[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Ryan Brownlee.
This episode is brought to you by Rapsodo Baseball, the trusted player development technology of coaches at every level.
Rapsodo has basically become the gold standard for player development in baseball.
Pitchers, hitters, college programs, big leaguers, even their official technology ambassador, Shohei Ohtani. Everybody's using it.
It's not just a radar gun with a fancy name.
Rapsodo tracks spin rate, movement, release points, exit velo, launch angle, all the stuff that turns he looks good, and here's exactly why he's good.
Coaches use technology like Pro 2.0 to build pitching profiles. Hitters use it to fine tune their swing, and parents use it to justify spending a mortgage payment on travel ball. It's that good.
If you're serious about development or just want to know why your curveball still gets hit 400ft, go check them out. If you're a high school program, they're offering a thousand dollars off. Just head to rapsodo.com it's like science, but for baseball people.
Train smarter, Develop faster. Learn
[email protected] this episode is sponsored by Netting Pros.
Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time.
Netting Professionals specializes in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, BP screens and ball carts.
They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more.
Netting Professionals is an official partner of the ABCA and continues to provide quality products and services to many high school, college and professional fields, facilities and stadiums throughout the country.
Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time.
Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or infoettingpros.com visit them online at www.nettingpros.com or check out NettingPros on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Make sure to let CEO Will Miner know that the ABCA sent you. Now onto the podcast.
Next up on the ABCA podcast is ABCA ATEC High School Division 1 coach of the Year Jupiter High School Head Coach Joe Giamuli, first year head coach, led Jupiter to the finals of the Florida Class 7A championship, losing to Stoneman Douglas 3 2.
Prior to Jupiter, Jamula built a reputation as a program builder, spending time at Terravella, Deerfield Beach, Coral Glades, Sebastian River, South, Broward and Pompano Beach.
In this episode, Jamuli dives into his 20 plus year career building programs and his mantra of fair and consistent.
Let's welcome Joel Gimulli to the podcast here. Joe Giimulli, ABCA ATEC High School Division 1 Coach of the Year. First year Jupiter High School was at five other high schools. So, Joe, thanks for jumping on with me. Congrats.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: Hey, in your hiring announcement article, you said you felt like Jupiter was one of the top three jobs in Florida.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I still feel that way.
A traditional power, great location, a great school. I mean, not much more you could ask for as a teacher and a coach than a great school, great location and a great baseball program.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: What have been some of the similarities and differences between there and some of the other schools you've been at.
[00:04:05] Speaker B: As of recent? The similarities is just good baseball.
Some differences is just the amount of resources here.
You know, for one, I think I had seven players that dad either played professionally or still coaching professionally. So, you know, I'd be a fool not to tap into some of those resources along the way.
This is year two, and today I met with a parent that, you know, wanted to explore the opportunities of, you know, an indoor hitting facility. I mean, you know, those types of things I've never experienced in my 22 years. So, you know, that's the exciting thing of being at Jupiter is just, you know, the amount of resources and opportunities to build the program.
[00:05:01] Speaker A: You guys do anything with the Cardinals and Marlins complex?
[00:05:04] Speaker B: We actually had, well, for in the fall, we used the Abacoa fields, the back fields for our fall program.
So that's one thing.
Probably shouldn't share this, but we had the Marlins come out and work on our mound and build up our mound this, this spring.
So, yeah, those are some things that we're, we're going to continue to tap into.
[00:05:29] Speaker A: How's your fall program laid out?
[00:05:32] Speaker B: So the first month of the school, so we teachers reported back on Monday.
Next Monday, students come back.
I will have a player meeting on Friday, the first week of school, followed by a parent meeting the following Monday. So everything I go over on Friday with the players, I'm basically going to go over with the parents. I give them about a month to get acclimated to school.
And then after Labor Day, generally, like the second week of September, we'll start our fall program and we will do Monday through Thursday, strength, agility, speed, arm care.
And then we will get into our fall baseball games after the big tournament in Jupiter, and then we'll take the games up until Thanksgiving.
So once the Jupiter tournament is over, it'll look like Monday weight room practice, Tuesday game, Wednesday weight room practice, Thursday game, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. But we have some fundraising that we do on Saturdays.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Do you do for fundraising?
[00:06:45] Speaker B: So we have a, we have a, a golf tournament that, that they've been doing here for 20 plus years. So that was my first taste of that.
We'll raise between 20 and $30,000 doing that.
I've always done car washes everywhere I've been. I, I think that's a really good team bonding activity.
So we'll do four car washes once a, once a month.
You know, based on SAT ACT dates, you know, we'll coordinate, you know, 1, 1 in September, October, November. We'll skip December and then do January and we'll raise about $2,000 a car wash. We'll do a pre sale. Each kid will get 20 tickets. They got to sell them for 5 bucks for pre sale.
And then the walk ups and everything is, everything with the fundraising here is incentive based.
So if they turned into $100 pre sale car wash, they'll get a Nike polo, you know, that they wear at, you know, team functions.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: So how long will they shut down, if any? That's always been the intriguing thing with different states, you know, with schools and when they can go. So with your players, do they shut down at all during the year?
[00:08:01] Speaker B: We'll shut, we'll shut them down from throwing right at that Thanksgiving time. And then we'll pick up throwing when we report back to school January 6th or 7th, whatever that Monday is. Then we'll start up a ramp up program and ease into it. And then our first game is a preseason and that's in Key west. And that'll be my ninth year taking the boys down to Key West. And we could talk about Key West a little bit because that's, yeah, because.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: I mean for people outside your part of the world, they don't know much about Key west and that thing's been going on for a while.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: So I'll give Key West a plug because they're, they're buddies of mine. They hold the, the most state championships in baseball down there. Key West, I think it's 12, maybe it's 13.
We'll get about 2500 fans that'll show up to the game.
I've been called every name in the book down there.
They'll throw things at us.
When we're up to bat, the strike zone will be, you know, 30 inches. And when they're up to bat, the strike zone will be 6 inches.
