrontation
- More time in the weightroom, long toss sessions, bullpens, any chance you get to get to know each kid because you can’t talk to each kid the same
- Your kids need to know that you don’t have it all figured out
- Not scared to tell the kids I made a mistake
- Let a pitcher in too long
- Send a runner or didn’t send a runner
- Not scared to tell the kids I made a mistake
- It can’t be a one size fits all
- Big difference between knowing the game as a player and knowing the game as a coach
- There is no substitute for experience
- How do I extend the 21 outs on my side and shorten them on their side
- Most coaches don’t trust their players preparation, when it turn it is the coaches who prepared them, so it’s really the coaches failure in preparing.
- Would you rather win a game 10-2 or 10-6?
- 10-2 you lost an opportunity for you to find something about a kid
- 10-6 you got an opportunity for you to find something about a kid
- Know you players and their identity (move power hitter to leadoff spot based on his identity)
- Video breakdown and character talk
- When they leave the program I want them to know I love them and be better people and have more than an identity than baseball players
- Character card - values of the people in our program will possess
- This is your card about you as a man in this program
- If I take it we talk about, and I give it back when I see they make the changes
- Reached out to staff as characteristics of what our kids need the most
- Made hard decisions based on the character of a kid - addition by subtraction
- Surface - element card
- Surface - fence, grass, backstop, etc
- Element - wind, temperature, sun, etc
- Team meeting before practice
- Character talk before practice
- Feel the heart beat of your team and see what would be generic for the guys and figure out what works
- Don’t be scared to fail and think the coach is “cool”
- Twitter - @trevorflow
- Email North Hall
- social media is a dialogue for myself
- The more I coach it's not competing against the other coach, it is coaching/playing against the game and ourselves
- You got to go out and play chess not checkers!!
- Advice from other coaches through the coaching community
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Monday Jun 07, 2021
Younce Notes
Bio
- collegiate playing career at the US Naval Academy and Old Dominion University
- involved with baseball for over 25 years.
- Assistant Coach at Greenbrier Christian Academy (VA)
- Under 500 before coming on staff
- 2019 - lost in state semi
- 2020 - covid
- 2021 - D2 state champs
- Canes Baseball hitting and INF coach for the 14 National team.
- Coached at every level
- Former Scouting director for the organization
- Associate Scout with the Philadelphia Phillies.
- created Coastal Va Baseball
Notes
- Survey at the end of fall to discuss role and communicate expectations
- Want guys moving faster during practice
- The standard is the standard! It doesn’t matter what jersey I am wearing
- Kids have to know the orders -
- High school - we still want the kids the win no matter if they play the next level or not
- Travel - we still have a standard and kids can use to help speed up their progression
- Find multiple ways to say things to help with multiple kids
- It's a hard conversation to tell someone they are not meeting the standard, and most time the kids know it
- Has not changed that coaches want to see them
- Rise in the value of college camps
- The player themselves gets them recruited
- Coach gives an honest assessment that is credible
- My job is to gives honest feedback/criticism
- Leave it better than you found it
- Point out the hop where the last hop would land
- Get the right hop as an infielder
- Teach them how to get the right
- Defensive efficiency chart - lanes and speeds
- Swing decision chart
- Not a finished product, be a constant learner
- Be who you are and give yourself an honest assessment of where you are
- Twitter @robyounce DM’s are open
- robyounce@gmail.com
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
Shallenberger Notes
Bio
- Current GM of the Park Sports Complex
- Powerballers 17U Baseball Coach
- Head Coach @ Cairn University from 2016-2020: 2019
- CSAC Coach of the Year Recipient;
- All Time Winningest coach in Cairn University History
- Lead the Highlanders to 1st playoff appearance and victory
- Assistant Coach @ Savannah Bananas 2020;
- Worked with players from JUCO, D2, and D1 levels;
- Helped team reach the Coastal Plains Championship Game; Coached 11 All CPL Players
- Assistant Coach @ Belmont University 2015;
- Top 10 in seven offensive categories in all of NCAA D1;
- OVC Tournament Appearance;
- Coached 4 Players drafted from Belmont
- Player/Assistant Coach @ Geneva 2006-2010/2011-2013;
- Team MVP with a .420 Batting Average and lead the team in Saves;
- NCAA All- Region Team & All- Tournament Team;
- Coached NCAA D3 National Strikeout Leader
NOTES
- Intentional about relationships
- How many touches can I get with each player each day?
- Roots were in the relationships with the players
- Culture drove the fruit
- Every single player heard their first name called everyday at practice
- What is your value as a coach?
- Are you in a place that values relationships?
- Wrote each player a letter from the head coach to show how much they cared
- The formula doesn’t change, the people do - find out how they tick
- Treat each individual player like their own individual
- Practice looked different for every single player
- pshallenberger@gmail.com
- 724-448-7808
- @coachphill_s
Monday May 24, 2021
Monday May 24, 2021
Bio
- Retired HC of Dublin Coffman High School (2020)
- Former President and now Executive Director of the NHSBCA
- USA Baseball (1995-2015) Olympic Sports Festival Colorado Springs (last ever)
- 1997-2015 USA Baseball staff
- HC of 16 year olds and assistant coach for 18 YOD
- First team to beat Cuba twice in 3 game series
- USA Baseball Amatuer COY 2000
- 1997-2015 USA Baseball staff
- Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004
- Central District Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005
- In 2012 he became the first coach from Ohio to be inducted into the National High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame
- Career record of 589-393
- Led Shamrocks to 13 league titles at Coffman, and 2 league titles at Meigs HS
- Assistant at Indiana University 86,87
- Division I state semifinal appearance in 2000
- State championship in 2001
- Relationship article
- Molding Young Men Article
Notes
- Being held accountable has changed
- Treat them all the same in a way but different
- Handle the situation right at the time it happens
- Good coaches have a way of communicating why things happen
- Triangle - players, parents, and coaches - coaches making decisions, support the players, and players support us, parents support us when kids do
- The more you want the kids to open up, the coach needs to open up
- Communication is so key, and the more people know they let you be
- Signed contract for role and if they complained about it they will be cut
- Be friendly, help people out,
- Are you willing to listen? Are you willing to learn?
- Be genuine
- Have a heart to heart sometime with the parents/players
- Be a better communicator
- Believe in what you do
- Know your players (who to yell at and those you pat on the back)
- Be able to talk to people (high fives, head up when your walking down the hall)
- Tried to make every day a recess!!
- You can’t win competitions with BASSET HOUNDS! Slow, don’t care, lazy
- tsaunders@baseballcoaches.org
- Quit talking and let’s get to work
- All levels can be developed your expectations just change
- Coaches compliment - “practice is over already?”
- If you have no Relationships, you have no Culture!
