Kobe Wixon - ABCA/Soldier Sports High School Div. I Assistant Coach of the Year

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the abca's podcast. I'm your host ryan brownlee. 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 Netting Pros 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. Today's guest on the ABCA podcast is ABCA Soldier Sports High School Division I Assistant Coach of the Year Kobe Wixson. Today's guest is someone who understands that coaching is about far more than what happens between the lines. Wixson led Arizona College Prep to their first ever Arizona 5A state championship this spring. Wixson is an award winning baseball coach, pitching coordinator, educator and youth pastor based in Arizona. His coaching journey has included stops at the high school, junior high and collegiate levels including Arizona Christian University and Westwood High School. But what really sets Wixen apart is the way he approaches player development. He's passionate about pitching, mental skills, team culture, leadership and communication. But at the center of it all is a simple philosophy. People first. Always. Relationships matter. More than anything else, Wixson is also deeply invested in developing young people away from the baseball field. After earning his degree in education from Northern Arizona University, he worked as a teacher and has served as a youth pastor in the Tempe area, using both ministry and coaching as avenues to help develop the next generation of leaders. He's also an author and contributor writing about pitching, mental skills, culture and the lessons that baseball can teach us about life. You can read his article no Such Thing as Little Things in the July August 2025 edition of Inside Pitch magazine. Today we're going to talk about pitching development, building a winning culture, mental side of the game, leadership, relationships and what it really means to coach the person, not just the player. Let's welcome Kobe Wixom to the podcast. Alright. Here with Kobe Wixom, ABCA Soldier Sports High School Division 1 assistant coach of the year led Arizona College Prep to their first ever 5A state championship. So Kobe, thanks for jumping on with me. [00:03:23] Speaker B: Of course. Really appreciate it. This is exciting. [00:03:25] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, and congrats to you guys because obviously beating Horizon, that's a big deal because Horizon's been a perennial team. [00:03:32] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:03:32] Speaker A: In the state of Arizona. [00:03:34] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. And, and they, they went on a nice little Cinderella type run. Honestly this year, I mean, turned into maybe not even a Cinderella run, but, but they were in our region and when we played them earlier in the year, they were 4 and 14. Like they, they were struggling a little bit and you know, they had a new coach and huge props to him because he, he really did a lot of good work with them. And they went on a run and they almost did it so that it was, it was exciting to, to play against them, you know, a region team, guys that we're familiar with. And yeah, it was, it was a good game and they, they did a lot of cool stuff. [00:04:19] Speaker A: Did you ask him at all about their turnaround and what he felt like turned their season around? [00:04:26] Speaker B: I, I did not personally know, but he, he went on, I don't remember. He went on some, some, one local radio show to talk about it. So I heard him talk a little bit on there. But from what it sounded like is they just kind of, just kind of rallied together, got tired of a 4 and 14 losing streak, you know, because like you said, I mean, Horizon's a well known school, right? So they've always been good and they have tons of good players. I mean they, they won the region last year and returned so many of the guys. So it wasn't like it was a new roster, new kids or anything. So I think they just, I think they just kept doing the same old thing and they turned it around. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Did you all deal with much adversity this year? [00:05:16] Speaker B: We, we had moments for sure. Our very first. So before the regular season, we, we, we are, we're in a tournament, like a little scrimmage tournament. And we went one and three in that tournament and all three losses, we should have won definitely two of them. We blew, we were leading late and then blew the, the game in the later innings. And so that was a tough start to the year. And you know, we had, we had a, we were very senior heavy, a lot of seniors who were four year guys. And so, you know, we had some expectations for sure going into the year. And so that tournament was kind of a, that was a Tough little way to start, but. But the guys turned it around and we ended up going, I think like on a nine or ten game win streak. And I would say the biggest thing that we kind of ran into we. Our first region game against Campo Verde this year, that was like the, that was the one game this year that we did not play to our, to our DNA. It was just the whole game was weird. The vibe, the energy, the dugout culture, how we played on the field, how we acted off the field. It was, it was a very weird game. It was not an ACP game. And so I remember after the game we took them all to right field, you know, away from the parents and stuff, and just honestly had a heart to heart with them. And now honestly looking back, like that was a huge moment for our season for sure. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Did you guys adjust practice at all after 1 and 3? Did you guys adjust anything after that or just kind of rolling with what you were doing? [00:07:09] Speaker B: We definitely kept rolling. I think that the biggest thing, you know, like I said, we. We had 15 seniors on our roster this year, which was a ton. And a lot of them had been playing varsity baseball for three or four years with us. And so a lot of it for them was, was keep rolling with the same thing, just sticking to the process, which I know for me as a coach sometimes can always feel like, gosh, do we need to do something different? But it's always just reminding yourself, like, trust the process. You know, trust, trust the guys that you got. Trust your coaching. And you know, we've got a good staff and we had a lot of really good players this year that honestly a lot of them didn't need as much pushing as maybe I've had players in years past. So that was super helpful. But yeah, we had a lot of guys who would self coach themselves in a way, especially after that tournament. A lot of them were, were very motivated to not let that be the rest of the season. [00:08:19] Speaker A: Well, that's a good thing and a bad thing with 15 seniors. I mean, obviously the experience is there, but also it's on the flip side because you still have to come ready to play. You know, that's kind of that balancing act with older guys is like they've been through it and they've seen it, but they also still have to come ready to play every day because you never know with baseball. [00:08:38] Speaker B: 100%. Yeah. And I think that that was the story, honestly of that Campo Verde game. Like I said, we just, we just went on a 10 game winning streak and here we are going into this region game, which I think a lot of them felt like we got this, you know, we just went on a 10 game win streak, you know, and we're better than this team. And clearly we were not that day. So you're 100% right. And I honestly think that was a lot of what went into that, that game. [00:09:11] Speaker A: That's the beauty of baseball because as soon as you think you got it figured out, like the game's gonna punch you in the mouth and, and let [00:09:17] Speaker B: you know, humbles you real quick. [00:09:20] Speaker A: That's the beauty of baseballs because it has a way of checking you when you need to get checked. [00:09:26] Speaker B: It is the absolute best. And I mean, I love baseball because I feel like it teaches. It's the best teacher of life. Um, and yeah, that, that was a, that was a very real life lesson for those guys for sure. So it was needed. [00:09:43] Speaker A: What have you learned from coach Pollock? [00:09:46] Speaker B: Oh, man. Yeah, he's been awesome. He, I, he's taught me so many things and I, I honestly, it's one of those things. I was, I was thinking about this the other day, talking with my wife about it. Like, he's taught me almost so much that I don't think he's even realized. He's taught me so much, you know, just from watching and observing. Observing him. But no, he's been awesome. I think the thing that I've learned the most from him is just having a calm and steady presence. You know, he is not a guy that gets too high or too low. He's very steady all the time. And I think for me, especially as a young coach, I have not been that way all the time. And so watching him, that's been incredible. But he's also just kind of taken me under his wing in a lot of different ways, you know, like teaching me field maintenance and, you know, yearly schedule planning and, you know, how to put in for buses and here's how we do uniforms and, you know, here's how I do with boosters and parents. And so literally every facet of coaching he has poured into me with, and it's, it's been incredible. Very much has turned into more of a friendship than anything else, which, you know, that's, that's what baseball is about, right? Is those connections and, and people. So, yeah, Coach Pollock's awesome. He's been incredible for me. [00:11:17] Speaker A: What have been the biggest differences between coaching in college not coaching high school? [00:11:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think the obvious one for me is the time, you know, the time commitment for it and, you know, I still, that still is a goal for me is to coach college. But, you know, my time, I was, when I was at Arizona Christian for that time, it was, we had our first baby then and I lived an hour and a half away from the field one way. And so it was a lot of time required away from family. And so it was kind of right job, wrong time situation, very much a fail