So I'll give A little background. The first time I went down to Key west, it was the first week of the season when games count and I had four or five D1 arms. So we were really good on the mound. And Friday night I open up with an lsu. I throw an LSU commit that's, you know, a high rated draft pick.
And it's pre season, you know, it's the first week. So my guy goes one or two innings. Well, they throw their guy a cg. They're both in double A. My guy and their guys both in double A, but their guy goes cg. My guy goes two innings. I throw four or five different pitchers. You know, we lose game one, game two, I throw a really good arm that's going to Pepperdine. And, you know, once again he goes, two winnings, you know. Anyways, we split, but it became evident, you know, like it was cutthroat down there, you know, and these games count. And I said, you know what? I'm gonna continue to come down here, but it's going to be in preseason. I want all these kids to play. It's expensive. You know, these parents want to see little Johnny play. You know, they're spending 6, 700 a night for a hotel. So I said, I'll go down there, but it's, it's got to be during preseason so I can play everybody. And if little Johnny can play in Key west against Key west and in that atmosphere, then little Johnny can play against anybody, anywhere, anytime. So it really gives me and the coaches a great opportunity to see who can play and who can under these types of, you know, conditions. I mean, it's, it's similar to playing in the sec. I mean, it's, it's chaotic, it's hectic.
You're hoping to split. If you win two, that's great, but you might not leave alive.
So it is, it is a great atmosphere. It's a great way to kick off the season.
We stay in bunks down there. It's very similar to Cooperstown, so I prefer to stay in the bunks. We do a team karaoke night.
It's really a great way for these kids to bond and build relationships.
Generally. We'll leave on a Friday morning.
We'll stop and have a prefix lunch at Islamorada Fish Company. We'll feed the tarpon, then we'll check into the bunks and then play Friday night we take on the field BP Friday, Saturday we'll wake up, we'll go to a hotel and have a buffet breakfast and then we'll we'll go down to Deval street, take some pictures at the southernmost point, go back to the bunks, get some pub subs, and then go back and play and then, you know, go out to eat that night. So it's, It's. It's a really good, fun experience.
We'll take a charter bus, but, you know, you don't have to pay for the hotels. A lot of people go down there and pay for hotels. But the only way I'm doing is. Is if we're in those bunks, everybody together in one, one room.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: You allowed two preseason games in Florida?
[00:12:09] Speaker B: We're allowed two preseason games. So we'll.
It gives us. It gives us more time to practice. We. We play Friday, Saturday, so everyone else is playing on Tuesday. They're playing on Thursday.
We're practicing, and we play Friday, Saturday. So that's kind of good. But then the turnaround is tough because that's a grueling trip in the bunks and come back and I generally try and play my first game. That counts on Wednesday to give us a little time to breathe from that trip or recover. I shall say.
[00:12:40] Speaker A: Coaches do karaoke, too?
[00:12:42] Speaker B: Yes, they do.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: What's your go to karaoke?
[00:12:46] Speaker B: I don't. I'm the only one that don't, because I'm videoing. So my. My coaches will. My coaches will emcee it.
Some will perform.
We'll have. Some individual players will do individuals. But I try and get them to group up, you know, four or five deep.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Love it. Love it. Because I did have one of our listeners, because every once in a while, reach out to coaches that want questions. That was. One of them was team building.
Things that, that you like to do. It's phenomenal. One.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Love it. Love it. You know, you've been in a bunch of different schools. When have you kind of known when it was time to maybe look for a different job, if any, or they just come to you?
[00:13:25] Speaker B: I mean, there's. There's been all. There's been different types of reasons. I mean, I opened up. My first head job was opening up a school, Coral Glades High School in Coral Springs. When I took that job, I really. I really thought that would be it. I'd be there for, you know, the rest. The rest of my career.
My family, meaning my. My. My parents, my sisters, they moved up to Vero beach and a job presented itself up there at Sebastian River.
So I took a shot and went up there and realized that, you know, it just wasn't the right time. And I came back to Broward, and I landed at South Broward High School. And when I went to South Broward, it wasn't to coach baseball. I took an administrative type position out of the classroom, and I was. I was going to go back and get my. My master's degree and get into ed leadership.
And the coach had stepped down, and the principal asked me to coach. And I was like, no, no, thank you. And he's like, you're going to coach? And I was like, yes, sir. You know, and I found myself that year out of the game. I was going to a lot of college games. I had some players at Nova, some guys that actually got drafted. One made it to the big leagues out of Nova, out of that, out of that year.
So, yeah, I went to South Broward, and it was. It wasn't right around. It wasn't right around the block. And I just found myself at South Broward at that time. Like, no matter how well we practiced, how long we practiced, you know, there were teams that, you know, we had no shot at beating. And that's. That's. That's an awful feeling to know that, you know, we have no shot of winning today, no matter what we do, you know, and I respect the game too much to cheat it.
And I felt like I needed to get back to somewhere where, you know, as long as we practice well, we coach well, and we play well, that we have an opportunity to winning.
So the next opportunity was at Pompano High School.
It was a magnet program. They were off on Fridays.
It sounded great, you know, let me get into this program. And they offered me a drama position, and, shoot, I can do anything for a year.
But I was like, I don't know much about macbeth and, you know, and I. I didn't want to give the kids, you know, the students a disservice, so I said, let's wait until the right position opens up. So I went to a center school to teach in. I was living in Pompano, teaching at a center school in Pompano and then going to Pompano, and we had a great run. I had a great group of players.
We went to my first state tournament that year.
The.
The third year there. We went to a couple regional finals, but that position never opened up, you know, and so it was really difficult to teach out of school and coach out of school.
And then. Then I got married. We moved out west. I left the. The bachelor pad on the beach and moved out west to start a family.
And that's when Terravella presented itself and I was from that area. Terravella was my rival school growing up. But it kind of made all sense, you know, starting a family back where I was, you know, from and teaching and coaching at the same school.
So I spent some time at Terravella and unfortunately my wife got sick and we sold our house and downsized and then we had a baby and it was like, now what? You know, like we can't afford this housing market.