- Relationship article
- Molding Young Men Article
Monday May 17, 2021
Monday May 17, 2021
Bio
Alma Mater: Capital University ’02
The 2021 season is the 3rd as head coach at Olentangy Orange for Tom Marker. During his tenure Marker has turned the Pioneers into a state and district power, leading Orange to a number one State Ranking and top 50 National Ranking this season.
Marker’s record of 39-10 (.796) is first all-time in winning percentage at Orange. In his career as a head coach Marker is 237-141 (.627). Marker’s efforts have paid off in the win column and across the board as Prep Baseball Report has tabbed Orange as the top program in the state in the last three State Poll Rankings.
In March of 2016, Marker was asked to speak at the National High School Baseball Coaches Association clinic in St. Louis. Since then, Marker has spoken at the OHSBCA clinic and the LHSCA clinic.
Over the last six seasons, Marker has led his teams to four district final appearances. Marker was named Central District Baseball Coach of the Year in 2013. He also served as President of the Central District Coaches Association and is currently a member of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association staff.
Currently, Olentangy Orange is the number one ranked team in the state of Ohio and has a record of 17-2. Their team is hitting over 0.400 and they bolster a roster with commitments to Vanderbilt, Wright State, Toledo, King University, West Liberty University and Ohio Northern University.
Marker teaches sixth grade math at Olentangy Orange Middle School and lives in Lewis Center with his wife (Amie) and three children (McKenzie 9, Jackson 4, and Lainey 1). He has been on numerous podcasts including most recently being asked to be on the “Making Math Moments” podcast.
Olentangy Orange – 2019-present (Head Coach)
Upper Arlington – 2015-2018 (Head Coach)
Bexley – 2010 - 2014 (Head Coach)
Grove City – 2009 (Pitching Coach / JV Coach)
Independence – 2006-2008 (Head Coach)
Notes
- “PD” days - personal development days - individual days
- Classroom sessions
- Everyday we go through the plan as needed
- Slide show from Huddle
- “Town meetings” - movement of personnel, leadership skills, Sundays (record on zoom)
- In game data
- Huddle
- Chop the video up and put into a slide show for what we need to do better
- QAB
- First pitch swing %
- Fast ball take
- UCLA tendencies
- Dirt ball reads
- Red alert plays
- Back to the infield to take a bag with infield back turns
- Lob back to the pitcher
- Points on scrimmage, not just runs
- Red alert 10 points
- 2 out hit = point
- Web gems = 2 points
- “Hustle rules” - process based scrimmage
- The more you swing, the more you walk!
- If you are aggressive, guys will start to nibble
- Roster reduction NOT cut
- Your going to play, not going down to JV or up to Varsity
- 401k - youth program
- “Option” period everyday in training to prepare for that option
- Instead of exit meetings we do quarterly meetings
- Hitters - appetizers, entree, and dessert
- Get loose
- Challenge
- Good taste in your mouth
- Can’t have A goals with D actions
- “Transparency meeting” - after tryout meetings
- Game days - very little instruction, it is their playground
- Sprinkler flags for marks for baserunning
- No mechanics during BP, that happens indoor facility breaking it down
- ON field BP
- Vandy series
- Rivalry period
- Dead, live, dead, live - BP with live basrunning
- Practice should not look like camp!
- PD stations, PD groups
- thomas_marker@olsd.us
- @coachmarker DMs are open
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
Bio
- Coach Ittner begins his fourth year at the helm of the Cox baseball program.
- He is a 2008 graduate of Cox High School, where he was a 3-year varsity letterman for the baseball team.
- Coach Ittner went on to play for two years at College of the Albemarle from 2010-2011 and then at Virginia Wesleyan College for his remaining two years from 2011-2013.
- In the fall of 2014, Coach Ittner was hired as the junior varsity head baseball coach at Cox High School.
- After a 9-1 campaign with the Cox JV baseball team in the spring of 2014, he was hired by Salem High School in Virginia Beach to be their varsity head baseball coach and spent three seasons there from 2015-2017.
- July 2017 was named Frank M. Cox HS HC
- In 2019 Coach Ittner was named Region 6A co-coach of the year after compiling an 18-6 record and earning a state tournament berth for the Falcons. Coach Ittner is currently a special education teacher with Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
Notes
- Raise your minimums!! D2 guy to a D1 guy. No baseball guy becomes a baseball guy!
- Brett McCabe’s catalyst school
- How do you deal with the player that question everything?
- How do you deal with the player that loses confidence?
- Live calls
- Ways to grow more than the X’s and O’s
- Notebooks on each player - logging conversations - knowing the athletes, looping back with the athletes - do you really understand the player?
- Story telling
- Authentic and drawn to what keeps coaches up at night
- Tough Topics that head coaches have to deal with
- Are you reflecting with what happens the most?
- Story telling before each game - we want them to be in it
- “Out of the hat” app - random name that generates to connect with
- “Find out Fridays” - 2 minute conversation between sets with weightlifting and classroom session
- Fall and spring evaluation (google form) more formal than the informal Find out Fridays
- The coaches that do it at the highest level to deal with human beings?
- Am I given myself the best opportunity to build the person?
- Program pyramid - standards of the program
- 3 tiers
- Greatest level of respect is taking a coaching cue and doing it!
- Coaching staff built the pyramid
- Culture bulbs your program, identity builds your team
- Finding a common theme that guys buy into to make the year special
- “Mission 23”
- Expedition 6-13 - climb to last day of the year
- Bring it home 2021
- Talked to SEALS about the process
- 5 games goal
- QAB champion -
- F3P champion -
- Offense
- Big Inning
- BB/K = 1:1
- QAB = 50%
- Create 7 or more freebie
- 4 or more in 7 inning
- Defense
- Win the freebie war
- Deny the big inning
- Less than 120 pitches
- F3P - what you do the first 3 pitches
- Get off the field in less than 20 pitches and stay on offense for more than 20
- Color code what happens during the game (green good, and red bad)
- Strings of QAB to produce a big inning
- @falcons_skip
Monday May 03, 2021
Monday May 03, 2021
Bio
- Graduated from Bryan High School (played for Tom Held)
- Graduated from Otterbein College (Played baseball)Varsity baseball coach in Ludlow Ky for 1 year (1998)
- Freshman coach Moeller High school (1998)
Coached with JD Heilman (pitching coach at UC now)
- Currently the Associate head coach at Defiance (1999-present) (Associate Role is 2005)
- Highlights
- 5 state appearances (2002, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016)
- 3 state titles (2013, 2015, 2016)
- 9 players drafted
- 3 players made the show (Chad Billingley, Jon Niese, Justin Hancock)
- 19 Division 1 players
- 60 players that played college
- 13 league titles (72 straight wins from 06-14)
- 17 Sectional titles
- 11 District titles
- 5 Regional titles
NOTES
- It is huge for assistant coaches to be heard, and given the freedom to do their job
- Cage work 3 different machines - high velocity, curveball, whatever they need
- Challenge
- Process of handling adversity
- EV cage
- Keep an average, post the high
- Two teams - 80 mph = 1 point, 90 mph = 2 points
- More like Dr. Phil than anything
- + or - notecard during game for Quality at bats
- Tally after each game, and post
- Batting average for each count
- Shows how tough it is with 0 strikes
- Shows how important 1-1 is
- Offensive productivity chart - giving value for being on the offense (hitting and baserunning)
- 3 teams for intersquad
- Different situations
- Play bunt game based on situation - one try, don’t get it down = pole
- Losing teams = run
- Find a program that values winning, doing what is right, and working hard
- Get into a bad situation just to have a title
- Get to a school that doesn’t support baseball
- Trust your assistants - give them a job and let them do it
- Don’t argue every call
- Don’t take the losses home
- Point out more things kids are doing right! Find something daily that they did well. They are always being told what they are doing wrong
- Game changers
- Radar gun
- Exit velocity
- Steve springer
- Mental game
- Classroom sessions - springer QAB CD
- 1:1 out of the cage
- Jamie Beckler leadership course - 10/15 minutes at start of each practice
- Quote of the day and discuss it
- rweaver@defianceschools.net
- 419-438-6519
Monday Apr 26, 2021
Monday Apr 26, 2021
Bio
-- Fort Hill HS Class of 1980 (lost to South Hagerstown in state playoffs).