forward type of moment. But, you know, I think from a pitching coach perspective, the biggest thing I experienced was in high school, most of you guys are two ways. Whereas in college, for the most part, they're, they're just pitchers, right? So there's a lot of, you know, technicalities maybe is the word that you gotta, you know, figure out with, with practice planning and whatnot. You maybe don't have as much time with a certain pitcher because they also got to go hit and they gotta take their infield and all this stuff. So, yeah, I'd say, I would say that was a thing. You know, it wasn't necessarily an issue. But yeah, I remember when I was at ACU and I had 20 pitchers and you know, first practice it's like, all right, they're yours for three hours. And it's like, oh, crap, I'm used to these two way guys. I get them for 30 minutes. So, yeah, that, that was the difference for sure. [00:12:54] Speaker A: How are you managing workload with two way players? [00:12:58] Speaker B: I think it requires a ton of communication. I don't believe there's such a thing as over communicating. And so it just requires communicating every day with your player. I think, I think step one is just checking in with them at the start of practice of how is your arm feeling? You know, and at the beginning of the year, you'll have some kids who, they'll tell you it feels fine, even if it doesn't feel fine. But, you know, eventually you build that trust and they'll be more honest with you. But yeah, I think it, I think it's communicating with the players, but also communicating with, you know, the infield coach, the outfield coach. And hey, you know, this guy just threw a bullpen yesterday. Maybe, you know, don't have him throw during this drill, you know, something like that. So it's just, it's, it's constant communicating. But I think it's, it starts with checking in with the player, you know, because I don't know how their arm feels, but making sure that, that they know that it feels good. [00:13:59] Speaker A: Are you tracking workload at all using Excel, spreadsheet or using anything Else to track workload. [00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah, we, yeah, just everything's, you know, just paper charts. But yeah, I, we chart every single bullpen. So in our bullpens everything is charted. Not so much other throws, you know, like if they're, if there are the third baseman and they're making throws in an infield drill, not stuff like that. But yeah, we, we chart everything in a bullpen. [00:14:30] Speaker A: What are you charting in a bullpen? [00:14:33] Speaker B: It looks different. We have multiple different charts. It kind of depends on what the purpose of the bullpen is. But the, the main ones that we use is like a strike percentage chart. Very simple. It's just tallies and then sometimes we'll do, it's called like an execution chart. So we do those a lot in, in, in the fall in season. I like to make my bullpens as game like as possible. So a lot of times what we'll do is, you know, if we're prepping for a, you know, horizon, let's say we'll, we'll get our hitting charts from the last time we played them and we'll simulate, you know, the first five batters of the lineup and here's what worked last time, here's what, you know, didn't and, and kind of work like that. So we'll chart in that sense too. So it kind of depends on what the purpose of the pen is when we're doing it. But, but we, I want to chart everything so that I have everything in [00:15:36] Speaker A: record and written down using constraints. In your bullpen at all you have stand ins or strengths at all? [00:15:41] Speaker B: Yeah, we, we got those little batter dummies last year. I personally, I would rather, I would want them in every bullpen that I ever throw. And so I highly encourage that for all of my pitchers and most of them do. The only times we don't have stand ins is if we're like doing a pitch design. You know, if we're, if we're trying to teach a new change up grip. I don't, we don't need a guy to stand in, you know. But yeah, I'd say nine out of ten of our bullpens have either a dummy or, or a batter coming in. And I actually had last year our, our ace, he, before every game he really liked having someone stand in. He didn't like the dummy guy. He wanted an actual person standing in, which I thought was great. But what that turned into is a lot of times before game all the other players were occupied and so I would end up having to stand in and almost Got hit a few times, so I learned to maybe stand back a little bit. But. But I did that with him for every single game, even before the championship game. So that was a cool little thing that we had going. But, yeah, we. We've got. We like. I like to have guys stand in all the time. [00:16:57] Speaker A: It's kind of good, though, as a pitching coach to get on that side of the plate sometimes. Oh, yeah, you can see it. You see it differently from. From the plate? [00:17:06] Speaker B: Very much. Yep. Yep. And I. I remember one game. I don't remember which one it was, but it was in. You know, being in Arizona, we have these spring