And kind of, that's when Jupiter kind of presented itself and shoot, I can't afford Jupiter, but I'm in Martin County. I'm in Stewart about 25 minutes north and was able to get back into the housing market and get a, get a nice house. And so I got the best of both worlds.
Palm beach county paid more than Broward and Broward paid well as far as in Florida. But Palm beach paid a little, you know, paid a little bit more. And in Martin county the living expenses were less. So I kind of, we kind of found a great situation where I'm making more living expenses or less. I'm at a great school at a great program. So this is home. This is home for at least the next four years to when I hit 30 years and you know, then I'll revisit and you know, see if getting into college or professionally, you know, makes sense or a private school or just continuing in the public school.
[00:18:26] Speaker A: That year you weren't coaching. And I find myself because I get to go watch a lot of games because a lot of high school coaches, you don't ever get to go watch college games. Did you pick up much when you're going to watch colleges play?
[00:18:37] Speaker B: I was just really enjoying it.
I had, I had two players that I previously coached that were, that was at Nova. Both ended up getting drafted. Mike Fires made it to the big leagues, has two no hitters in the big leagues.
J.D. martinez was on that team, didn't play for me, but he, it was fun to watch him hit.
Miles Miklis, who's a Jupiter alum, didn't play for me, but a Jupiter alum was the first one drafted out of there. And then my other player, Rion Spander Furstenberg, who I had at Coral Glades, ended up winning player of the year in the Appalachian League the first year, but then had an injury that, that shortened his career.
It was fun to watch that group.
It was a really talented group. I mean a Division 2 school with I believe it was five kids drafted.
Yeah, I mean I didn't go to practices there I helped out at South Broward a little bit with practices, but no, I just, I just watched baseball.
[00:19:38] Speaker A: I love just going and watch. Yeah, you still pick up stuff. Go to pre game bp, you just pick up things.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: If somebody was having to start a high school program from scratch, what would you tell them? What would kind of be the main one or two things to tell them to start with.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Organization over, communicate to the parents and build routines.
You know, I think I've learned over the, over the, the years. You know, like these, these kids, they don't go home and share everything that's being done at practice. You know, maybe some of the negative things, but certainly not all the positive things.
So we practice together, our JV and varsity practice together. I want them, I want them going home, I want them having dinner with their families. You know, growing up, you know, how was school, how was baseball? You know, that that's how I was raised and I want them to do the same. But I, but I know a lot of those things aren't being said and you know, every family is different in, you know, whether or not they're sitting, sitting down at the table and having a family dinner or you know, mom's working or whatnot. So communication. I set up, I send out a four month calendar of our fall that says exactly what we're doing, when we're doing it, Sat act dates on it, car washes on it, golf tournament on it so they, they can plan. And then I'll do the same thing in the spring and I'll send out a four month calendar of everything we're doing. So listen, there's no excuse to miss practice because of doctor's appointment. These are our off days, you know, this is when I schedule them. Right. I'm not missing practice to go to the dentist, you know, so there's plenty of opportunity and time to schedule those things and shoot, I've laid it all out for you, you know, so I think the communicating with parents is huge. Like I said, I'll have a player meeting the first week of the school on Friday. I'll follow that up with a parent meeting and I'll outline what summer looks like, what fall looks like, what spring looks like and high school baseball at Jupiter might not be, might not be for everybody. You know, this, you know, this is hardcore baseball.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: Have you always done a parent meeting every place?
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Yes, I've always done a parent meeting.
You know, I've had it where six parents would show and last year I think I had 100 parents at my My parent meeting.
So that's that, that's to just give a snapshot of what high school baseball looks like. Once the spring is upon us and we do our cuts, I then have a meet the Team night, which is kind of like a pep rally. I do that. I, I, I don't announce who's on the JV or the varsity right away. I feel like, you know, you have a tryout and, you know, a two or three day tryout. Let's give these kids some more opportunities to earn whether or not they're going to be on the varsity or their jv.
So I, I don't announce that till the Meet the Team night.
They're still battling as far as I'm concerned. And at Meet the Team night last year, I had four guest speakers. I had a mental skills coach, I had FAU's recording recruiting coordinator, I had two area scouts there.
I even had a recruiting service who was also a cross checker, you know, there. So, you know, they all spoke for like 15, 20 minutes. I go over the rules, my expectations. We have a catered meal, boys are all dressed in, you know, khakis and our polos.
And I have the players introduce themselves and their, and their parents. Like I, one thing I've learned is you can never say enough about the players or you'll say too much about one or another. So now I just have the players introduce themselves. It's a script.
My name is, you know, my primary position is, you might find me playing this.
My parents are such and such. The parents stand up and then we take like a senior picture, a junior picture, a sophomore picture, a freshman picture, and then we take the varsity and the JV picture. But I let the kids have a little fun with it, you know, but there is a script. But now it, it eliminates me from being cliche and you know, he's a hard worker and da da da, da, da da. You know, I learned that early on when I talked about a kid too much. And I didn't talk about this one kid too much. And I got this email, how dare I say that this kid's going to be a, you know, a draft pick. And you know, so I said, you know what, I'll let them introduce themselves.
[00:24:14] Speaker A: From now on with your outside speakers there. What was their message to, to the room?
[00:24:19] Speaker B: So a lot of them, you know, hey, what do you want me to touch on? You know, and I don't know, you know, maybe it's the balance between travel baseball and high school baseball or what you Know what. What we're looking for at FAU as far as the.
The area scouts, you know, when they come to the. When they come to field, you know, what. What they're looking for, you know, it was great because, you know, one. One. One scout's like, you know, I show up an hour before practice. I want to see them drive in the parking lot. I want to see, you know, do they fly in the parking lot? Do they get their stuff and go to the field? Are they. Are they messing around in the parking lot? So, you know, stuff like that.