-- Cumberland American Legion Post 13 (Funkstown Legion always gave us trouble).
-- Played w Brian Femi (who went to Bishop Walsh HS). Ted Femi’s brother had .800 winning % as BW head coach.
-- Pen-Mar semi-pro (for a time rivaled the Valley League).
-- Frostburg State Class of 1984 under legendary coach Bob Wells.
-- Player/coach in Washington Area Recreational Baseball League (WARBALL) late 80s.
-- St. Michaels HS assistant coach 2002 - ?
Topics
- Practice Organization (stations, stations, stations!).
- Keep everyone in motion. Competitive BP. Defensive Breakdown. Situations. Play-of-the-Day (could be Off or Def).Offensive Philosophy.
- I’m Femi’s “offensive coordinator” so I’d like to see us get into a discussion about overall offensive philosophy centered on putting pressure on the defense.
- StrikeZone discipline.
- Attack/Defend.
- Lost Art: Bunting
- We bunt 1 thru 9, and we don’t “sacrifice!”
- It’s not about footspeed, it’s about placement.
- 7-8 times out of 10, if our batter can drop a bunt 30-45 ft down either line, that’s better odds than .400 hitter.
- Lost Art: Baserunning
- More than just steal attempts.
- These are split-second decisions that are often the difference bw a win or a loss.
- They must be practiced.
- Island Reads, 3-2-2, 3B R <2
- Advice for assistant coaches
- Advice for head coaches
- Lessons learned as an assistant coach
- What do you know now you wish you knew when you started coaching?
Episode notes
- You can’t say we shouldn’t have to work on that
- Go back on the infield line drive
- Everyday we will use count work in the cage to be sure guys are making good decisions
- “Ball above your belly button at third you are back”
- 2 arm pumps and a peak (when stealing 2nd) - sneak a peak
- We are never going to put a kid in a situation that we have not repped in practice
- Part of the warmup will get right into 4 group baserunning
- Put a bunt in the panic zone or the hurry zone - get a certain amount of points
- 15 minutes a day on bunting to put a bunt in the panic/hurry zone - 30/45 feet in baseline
- The mental side is where you get the most reward for your time.
- I started for the baseball, but quickly realized this is about the relationships
- If your priorities are in the right place
- Get the right people and let them do their job, you can’t do it all yourself
- St. Michaels Saint Baseball on Facebook
- bill.burton@dacis.com
- 410-253-9031
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Monday Apr 19, 2021
Andrew Kowalo
Bio
- Grew up in Wheeling, WV (Graduated Wheeling Park HS 2013)
- Former player at Potomac State (‘14-’15) & Liberty University(‘16-’17)
- Assistant Coach at Potomac State University
- Former Assistant Coach at VMI (2019 Season)
- NY/PA Director of Baseball for PBR (Started December 2020)
- Blue Collar, consistent, dedicated STUD!!!
Episode notes
- I played 5 years of legion baseball (I’m super proud of that… I loved every minute of it) but it is also the reason I did not have any offers coming out of high school. Good and Bad to it
- Everyone's story is different… There is no cookie cutter way to do it
- So many different levels of baseball… D1,D2,D3,NAIA,JuCo, NCCAA...ect
- There is a place for everyone... if they love the game
- Feel like I have played for some of the best coaches in the game… So much learned and experience gained (Chad Stout, Mike Mcleod, Tom Pasco,Doug Little, Don Schaffer, Scott Jackson)
All of these guys coach at different levels (High School, Legion, Juco, D1) but all have taught me so much
I got lucky a lot in the recruiting process and a lot of the decisions I made worked out very well….
- Showcase video and in game video. You need a combination of each for recruiting
- Everybody has their own recruiting story
- No two recruiting stories are the same
- PBR is here to just get kids seen, to provide an opportunity to reach their goals
- @kowalobear126 - DM are open
- PBR website for email
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Monday Apr 12, 2021
Bio
- Coconino High School Assistant (with his dad)
- Assistant Coach Corona Del Sol (AZ)
- 2006 - Present (15 years)
- Team achievements - 1 state championship, 1 state runner up
- USA Baseball National Team coach
- Team achievements in your time there - since 2006 4 gold, 1 silver, manager of 2015 team, USA Olympic Committee Developmental Coach of the Year 2015
- Grower of the game
- Selfless coach, no ego!
- Example to his players
- DUDE!
NOTES
- Guys that you can trust, get along with, and want to go to battle with
- If everyone is not pulling the rope in the same direction in order for you to accomplish your goals and do things the right way
- Provide honest feedback, don’t want yes guys as assistants.
- Stepping into the box, and not hoping you are going to get a hit, knowing you will get a hit
- Approach in the box and on the mound (I want the ball)
- Real vs feel - knowing what I am feeling or thinking might not be actually what I doing
- Positive self talk - having the approach in practice, and taking it into games
- We would rather lose with winners, than win with losers
- Community service work - feed the homeless, entire program, miracle league whiffle ball with special needs
- We get to use baseball to teach them about life.
- We live what we preach. Walking the walk
- Selfless and uncommon are huge words in our program
- Get a group of coaches that you can bounce ideas of each other, get things from, just learn from, and talk to is invaluable
- Pro step vs crow hop - teach them both and let the speed of the ball, and the player choose their own way to throw it
- Keep learning and bettering yourself each and everyday
- @tves_23
- tvesely@tempeunion.org
- Love to share and pay it forward since those who have shared before me
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Monday Apr 05, 2021
Bio
- USA Baseball Coaching staff member
- Assistant coach Arroyo Grande HS
- Co founder of Coastal Empire Baseball
- Former Marine
- JUST A DUDE!