training stadiums, so our. Our playoffs are played in the spring training stadiums, and so it had to have been one of those. But I remember one time our. Our guy, his name was Clay Nachman, but I remember one time he threw this slider that I thought was going right in my back, and it just bent back in and, you know, who knows if it was a strike or not? But I remember seeing that pitch, and I was like, oh, wow. All right. That is disgusting. You know, so, yeah, it definitely. It gives you that perspective, you know, from the batter's point of view. And so I liked it, honestly, besides almost getting hit in the face a few times. But. But it's cool, Matt. [00:17:57] Speaker A: Danny at Castile said you're doing a good job, by the way. [00:18:01] Speaker B: I appreciate that. Yeah, Danny's awesome. He's. He's becoming a. A legend here in Arizona. So, yeah, he's been cool. I've. I've. I've gotten to work with him a little bit more, just through the. Our azbca. [00:18:18] Speaker A: He's on the board doing a great job with. With that, by the way. [00:18:21] Speaker B: Oh, good. I appreciate that. Yeah, I. I joined on last year. Yeah. I knew two of the other coaches on the board and, you know, offered, hey, if you guys need help with anything, so. So, yeah, I've been doing that for the past year. It's been really fun just connecting with other coaches, but Denny's been one of the ones that I've been to connect with a lot. [00:18:41] Speaker A: So what have been your responsibilities with the Arizona Baseball Coaches Association? [00:18:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it's two things mainly. So it's. It's social media and communications. So I do. We have a Twitter and an Instagram, so I post all that stuff, make the content for it, and, you know, send it all out. And then on communication side of things, it's. It's the mass emails, you know, of like, hey, we have this tournament opening, you know, or hey, our clinic's coming up, stuff like that. So it's, I do the kind of the mass communication. Our, our president does a lot of the communication too for like more specific type stuff. But, but yeah, it's sending out emails and making sure coaches from the whole state, not just from Phoenix, are connected and in the loop. [00:19:34] Speaker A: What are you using for editing content? [00:19:37] Speaker B: I use Canva. [00:19:39] Speaker A: So you're doing your graphics on Canva? [00:19:41] Speaker B: Yep, yep. I started that. So I used to be a teacher. I don't teach anymore. [00:19:45] Speaker A: For anybody that doesn't use. Oh my gosh, I'm not smart when it comes to that. But I can use Canva. Like and, and if I can use it, anybody can use. [00:19:54] Speaker B: Makes me look really good. But really it's. I'm just finding templates, you know. But no, it's a battle though. It's incredible. [00:20:02] Speaker A: That's half the battle. Just getting in there and doing it though. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And I like that. I, I, so I do it for the AZBCA and I do it for our team as well. So I, I've always liked doing it. But yeah, I started when I was teaching the district paid for the free Canva account, so that's kind of how I started looking at it. And then when I stopped teaching, I was like, I really like that premium account. So yeah, so I use that and it's super simple. And you know, I've kind of gotten a rhythm of how to do all of it, so now it's easier to me. [00:20:40] Speaker A: But yeah. Video editing too. Or is it just, Just pictures occasionally. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:45] Speaker A: I've gotten into capcut here a little bit. [00:20:48] Speaker B: Okay. [00:20:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I really want to be better, easy video editing. [00:20:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:20:54] Speaker A: Cap cuts. Good. Because you can change the ratios too. So like the stuff that. [00:20:58] Speaker B: Yes. [00:20:59] Speaker A: We put out for, for I do Tick Tock. We don't with the office, but yeah, you know, for Instagram, Tick Tock with. I think it's a 9 by 16. It's easy to change the ratio. [00:21:09] Speaker B: And then I think my wife uses it. Yeah, she. I've heard a bunch about it. But yeah, it's easy. [00:21:15] Speaker A: It's really easy. [00:21:16] Speaker B: Video editing is not something that I've ever really done. It's mainly been graphics and photos imovie [00:21:22] Speaker A: for a lot of it. But then if I need to change the rate, if I need to change the ratio to get it to fit right. Instagram or TikTok, then I'll use Capcut to get it changed. And then we, we're using. What am I using now? Sub Magic will put captions. [00:21:39] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:39] Speaker A: On videos so that. Oh, yeah, yeah. So I get it edited in cap cut and then I actually switch it over to Sub Magic and that will add the. [00:21:47] Speaker B: Okay, there you go. [00:21:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker B: Makes it easy. [00:21:50] Speaker A: When did you decide to start writing the mental skills