Another scout talked about how he, you know, was doing a house visit, and, you know, he purposely knocked on the neighbor's door, try to get some, you know, information on the kid to see if, you know, the kid's a knucklehead. Is he a good kid? You know, so little stories like that.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Were your assistants with Jupiter when you showed up? Did you hire guys?
So.
[00:25:35] Speaker B: I kind of kept on with who the administration wanted me to keep on as far as, you know, the first year.
You know, I. I don't really want to get into what had happened in the past, but, you know, the coach was let go.
There was an interim coach, and, you know, and then I. I took over.
You know, I kind of. I kind of was offered a job, and I was like, this ain't the right time. You know, like, I need to. I need to pick up my family. I need to move. I need to relocate. Like, we're gonna do this. We're gonna do it the right, right way, and I've got to start the year here and shoot, Jupiter was winning. I didn't know if it was actually going to happen or not.
And then it all fell into place, and I kind of went with the direction that the AD and administration wanted me to go with with the coaches. So the coaches I had on staff were. Were former coaches. Not all of them, but. But some of them. One thing I was adamant on was Doug Ferguson. The field is named after him. He was the head coach here for 20 years. He still teaches at the school.
I built a relationship with him about 14 years ago in the summer college leagues. So we had always kept in touch, and, you know, I needed him. I need. I wanted him to be involved. When he stepped away, he. He stopped coaching, and he came back the year before I took over to kind of help out and bridge the interim head coach to me. And then he enjoyed it. He. You know, we had a great group of returners, and he wanted to be part of it. And, you Know, I was adamant on getting him to stay on board.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Love it.
[00:27:20] Speaker B: But that's the only coach I had known prior and, you know, I made sure that worked.
[00:27:27] Speaker A: Have you ever cut a player a year before and then they come back and make the team the following year?
[00:27:32] Speaker B: I've cut, I've cut a kid three straight years and then he made the team as a senior and, you know, he'd be all county, you know, it's happened.
Yeah, yeah, I certainly have.
In fact, I, I saw a player that, that signed a independent contract, you know, and, you know, I saw, I saw a tweet that he posted and it was relating back to when, you know, I had cut him, which I kind of cut him, but I, I kind of did like a developmental squad, you know, and offered that, you know, position, you know, that opportunity to him. But yeah, so, you know, he made it a sophomore, his junior in his senior year or his junior year, and then he transferred out his senior year to our rival school and then beat us, you know, so, you know, that kid improved. He was, you know, 5 foot 7, lefty that threw 60 miles per hour and by the time he graduated was 6 foot 5, throwing 93.
So yeah, kids, kids get better and improve.
You know, he wasn't ready, you know, as a freshman, but as a sophomore you could see, you know, now he's 77, you know, and you're like, okay, this kid, this kid's gonna be able to help us in a year or two. And you know, and then the next year he's 83. And then, and then, of course, you know, he left and beat us.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: How much contact do you have with them in the summertime?
[00:28:58] Speaker B: So I sent, so I meet with them after the season and I give them some goal setting in the summer, you know, and, and, and they have a week to share their goals that they're, that, you know, that they're going to do for the summer and to send it, you know, send it to me and then they're supposed to report to me after every outing. Of course, I usually only hear from them when they throw well or they, or they have a good offensive game, you know, but, you know, I'm doing some background checks. One thing I generally do, which I didn't do this year, is I usually have a summer program for my, for my guys that either can't afford to summer circuit maybe aren't good enough, maybe need to take classes or work. I usually have a summer program where it's very similar to fall. We work out in practice On Mondays, games Tuesday, workout and practice Wednesday and games on Thursday.
We didn't do that this year because just there was a lot going on. Our season finished late. I wanted to make sure we had the right person.
But that's something that I will look to, to do again that that's been successful in years past. You know, it's good to get some of these 8th graders that are coming in, introducing them to the weight room, getting them acclimated to high school baseball. And it's, and it's great for our younger guys that you know, they're, they're 5 foot 5, 135 pounds. Like what are they really showcasing? Like they don't need to be playing travel baseball. They're not, you know, now that the, the whole climate has changed. But they weren't getting an offer prior. They weren't ready. You know, they need to be in the weight room and you know they don't need to be spending $7,000 to play travel baseball. You know, they need to be living in the weight room.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: You have any assessments for them before you get going in the fall?
[00:30:48] Speaker B: So we end our fall with, with a Warrior Olympics and they're competing against each other. So we'll have a strength day, a speed day and an agility day.
And first place will give them 10 points, 10th place will give them one point and if you finish after 10th you get zero points.
And I share that daily with the parents and then at the end I share it. So they can see that, you know, Johnny can only do two push ups or you know, couldn't do a pull up, you know and you know they want to know about playing time. Well, you know they can see that their kid ran a 12 minute mile and you know, this kid ran a six minute mile. So that's one of the things, you know, that, that we do that they get after it. You know, they're trying to, trying to beat each other. You know, who can do the longest farmer walk and you know, the Most squats in 30 seconds and push ups and we have fun with it and you know, we, it's the Warrior Olympics and I actually had a college coach, you know, because I tweeted out, I actually had a college coach contact me and want to offer a kid because you know, he, he, he, he saw, he wins, you know, he was winning every event. You know, tell me more about this kid, you know, can run, he's strong, he's got agility, can he play the game? I'm like, yeah, he's first Team, all county. You know, he's still uncommitted. I, I don't get it, you know.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: But that shows the competitive side of, of kids, too.
[00:32:18] Speaker B: Yep, yep.
[00:32:19] Speaker A: And parents and some coaches don't want to listen to that, but it matters if, if a kid is winning those things, they've got an opportunity to, to win on the baseball field, too.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Yes, they do.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: I had another listener want to know, do you have any dual players, pitchers?
[00:32:35] Speaker B: Yeah, we have quite, we have quite a bit here.
We, we, we had three players that played football, basketball, and baseball.
One, one, one of them was a freshman. His dad was a former big leaguer and, you know, was coaching up until last year. Professionally.