- Grower of men!!
Episode notes
- More time for relationships since you do not have to do the full responsibilities of all the other stuff the head coach needs to do
- I have taken off with my coaching abilities when I decided I didn’t know anything, and tried to learn something new everyday
- Humility comes from the world showing us we are small. I need to just make my circle as good as I can
- When I stopped thinking less about myself, and more about others my life just took off
- See the world like a chess board and not a bullseye
- Being comfortable having more interest in being satisfied
- Look forward to those mental conversations where I struggle
- Meditate daily
- Help kids put things in perspective and open up their minds that other people have it so much worse
- Play for the guy next to you, what can you do to make someone else a hero, tell them I love them, and let them go play!!
- Baserunning is a life commitment - if you are going to go, go hard. Go all in. Don’t go half way
- Take advantage of all the defenses laziness
- Constantly having our baserunners look for more, look for more
- Let’s make it about somebody else and watch how good things turn out
- Celebrate selflessness!!!
- www.coastalempirebaseball.com
- cacoastalbaseball@gmail.com
- @bryanmadsen23
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
RJ Notes
BIO
- Assistant Coach Orange Lutheran
- 12U USA Baseball Head Coach
- Coastal Empire Baseball Academy co-founder
- Infield genius
- Incredible person
- Grower of the game
Show notes
- Train as fast as possible
- Team setting and camp setting are very different in terms of coaching
- We need to make sure what we are doing translates to game
- High school challenge starts day 1 - best inf in the country
- Camp side - every ball on the ground is an out
- Infield play is not just groundballs
- Throwing program gets every footwork pattern, and throwing lane
- Chart the type of groundball and then lane
- Ground ball 1-5 - burner to high chop
- 4 lanes - backhand, decision, routine, forehand
- Middle guys work the hole more than in the middle (based on their chart)
- The chin or bill of hat is heading away from the ball they are bailing
- If the chin/bill stay in line on the drop step he is setting up the hop
- If infielder bobbles it in practice we praise it because he is trying to go fast
- When shifting be sure to practice those shifts, and making plays in those positions
- @coachfarrell017
Monday Mar 22, 2021
Monday Mar 22, 2021
52 Episodes!!
This first episode of the year was solo, and the last episode of the year will be solo!
This was uncomfortable for me, because this podcast is not about me. This podcast is about helping others, and growing the game. I hope that this episode brings to light all the great lessons that we have heard throughout this year.
I hope this episode helps you get better.
4 common lesson learned throughout this year:
1. Teach your players to be their best coach - equip them with skills to be their best coach
2. Be willing to share. Be humble enough to serve others, and share like so many coaches continue to do!
3. Individualize in your team setting. Give each player the individual attention they need. There should be a part of each day that each kid should have a personal touch.
4. We are always preparing for something. Whether we know it or not, we are preparing for something.
contact me at 301-992-4301 or treytcobb@gmail.com
Like on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
#BMBB
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Monday Mar 15, 2021
Steve Springer
Bio
Steve Springer is the former performance coach & major league scout for the Toronto Blue Jays.
After not starting in high-school his SR year, getting cut in college, Springer was drafted by the Mets after a breakout junior season.
After years in the minor leagues, Steve eventually collected his first major league hit with the New York Mets.
Steve played over 14 years as a professional baseball player and compiled over 1,600 professional hits.
Over 35 years in professional baseball as a baseball player, agent and scout.
He now travels and speaks across the country about the mental side of hitting while working and training with major league all-stars.
He resides in Huntington Beach CA, and is the author of Quality At-Bats and the founder of Quality At-Bats Academy.
NOTES
- Take BP, infield like it is the game
- If you want to play at the next level you have to hit
- What is athleticism? Hand/eye coordination
- Your career starts the day when you don’t care what you hit
- Change the way you think
- Play everyday like its opening day, no yesterday beating you up!
- Two good players, the confident player and the non confident player
- Clint Hurdle put a Q on the lineup card for a quality at bat
- Hitting starts when you pick up the paper in the morning, and you start visualizing the pitcher and what he is going to do
- I can’t have a goal where I do everything right and get out.
- Changed what the definition of success
- I am hear to help my team win ball game
- 90% of the quality at bat is how I walk up to the plate
- The most quality at bats - got best buy gift cards
- Good hitters line out hard more!
- The batting average has no brain
- The only stat I want to track is how many games in a row you can show up with confidence
- You don’t get 5 at bats, you get 27 at bats, look at other players at bats
- Sit fastball, until you don’t have to
- Controlled violent swing
- Your not too small to get good grades
- The harder the pitcher throws, the slower the feet need to move
- Power is overrated if you can’t hit
- Infielders thinking missiles hitting to us everytime
- Best athlete heart beat is between 60-80
- Its not a 3 hour timeout
- Pitchers compete with mentality of 9 vs 1 and I got a great defense behind me
- If you ever tick off the umpire - now its 9 versus 2
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Monday Mar 08, 2021
Will Marshall Notes
BIO
- Current Operations Coordinator and Lead Pitching Instructor for 108 Performance in Tustin, California
- “Bridge the Gap” coaches convention clinician and organizer
- Former Professional player in the United Shores Professional Baseball League
- Former Select ball organizer and commissioner of Texas Wiffle Ball League
- Graduated and played at the University of Dallas
- LEARNER!
- Challenges the status quo to help grow the game
Notes
- Big concepts/first principles of movement/training- don’t get lost in the weeds
- Blending
- Nothing your coach ever told u was wrong, just may not have been right for you
Show notes
- Youth players do not have to talk about movements because they are the best movers.
- Make it a game, make it fun, have constraints
- Learn what the kids believe, and then go to work on
- If you were to teach me how to hit what are the most important aspects of hitting
- Close your eyes and put yourself in a situation and tell me a time when you felt your best. Describe it for me, and put it in your own words, write it down. Then each rep should be trying to achieve that feeling. Reference that each day to see where they are at.
- Pretend like you do not know, and keep digging to get to the core beliefs - get an understanding of how their brain works
- Take 2 weeks to get to know your kids and really breakdown see what they know
- Get a look inside their snow globe
- Big difference of what needs to happen and what the player needs to feel to make it happen
- Analyze what in the movement is wrong, analyze his belief, and then find the right cue based on that athlete
- Constantly evaluate my system, and see how I can make it better
- If you don’t give the honest feedback, you are telling them you do not care
- Let go of the cues, feels that worked for us, because our kids may not understand them
- If it works for the kids, it works!
- Technology is just the numbers to match what we used to feel and see
- If the player is not moving well, you have to teach the movement
- Flavors of ice cream - the best drills that work for you, do them, and not all the rest
- Stay big principle and concept to help teach movement and get results
- Be objective as possible when looking at a hitters, pitchers movements
- When do you need to create the most force on the ball?
