Kevin Coe - Academy Director, Cincinnati Reds

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Ryan Brownlee. Our sponsor is Core Energy Belt, the trusted source of professional baseball players in both Japan and the USA. With over 700 professionals, including two former MVPs, relying on these belts, Core Energy has established itself as a leader in performance and durability. I've been wearing their belts for a while now and the added back support has made a noticeable difference both on and off the field. They offer free shipping and a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Go to corenergybelt.com and use code ABCA2025 to save 15 on your first purchase. I'll repeat that go to Core Energy Belt and use the code ABCA2025 to save 15% on your first purchase. 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 Minor know that the ABCA sent you. Now onto the podcast. Kevin Koh, the Cincinnati Reds Academy Director of Baseball and Softball, joins us week on the ABCA podcast. Coe's been with the Reds since 2022, coming over from working with the Pullman Community center and the Chicago White Sox ACE Program. Coe was on the forefront of building the ACE Program in Chicago, providing baseball players an opportunity to get to the next level and graduate from college. Coe's been instrumental on our Youth and Travel committees and was just recently named our Chair of the Youth and Travel Service Awards. Get your padding petty ready because it's a deep dive into player development. Let's welcome Kevin Coe to the podcast. Kevin Coe, director of the Reds Youth Academy with the Reds and then was with the White Sox ACE Program for a while. I was out in the real world for a bit, but we go way, way back. So Kevin, thanks for jumping on with me. [00:03:05] Speaker B: Thank you for having Me, hey, what. [00:03:09] Speaker A: Working in the real world make you miss about baseball? [00:03:14] Speaker B: Well, I was still kind of in baseball though. And so I went to run an indoor facility and the indoor facility had three huge turf fields on them so they were 120 by 200. And we had basketball courts. It was 145,000 square foot facility. So I was kind of doing all sports, basketball, football, soccer, baseball. Started a baseball program in that facility. And it was kind of cool because I recently had some parents that were in the program that are now playing in the White Sox program. But like I used to do indoor tournaments. I remember my first indoor tournament, it was December 21st, I mean 20 December 31st. And it was negative three degrees outside and we were playing tournament like all three fields are rolling, man. And so we would do 10U and 12U tournaments in there. So it was, it was fun. It was, it was, it was a good time. [00:04:06] Speaker A: But right out of Bellevue. What'd you do right after Bellevue? [00:04:09] Speaker B: Program computers for 10 years. [00:04:10] Speaker A: That's why I was asking, that's why I was asking. Because you're programming computers. A lot of people don't know that about you. I mean you're programming for a while. [00:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah, I programmed computers for 10 years, man. I worked in Toronto, Montreal, Miami, Washington D.C. all over the place. Traveling four days a week and flying home on the weekends and working with some really intelligent people. Taught myself how to build websites and how to program. Like I probably could get back into programming because you know, once you have a foundation you always, it lives with you. And so it's, it's a style of thinking and if you think a certain way in life it'll, it'll allow you to program. [00:04:55] Speaker A: What do you think about like chat, GPT and all the AI stuff that's available now? [00:05:00] Speaker B: The way the world's going, that's the way the world's going and I think everybody should jump on board and get a better understanding of it. And it's going to change not only how we live in the world, but it's going to change baseball. And so I already have a couple ideas that I'm thinking about that trying to implement using AI and so just you know, obviously it's a race to the mainstream to see and get the ideas out the fastest. [00:05:22] Speaker A: So what's your day to day look like right now with the Reds? [00:05:26] Speaker B: With the Reds? Well, we usually have meetings and administrative work. I usually get to work maybe like 10, 11 o'clock in the morning if I have meetings. We meet as a department or we have our individual one on ones with people in the department and the administrative work. I'm responsible for all the programming of the facility. So that means everything from camps, clinics. We have 20, 21 teams. So I have to schedule the practices and organize the practices. And so we're usually open six days a week and between 21 teams and obviously opening up to organizations outside of our program as well, it's kind of difficult because we're. Kids usually come in from you know, 5:30 to 9 every single day. So in the morning programming I usually have a time between like 2:30 to like 4 where I have some of my kids come in and we do individuals. And then from, from like five to probably nine our teams practice. And so it's a matter of being there each day. Sometimes I get there a little bit earlier than nine, sometimes I work at nine and nine. And that's, that's during the winter, during the day, I mean during the summer, like saints probably get there earlier because there's more work that I want to do. And if, if the high school season's going on, I'll go watch some of our high school kids playing their games. If our youth teams are playing, then you know, have to travel to get to their games if they're not playing on our site. So it's, it's a, it's a busy time. And so. But you don't look at it as work when you love what you're doing. [00:07:04] Speaker A: Similar set up to the ACE program or different because obviously you have a, you have a different. They don't really have their own facility like you have with the Reds. Correct. [00:07:12] Speaker B: With the White Sox it's completely different. The facility is a game changer. And so having the indoor turf, indoor cages, indoor weight room, we have four turf fields outside of the building. When kids come from Chicago, like teams come play turns in Chicago and they stop by, they're like, oh my God, this is, if this was in Chicago, like it would never close. And I was like, yeah, no, I know. And so but we, our program is called the Reds Nike rbi. It's, we just, that's just the title of the program. And so even though we do play rbi, even though when we enter like elite travel tournaments were still titled RBI and we, the scheduling is similar to the White Sox program. They asked me to come here and turn it into the White Sox program. That was one of the reasons why I was interested in coming. [00:08:06] Speaker A: And I mean, what did you pick up with the White Sox? [00:08:08] Speaker B: A lot. [00:08:08] Speaker A: Right? I mean you're at the forefront of. You changed. I mean, you changed the landscape, I think with coaches, players like you all, you all changed the landscape. [00:08:19] Speaker B: It. Yeah, it was. It was fun. It still is fun to watch them. Obviously. I still communicate with a lot of them when I see them. And the White Sox, it was like a grassroots program, you know what I mean? That was built from scratch, working with Kenny Foreman and Nathan Durst to kind of get that thing off the ground. And it once, obviously, once you guys committed Blake to Iowa, it was really a game changer. Blake and Devin. And Devin just had another baby, by the way. And so I. It. It was a game changer because everybody thought that they could go play Division 1 baseball, Power 5 baseball, you know, and everybody completely bought in. And that was our 2011 group. 