His kid, his kid played football, played basketball and then, you know, played baseball, and then I, I had a sophomore and, you know, I'd be lying if I wouldn't say they're a little behind the eight ball and they're playing all three sports, you know.
You know, I don't have, I don't have them in the fall. I won't let them participate until their sport is done, if that's their commitment. Like you're doing that 100%, you know, you're not going to get hurt on my watch and then not be able to play on Friday night, you know, so, yeah, we had, like I said, we had three that played, you know, fall, winter and spring, and we had a couple that just played football.
Yeah. So this is the first school that I've been at that I've had to, had to kind of navigate that.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: How are they navigating the hoopsters? How are they navigating their throwing program?
[00:33:53] Speaker B: Well, you know, one's dad was a big leaguer and was professionally, so that, that was taken care of. The other kid, you know, not so much, you know, not so much. And you know, the other kid, I mean, I, I think he has the tools to, to play professional baseball, you know, and he's got to learn how to balance that out. I, I don't think he's playing, I don't think he's playing basketball this year. Football is still up in the air. He, he had an injury this summer, so I'm not sure where that, where that's at, but, you know, I pushed him to continue playing football. He's, you know, he's a good, he's a good football player.
I don't think basketball so much, you know, but he should play football and then he should play baseball. That particular kid, the one that's dad played professionally, I know he's going to play football. I'm not sure if he's playing basketball or not this year. You know, listen, whatever it is, it is, you know, we've got, we've got plenty of players here, we've got plenty of depth and you know, when they're ready to come out, they're, they're ready to come out.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: What's one feel, what's one thing that you feel like a team should work on every day? Or is there, do you have set practice plan every day in the spring especially?
[00:35:08] Speaker B: I, I don't do the same thing every day.
You know, a buddy of mine, Todd Fitzgerald, you know, at Douglas, who, you know, I can't get away from him. You know, he says he does the same thing every day.
I mean, maybe, maybe I should, but I think you gotta mix, I think you gotta mix things up.
But I feel baserunning is something you should, you should, you should work on, you know, a little bit every day. And I think that's something that gets negated.
You know, we made a couple baserunning mistakes in the state championship game, so I can assure you we're going to be working on those mistakes that we made day one. You know, we're going to, we're going to harp on those two mistakes that we made in that game.
I think they got a hit every day. I think they really got a hit every day. Yeah.
[00:36:00] Speaker A: You spend much time on two strike approach?
[00:36:03] Speaker B: Yeah, so we call it 222.
Two inches up, two inches wider, two inches closer.
That's, that's a team, you know, once we get to two strikes, it's a team at bat at that point, the first two are yours. You know, you can daddy hack, you can swing, fall to your knees. I'm. That I'm not, I'm not gonna, never gonna get on you for swinging and missing and selling out on a, in a fastball count and swinging a breaking ball in the dirt. You know, I'm not, I'm not going to get on you for that, but, but I will get on you with two strikes if you're not up, up on the plate, wider, you know, choking up and you know, we want them fighting off pitches and being a pest and waiting for a mistake, you know. So yeah, we work on a two strike approach, you know, every, every day that we hit.
[00:36:49] Speaker A: How do you balance because you've had some pretty high profile players. How do you balance what's best for the player as opposed to what's best for the program? Because those two things don't Always match up.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it was, it was, it was difficult. It was definitely a challenge. Last year, more than any other year, I mean, we had scouts at practices routinely at every game, I send out a weekly email to the, to the, to the local scouts so they know what we're doing or who's pitching so that they can coordinate or listen, we're going to inter squad today, you know, because look, I want them, I want these guys here, I want my younger guys to see the scouts here and, and that's, you know, they might not be there for those guys, but, you know, these, these guys contact the local colleges and let them know, you know, what's going on. You know, I'll give you a quick story.
My last year at Taravel, I had a high profile guy that was supposed to go in the top five rounds and he was, he was pitching that day. And we had probably 12, 12 scouts there for intersquad and shoot. I had a sophomore catcher throw out like three runners, you know, and it was actually my birthday and I'm at dinner at Benihana's and you know, I'm in the middle of the volcano and you know, FAU calls me, you know, Coach Mack calls me and he's like, what do you got on this catcher? You know, so, you know, I excused myself from the table and I'm like, you know, he's a sophomore. He's not ready yet for you. You know, I mean, he's got a chance. But, you know, those guys were there to see this kid pitch, but this kid threw out three runners and now I've got FAU calling about him, you know, so, you know, here I am setting it up for that, that senior so that the scouts are there, but, you know, it's also helping these, these younger guys, you know, now this kid is on FAU's radar.
[00:38:46] Speaker A: How do you streamline communication with the scouts and your players?
[00:38:53] Speaker B: I'm not sure I, I understand exactly.
[00:38:55] Speaker A: Well, because if you have some high profile guys, obviously guys are going to want to talk to them. How do you kind of streamline that?
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:39:01] Speaker A: So it doesn't get in the way of the player. I mean. Yeah, I mean, we ran into that a little bit along the years of it. It got to be a distraction with some of our guys.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Yeah, so we had a lot of pregame BP last year prior to bp, you know, and I, and I, I had a group of like five seniors that, that had some physicality and you know, I, I wouldn't say all five were on the radar. But you know, you, you, you worried about feelings and you know, things like that. So we had a group that would, would, would hit in front of the scouts and then, and then practice would start or pre game BP would start, you know, or there were days where just, you know, you had group one, you know, and I would mix up when group one would hit. So you know, the scouts aren't just there to see that one group hit on the field. They kind of had to maybe watch another group hit before that group.
So like that. And you know, I know who they're there to see. So you know, I would call over such and such and say, hey, let me introduce you to so and so. But those guys, those scouts, you know, they already had their house visits with these guys and had built these relationships. So you know, they're already, they were already communicating with them prior to me introduced. There wasn't a whole lot of me introducing these guys to the scouts here and there. I did because they didn't, maybe they were, maybe this was a new territory for them or they hadn't met the player yet or didn't know who he was or, or maybe one intrigued them and like who, who's that kid? You know, do you have to address.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: That in front of the whole team with them as a group?