- When do you need to create the most force in the ground with my back leg?
- Take context outside of baseball
- Big picture, and then play the WHY game to peel back the layers
- If the player did not interpret did not the cue the way you wanted to, then you need to go back to the concept/principle.
- Do my players understand where I am coming from?
- 108_Performance
- @willymarsh108
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Monday Mar 01, 2021
Bio
- Head Coach Bingham High School (South Jordan, UT)
- Took over 1993 after serving as an assistant coach for 17 years
- As a HC he has been apart of 14 regional titles and 5 state championships
- Overall he has been a part of 14 state championships in his time at Bingham (3 as a player-2 basketball/1 baseball; 4 asst. Baseball; 2 asst basketball; 5 as head coach)
- 2014 Coach Sato was inducted into the the National HS Baseball coaches Association Hall of Fame
- Served USA baseball selection task force
- Clinician at the National HS Baseball coaches association
- Served as president for the Utah HS baseball coaches association
- Chairman of the Rocky Mountain district liaison to the National HS Baseball Coaches association
- First class person
- Always learning. He is a first row audience member!
- Is a teacher!
Notes
- Challenge now is having all this information and seeing what we can implement and take into our program
- You measure what to implement by the success you have over the course of time
- Challenge BP instead of feel good BP
- At least one to two sets of BP that players will be challenged
- Define what mentally tough is
- Being at your best when you need it
- Slow it down
- Have a routine - breath, clear mind, focal point, one positive process thought
- calm everything down
- Process oriented - see the ball, be on time, execute this pitch
- Release routine - a way to get rid of what bad happened, calm down, step back, and then move on
- Take it into life, so you know how to handle it in the future
- Being at your best when you need it
- All players in our program practice together
- Classroom session at least once a week to discuss lessons, both intentional and at a teachable moment
- Part of the gym hitting, part of the gym defense
- Split into infield/outfield or pitchers/catchers and position players
- Finish with team competition - two teams go against each other
- Bunt scrimmage
- First and third situation
- Run downs
- “Fire drill”
- Tryouts 4-5 days
- Write out the first week
- Couple bunt defenses, 1st and 3rd situations, just basics to get the year started, and as we get into the next phase of the season we will add more
- Practice planning based on what we don’t do well in game once the season starts, and adding things we could not get to
- Early in the year planned out, games start make adjustable
- All players in the program go to every varsity game
- Given staff ownership of their roles and let them work
- Build the culture, building young men to better young men and the baseball got better
- Build young men first, not chasing wins
- Treat the guys the right way to do things on and off the field
- Groups take a core value and present on it and what it means to us
- Come up with one word that would describe what people would say about us when they see us play
- joe.sato@jordandistrict.org
- 801-842-6150
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Monday Feb 22, 2021
Bio
- Private instructor:
- Hitting Vault - https://thehittingvault.com/
- www.coachlisle.com
- https://recruitedinsider.com/
- Close to Million followers through his private/social media platforms
- Former
- hitting coach for Fresno State University softball
- Hitting strategist with Chicago White Sox
- Hitting coach University of Missouri
- Head Softball coach Menlo College
- Assistant softball coach Santa Clara University, California State University, University of Oregon
- Associate Scout for the Detroit Tigers
- Head Baseball coach Gallaudet University
- Head baseball coach st. Mary’s Catholic High School
- Associate HC at Patten University
- HC Berean Christian HS
- Every level from HS to MLB
- Author of “Dear Coach,” #1 coaching industry book on Amazon Best Sellers
Notes
- Learning how to deal with personalities and help players with who they are
- How to find out how the best way hitters take feedback.
- Asking how do you like your feedback?
- Creates accountability
- How do you like to communicate?
- text/phone call/
- Find a way to connect
- Its not about me, its about the athlete
- Not about my career, its about helping the players career
- Relationship to the client to have more of a relationship with them than just a hitting client
- Develop trust, and when you do it makes it easier to give criticism.
- Asking more questions than talking
- Goals
- Feedback
- What is in your head
- Current situation
- First question
- What is going on in your head
- Is it approach, confidence,
- Your swing did not change that make, mental has to be first question
- What is going on in your head
- How do I understand that hitting is hard, and this is a huge game of failure
- One hit away
- Learning some perspective
- Help players develop/create a routine
- Create ownership by players creating their own routine
- Pitch routine
- Start working on breathing
- Best swings/decisions start with slow breath
- Focus on a specific spot
- Positive self talk - rip it,
- Each pitch, scratch the box, wipe the box clean, and now we start all over again.
- Balance of feeling good, and making it challenging.
- Good combination of build off between feel good, and challenging.
- Ball exit data - hit trax, rapsodo, trackman
- Swing data - Blast and DK
- WinReality
- K-vest - body movements and positions
- Used to assess where hitters are at, and create goals
- Bat Speed and Attack Angle
- Higher bat speed higher EV
- AA to hitting more consistent line drive
- Working together with the Strength coaches with their hitting plans
- Invest some time in learning strength and conditioning to learn how the body moves and help your hitters
- Individual hitting plans
- Create a plan for each hitter
- Team batting practice - station work, team stations and individual (homework) hitting station, and game like situational station
- Always learn
- Have a growth mindset
- I have found a better way
- Put away your ego and pride
- Never settle
- @coachlisle
- www.thehittingvault.com
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Bio
- 14th season as HC at Moeller
- 7 trips to the final four
- 4 time Ohio state champion (2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015)
- 25th year at Moeller
- eight-time conference Coach of the Year
- 4 time City Coach of the year
- 2009 Bob Sumerel Greater Cincinnati Coach of the Year
- 2010 State Coach of the Year
- 4 time Defiance College Alumni Coach of the Year
- 2015 NFHS coach of the year for the state of Ohio
- 2013 Cincinnati Reds/MSA Sport Coach of the year
- 2015 & 2017 Perfect Game All American game and an assistant coach for the East team
- 12 players drafted during his time
- Dozens players have went on to play in college
NOTES
- Sat in the front row of a clinic
- What’s next, what is going to help make my players better
- Hit trax to see what real ball flight
- Shows where actual hits come from (angle of ball)
- Line on the top of the cage to show the angle that will be a hit 75% of the time
- Eugene Bleeker 108 performance book and certificates
- Grouping based on blast numbers
- Blend the old school and new school
- Hit Trax was there to give them intent during practice
- 10/10/10 tee work to hit at different angles and sides of the field
- Green light system with the runner time to second with the combo of pitcher and catcher
- Dirt ball reads, players at each base with coach throwing balls in the dirt or balls at them
- 4 pillars -
- Make good people
- Wake up
- What you eat
- Class on time
- Dressed the right way
- Alums come back at Thanksgiving and Christmas and ask when the cage and weightroom are open
- theld@moeller.org
- Twitter - @timheld
- @bigmoebaseball (and Instagram)
- Make good people
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Monday Feb 08, 2021
BIO
- Current Head Coach at Corona Del Sol (AZ) 6A (16 seasons, 23 overall)
- 5A state champion in 2009 (biggest at the time)
- Final four 6 times
- State finalists two other times!