2012, we. We. We had some Division 1, but like, when 2013 and 14, we kind of just took off, man. And, um, everybody worked their tails off. It was. It was. You know, those kids had a. Had a mantra that they live by. They call it team no days off. You know, and they. They literally practice and play baseball like seven days a week. They didn't take days off. I don't think some of them had girlfriends for a long time, to be honest with you, man. [00:09:30] Speaker A: So winter camp, I mean, I think you guys. You guys laid the groundwork for not just the summer season and fall season, but they were doing camps every weekend. It was every weekend. It was the Sparks, it was the hitters. It was top tier. It was like every weekend. So they were getting multiple opportunities to get looks at. At that time of the year too. I miss. I miss kind of that a little bit. I know why it went away, but I do miss that for. Especially for the upper Midwest kids who don't always get seen all the time. I thought it was great opportunity for everybody to get seen. [00:10:01] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a little different now. I think the hitters and RJ are still doing their camps in the summer, you know, but it's changed. Like, it's at the end of the summer when they have an opportunity to do it. And so it's. It's a. I don't. I don't. I think things got so crazy. Like, recruiting has changed so drastically. It's kind of good that they can't commit freshmen anymore. And it's great for the late bloomers. Those camps are awesome. Like, I. I mean, we talk about kids to this day. Like, I'm in Ohio State territory. And so Ramon Williams, he. He came in with MLB ID tour this past Sunday. And I was telling one of our coaches, I was like, he was like our first kid to commit to Michigan out of Chicago. And he was like, michigan? And I was like, yeah, I was like, we actually sent, like, five, six kids to Michigan year after year after year. And those. Those camps were the reason why those kids were getting exposure to those coaches. And those coaches saw the talent that. That we were developing. And it got to a point where we were trying to do as many camps as we actually started doing our own camps out of Ho Chunk. So it. It was. It was. It was a good time, man. Things have drastically, drastically changed now. You got to go to the camps on. On site or do, you know, obviously a PBR or a PG camp and things of that nature. And so some people are trying to do them individually, but, like, it's hard to get the power fives to come out now if you don't have the talent that they're looking for, you know? [00:11:30] Speaker A: And Justin Stone had a lot to do with that, too. [00:11:33] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. [00:11:34] Speaker A: White Sox, I think it was Lyle, but he had. He was running those camps at Ho Chunk, too, man. [00:11:40] Speaker B: My first camp that I ever did coaching, I did with Justin Stone. I was, like, right next to him. I was listening to every word that was coming out of his mouth. Man, he's awesome, dude, and glad to see the success that he's had. But, like, from there, between Justin and Travis, it was me and Travis. We coached together my first year, and he, like, one of the best pitching coaches that I could ever be around. You know what I mean? And so I didn't know jack about pitching. So, like, I took what I knew hidden and fielding, and I still repeat some of the stuff that he says. Pitching wise, those guys were. They were awesome, man. Yeah, absolutely. Trailblazers. [00:12:15] Speaker A: Think of the youth coaches kids clinic we ran at your place in 2023. That's kind of why I wanted to start that, to bring a little bit back of that Midwest camp feel. [00:12:26] Speaker B: It was great. I actually did one. I did two of them this. This. This fall. Kind of similar. I didn't get enough coaches to do your format where they went from station to station. I probably could have done it on softball side. I had, like, five coaches softball. And it was the first time since I've been here, and I've had coaches that are. Have been with the program for, like, over. Over a decade, and they're like, they can't remember us ever doing a coaches clinic for softball. So I took the same format softball. I had Northern Kentucky, Dayton, Transylvania, Jenny Dalton and somebody else. They came out. I can't remember. Oh, it was a young lady, she's a pitcher coach. She owns her own facility down in Lexington, Kentucky. They came and they presented and it was awesome. We got great feedback from the community. And then I got lucky. I had Vince and Josh Harrison come in to do a camp in Mo Sanford. And so they came in. I was worried about them because the camp was three long, three hours long and it was just the three of them. But once the camp got going, I realized, man, once you get a baseball guy talking about baseball, he ain't going to ever show up. I had to like, tell him like, all right, that's enough. We got to move forward. So it was, it was fun. It's fun. So. But we'll continue to do that and like the goal is to go from station to station and get enough coaches to participate in it. [00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah, if you get enough hands, you can do it. It's just a matter of getting there. What are the differences with training baseball and softball? Are there much? [00:14:01] Speaker B: Yes. Obviously you have to know softball pitch and pitch and range supreme in softball. And so you have to know how to teach pitching because you can mess some girls up the same way you can mess guys up in baseball. Fielding, fielding and hitting is pretty much the same. You know, it's all about slaps. And so that's, that's a different thing. I've actually taken the slap strategy and use it as a timing mechanism in baseball for my guys. And when I bring that drill in, they don't even know that they're doing a softball drill. But when I bring it in, they actually ask to do it. Can we do this drill, Coach? It feels like I'm getting into my swing a little bit more and I'm feeling my legs a little bit more and I'm like, yeah. And I call it a timing drill, but it's actually like a slap drill. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Love it. And you've always been huge on coaches education and you and I talk a lot about coaches education. Like you have to, you have to get out there, you have to work. That's just a, a big part of honing your craft as a coach. And you've always been huge on coaches education. [00:14:58] Speaker B: It's professional development no matter what, you know, no matter how much you play, no matter how much you didn't play. And you don't know like professional development is going to be the mantra because the game's changing so much. Like just we talked about AI, you know, they have the metrics that everybody's going on, measuring players by. And you have to understand that stuff. You have to understand the technology that spits that information out. You got to be able to utilize it so for your kids benefit. And so with social media, when we first did, when we first started, I met you, social media wasn't really that strong. But now, you know, pretty much I've had a Division 1 coach tell me that he got tricked on a kid recruiting them off social, social media. He's had good at bats in the, in the, in the cage and look good in the choreographed, choreographed video. And then once he got on campus, they were like, man, this kid can't play. So yeah, man, it was, it's, it's different. And so you have to stay in the know and you have to build relationships with people or coaches and just kind of learn what's good for you and learn what's good for the coaches that you're responsible for and the kids. You're responsible. If, if you're not trying to improve yourself as a coach, then you're, you're doing your players a disservice. [00:16:10] Speaker A: How long did it take you to find your voice in coaching? [00:16:15] Speaker B: My first year, man, that team I had was loaded. And so every team was loaded, by the way, man, but my first year, like, like Darius Day and Corey Ray and Ro Coleman and Marshawn Taylor and those kids were like 14 year olds. And I'll never forget, like we won our first 25 games. We won the first five tournaments we played in, 25 games. And, and even Bryce only was on that team. He went to Creighton. And so, and Chucky Robinson, who's catching in the big leagues, he was on the team as well, you know, and it's, I, I felt comfortable with them. So the first day that I went to a practice with them and we practiced for about two hours and I was like, all right, that's it. And they were all like, that's it, Are you kidding me? Like, coach, we want, we don't want this to end. Like they were, they were sitting on the edge of the seat for every word that was coming out of my mouth. And I just built a relationship with them. It wound up like I didn't want to coach kids from the inner city of Chicago, man. I was programming computers. I was making a bunch of money. I was playing in adult leagues on the weekends. I didn't want to coach a bunch of kids. And when Fletch called me was like, hey, man, come coach These kids. And I got there and those kids were like, coach, like, we need everything that you have to offer us. And like, lo and behold, like I tell people now, like, Corey Ray was a first round pick. He was the very first individual private lesson that I ever did. And so, like, I think that's my claim to fame. Like, my first, my first lesson was a, was a, was a first round pick. Like, how many people can really say that? You know what I mean? And so, and he's coaching now. You know, I think we impacted him. There are so many kids from the ACE program. I was just, you know, Troy called me last week because he just hired a bunch of alumni into the program. He's like, coach, man, can you believe these kids actually want to come back and coach? And I was like, we impacted their lives. And so it was bigger than baseball. And we helped them become, you know, strong young men into believing in themselves, having confidence to do whatever they want to do. There's kids that have gone to college that were first. First person in their family, first person in their family to go to college. And they're, they're graduating now, you know what I mean? And they're working in corporate America now. But they all want to come back and coach because the fun and the impact that we had, and it's a transition