handbook? [00:21:55] Speaker B: Oh, man, I don't even remember how it started. Was my own mental health journey. I went through a very long season of battling mental health. And what had happened was I had a pastor recommend a book to me, and I never liked reading ever in my life. And so he recommended this book to me and I was like, what's gross? I'm not gonna. It was called oh, gosh, I'll have to look it up. I. It'll come to me. But he recommended this book. It's going to bother me if I don't look it up. So I'm looking it up right now because I know that I have listeners. [00:22:41] Speaker A: I'm going to get hounded if. If you know. [00:22:43] Speaker B: Yes. But anyway, as I look it up, I'll. I'll keep talking. But he recommended the book and it really flipped kind of my mind perspective. And in the process of that, it led to reading another book and another book and another book. And so kind of over the course of time, I started collecting all of these little tidbits. And so as I was collecting them, I put them in just the notes app on my phone. And I remember I started sharing them with my athletes and whatnot. And one day I looked at the notes app and I had 70 some things on there. And I was like. And I had a kid player say, you should put that in a book. And I was like, that's not a bad idea. So. So that's kind of how it started, was just kind of putting it together. And so it turned out to be a really cool project. And I'm in the process of writing the second one for it because I've just continuously collected more little mental tidbits throughout the course of time. So, yeah, that was a fun process. [00:23:57] Speaker A: So, yeah, that's why I put that video out last week of some of the stuff that I do in the morning because I had a friend that was really struggling. So I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna put together some of that stuff I do after I work out. And yes, I saw my coaches reached out about it, which was good. Like, I. It that had been in my notes in my videos forever because I actually filmed it in Lewiston, Idaho, at the anti Iowa World Series. [00:24:21] Speaker B: Oh, there you go. [00:24:22] Speaker A: Okay. It just had been sitting in there and like, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna put this out because even if it helps one or two people, that's just as good as not putting it out. [00:24:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:24:36] Speaker A: And small things. It doesn't take long to do it. I think I've layered stuff on over [00:24:40] Speaker B: time, [00:24:42] Speaker A: so it seems daunting in the beginning at times, but it's not. Like, as you continue to layer up, how much of that stuff are you still using personally? [00:24:52] Speaker B: Oh, a ton. Yeah. Yeah, I, I still. There. There's. There's a couple of them that have stuck with me that I. That I use, but I do. I started doing like a gratitude journal every morning. [00:25:08] Speaker A: Love it. [00:25:09] Speaker B: And I've been doing that for almost three years. Um, is it the five things? [00:25:13] Speaker A: I mean, that's kind of the recommended. Like, five. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. It's literally, yes, I. I buy the book off the little journal off Amazon. But yeah, it's like three things you're grateful for. Three blessings that happen. So the book was. I finally found. It took me forever. It was called winning the war in your mind by Craig Groeschel. So it was all just about literally just. Just switching your perspective and recon, retaking over your mind. And so, yeah, that book was kind of what started it all. [00:25:45] Speaker A: Well, what were you struggling with? What it. What felt off? Because I think we all know, like, when we. We kind of like, I don't know if you ever feel normal, but like, I think we all know, like, okay, this is kind of my baseline of where I feel good. Like, what. What was it for you where you're like, okay, I'm. I. I do feel off a little bit. [00:26:00] Speaker B: Yeah. It's always been the. More so the anxiety level of things of, you know, I would always. I'm very much a doer and I'm very much a planner. And so when things don't go according to how I plan, how it used to be was I would spiral, right. Like, feel very anxious, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is not how it's supposed to be. So very much would spiral. So that was kind of always. The first thing was just I knew I was getting off track when my brain started spinning a thousand miles an hour. You know, it would lead to all this anxiety and stuff. So that's why that book was so helpful because it was, you know, changing your thoughts and. And recentering yourself is the one that get. [00:26:47] Speaker A: It's the ruminating on. [00:26:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:50] Speaker A: Things. [00:26:51] Speaker B: That's where 100%. [00:26:52] Speaker A: And honestly, 90% of the stuff that we worry about probably never had. It's so. It's so much worse in your mind than it ever really how it plays out. And some of it all the time. Time like it, it