[00:40:46] Speaker B: I, I, you know, I, I would, I would have the scouts every once in a while come and, and talk to the players and you know, and, and I would just, you know, have them mention how they're, you know, yeah, they might be here for this guy but you know, they want to see somebody lay out in the outfield when they're shagging and you know, like goes back to that, that sophomore catcher. So for instance, that Scout who called McCormick on that sophomore, you know, I had him share that story, you know, that he was there to see this guy. But not only did the catcher stand out, but my freshman stood out at shortstop, you know, because he made some plays and you know, they're on his radar there. You know, he wrote, you know, he wrote notes on them, he called college coaches for them.
So I had them share those stories.
I had the Tigers cross checker at Taravel and, and you know, he was there to see the one pro high profile guy that was a two way guy and he made a phone call to unf and now my right fielder is committed to unf, you know, so I had those guys share those types of stories and you know, I kind of frontloaded it with the players, you know, about, you Know, these guys are here, and, you know, this is an opportunity for you. If you think you're as good as you are here, well, here's your opportunity. You know, we're going to have guys here practice. We're going to have guys here at games and, you know, you know, show them, you know, show. Show them that, you know, they're making a mistake, that it should be you.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: Did you always know you're going to get into coaching?
[00:42:20] Speaker B: I didn't right away. I mean, I was doing some private lessons and doing some camps.
I knew I was going to get into teaching. My parents were barbers. They were never off.
You know, I knew I wanted to be in a career where, you know, I'd be off when my. When my kids were going to be off. And so I knew teaching was going to be, you know, where I. Where I was going to gravitate to.
And then, yeah, I just, I guess it became. It became relatively obvious that, you know, this was something that I wanted to do.
You know, I made. Made a few bucks with the lessons and things like that. And then, you know, I got the itch to. To get into coaching and.
Yeah, I guess maybe, you know, not in high school, not in college, but once, once I graduated and started teaching, yeah, it became something that I knew I wanted to. Wanted to get into.
[00:43:20] Speaker A: Your mom and dad run their own shop together?
[00:43:23] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, my parents ran their own barber shop together. And yeah, a lot of my. A lot of my friends, you know, were. Were customers, and I always had a nice haircut once a week. And yeah, for 30 years, they. They work together. They own two different barber shops, you know, not at the same time, but yeah.
[00:43:44] Speaker A: Teach about work ethic.
[00:43:46] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I. I mean, listen, they. They came home.
They came home and complained about cutting hair so much, you know, and standing on their feet, you know, and how important it was to get an education.
Now I wish they didn't talk so poorly about cutting hair, and I wish I picked up the trade because, you know, it's costing me $40 to get a haircut now.
[00:44:10] Speaker A: You could always try to do your own. I've been doing my own since COVID Yeah.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:15] Speaker A: I think I had my wife immune disorder during COVID so I couldn't go to the barber. So my first one, my son just took a one guard all over my head. And then I decided to start trying it. And so I've been doing it since 2020.
[00:44:30] Speaker B: Gotcha. Yeah. Covet was a crate. Coveted was a crazy time. It's When. When we had. When we had my daughter.
And, yeah, we actually had a pretty bad scare during that time.
[00:44:42] Speaker A: Who'd you lean on when you first got into it then? Without, you know, obviously didn't have maybe a lot of background on the coaching side of it. Who'd you lean in to to help with resources?
[00:44:54] Speaker B: So my first year coaching was. Was actually at Taravela under Mike Moss, who's a Hall of Fame coach in our area, longtime coach. And, you know, I wanted to go to a program that was a good baseball program, fundraised, went on trips, you know, so probably him. You know, I. I wanted. You know, I. I wanted to be in that type of situation, and I only. I was only there a year.
Deerfield beach reached out to me because I was giving some lessons to some Deerfield beach players, and Coach Tazi was like, listen, you come, you coach third. You call the pitches, you run practice. I'll worry about the parents and fundraising.
And I was like, I'm in. I wasn't coach. I wasn't teaching high school at the time. I was teaching middle school. So this gave me an opportunity to get into the high school teaching. And then, you know, I mean, I was thrown in a fire. I was coaching third, calling pitches, and, yeah, we went to a regional final that year and lost to Gio Gonzalez, former big leaguer.
And that was.
That was Hialeah. We lost to Hialeah, and that was their third state championship they won that year.
But I. Two big leaguers from that team as well at Deerfield, so we were pretty talented as well.
[00:46:18] Speaker A: How much is teaching changed for you over the years?
[00:46:21] Speaker B: It has changed a lot. I'm fortunate that I'm kind of.
When I left the Sebastian river job, which I was only there till October, and landed at South Broward, I took the literacy coach position. So I went from teaching to out of the classroom, and I've pretty much been out of the classroom since.
And so I went from being a literacy coach, and then I went into escape. I. I got certified in esc. That. That's what got me to that center school.
So I taught esc, and now I'm a support facilitator.
So I teach like, a learning strategies class, which is. Which is kind of like a study hall class. I teach, like, the first 20 or 30 minutes of class, and then the last part of the class, they're kind of working on things, so I have a few. A few classes of that, and then the rest of the time I'm kind of working, you Know, with other teachers and students. So I've been out of the classroom for 15 years.
[00:47:18] Speaker A: How was it at the school? They didn't have class on Fridays.
[00:47:22] Speaker B: I'm sorry, how, how.
[00:47:23] Speaker A: Because you were, you said you're at a school that didn't have class on Fridays.
[00:47:26] Speaker B: Yeah. So Pompano beach had shut down for a while and then they became, then, then when they reopened, enrollment was really low.
And then they became a mag. An academic magnet program. It was basically like a private school. I mean, you had to score a certain score to get in. You had to have certain grades to get in.
And they started school early, ended. They started school like 45 minutes earlier than everyone else and ended 45 minutes later than everybody else. And that was the draw to, to get students to want to go there. Hey, no school on Friday, Monday, Monday through Thursday, you know, and that, that's kind of. I was living in Pompano and that's kind of what treat me. I was like, huh, I could fish Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you know, so, yeah, so like I said, I'm very.