from phase. And so like you're talking about over a decade and like 15, probably 15 years and those guys are coming back to coach. And it's, it's the coaching tree that we're, that we're creating. And hopefully we'll transition from the coaches that I hired. And I'm kind of using the same platform in Cincinnati, trying to get alumni, I don't know, all the alumni. And so we recently, just this summer, we had our first alumni day and we had, you know, about 20 alumni come out. And so the goal is to have them continue to come out and keep them engaged so that they know what was going on at the academy so that they want to be a part of it. [00:19:08] Speaker A: And so, and the ACE program, you guys were one of the first programs that did like an actual signing. You did a signing banquet for the kids, which was awesome. [00:19:17] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that was. [00:19:18] Speaker A: Dressed up like the whole nine, like, press conference. [00:19:23] Speaker B: Absolutely. Man, that was, that was fun. I'll never forget that. We did it up in. It was like in a little tight area of the stadium, but it's awesome to see. I can still visualize it in my mind, but it's grown so much. And you have to, when you Give kids an opportunity to change their lives and by leveraging college to change their lives. And some of them go on to be great, great, great human beings. Like we. It's like AJ Lewis is going to be coaching in the big leagues this year, right next to Craig Council, you know what I mean? And so, like, it's just changing lives and providing opportunities for kids, man, that they normally wouldn't have had. Like, some of these kids, I know that they wouldn't have. Their life wouldn't have trajected the way that it did. [00:20:12] Speaker A: And I think inner city gets a bad connotation. They're the best kids I coached. I go Iowa, Western Illinois. My inner city kids were always the best kids I coached. Always. [00:20:23] Speaker B: Because it's, It's. They get a break. [00:20:26] Speaker A: They weren't entitled. That's a big part. Big part of it. We're appreciative of everything they got like that. That's a big part of it is they appreciated everything and. [00:20:35] Speaker B: And that's important. And that's what we try to teach them. Like, you got to work hard. If you work hard, there's a. There's a benefit at the end of it. There's. You're going to be rewarded at the end of the day. And so no matter what it is. And the unique thing about what we do is we celebrate everything. No matter if they're going to a power five or, you know, a mid major or D2 D3 NAI, like, we celebrated them all the same. And everybody felt like they were winning on those signing days, you know what I mean? So. [00:21:00] Speaker A: And you're a throwback too, because you, you would get after kids. I mean, you keep them accountable. And I think that's a big part of it, too. That's probably why they want to stay in coaching. People think, like I think about it, the guys that I was hardest on are probably the guys I still talk to the most. And probably same thing for you. Like, they don't understand at the time, but then they get it. And it's funny, a lot of those guys get into coaching because they realize what you did for them. [00:21:22] Speaker B: Yeah, you have to be honest with them. And so like, and sometimes some kids, you have to sugarcoat. Most of them, you. You can't sugarcoat. And they may not like what you say, but they're respected and they're gonna always respect. And respect lives on for. For as long as you have a relationship. And so, like you, if I tell the kid what he wants to hear and it's not the truth, then I'm not benefiting that kid. There's nothing that's going to help that kid. But if I'm honest with them and tell them, like, hey, man, your swing's long. You need to figure this out. Like, get it. Get it together in the classroom. Or like, why are you disrespecting your mother like that, you know, and so we can have those hard conversations, but once those hard conversations are over, you know, the respect is stronger than it's ever been. And then those kids feel comfortable. Like, I've had kids call me and say, hey, Coach, I got a girl pregnant. You know, what do I do? You know, And I'm like, I'm your baseball coach. Like, yeah, I know, but, like, you're the person that I trust, you know, because you're going to be honest and you can tell me the right thing to do, you know, so it's. It. It. You have to. To be honest with. With players. And so, like, some people like to be liked. I like to be respected. And so. And if, as when you're sitting in the leader seat, you're not always going to be liked by people, but they will respect you for what you do if you're successful and it. And it turns into success. [00:22:35] Speaker A: Honestly, pre convention, you were dabbling with podcasting a little bit. Are you still gonna do that? [00:22:41] Speaker B: Still am, yeah. I'm still doing it. Trying to set it up. I. I want to just kind of be a voice for coaches. Even at the convention, we talk about turning facilitators into coach coaching. There's a shortage of coaches, there's a shortage of umpires, there's a shortage of baseball players. And, you know, if we can empower coaches to people that know how to communicate, if you can communicate with adults and you can communicate with kids, you can coach. And so if we empower the. Those people and make them feel confident enough to. To run a recreational team. And once you've run a recreational team a couple years, then you might feel comfortable, you know, going to, you know, elite pro team and things of that nature. So. But my. Yeah, my podcast is going to be centered around coaching. And a lot of the conversations that I've had with parents and players and other coaches and just kind of sometimes those. When I talk to people, they're like, man, you got a lot of stuff trapped in your head. And I was like, it's time to get it out. And so just trying to figure out the best way to get it out. And I think if. If I'm on camera talking, and we're just having conversations. Then I will, you know, I can share what I know because there's a lot of, like, been doing this for a long time, you know, and there's a lot of things that I could share. Like, and it's not just to make a name for myself. It's to help. Is to help the community. And the community needs. There's some things that just need to be known because we need more voices. [00:24:05] Speaker A: Of people that are in it for the right reasons. [00:24:08] Speaker B: Right? [00:24:08] Speaker A: And that's what you are. Like, you're in it for the right reasons. You've always been it for the right reasons. So we need more voices that. Not to counteract, but there's just a lot of white noise out there that we need. We need people that are in it for the right reasons, that do it the right way. We need more of those voices to get out there and get out front. I've been on Friends of Mine forever that don't, like, post. And I'm like, but you need to post because you're in it for the right reasons. You need to get it out there whether you want to or not. And I know people are uncomfortable on it, but I'm like, you. You don't have to do it all the time, but just every once in a while here and there, put some information out there because people need it, because people are thirsty. [00:24:45] Speaker B: And the few, few snippets that I've put out, like, I've gotten an interesting response from people that I didn't even know were watching. And, like. And I. I might see people and they're like, hey, man, I love what you're doing, you know? And I'm like, oh, you haven't seen anything yet. So I got a lot of footage recorded. So just waiting to kind of put it out, make sure that it's, you know, of a good quality. [00:25:04] Speaker A: Who else do you feel like is doing a good job in the youth space? [00:25:09] Speaker B: In the youth space? I mean, obviously we have our, you know, you have your PGs and your PBRS that provide an opportunity for kids to play, you know, and the growth of those organizations that we've watched over the years grow from to be in small tournaments, like Pete. Like, I was literally just telling the kid the other day, he, I had some sweatpants on and they had Super 60 on them. He was like, Super 60. And I was like, yeah, I used to work for pbr. And he was like, really? And I was like, yeah, it started in Illinois. And he's like, oh, I didn't know that. And I was like, I bet you didn't know that. It used to be a magazine that they mailed to you. [00:25:47] Speaker A: It was a magazine. [00:25:49] Speaker B: So to kind of watch those things grow and turn into the monsters that they are, obviously it starts with them, with the landscape changing, you know, being wrapped around, you know, recruiting. It's great to see, you know, USA Baseball get involved a little bit more and with the land. Like, you have your canes organizations, you have your five star organizations, you have all of these organizations that are, are doing the right thing by kids, you know what I mean? Obviously there, there's some money involved, but they are providing an