will get better. Like you just got to give it time. [00:27:08] Speaker B: It always, always does. And I've, I've never been a patient guy, so that was another factor. [00:27:16] Speaker A: Patient, though. [00:27:17] Speaker B: Well, that's good. [00:27:18] Speaker A: You do that. [00:27:19] Speaker B: I, I have, I have learned over, over my, My journey, but I still, yeah, I still have my moments of being impatient. [00:27:31] Speaker A: Have your views on coaching pitchers changed at all since you got into coaching? [00:27:36] Speaker B: I, yes, and nothing like crazy, but just over. You know, I've only been coaching for four years. It's been a. Feels like it's been a lot in that time. But I'd say the biggest thing that I have just slowly started to learn more and more and more is, is one, pitching is so individualized and so there's not a cookie cutter thing that's going to fit all pitchers. And so what that requires for me, I don't view it as extra work. I, I enjoy doing it, but it requires me to know each guy and hey, this guy recovers well this way. This guy wants to throw the day after he pitches. This guy doesn't want to touch a baseball at all. You know, this guy wants to do a bullpen two days before. This guy wants to do three days before it. It kind of, you know, everyone's individual. So my first year or two, it was very much me trying to be like, here is what everyone. Here's the, here's the plan, right? Here's what everyone's going to do. And now it's more. So here's an example plan that I have. But what works well for you and working with them? Um, I think the second thing is, you know, like I said earlier, there's. There's no such thing as too much communication. So always communicating with the pitchers, not even just of like, where's your arm, how's your health? And stuff, but, you know, getting to know them personally, but also in terms of, hey, you know, here's the week ahead. We've got a game this day, this day. Here's my plan for you. I'm going to, let's try to plan a bullpen this day and blah, blah, blah, blah, you know, so just trying to communicate a bunch. But yeah, I think from when I first started coaching to now, it's been mainly like everyone is so individual and even on top of that things can change for the individual. One year they like to do this, but the next year they're doing this, you know, so. Yeah. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Do you deal with freshmen much in the fall? Do you have to deal with the freshmen, the new guys? [00:29:48] Speaker B: Yeah, we do. So our fall, we do everyone. So we have the whole program out there with us, which I honestly really like. I think it's cool. And it helps me get to know the freshmen and whatnot. I also, during season, I help schedule all of the freshman and sophomore routines and stuff. So it's helpful for me in that aspect in the fall to know them personally. But yeah, we. We have the freshman, sophomore, junior, seniors, everyone out there together. Sometimes it can get a little crazy because we'll have, you know, 60 to 70 kids. But yeah, I work with them all in the fall, so. Which, like I said, I honestly enjoy it. [00:30:37] Speaker A: How much time you spend with a freshman on just how to grip the ball properly? [00:30:42] Speaker B: Yeah, a lot. [00:30:43] Speaker A: It's crazy. [00:30:44] Speaker B: Isn't is crazy? And yes, it's a lot of. I don't want to say the little things because I don't really believe in such thing. [00:30:55] Speaker A: Well, that was your article too. An inside pitch. I really. Yes, I pitch. There's no. There's no such thing as small things. [00:31:02] Speaker B: Yeah, no such thing. Yeah, yeah. You can't. You gotta treat everything like it's the most important thing. So. But it. It. I say in little things in the sense of that's how they, you know, when they're coming in as freshmen, they view it as a little thing. I don't really need to work on it that much. And it's like. Well, actually, the difference between your pointer finger being the pressure point and your middle finger is quite a big difference. So let's spend some time on that. So, yeah, it's a lot of that. Definitely playing around with different things. And at the freshmen, they're either terrified and so they just listen anyway, or they're just such a. Out of such a impressionable stage. And so they just. You. You say something, they're like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah. Yeah. So. [00:31:49] Speaker A: And your article was good. It was on base running. I mean, you made the point about base running. Yeah. [00:31:53] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, I. [00:31:54] Speaker A: People that maybe haven't read the article. Go through. Go through that story. It's good. [00:31:58] Speaker B: Yes, that was a. So when I was. When I was at Westwood High School, we had a middle school right next door and in Arizona, it's very much open enrollment. And so just because you live right there doesn't mean you go there. And so we kind of had this situation where these kids who were going to the middle school that was right next door