- Head coach of USA Baseball 14U and 12U National teams
- Program mission “to help teach young men to always be great human beings.”
- A chess player in the game of baseball
- Master of the West coast offense
- Energy giver!
Notes
- Grades first
- Character first program
- Aztec 101 - first parent meeting to discuss expectations
- Over communicating is huge.
- Offensive communicator!
- Beat them to the punch with communication.
- See how many 1 run games you win and lose. Then have your practice/principles around them
- 4 base bunting - different bunt at each base
- Suicide squeeze set up for future
- “Be the wedge” - set your angle to bunt to first
- Tape at the end of the bat to bunt/feel the ball at the end of the plate
- Set the angle early, top of the zone, find the ball (make sure it is a strike)
- 33 feet at 55 mph = 88-90 mph
- Baserunners with Live BP
- 3B makes an error, next pitch gets dragged
- Coach it, say why
- Coach it, tell them how it happens in a game
- Explain how it applies to the game
- Look at other peoples deficiencies and exploit them, find it and pick it like a scab
- Late secondary - make sure the pitcher let the ball go
- dwebb@tempeunion.org
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Monday Feb 01, 2021
Bio
- Head Coach Flower Mound “Marcus” High School (TX)
- USA Baseball 15U National hitting coach
- Overall record at Marcus since 2013 is 198-46
- 2014, 2018 Region Finalist
- 2014, 2018 District 6A COY
- Set the record for most wins in a season at Marcus (32) *multiple times
- Marauders have been ranked in the, top 5, top 10, and top 25 in the state of Texas during his time
- 2015 was top 5 in the country
- Great guy, willing to share, who loves his faith and family!
Notes
- The great coaches take failures from the jungle (games) and breakdown them in the zoo (practice)
- HS doesn’t have “relief” pitchers, its next best guy!
- You are playing the worst sport in the world to FEEL GOOD!
- Jungle right away in practice!!
- Learn how to take in the cage
- When you ball strike you are out of the cage
- 6 pitches, no more than 4 swings
- 3 levers in training - intensity, complexity, and velocity
- Transactional versus transformational coaching made a big change in our program
- Questioning!
- The game doesn’t give you the answers. Create problem solvers
- 10 question reflective quiz to help individualize and develop questions
- The team that is the most vulnerable “the most real” are the best teams
- Heavy, medium, easy days of throwing
- Coach hard, love your guys,
- What does it take to win, and back map from there
- Have a voice recorder, and take your thoughts in there and analyze them at the end of the night.
- @jeffsherman26
- shermanj@lisd.net
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Monday Jan 25, 2021
Bio
- 4th Season as Head Coach of Wilson College
- Started the program and went 21-13 in the inaugural season
- Led the conference in pitching and defense
- Made the conference playoffs
- During his time at St. Mary’s Catholic High School he was 123-28 and sent 22 players to play in college
- Assistant coach at his alma mater, Dematha HS where they won 2 private school state championships during his tenure
- Played at UMBC and Winthrop University before playing some independent ball in the Frontier and Atlantic league
- In 2000 he also had some time in the Baltimore Orioles organization
Show notes
- Make sure kids go to a good fit. (no D1 or bust)
- Create competition in a program at every position
- Recruiting comes down to personality
- Be sure coach has a good roster full with information to contact players
- Recruiting is about relationships and families need to believe what you are about
- You have to adapt as a coach and get better.
- Never get rid of some of my old schools ways but will adapt with new tendencies
- Thank each school for their recruitment no matter if you have no intention of going there
- Be available for all my players!
- Once the kids know they sincerely care for them they will want to play for you!
- There are certain things you do every time you step on the ballfield. Respect the game
- Post pre and post practice jobs
- Phoenix challenge - end of fall challenge with teams
- No cookie cutters. Let players play to their strengths within the program
- You can’t get up and down for games you have to stay a little bit above the norm
- Have the kids buy into your and your goals. Buy into you first
- The best team police themselves. If the coach has to police them it will be a long year
- App “headspace” - meditation app to help shut the brain down
- First part of practice to help breathing and get yourself in control and slow things down
- Never say no to a coach right away. You never know what will happen. After the academic/financial package you will get around at least 40% if you do well academically.
- Wilson athletic website (cell phone or office number)
- john.poss@wilson.edu
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Monday Jan 18, 2021
Bio
- Current Head Coach at Chesapeake (MD) HS
- One of the dominant programs in Maryland
- State champion 2014
- State finalist 2010, 2016, 2017
- 4 time region champ
- President of the Maryland State Baseball Coaches Association
- First class human being!
Notes
- Coach clock doesn’t lie (coach Cohen)
- Pick their own team, or pick the other team when competing
- “Hat” my assistant - he is in charge of a specific task
- Offer a summer program together (returners and JV/newcomers) or offer a higher level team
- Take a freshman team for the fall (MD restrictions)
- Every friday get grades from each player from academic advisor
- NOT MEETING OUR STANDARD
- 2.5 GPA standard - ALL YEAR LONG!!
- 5:30 AM weightlifting program - 8 weeks leading up to the season
- Unifying piece for our team.
- One word on the back of the shirt
- Same practice jersey for everyone
- HC reveals the slogan, doesn’t even tell the AC
- Alumni relations
- Facebook and twitter to communicate as much information as possible
- Alumni games in the summer
- Hold students accountable means they are a part of something. Making people feel special about being a part of something special.
- If you are not going to clinics you are doing it wrong! Not just for the speakers but for the networking and possibility to discuss with people who do what you do and willing to share so much!
- Small change could make a big difference in your program.
- Clinics validate what you are doing well in your program.
- ksking@marylandbaseball.org
- www.marylandbaseball.org
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Monday Jan 11, 2021
Bio
- Current Head Coach Frederick (MD) HS
- 2009 State Championship
- Great family tree of other coaches. 5 head coaches, and a long time assistant who could be a HC anywhere.
- Beginning 30th year at FHS
- Married to Beth Rhodes for 36 years.
- Son: Cory (Played at FHS & Coached at FHS), Kelly Rhodes (Daughter-in-law ),Jack (7), Parker (5) and Maddox (3)
- Daughter: PJ (manager at FHS), Will Kraus (Son-in-law) James (7), Avery (4)
- 30 years of working with wonderful young people in the FHS baseball program
- 30 years of working with the best Assistant Coaches, Trainers and Administration
- 30 years of coaching in the best conferences and against the best coaches and teams.
- 30 YEARS OF FUN!!