opportunity for kids to go to college. And I think in the end, all be all. It's important for us as youth advocates and youth program directors and leaders to make sure that we're helping kids get to the next level, no matter what, no matter what talent they are, no matter what school they're going to. I think division, I think with the way the rules are, Division 2 is going to be. It was good when I, when we were playing in the 90s, I think it's going to be even stronger now. You know what I mean? Like, I had a couple, I had a couple of kids go and visit this past weekend and they went to a Division 2 tournament and they came back and they're like, coach, that looked fun, you know, and so I like, I was like, do you think you can play there though? And they're like, yeah, absolutely. I could play on the team right now. You know, I'm still in high school. And so I think just a lot of the organizations that are empowering kids and building the confidence in them and them having the opportunity to go to college and change their life trajectories, I support all of that. [00:27:17] Speaker A: You know, how many of those conversations are you having with your parents as far as go where where you're wanted is a big part of it for the kids that you're coaching? [00:27:28] Speaker B: So our. This is like my third. So I've been here a little over two years in Cincinnati. I moved here in November 22nd that year. The first year, our signing day, I want to say we had, between baseball and softball, I think it was like five or six kids. And then last year it was the same, like five or six kids. I was getting a feel for the program, the culture, those that wanted to go to college. Like everybody that plays in our program doesn't have the desire to go to play baseball or softball. In college this year. It's a group that, when I first arrived, you know, we just kind of connected with each other. And the more I connected with the individuals on it, the more the individuals on the team bought in. And so, like, we currently in this group, I think we had a senior day the other day. It wasn't a signing day. We usually have our signing days in, like, the end of May, early June. We have roughly 14 kids that are committed to play baseball and softball in college. And there's probably like, seven, eight more that have offers that are waiting to commit. And that's always been my goal. It's a beautiful facility. I think it should be a baseball and softball factory. I don't know if everybody feels the same in Cincinnati about it. And because they, you know, they want everybody and, like, the mission is for everyone to play baseball and softball. And so we're just kind of restructuring and trying to figure out, like, I'm in the process of creating, like, recreational leagues for kids that want to play recreationally. And, like, our program is elite. If you want to play elite, then you have an opportunity to play elite. So I think in the long run, like, in a three to five year plan, there'll be a lot more kids playing because everybody will know where they belong. Like, hey, I just want to play in the summer, so I'm gonna do this. Hey, I want to be elite, so I want to practice all year round and we'll play over here. And so it's, it's. It's been fun and I love what I do, you know what I mean? And it, the. The families and the kids, you'd be amazed. It's like, it's completely different. Like, everybody in Chicago is hungry, and they're like, coach, what else I had to do? And so there's some. There's a handful of kids here that are like that. But, like, you almost got to trick them. And I think with us having roughly about 20 kids in our signing day group this year, I'm hoping that it inspires the next generation of kids or the kids following them. Like, in our 26 and 27, like, our youth teams are going to be loaded if they stay together. Like, our 9 to 13 is loaded, and, like, they're ready to go. Pitching, hitting, athleticism, you name it. Reds Academy is going to be really good. And so, like, I got a block of kids between, like, my 14, 15, and 16 year olds. If they figure it out, they have a chance to be pretty good as well. [00:30:23] Speaker A: How much is that? Because Ohio's pretty big. Football state, correct? Obviously, man. [00:30:27] Speaker B: Ohio State just won the national championship. [00:30:31] Speaker A: That's the biggest thing too. I think you battle a little bit of that too. Once kids get in high school, it's the. They're going to get pulled in some different directions with. With that. With the football side of it. [00:30:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's, you know, it's similar in Chicago with the basketball. Everybody wanted to be Michael Jordan or LeBron James. Like, if you're over 6ft in Chicago, you play basketball. Everybody, everybody plays football in Cincinnati. It don't matter how big or small you are. And so like, gets frustrating at times because, you know, I'm a big development guy and you know, the fall is when you don't have to worry about competing in games and things of that nature. We can just. We can work on our running and our arm strength and add muscle to our frame and work on, you know, situations and. And work on your swing. And it's a. It like the fall is awesome because of that. And we. It. Football it. All of our kids disappear. Like, we wound up having a handful of kids at practice. And I'm like, where's everybody at? And they're like, it's football season, coach. I was like, this is crazy. But in Chicago, I think we combated that because we were sending the kids to the same schools that the football programs were sending them. I mean, the basketball programs are sending them to. So kids didn't feel like they needed to go play basketball anymore. And hopefully we can reach that goal here in Cincinnati. Like where when we start sending kids to schools that. That they want to go to to play baseball, then they'll be like, you know what? I'm gonna go over here this baseball practice instead of sitting the bench on my football team. [00:32:00] Speaker A: What are some other things as an industry we need to improve on? [00:32:05] Speaker B: It's a good question. I think ABCA is kind of spearheading, you know, the coaches education, I think getting a better understanding of how the recruiting process has changed. And you know, before I could just tell a. Send a coach, send him a video, like, hey man, you need to get off this kid. And next thing I know, the kid's like, yeah, committed. And like, it's not like that anymore. And so what are coaches really looking for when it comes to players? And obviously if the JUCO rule goes through, it's going to change the game drastically. You know, I think it's going to empower the junior college coaches more than we know, because your best prospects are probably going to wind up going to junior college because you become draft eligible after your first year. You know what I mean? You don't have to wait until three years. It's. I think that player development is teaching kids how to play the game the right way. And being mentors, I think is like, you don't hear a lot about mentoring kids. Like, everybody's not meant to play baseball for the rest of their life. We're interviewing interns at our, at the academy. And we had an intern come in and he's like, man, I learned that. I mean, a potential candidate come in. And he, like, I learned early on that I wasn't going to be able to play baseball in college. So, you know, I started focusing my energy towards areas that, you know, I would have a career in. And. And he had a mentor. He's like, my mentor told me to do this, this, and this. And I'm like, man, it's like he. His resume was very impressive. And I think as coaches, we and I tell our coaches all the time, be like, be role models. Model the behaviors that you want your kids to see. Don't let the energy of the game and the anxieties of the game dictate how you're going to behave. Don't get too high, don't get too low so that the kids can see it and the kids understand how they're supposed to behave. And then if you teach those kids to play the right way, those same kids will come back to you later on and ask you for some advice in their lives and things of that nature. I think ABCA is doing an unbelievable job of educating our coaches and making sure that we know all of the newest and latest trends that are. That are going on. And obviously, social media people have to be careful about what they see. And like, on social media, I had a kid come tell me, like, coach, I was watching social media in this major leaguer, and I was like, I promise you that major leaguer didn't swing like that when he was your age, man. So, like, you. You can't listen to them now. So. So it just, I think, enlightening people and letting people know that everything that you see on the Internet you can't believe, whether it's baseball, whether it's in life, you know, that's a good thing. [00:35:02] Speaker A: With PG and pbr now is you. We got enough video library of kids when they were little. Now, if they, if they were at the Junior Futures Games or PB Junior Deal, like, okay, here's what it looked like when they