weren't coming into Westwood. And so our head coach at Westwood had us assistant coaches go coach these middle schools. So I coached out of middle school, and, you know, the season was six weeks, eight weeks long, something like that. It's. It's nothing crazy, but. But going into that year, I had all. I had all these things planned out. You know, I was. I was. I was ready to be really, really detailed and everything with them. And I remember going through that first week of practice, and I had kids who play club ball 10 months out of the year and kids who have never picked up a baseball in their life. And so it was just this kind of weird dynamic on the team that I had. And yeah, we. We had a. A game later in the season where we had a kid on second base, one out. And, you know, it was a. Wasn't a line drive, but it wasn't necessarily a pop fly either. But, you know, ball to the outfield. And this kid running was a kid who was in the category of never played baseball before. And so we had worked on it before, but, you know, it's. It's. He's learning and so fly ball, he takes off right away, and they end up doubling us off. And I had another kid who had. Who was a club kid who knows the game of baseball. To him, that was like, duh. You know, obviously you tag up, but for the other kid, he didn't know that, you know, so the, the kid made the comment of like, come on, that's such a little thing. You got to know that. And it just kind of. It really. It opened my eyes a little bit of like, well, if your mindset is that it's a little thing that maybe is the issue. Right. So, yeah, that was the whole article of. You know, there is. There is no such thing as little things. You got to treat everything like it's the most important thing. And that goes from, you know, how you are in the classroom as a student, how you are at home, how you train, how you do your dailies, how you throw, how you take care of your arm, what you eat, what you sleep. You know, you got to treat everything like it is the most important thing. And that mindset is a hard mindset for a lot of kids. So [00:34:43] Speaker A: a little break in the action here to send out some reminders. September 1st, all ABCA members can register for the convention and hotel. Chicago is a great city to Host the convention with plenty of hotel space close to the McCormick Center. We look forward to seeing everyone January 7th through the 10th. I'm excited about my eighth year of hosting Barnstormers events. We have another great lineup of speakers and team afternoon components. October 17, Cal State Bakersfield. October 24, Dallas Baptist University. November 7, Creighton University. And November 14, Kennesaw State. September 9 we'll be announcing our main stage speakers. And September 16, we'll be announcing these stage speakers. Appreciate you investing your time to listen. As always, reach out to me if you need anything. Thanks again for joining me on this journey of self discovery and self improvement. If an episode speaks to you in a positive way, please share it with someone you feel it would help. Now back to the podcast. How do you balance that in practice with practice planning with a group like that that, yeah, you know, you might have a kid who hasn't played very much and then you've got kids who've played for a while. So how do you, how do you balance that out and practice? So both groups are getting what they need. Obviously it's going to be remedial for maybe kid who hasn't had that many reps and then it might be a little bit more advanced for a kid who's been playing for a while. So how do you balance the practice planning for that? [00:36:06] Speaker B: Yeah, so I remember the next day after that game at practice, you know, we obviously working on base running and you know I had, I had the whole team there, everyone was doing the drill. But I remember for a couple of the kids who were really advanced, I don't remember exactly what it was, but I gave them some sort of challenge. Um, I, I gamified it almost for them. Um, and so you know, for the kids who needed to learn the skill of in the air tag up, you know, that's, that is what we worked on. But for the kids who already knew that skill, I gamified it and, and made it more so of a competition for them and made it more intriguing for those kids to participate in it. Yeah, because they're, you know, for them they're like, I'd rather go work on these other things. I don't want to work on tagging up. I know that. So yeah, we, we gamified it for them and it's almost worth. [00:37:07] Speaker A: They enjoy watch out and time their, their reads as far as who's. Who's making decisions quicker and absolutely. And correct decisions quicker. Like who's getting back to the bag quicker to tag or if it's down. Who's advancing the basis quicker to tag. Like, that's a way to kind of probably advance that a little bit. [00:37:26] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. [00:37:28] Speaker A: Where it's not just, hey, that was the right read. It's like, okay, they, they made a quicker decision on this one than you