Notes
- You can’t get complacent.
- Watch coaches and see how I can get better
- Coaches willing to share and help
- All throughout the off season we played and competed in different events (flag football, cricket, bowling, etc) to see how you compete
- During practice we implement contests/challenge
- Pays to be a winner. Prizes some days
- Saturday morning breakfast before practice
- 7:15 meet for breakfast
- Open to everyone in the program
- No cellphones
- Few topics to go around the table and discuss
- Never NOT answer (no pass)
- Some type of challenge (the um game)
- Special guest speakers
- I need the kids to trust me
- Program “champions of character” and one chapter dealt with parents
- Parent meeting to discuss how to talk to your son after a game (questioning “why the coach did…”), and how to support them
- After each home game the parents come out and rake the field. Teach the parents how to do it, because it allows buy in.
- Communicate with parents weekly. Complete schedule
- When practice is over it is over
- Summer camp to get to know kids and parents before they come into our school
- Hope the things we do will be great memories for our kids when they become older men
- I don’t ever assume anything. Don’t ever assume what you think they know, so make sure you cover everything.
- “You’re the coach, what are you going to do about it?”
- philip.rhodes@fcps.org
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Monday Jan 04, 2021
Bio
- Current Head Coach Middletown HS (MD), started in 2008
- 2017 2A State Champion
- 2019 2A State Finalist
- 2011 2A State Semi-Finalist
- A few region championships
- A few conference championships
- Played at Frostburg State University and coached there following his graduation
- Been a part of 9 state championships between baseball and football
- People that have influenced me: Coach Wells, Coach Caruso, Mike DeSimone, Mike Warrenfeltz, Mike Franklin (I think of him as my accountability partner), many surrounding FredCo and WashCo coaches. - we have tremendous coaching in our area.
Notes
- Texting players to check in often!
- Off season is mainly weightroom
- Start in December at least twice a week
- Weightlifting, speed and agility, bands
- There is a balance between the push of the off season
- We want our guys ALL IN from March to May
- Leadership curriculum
- Every day 15 minutes of classroom time
- Get the mind right before we go out to practice
- “Character development and Leadership” curriculum
- Brought in HOF football coach to be “character coach”
- Bus rides to complete character questions
- Questions completed before practice
- Always starts with having a plan and making sure your coaches know the plan (text, google doc, and text picture)
- Almost always have a 2 strike approach drill
- Your 2 strike approach is not optional
- Change your approach mentally
- Physical changes
- Up in the plate, up in the box, up on the bat, widen out or shorten stride, open up hips and shoulder (give up some power) to be quick and put it in play
- Go into the game with a 2 strike approach when facing a big arm
- Your mental focus is heightened which helps you even more than the physical
- Knights Crusade
- Navy Seal type of workout
- After tryouts (first Saturday as a team)
- Local recruiter works the team out
- Put kids through 8-12 exercises and challenged physically and mentally
- Between each exercise they talk about a leadership quality
- Once we finish we have a hot breakfast with the parents and talk about the experience
- Put them into 3 teams (use core values of a marine), use 3 shirts, and break up evenly
- Provide a good experience for them so when they are faced with adversity down the road they know they can get through it
- Email - andrew.baker@fcps.org
- @GoMHSbaseball
- 301-606-3615
Monday Dec 28, 2020
Monday Dec 28, 2020
BIO
- Current Head Coach St. Maria Goretti HS (MD) in his second tour
- 1978 Blue Ridge Champions
- 2017 Old Line League Champion
- Former HC at South Hagerstown HS for 15 years
- 1995 Conference Champ
- 1995 State Finalist
- 1996 Conference Champ
- 1996 2A state champion
- First in school history
- 1997 District Coach of the year and coached in All state game at Camden Yards
- County Coach of the year
- Conference COY
- Hagerstown Community College HOF
- Frostburg State University Alumni Coach of the Year
Episode Notes
- What do I need to do differently?
- What do I need to do to make our program better?
- Set music to set the tone
- Arc runs (jog across the back of the infield and walk back through the dirt)
- Word/phrase for the year based on what the team needs
- dgsole@myactv.net
- 301-988-0723
Monday Dec 21, 2020
Monday Dec 21, 2020
BIO
- 4th year as Head Coach of Pickens HS (Jasper, GA)
- Covid shortened season they were 13-2
- 19th year teaching and coaching
- 15 years at Cass High School in Cartersville, GA
- Served as head coach for the last 5 years at Cass
- Hosted the first home playoff game in 30 years at Cass
- 17U Nelson baseball school manager and in 2019 they were top 40 in the nation and top 5 in the Southeast
- Is all about the kids!
- IS A DUDE!
Notes
- Interviewed faculty members and players, community members of what it meant to be a Dragon to create a set of core values.
- Google form and put it out on social media to see what it meant to be a Dragon!
- Take all the words and categorized them, and then pick the right words that we are going to be what we are made of (Dragon DNA)
- 5 to thrive to start practice
- Quote of the day
- Core value of the day
- One word focus for the month
- Success hotline
- What we need to do today to be better than yesterday
- Set the expectation early!
- 4:9 - Eclesiastes 4:9 Challenge “2 is better than 1”
- Points to compete with a teammate/group of people
- Clean up
- Games
- Dinner
- Workout
- Weekly point totals
- Winners at the end of the year to eat as a team at the restaurant of their choice
- Points to compete with a teammate/group of people
- Football, basketball, and baseball coaches on the same page with the weightroom and grades!
- ****40 minutes!! “Building better men”
- Hitting chart
- Charted every at bat
- Positive and negative points
- Weekly point winner
- QAB shirt - earned and kept
- Keep running total for the silver slugger award for most points
- Pull up scorecard at the end of the game to fill in chart
- The chart took off when it we published it and rewarded it
- BASE2 system in the summer ball - Big Inning, Answer Back, Score First, Extend the lead, score with 2 outs
- Alpha AB’s - runner at 3B no takes, scoring a runner at 2B with 2 outs
- Nelson Baseball School with Brian Nelson summer baseball
- End practice with some type of game
- Winner and loser and losers have consequences
- World treats winners differently
- Execution game, hitting game, conditioning, some type of competition
- At the end of practice each player needs to fish bump and give coaches handshake
- Jason Ryals Pebble Brook High School @coachryals - prints shirts and money going to his inner city school
- @coachwilliams
- @phsbaseballga
- adamwilliams@pickenscountyschools.org
- Pickens_baseball on Instagram
- 404-353-4688
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Monday Dec 14, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach Urbana HS (MD)
- Beginning his 16th year this season
- 5 Regional Finals
- 4 Conference Championships (back to back CMC Champions 2017-2018)
- 2 State Semifinals
- 2010 Frederick Gazette Coach of the Year
- Over 25 players have moved on to play in college. 3 D1 players
- Fromer AC at Frederick CC
- Former WVU player with a career BA of .324
- All state player from Frederick HS
Notes
- I learned as I gotten older that its ok if guys are not going to college we are going to teach them the game and teach them the life lessons.