were 12 or 13. It would wasn't what they look like now. [00:35:19] Speaker B: Not at all, not even close. [00:35:22] Speaker A: How early you kid you starting them in the weight room? What age, what age range are they getting in the weight room with you? [00:35:28] Speaker B: So all of our kids, so when I came kind of changed the program in here and so if you make a visit to our academy, so like it might be your defensive day, you're going in the weight room, it might be your, your offensive day, you're going in the weight room. And so our kids 9, so we have 9 to 18 in baseball and we have 10 to 18 every even age in softball. We. So our kids that are 9 to 14, both boys and girls, they wind up just doing body weight in the weight room. And so post training, both well and so it depends on how you go in. Like you might do defense first and then go in the weight room or you might come, go straight in the weight room and then get on the field. So it's, it's both. It's funny because I had a coach, my 12 year old coach, like we probably had the best 11 year old team in state last year and he, his group is 12 now and we were talking last night because it was a pitching night and he's like, man, he's like, I think that's the first time I ever coach and I didn't have any problems with my arms and I was like yeah, that weight room so the importance of it. And so but yeah, we, we, we, we, we, we do a good job with that. And so it's, it's important training wise to, to make sure we get, we add strength. [00:36:54] Speaker A: So coming out of the summer because I mean spring, summer, how long you shut them down before maybe you get them back going in the fall if. [00:37:02] Speaker B: Anything usually take August off, usually get going after the holiday in the fall. There's a guy, Tim Martin, he does a big showcase here and during the fall I haven't gotten into too many big tournaments because of the football season here in the fall. So we just, we just work man, we work, we play, we do inner squads, you better believe it. And those that, that work, they, they see there's, it's infected some of our kids. Like I got a kid now, I got a couple kids now that they have a trainer that works out at our facility at 5 o'clock in the morning and he started a breakfast club and he's got some kids that come in and they lift in the morning, they go to school, then they come back and do an individual with Me before the baseball practice. And then they go back to school for their baseball practice. It's kind of fun to watch those kids grow because when people see them, they're like, man, what are y'all doing? I'm like, they. They get it. And those kids. I don't have to say anything to, like, we have a conversation about something one time, and I never have to repeat myself with them. And so it's coming. It's coming, Ryan. We. We're gonna get there. [00:38:12] Speaker A: Is technology probably the biggest thing that's changed for you from the ACE program to. To now, because, I mean, they will. There wasn't much around besides radar gun and stopwatches. [00:38:22] Speaker B: Right. And which is what I still use. But I've been picked up rapsodo here lately. We have rapsodo for our baseball and softball programs. And just kind of. I'll pull it into practice every now and then just to kind of. So kids can see where their metrics are and see how hard they're hitting the ball. And, you know, everybody thinks they throw 85 until they realize they don't throw 85. You know what I mean? And so we use it. We don't use it. It's not what we do to develop our kids, but it's. It's just something like a carrot that we throw out on certain days when kids need to, you know, need to pick me up and things of that nature. And so they often ask for it pretty much every time they come to the facility. I'm like, no, we're not doing that today. And so I think it's just like anything. [00:39:07] Speaker A: It's pre and post test stuff. So, you know, pre. Pre test in your. Your pre training segment. Get you through your training segment and then post test and see where you're at. [00:39:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:39:17] Speaker A: They've been doing Velocity forever. [00:39:19] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. And that's how I utilize it. I don't really challenge my kids to get better with their metrics. I'm not saying, like, you got to jump three to five miles an hour exit velocity or throwing because of this program. And we do do it. I do measure it for them. And then I measure. And then I measure them at the end, and I'm like, hey, this is what you did. But because I want them to come consistently because they want to be there. You know what I mean? And so, like, not because, hey, I'm trying to. To do X, Y, and Z and be the best in, like, understand what we're doing, believe in the program, know that what I'm Programming for you is going to make you a better player. And in the end, you'll. This is, this is the reward. You'll see. Hey, our long toss program where we long toss three times a week where you couldn't throw the ball, you barely throw the ball 120ft. Now you're trying to throw it out of the park. Like, we have tons of those kids and it's, it's so interesting. Like, I have to remind them all the time. I'm like, hey, you remember when we first started doing this and I put the cones out and you could barely throw the ball past second base. And now, like, they're getting into their crow hop and like they're trying to launch it out of the park and it. It. It translate. Translates to the field. And that's. That's all I want them to see. [00:40:30] Speaker A: Those three days a week long toss, they trying to get out as far as they can every time. Those three days. [00:40:35] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yep. And so, I mean, with the weighted balls and the bands and, and. And things of that nature, you know, some kids don't even know what long toss is. I remember when I first pulled it out here, I had some kids looking at me sideways like, man, I can't throw the ball that far. And like, give me some weighted balls and give me some band. Like, you don't really see the, The. Like, your arm strength will increase with the bands and the weighted balls, but like, to actually visual. Visualize the ball, you throwing the ball on the other side of the park, that. That says a lot. So now when, when you go to shortstop, you know, like, you. If you use that same energy that you were trying to throw the ball out of park with, your arm, strength's going to show. It's going to play. I had. Couldn't. Who couldn't? He would. When I first got here at Kid Nate, he would. He could get to the backhand in the hole, in the six hole, but he would never throw the ball because he knew his arm wouldn't do it. Now he's just like, he feels. And he flips it over there, and I'm like, nate, I have a reminder of that all the time. And so it's just, just. Just a growth process. [00:41:31] Speaker A: Plus arm health too. Oh, absolutely. It feels better. I throw it harder, further, and it feels better. [00:41:38] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. You already know things haven't changed. Some things gonna work for the test of time, you know what I mean? And so that's what we did. That's how I got my arm stronger and that's what we're gonna do here. [00:41:52] Speaker A: So anything you've gotten rid of over the years? [00:41:58] Speaker B: No, man. No. [00:42:00] Speaker A: It's crazy, isn't it? [00:42:02] Speaker B: Yeah. No. Like, I remember when we were. When I was playing and I, you know, I used to work out with Luke Collier and. And Troy Hawkins, and I. I still do the exact same drills that we did in those workouts, man. You know? And they made me a better player. And so I'm like, if it made me a better player and I was pretty good, like, why wouldn't it make these kids a better player? And they. They asked. The kids asked me, where you get these drills from? I'm like, it's the drills that I used to do when I played, man. So have I added stuff? Yeah, there's some drills that you wound up picking up because you think it's. It's a good. I'm not a big gimmick guy. Be honest with you, man. So, like, if I look at something and I think it's a gimmick, and I'm not going to endorse it, I have parents that ask me about stuff that they're getting in their social media feeds, and they're like, hey, what do you think about this? And I'm like, the bat doesn't do that when you swing. So, like, why would that work for you when you're practicing, you know? And it's. I. It. I just keep it basic. Be honest with you, man. We. You give me a ladder, you give me a medicine ball, you give me a donut that I can put on my bat, you give me a short bat that we can do one hand drills with, and. And we can have. We. I can develop a kid offensively and defensively. It's funny, when I got here, they're like, what do you need? And I'm like, y'all don't realize we got stuff there. Yes. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Anybody listening in? Go see the Reds facility. They got everything. When I walked for that camp, I was like, holy cow. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. That's what I told him. I was like, I. I have more than enough here to be successful. And, like. But they're like. They're all. They. They're very. The organization is very supportive all the way down from. From. From Nick Krall. All the way on down. Like, everybody wants to know they show up to our signing day. I've met with Brad Meter a couple times, just kind of giving them update on our. Our youth baseball and softball programs. And, you know, he was a college coach, so he understands the landscape of everything. Just let me know what you need. So it's, It's. It's been fun. The Reds are a good organization to work for, and they, they're very supportive of what they do at the academy. And it's a, It's a huge investment, that academy. And so. And we. It's. It's. When I first. When they offered me the job, I started calling people. I'm like, what do you know about this place? And everybody's like, I didn't even know they had an academy in Cincinnati. You know what I mean? When I leave, I want people to know that they had academy leave it better than how you found it. [00:44:36] Speaker A: Outside of long toss, you know, throwing injuries is a hot button topic, and I have my views, but I want to get your take on that. Outside of kids not long tossing enough, what do you feel like is. Is. Are some of the other causes? Because I have my views, but I want to see what you think first. [00:44:54] Speaker B: Obviously, they're, They're. They're strengthening their bodies. Their bodies are moving faster than they're actually supposed to move. You know, and I think kids are getting so strong that their bodies can't keep up with what they're doing. It's. I don't know. You know, I haven't had a lot of arm injuries on my watch. [00:45:16] Speaker A: I haven't either. That's so foreign to me because we just never had it. So I felt like weight room, long toss. [00:45:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:26] Speaker A: On ramp. Don't overuse. Like, I think there's some things that you can do that, that have been around for a while that you can keep kids healthy. Proper warm up proper on ramp, give them enough time to get acclimated, to get off the mound. I think is a big one that people don't do enough. Long toss schedule is important. And then proper recovery stuff. [00:45:49] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Just. [00:45:51] Speaker A: I think. [00:45:51] Speaker B: I don't. [00:45:52] Speaker A: I think it's there. I mean, the lack of players don't. Don't blow out a whole lot. [00:45:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't. I. I don't. Like. I have kids miss because of, like, growth plates and things of that nature, and they're young and they want to miss in a whole year, but that has nothing to do. That's just, you know, the biometrics of life. But, like, honestly, I don't remember a kid having Tommy John on my watch, to be honest with you. I know Ed Howard. He missed his 14U year. He had a hole in his elbow, but it was. Again, it was something from growing, but it's a great story for me to say. Like, people so worried about missing games and getting healthy and things of that nature. And I'm like, hey, man, I had a first round pick who didn't play one game his 14 year, you know, and so, like, that. That tells you how much this 14 year season means in the longevity of your career. Career. It's n. I. I just think the training has become so. It's good. It's good. And even in. Even in the meetings, what I was saying, like, the USA Baseball has created the, you know, the. The program where you can only throw a certain amount of ends and you have to rest. I think that that thing is perfect because we don't know how many arms it's actually saved. And so Nelson Munoz, his senior year in high school, he pitched. And like, Nelson Munoz was a dog. Like, if you say, here, here's the ball, and he could have pitched 100 pitches the day before. He's like, all right, give me the ball. He's gonna go out there and he's gonna shove, like. And it's. And his coach knew that. And he wound up pitching in every single playoff game. And he tore his labrum. And he was never the same for the rest. Like, he had a scholarship to a Division 1 school. He didn't wind up not even going to that school because his arm was so jacked up. He did pitch in college, but not to the level where he should have been. But pitch mark came out exactly. After the next year. And honestly, I think pitchmart has saved a bunch of arms and a bunch of injuries. We'll never know because we don't know who would have blown out without like. And it saves the kids from the coaches. And I think that's the biggest thing. Like, coaches want to win so bad, they'll do whatever. [00:48:12] Speaker A: And the parents, too, because parents don't know. [00:48:15] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. And so. But if we revamp it, I think it. It can only get better. Like, it can't get worse. You know what I mean? And so I think. I think pitch smart is. Is. Is probably one of the better things that that's helped youth baseball. No doubt about that. [00:48:31] Speaker A: When are you introducing timing with the young hitters? Are you always talking about timing when they're moving? [00:48:37] Speaker B: Yeah, usually about six weeks in, getting into the season. You know, during the winter and fall, we hit with wood bats, man. About six weeks. About six weeks out. I tell them, put the wood bats up and get their aluminum bats out. And that's when you get a feel for it, and, and, and, but timing is, is so critical where, you know, I have a few drills like that slap drill I was talking about, it's more of a timing drill. Like I just tell her, tell them your feet need to be dancing with my arm. And not only does it teach them to watch my arm, it teaches them to watch for the release point. And it makes them so much better here. They don't even know that I'm tricking their brains. They have no idea at all. So but like about six weeks out and you know, pull out the two three plate drills we have. I'm a jack of all trades. Like we have three hack attacks there, but motors blew out on all three of them. So I wound up ordering the motors. And one day people are walking in the facility. I'm sitting in the lobby because it's got the most space and I got crap everywhere. And I'm like, they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, I don't know. But I hope these machines are ready to go when I've done so. You know those, that junior hack attacks are big because of the breaking ball and that you can throw and it gives them a chance to, to practice hitting the breaking ball so, and teaching them to stay balanced and stay back, keep their hands back on things that nature so, and use their core more. And so we do a lot of rotational work in the, in the weight room. It's. I, I told our trainer to make sure that they, you know, they, they work on rotational strength and using their core and things of that nature. So the, the timing, obviously timing is the most important part. Like kids don't know that that's the most important part of the swing. Like I tell them all the time, like you can have an ugly swing and be on time and you're going to hit or you can have a beautiful swing and not be on time and you're never going to hit. And so they, they get that part of it. And so I think we'll have a really, really, really strong summer this year because of it. [00:50:38] Speaker A: A lot of games in the summertime. How are you maximizing training or practice around game time? [00:50:45] Speaker B: We do two a days and so I try to see who loves it. And so for my high school kids, I'll bring them in into the facility early and so it's hot outside, we got air in the inside. We'll either hit on our indoor turf or hitting the cages. We'll do a workout. We'll be, I'll have them there for like Two, two, two and a half hours. And then they got to wait around for the games to go. And it tells me who actually loves it and who doesn't. And so, and all of the kids bought in. Like, I feel like I have such a great relationship with all of the young men that were coming to that, to that programming in the summer, you know, and so when I see them, it, it brings a smile to my face to kind of see the success that they've been having. [00:51:25] Speaker A: I just think that, you know, some of the programs out there, there's a lot of missed opportunities, even just get them there a little bit early before game time and, and find a parking lot or a vacant field somewhere and just work on some things before you start playing. [00:51:40] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's, it's more than just. Yeah, it's more than just showing up and playing, man. Like, it's, you got to get ready to play, you got to prepare yourself mentally to play. And you, I think, and then what I tell them is like, you, you, you have to trust. You have to understand the mechanics of everything that you're doing, because when you mind starts to fatigue, you have to rely on those mechanics a little bit more. And so being able to identify where your flaw when you're doing it right and understand