[00:48:13] Speaker A: That's good for high school kids that have three days off.
[00:48:17] Speaker B: I don't know, we had five o' clock night, we had five o' clock games because our kids were from all over and you know, they had to be back at School at 5:30 in the morning. So look, if you're going to do it for one, you should do it for all. Like, you know, if, if we're all going to be Monday through Thursday. Okay. You know, but, but that's what the county did and it's, it's still going. And you know, Pompano is a great academic school.
[00:48:44] Speaker A: All right? You have a fail forward moment, something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward. Could be professionally or could be personally.
[00:49:00] Speaker B: I don't know, maybe, maybe when I took that job at Sebastian river, you know, and you know, I left, I left, I left my house, I left, left my significant other to, you know, to, to, you know, be with my, you know, closer to my parents and, and take over at Sebastian river. And I walked into like a Hoosier situation. It was, it was kind of, you know, like I said, wrong time, you know, just wasn't the right time. And then, you know, leaving that, you know, I, I didn't know.
I didn't know what, what was kind of next. I, I knew I was going to get into, you know, this out of the classroom situation and possibly get into administration and just, I guess I'M a baseball coach and you know, like, that, that wasn't in the cards, you know, but probably, probably taking that job and leaving, leaving all my friends and, you know, my comfort zone and go into a small town and you know, taking like I, that coach got fired for an alleged hazing incident. And I, I just walked into kind of a bad situation and you know, I just, it became very clear that like, this wasn't the right place for me at that time.
[00:50:15] Speaker A: That. Recharge your batteries a little bit to get back into coaching. Being out of it for a little bit.
[00:50:21] Speaker B: You know what I think changing schools recharges, recharges my batteries, you know. You know, I kind of like go into these programs and, you know, kind of like fix them up a little bit and get them to a certain level and then I'm on to my next project. Not that Jupiter was a project. I mean, this, listen, the last, the last seven A state champion before Douglas was Jupiter. So, you know, Jupiter has been, you know, traditionally a strong program, but, you know, there, there were some things that needed to, you know, to be changed and cultivated. And you know, I'm, I'm trying to add on to what was already established.
[00:51:01] Speaker A: Here since you're, I mean, that that's one of your strengths. So for, for coach that is trying to change culture when they get to a place.
What are some of those main things, since you've been through it a few times are kind of those main things that you have to try to focus on early to try to help get things changed.
[00:51:19] Speaker B: I, I, I think, you know, I'm, I'm fair and consistent.
I'm brutally honest.
I, I think that's, I think that's super important. I think my players generally know that I, that I love them and care about them and I want what's in their best interest.
They don't, might not always see it right then and there, but after the fact, I think they, they get it and figure it out.
I mean, I'm a tyrant at times.
And look, I, I strive for excellence not just with my team, but myself. I, I self reflect a lot.
And, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm still learning. You know, I think, you know, the day you feel like, you know, it all is the day maybe you should stop. You know, I love going to clinics.
I love talking to other, other coaches.
Ryan reached out a couple days ago to us and you know, I mean, I talked to him yesterday. He wanted me to make sure I let you know that he said hi and we shared some things, you know, we shared a few things that, a few of our goodies, you know, that, that, that, that we do with our program. So honestly, I think fair and consistent. I'll give you another story. When I opened up Coral Glades, we were taking players from Douglas and Taravella, which at the time were both, you know, really good programs. Douglas still is, Terravella is still a good program, but they were at the, they were the top two programs in, you know, in Broward County.
And so I'm opening up this school and I've got, I've got one really high profile player that comes from Douglas. And it was that, that player that I talked about earlier. The Rion span, your first kid, you know, so the first day of practice, I, I kind of changed the time on my watch and make it a little fast, you know, and, you know, so he showed up on time, but, you know, he showed up when, when we were supposed to start, you know. But I put my watch a little forward, which made him late, you know, and I sent him home.
And all the players are like, this is the first day I'm opening up a new school, a new program, and I send home our best player, you know. And so these kids all looking at me like, man, this, this guy means business. Like, he just sent Rayon home, you know, we're, we're in trouble, you know. And so I called Rayon that night and I explained to him exactly what I did. And I said, you know, man, you know, pro guys are going to be here to see you. College guy, you're still uncommitted, you know, college guys. I said, it's not that I need you to be here first. You need to be here first. You know, if you're not here 30 minutes before we're starting, like, you're doing yourself a disservice, you know, and if you're not the last one to leave, you know, you're not going to get to where you want to go. I mean, you came here for this opportunity. You could have stayed at Douglas and, you know, been a small fish in a big pond, but you came here to be the big fish in the smaller pond, you know, and, and you know, like that, that kid was the first one at practice and the last one to leave from that day, that day on. And I was able to set the culture that this guy is a hard, you know, hard ass and, you know, like, he'll send anybody home. And that's the fair and consistent part. You know, this year, first game of the year I took a kid out the first game, I mean, he's still on his own. We're up six runs in the sixth inning. We're stealing third on our own. Like, like, you know, the next guy, you know, you know, he didn't get hit because I have a relationship with those guys. But we're going to come, we're going to come across a team that, I don't know these coaches or, you know, we're a rival. And, you know, you know, we can't do that. You know, you know, we're not just stealing on our own, you know, like that, that comes from me, you know, unless I give you a green light. And I'm not giving you a green light up sixth. And you know, in the sixth inning in this game is, you know, in my opinion, you know, well in hand.