- Be patient because athletes will not get it right away
- I used to have a long list of rules, now I have a few standards!
- Its not all about you young coach!!! Put your ego aside, and teach these kids the game!
- Teach them to build relationships!
- Texting kids to check in and get them to open up
- Walk around the outfield, warm up, and check in with players on a personal level
- Practice together with JV and Varsity players
- I want the seniors teaching the freshman because when the freshman become seniors they will be teaching.
- michael.frownfelter@fcps.org
- Urbanabaseball24@gmail.com
- 240-367-7742
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Bio
- Todd Weldon - Head Coach Scotland (PA) Campus Sports Prep team (2018)
- Former pitching coach for Wayland Baptist University
- 27th Round draft pick of the New York Mets
- A dude!!
- Josh Edgin - Head Coach Scotland (PA) Campus Sports HS team (2019)
- 50th round pick of the Braves in 2009 (stayed in school)
- 30th round pick of the Mets in 2010
- MLB debut with the Mets in 2012
- One of the best guys you will meet
- Jordie Henry - Pitching Coach for Scotland (PA) Campus Sports Baseball team (2019)
- Former Stringer for the Amarillo Sod Poodles
- Former Instructor at the Amarillo Baseball Academy
- Pitcher for Wayland Baptist University 2015-2019
- Tech savvy, young up and coming coach!
Episode notes
- Used Driveline programs and added our own touches that work for us
- Routines!!
- Slow cooked younger guys routines
- No velo program based on strength
- Movement focused throwing progressions
- Individualized drill work
- Development first program - we are about helping guys reach their goals
- Finding the right fit for the player. Not every kid is D1, D2, or D3 but we figure out what is the best fit for the player
- www.scotlandcampussports.com
- Coaches email to the website
- @jordiehenry24
- @SCSBases
- The athlete and student development is important but the most important is the development of the individual
- We have the privilege of teaching the young men through the game of baseball!
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Bio
- Current Head Coach Reservoir High School (started the program in 2002)
- Past 7 years in the program they are 128-29
- Founder of Leader’s Baseball Camps 2003
- 2 county and 2 District Championships
- Been to 5 regional championships
- 2014 3A State Championship
- 3 time MSABC district COY
- 2014 Maryland State baseball coach of the year
- VP of MSABC
- One of the best guys you will meet!
Show notes
- Consistency of a coaching staff
- Varsity and JV coaches switch up and work with each team
- Consistent fall and winter coach
- Get feedback from the kids
- End of season
- Start planning on next year
- Practice
- Learning period (1st/3rd, bunts, double plays, etc)
- Use last guys on staff to throw live at practice in situations
- Use some JV as it depends on the guy
- When time comes JV and varsity take infield/outfield together to help prepare the younger kids
- Important to know the first and last names of JV players AND know their parents
- Go out of the way to congratulate a JV player
- First Friday after tryouts go to Coach Leader’s house. Eat and speak about goals
- Dave and Busters
- Maryland games
- Fundraisers
- Community service
- Full day camp - morning and afternoon session, most stay all day
- Morning - everything baseball (all aspects)
- Afternoon - changes throughout the week (pitcher/catcher, hitting, little things (bunts, pickoffs, run downs, etc)
- Last day - raffle based on punch card when they do well
- Guest speakers - doctors, professional baseball players
- Explain the purpose (WHY)!
- Email - aleader@hcpss.org
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Bio
- Head Coach Shepherd University (July 2013-Present)
- 2018 MEC Coach of the Year
- 2014 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Regional Coach of the Year
- 2014 MEC coach of the year
- As a player, assistant coach, and head coach McCarty has been apart of 278 Ram victories
- 227 as a coach
- 51 as a player (2 yrs)
- 15 players move on to the professional ranks including 2011 first round pick Cory Spangenberg
- Most recently 3 players that went in the 8th, 21st, and 4th round
- Grown the program into a national presence
- Created a special place for players to play
- A winner!
Show notes
- Culture has do with the athletic department as a whole
- Very competitive based
- Request to live together
- 4 weeks of individual work before full team practice
- Relationship with players, and how much they get to know a player through the recruiting process
- Accountability is on the players to hold each other accountable. It has a lot more validity to it, and creates a better bond.
- Multiple guys at each position to create competition and bond
- You are here to win championships, get a degree, and be a better people
- Competitiveness is for us to see where our athletes are mentally
- Tutoring sessions are done during practice times, so they will miss practice if they don’t get the grades.
- A lot of scoring competitions during BP
- Weightroom compete with body fat %
- “Road to Cary Challenge” - obstacle course style workout and different events to compete with teams and individual
- Baseball activities, strength, endurance, and FUN!
- Expectation sheet (no rules, its expectations) our guys sign.
- “Don’t be that guy”
- Player self evaluation sheet - personal, academic, accountability
- Grading scale 1-5 to see where you stand
- Be open and honest
- No captains - 3 guys are held higher than the other 35. Everyone held to the highest standards
- On any great team players hold themselves accountable. Good teams are mostly coach driven
- When you have the same team goals, and then the players hold themselves accountable
- See if individual goals match up with our team goals
- We recruit to needs, not numbers!
- Email is best way to contact me! Mmccarty@shepherd.edu
- Are you going to want to deal with that in your program? Players and parents
- It's so much more than talent
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
BIO
- WV state player of the year
- University of Minnesota pitching standout
- 26 wins (2nd all time)
- Professional career with the San Francisco Giants
- Former pitching coach at Ball State, Michigan University, and Ohio University
- Former GM and head coach of Winchester Royals (college wooden bat league)
- Former Head Coach of Martinsburg HS (AAA) where he won the WV state championship in 2009
- Former Head Coach at Mercersburg Academy (prep school)
- Private instructor
- Lifelong baseball man!!
- A baseball guy!
SHOW NOTES
- In the summer was about getting at bats, and not getting hurt pitching
- Play aggressively, and teach them how to fail
- Have your expectations and reinforcing the positives to what you want
- The really good ones will take your information and ask you questions. They will work hard, stay late, and come in early
- Guys are starting to sleep better, trying to eat better, and hydrate better (WHOOP band).
- Better players are having a better mentality
- If the kids know you are prepared and you have a plan, and know you are passionate about what you are teaching, then you will get buy in from your players
- Routines are in order, expectations are in order (stretching, throwing, bases, speaking to adults, cleaning up the dugout).
- Players like to know what to expect
- “Tour defense” = gold jersey for the player who makes the best defensive play
- Caring about your facility creates more buy in
- Communicate often with guys to set expectations
- Take BP time to talk to guys and let them know you care about them
- Seek counsel as a coach! Just listen and make it usable for what you do