why you're doing it right and then understand when you're wrong what the flaw is. And being able to, the quicker that you can adjust to those flaws and why you're doing something wrong, the better ball player you're going to be. And it's, and it's a matter of adjusting from pitch to pitch or at bat to bat or getting the game, you know, and so that's the message that I teach them all. Tell them all the time, like those great players, they're gonna, they might take a bad swing, but you throw that same pitch to them on the next pitch and they're going to smoke it because they're adjusting pitch to pitch. Like some of y'all got to wait to the next at bat to figure it out. And then some of y'all who won't be playing very long, you have to wait day to day to make your adjustments. And so it's funny because the kids start repeating the stuff that you say and they start imitating you and repeating. And I was like, that means they heard it. And so we have a fun time with it. [00:52:56] Speaker A: Plus, you can come at this from a parent standpoint because you had a child that went on and played at the next level. [00:53:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yep. It's different you know, my child, I feel like I told him everything that he knew. You know what I mean? And so, because he couldn't play any other sports, so I was like, I wonder if you could have played baseball if I wasn't with you. But no, he's a. He's a great kid. And I had a. A parent, one of my coaches the other day, like, coach, are we getting bigger bags this year? Because I buy everybody bags. They're like, are we getting bigger bags? And I was like, nah, just tell your son to take all of those empty Gatorade bottles and water bottles out of their bag. It'll create room. I'm like, I was a parent, you know, I did this for a long time. He looked at me, he was like, man. I was like, hey, I know what's going on. [00:53:49] Speaker A: So will you please tell people listening in that people in the Chicagoland area didn't think Alec Thomas was any good because they didn't like his swing. [00:54:01] Speaker B: Oh, my God. [00:54:06] Speaker A: Shout out, Alec. He stayed with what he was doing, man. [00:54:09] Speaker B: Love. [00:54:09] Speaker A: That was my question. It's like, if they're producing, why would you. [00:54:14] Speaker B: Why would you change it? Like, I would. The swing that he had when he was growing up. Like, I wouldn't teach a kid any of it. You know what I mean? But, like, that thing worked for Alex. His hand eye coordination was, you know, better than 99 of the kids I've seen. And he. If you. If you know Alex and you stand next to him, he's like 5 foot 8 and he can hit a ball a country mile. So, like, it worked for him. Like, so why would we change. Why would we change anything about what he's doing? And he. And the hitter that he is right now is the hitter that he's always been, you know, and so. And the swing looks similar. It's. [00:54:48] Speaker A: I loved his rhythm and timing. It's like, you can't. I think that gets coached out of a lot of kids. [00:54:54] Speaker B: I think. [00:54:55] Speaker A: I think that gets coached out of a lot of kids, whether it's pitching or hitting. I think the athleticism, the rhythm, the timing, like, all that stuff works together for a reason. I think you're seeing it with some of the motor preference stuff now is what they're talking about similar stuff. It's like, he's producing. [00:55:11] Speaker B: Leave him alone. Let him hit. Destroy the minor leagues. And I actually was talking with his hitting coaches, hitting coaches in my academy a couple weeks ago, and he's like. He, like. He's like, Kevin, he's gonna be Way different this year because he's kind of like, Alec was so gifted that he would just get in the box and hit. You know what I mean? And, like, whereas everybody else, like, all right, I'm doing this right, doing this right, doing this right. Like, Alex is, give me a bat. Give me. Get in the box. Boom. I'm going to smoke you. You know, he's a kid that always knew that he was going to be great. Like, his dad had him around big leaguers, you know, since he could get on the field and so, like, looking like he is super, super talented, super great person. But no, man, I wouldn't. It. It. It's a kid that you're over coaching if you change anything about him. And the thing that we have to do is kind of sit back and be like, and there's another kid, Eddie King. He's going to play center field for Louisville this year. Eddie was the same way. Eddie, roll out of bed and hit. And Eddie started coming to me for hitting lessons. And I told his dad, I was like, this ain't a good idea. Like, I don't want him to start thinking about stuff that he doesn't need to think about, because he's already thinking about the right things. [00:56:24] Speaker A: And if he needs the reps, that's a different day. If he wants to come in and just gets his. Get his reps in. Cool. [00:56:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:56:30] Speaker A: We're not doing anything else with it. [00:56:32] Speaker B: No, man, not at all. And so, like, coaches have to be leery of that and make sure that they understand, like, there are kids that you just. Some of them just. They're born to hit. Like, roll out of bed, give me a bat. I may not have swung in a month, and give me some time and, like, some reps in the cages, and I'll be back to normal. Whereas there are some other kids that don't have any handout coordination or know what to look for when a picture is releasing a baseball and things of that nature. So, no, Alec is special, special, special kid. [00:57:05] Speaker A: And you've seen the landscape of recruiting. It's changed so much. What are you relaying to your parents now about the recruiting process? Because it's so much. [00:57:16] Speaker B: Be your. Be your own recruiter. Utilize all the resources that you have available to you. Record your kids at bats, and if he's a hitter, if he's a pitcher, record him. If he's a catcher or position player, make sure you record him as much as possible, because the video is going to. To help. There are millions of millions of kids that are playing baseball that want to go to college and play baseball. And you're talking about roughly about 300 colleges in the country. And these coaches can't see everybody. So be your own recruitment coordinator. Have the footage, send it out to the schools that you want to go to. And if they. The coaches will respond to you. They'll see you and just kind of continue to do that. And the more that they watch you grow over a period of time, you send video your freshman year, your sophomore year, your junior year, they're going to be ready to recruit you if you're not on the big circuit. And so if they see the growth and the work that you're putting in, it speaks to your character of who you are and lets them know that you want to play baseball and you'll. You'll find a place to live. I think there's a place for everyone to play baseball in college if they want to. [00:58:24] Speaker A: Academics matter, too, though. Social aspects matter. What size campus do you want? You can do a lot of the legwork on the front end. As a parent and a player, are you interested in these programs academically? Well, make sure the school that you're sending the video to has something academically that you're interested in. What size school do you want? I don't think kids factor that in. I think that was the. That's the biggest reason I think kids leave places that they're at, besides playing time, is I don't think the campus is the right fit for them. And they've never done any of that homework. Or, like, what's the campus life like? What's the social aspect like of that campus for. For your kid? And the player needs to figure that out, too. But I think you can do some of that legwork on the front end before you even reach out to schools. Like, do some of that homework on the. On the front end of it. [00:59:12] Speaker B: Yeah. I have a couple kids in my program. I told them to apply to a certain. Certain schools because they were good academic students, and I knew that the coach would buy into them. I didn't tell the kids that there was a strong academic school. I assumed that they knew it was a strong academic school. And I was talking to one of the kids the other day. I was like, did you get accepted? Like, the other kid got accepted. Did you get accepted? Like, yeah, I got accepted. I was like, why didn't you say anything? He was like, I don't know. I was like, do your. Will your parents let you go to that school? He's like, I don't know, to play baseball. I said, are you crazy? I was like, I almost sent my son to that school. I was like, it's a as good of an education. It's not an Ivy League school. It's about as close to Ivy League school as it gets. And he was like, really? I was like, yeah, go do your mat, go do your research, man. And so you should be begging me to, to, to call that coach for you. [00:59:59] Speaker A: So do you have a fail forward moment, something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now helped you move forward? Everybody's got to answer that