But, you know, these guys saw that. Wow, he sat this kid down first game of the year, you know, and I think when you show that you can bench your best player, you know, it's, it says a lot. You know, it's easy to bench, you know, the, the 13th guy on the, you know, on the team. But, you know, show me a coach who benches their best player and risks losing games. And I, I, I've done that, you know, I've done that in the past where, you know, I don't just sit them out for a couple innings like, you're not playing today. You, you didn't, you broke a rule or you did something that's unethical or, you know, you said something to a teacher that's inappropriate, like you're, you're not going to play today. And, and more often than not, that guy that steps in, you know, one, he deserved it. He comes, he practices, he works hard. He deserves a chance as well. But more often than not, that, that, that kid, like, usually shines in that, in that moment. At least in my, in my, my cases, they have, you know, we, we had a, we had a, we had a player that got suspended. And, you know, my, my, some of my guys are like, you know, am I going to play short? Am I, you know, wanting to move all these guys around? And I brought up a kid from JV. I mean, he went 3 for 3 in the JV game on Saturday with a home run, you know, and, you know, I'm looking to win today, but I also got to look for the future. So I start that shortstop, I start that sophomore at shortstop against North Broward Prep, who went, who won the state championship the year before, and Gosh darn it, that kid got three hits and two RBIs in that game, you know? You know, and I looked like a genius, but, you know, everybody was looking at me like, what is this guy doing? And. And, well, that kid earned it. You know, like, they need to know that if they come to practice and they work hard that, you know, they might play, they might be on the lineup card that day. I don't. I don't post the lineup till after we stretch and throw, you know, and if I see guys out there dogging it or they don't look like they're ready to play, you know, I'll make changes. You know, they. They forget their belt or their hat or whatnot. You know, like, I just simply cross them out and, you know, and write somebody else in there. So I think. I think that's important.
[00:57:39] Speaker A: How are you able to stay with that? Because I love it, but obviously in this society, we. We don't always see that. So how are you able to stay with that mentality?
[00:57:47] Speaker B: Well, I. I guess it's just like I said, I mean, it's. Well, one. You know, usually those guys have. Have shined in that. In that. In that, you know, so I continue to do it because, you know, maybe I strike lightning again.
No, I just think, like, why did I keep these other kids on this team? You know, like, they're not here to just be cheerleaders or to keep charts like you. You want guys coming to practice, working hard every day so that they know that, you know, they might get an opportunity. And I think it's. I think it's healthy for guys to get opportunities. And we lost 10 games this year. Like, I'm not afraid to lose games. Like, we played.
We played five previous state champions the year before, and then, you know, some of those teams didn't win a state championship this year, but now it turned into five again, you know, so we're.
We're going to play really good teams and know that, you know, we're going to get punched in the face, you know, a time or two or ten times like we did last year, you know, and that's okay, you know, Like, I think we learn more from our losses than sometimes our wins.
You know, like, we'll win a game and I'll be. I'll be, you know, I'll be upset. We didn't play well. We won because we're just more talented than that team, you know, and we'll lose a game and I'll be, you know, I'll be Okay with it because it was just a really good baseball game and, you know, we played well and it's baseball and, you know, and sometimes, sometimes that happens. You know, sometimes it's a little unfair. You can play well and lose.
Yeah.
[00:59:19] Speaker A: You have any tips for keeping your family involved, your personal family involved with the program?
[00:59:25] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, I'm trying. I've got a five year old, you know, she's, she's, she's, you know, she's now at that age where, you know, she wants to be around baseball a little bit and come to the field and things like that. So, you know, I try to get her to come out with me sometimes on like a Sunday, like if I'm gonna drag the field and get on the cart and, you know, things like that, I think to meet the team night. You know, those are some fun things where, you know, she's with, you know, a big crowd of people and she's the coach's son, so of course, you know, she's getting a ton of attention, you know, and she, you know, she, she loves that.
Yeah, I, you know, I'd like to, like, like for it to be more.
I live like 25 minutes away, so, you know, it's not always ideal and.
But yeah, just, just trying to get my daughter more involved and I think as she gets older, you know, I will love it.
[01:00:22] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts before I let you go?
[01:00:26] Speaker B: Stay true to yourself over. Communicate to the parents, you know, you know, I'm big on these kids being on time, being in the present, you know, like win the day.
And, you know, you got to be able to adapt. The players need to be able to adapt, and as coaches, we need to be able to adapt, you know, you know, some. Sometimes it's cold out, you know, and, you know, we got to adapt to that. Right. You know, so I have these kids say it's cold and that that's it. I don't want to hear it anymore. Like, you know, control the controllables.
[01:01:01] Speaker A: They should have to go up north and play.
[01:01:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. You know, I tell them, like, you have, you know, we'll do, we'll do this. My. We'll do this. I call it the Miami sun stretch. You know, when it's like 78 and sunny, not a cloud and sky, and I'm like, just, just, just soak this in and enjoy this for like five minutes and just, you know, you don't, you don't realize how fortunate you are right now, you know, to be on this field in this weather.
You know, I'm like, it's December 15th. You know, these teams up north are, you know, in a. You know, in a blizzard, and we're out on the baseball field. You know, I mean, how awesome is this? Like I said, Jupiter's a great place to. Great place to be, great place to live, you know, and it's. I mean, we. We play year round, right?
[01:01:50] Speaker A: It's a great community.
[01:01:52] Speaker B: It is. It really is.
[01:01:53] Speaker A: Always going. Loved going down for PG down there.
[01:01:56] Speaker B: I'm just tapping into it, like, I'm excited for what, you know, the future holds.
[01:02:01] Speaker A: Love it. All right, Joe, thanks for your time. Appreciate you.
[01:02:03] Speaker B: No, thank you. I really appreciate this. Thank you.
[01:02:06] Speaker A: Fair and consistent is something we need more in today's society.
I wish Coach Amelia and Jupiter High School the best of luck going forward. Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, and Matt west in the ABCA office for all the help on the podcast. Feel free to reach out to me via email rbrownleybca.org Twitter, Instagram or TikTok CoachBabca direct message me via the MyBC app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off for the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks. And leave it better for those behind.
[01:02:33] Speaker B: You and you know that way Yep.
[01:02:48] Speaker A: Wait for another day.
[01:02:53] Speaker B: And the world will always return as your life before your name and you know that place Wait for another day.