one. [01:00:07] Speaker B: I know, I know. I. Listening to the podcast, I've been thinking about this since you asked me, man, and trying to figure out what it was. You know, I got drafted twice when I was playing when I was growing up. And so I got drafted by the Padres and I signed with the Cubs and I got released pretty early into my career with the Cubs because I wound up getting hurt. And obviously when you get drafted and you have an opportunity to play professional baseball, I was 19 years old, you know what I mean? And I didn't know what I didn't know back then. I thought I was like a couple steps away from the big league, you know what I mean? And when I got released, you know, obviously I was depressed and, and, and my dream was pulled from me and I thought that, you know, I wouldn't have a chance to play in a major league sports anymore. But I didn't know that God wanted me to coach. I didn't know God wanted me to be a mentor and role model. And I've been fortunate enough to, to work for two major league organizations. I've been offered several jobs to coach in college and run other organizations, non baseball organizations, to be honest with you, just because of the work that I've done in, in the community. It's. I always grew up thinking that I wanted to be a major league baseball player. But I've, I've made it to the major leagues and helping the communities grow, the communities that I work in grow and become better places to live. And so I think that's, I think I've been a good instructor and good teacher and good mentor and, and helping young men. So that's, that's, that's what it was like. I wasn't meant to play major league baseball. I was meant to, to help the young men in our community. [01:01:47] Speaker A: So what was your thoughts on, on the Gaylord national in D.C. in the convention this year? [01:01:53] Speaker B: Lights out, man. It's always lights out. You do awesome. Y'all do an awesome, awesome, awesome job, man. It's. I wish I would leave the vendor show open a little bit longer on that last day so we can get in there. Like I always, I don't, I think the last three shows, I haven't had a chance to go walk through the entire Avenger show. But it's, it's, it, it's, it's. You guys do it. I don't know what I would do to make that event better. You know, to be in a room with a bunch of like minded individuals and being a community, the whole baseball community, from professional to, to, to collegiate to high school to youth, all collaborating and, and sharing ideas. It, it gets no better for a person like me. Like I'm a baseball junkie and I tell all of anybody that I can. Like, you need to make sure you get to an ABC convention. If you love baseball, that's where you should be. And so just at least get one, get to one so you can see if you like it or not. But usually when they get to one, they, they always want to go back to the next year. So I'm glad that is in Columbus. So my coach is here in, in Cincinnati. Columbus is probably like hour, hour and a half here from Cincinnati. So I'm gonna be a great venue. [01:03:13] Speaker A: People get there. It's gonna be a great venue. You're have a great time in Columbus. I love that city. [01:03:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:20] Speaker A: We made it better by the way, because you're now committee chair. You're the youth and travel service committee chair. That's how we make things like that better because that's, this is something new for us. We just created this because we felt like that that was a need because, you know, besides getting names, but having a dedicated time for you guys to sit down because we've had really good award honorees this year and Greg Goodwin was a great one. Kenny. Shout out. Kenny Foeman. I just saw, I think 25th year with the White Sox now, so shout out to Kenny. Greg did a phenomenal job speaking. We've had some really good people again that are in it for the right reasons, but we needed somebody to head up that committee because we need, we just need a specific time for y'all to, to get your work done on that. [01:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I appreciate that. Very truly honored. And I'm. Make the most of it, man. Make everybody proud of abca. [01:04:09] Speaker A: Who were your mentor. I know you said Greg Goodwin was a huge mentor of yours. Who else? [01:04:14] Speaker B: Kenny. Kenny Foreman, Kenny Foreman, Nathan Durst. Coach Franklin Leroy Franklin, who was my high school baseball coach. These guys have helped mold me into who I am. Like, Kenny's one of the smartest people I've met in my life, and so he's kind of. And he knows it. So, like, he. Unless you talk to him all the time, like, he won't. He. He gives snippets of it out. But, like, we used to talk every day when I was in Chicago, and I just be. Hang up the phone and kind of be amazed at some of the thoughts that come through his mind about you, baseball, and things of that nature. So Nathan is like, we still communicate, and it's another mind, another genius mind. Like, he's. He's like, yeah, that beautiful man. [01:05:03] Speaker A: Yeah, it's cerebral. [01:05:05] Speaker B: It's funny. I asked him, I was like, why haven't you become a scout director or gm? And he's like, would you want to work for me? And I was like, enough said. I work with you. So. But, yeah, no, he's. Those guys, every time I call, they pick up the phone and, you know, we talk. Just life. You know what I mean? Just more than baseball. And they've been very instrumental in my life. [01:05:29] Speaker A: All right, what's some final thoughts, and where can people find you if they want to reach out to you? [01:05:35] Speaker B: At KFCO on all social media platforms. I live at the Red Youth Academy. I'm not here. I'm not there right now, but it's eight minutes from my house, and so I'm pretty much there probably six days a week. We sometimes seven if kids want to hit. Like, we shut it down on Fridays, but I'll have kids reach out to me and be like, hey, Coach, can we hit today after school? And I can't say no. So if you want to get some work in, we're going to get some work in. You know what I mean? And you want to get better, let's get better. So here in Cincinnati, loving every minute of it and so hoping to change the game of baseball. And. And I've had coaches tell me, like, they used to come to Cincinnati all the time to recruit, and I would. And I've had scouts that knew what I did in Chicago, and they're like, man, if you come to Cincinnati and do. Do exactly what you did in Chicago, here in Cincinnati, it was like, you'll own the city. And so just kind of working them to reach that landscape. So. [01:06:35] Speaker A: Well, yeah. The hometown of Ken Griffey Jr. And senior should. Should be baseball fanatics. [01:06:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Barry Larkin, man. There's a lot of Pete Rose. Dave Parker. Dave Parker used to come in there for. [01:06:50] Speaker A: Dav was at the youth camp. Shout out to Dave. Dave showed up at the youth camp. [01:06:54] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So. And you're walking there and he'd be in a cage. He's in a wheelchair now. And I'd be like, man, you giving his lessons? He was like, absolutely. From his wheelchair. So it's just, it's, it is a awesome place. Joy Vato used to come all the time before he, you know, he finished with the Reds. And it's, it's a. You never know who you're going to see there. George Foster will walk in there whenever. Like, I didn't realize how good of a baseball player George Foster. [01:07:17] Speaker A: He's one of my idols growing up. [01:07:19] Speaker B: Yeah, man, he's unreal. Yeah, he's got a great, great. Yep, yep. And so those guys, it's. It's a, it's a, it's a. It's a good baseball town. It should be a great baseball town. And if you haven't had a chance to come to opening day at the Reds, I strongly. It should be a bucket list. The. The parade and party that they put on before opening day is second to none in any sport. [01:07:42] Speaker A: So, Kevin, thanks as always for your time, man. Appreciate our friendship and. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. [01:07:46] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thank you, man. Love you, man. [01:07:49] Speaker A: Proud to call Kevin a friend. I've had countless calls with him over the years on life and baseball. No doubt he'll be able to reproduce what he did in the Chicagoland area in Cincinnati. Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Klm, Matt Weston, the ABCA office. For all the help on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me via [email protected], twitter, Instagram or TikTok, coachbehrscrayabca or direct message me via the My Ibca app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off with American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks and leave it better for those behind you? [01:08:27] Speaker B: Your life is not for your name and you know that way Yep. [01:08:35] Speaker A: Wait for another day. [01:08:40] Speaker B: And the world will always return? And your life was there before yearning and you know that way Wait for another day.