did. [00:37:33] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. And like I said, I don't remember what we did to gamify it, but they ended up liking it a lot. So, yeah, you know, it's. It's a challenge, especially, you know, at lower levels of coaching. Right. Like, you. You do have, you know, even some of these freshmen that, you know, I'm, I'm starting with our, with our pitchers next week and, you know, even just planning some of these freshmen that I saw in the summer. It's like, okay, I know this kid needs a lot of work. Whereas this kid, he's. He's. He's pretty good right now, you know, so it's definitely a challenge. But if I'm being honest, I think that's. That's what I enjoy about coaching, you know, 100% that, like, that's, that's fun to me. [00:38:19] Speaker A: So, hey, when you say a kid needs a lot of work, so what is it set up? Like, I mean, all of it just take through. Like when you're watching a kid you maybe haven't seen before and you're checking all the boxes off. [00:38:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:30] Speaker A: What are the things that you see? They're like, okay, this. He's gonna need some work. [00:38:36] Speaker B: Yeah. The first thing that I like to look at is how they play catch. That tells me a lot. You can, you can get a lot of information from a kid from how they play cats, not just from, like, how they're throwing, but their body language playing catch. Like, you can tell a lot about a kid's makeup just from that. So that's the first thing. But yeah, when we get on, like, you know, on a mound or stuff, I like to start from the bottom and work up in terms of, you know, their movement. So, you know, I'll start with what their feet are doing, you know, how their balance is. Are they using their legs at all? Are they not? You know, how are their. How are their hips rotating? Are they getting down the mound? Are they extending well, so I kind, I kind of go feet up mechanically if that's an issue. But, yeah, you. You can tell a lot from just how a kid plays catch, so that's kind of a starter. [00:39:38] Speaker A: Do you have daily catch play drills that they'll go through? [00:39:42] Speaker B: Yeah, so we have a whole Throwing program that everyone goes through that coach Pollock has made. And so, so the whole program has a catch play routine. It's not just go out there and warm up. It is a routine. Talk us through them. Yeah. So they're, you know, it's, they start on their knees trying to get behind the baseball, trying to, you know, get good spin and whatnot. You know, eventually they'll go back to. People call a bunch of different things. We call it the ten toes. You know, just both feet pointed. So it starts, you know, goes to there. I'm still working, spinning on it. We, we tell them all the time to, every time they're playing catch. It's, you know, the very simple triangle game. Right. Like compete with yourself and make that a big thing, make it important. So yeah, you know, it, it goes, you know, a couple things on the knees and they do a couple of things with 10 toes and then they'll go back and back and it's, it's different for each position. So if they're an infielder, they have different footwork, type of, of throwing skills for an infielder. Right. They'll, they'll do some backhand footwork. They'll, you know, do some throwing on the run for outfielders. Same thing. You know, they'll, they'll do their chop step and get a ground ball. They'll do the same thing with the fly ball. So whatever your position is, you will work up to a certain point where now you're doing position specific throwing. And then they'll, they'll come back in and you know, go back. Same thing. But for pitchers specifically, you know, I always, I always like to encourage them. It depends on what they're doing that day. But I'm a, I'm a long toss guy. I like long toss. I think it's healthy. I think everyone should do it. Some guys don't like it. That's neither here nor there. But you know, if they're throwing a bullpen that day, their throwing program might look different. You know, if it's the day after they just threw a game, it might look different. But yeah, we have a whole throwing program and it's, it's position specific how far pitchers go. [00:42:01] Speaker A: So say on their bullpen day, how far are they getting stretched out for long toss? Yeah, so it's so individual on that. [00:42:09] Speaker B: It is, yeah. Yeah. I, I try to encourage them on a bullpen day. Like, I don't really want you going more than 120ft. I think long toss, like I said, I Love long toss. But that should not be done, in my opinion, on a bullpen day, on a game day. You know, I don't want you to be using all of this exertion and energy when you should be doing it on the mound. Right? So, yeah, it depends. We had a guy last year who on days that he threw, would only go to 90ft. I thought that was short, but it worked really well for him. And then we would have some guys who, you know, would always want to go further and further. So, yeah, it depends. But, you know, I'd say, you know, 90 to 120 is probably good on those kind of days. No pull downs, you know, like, I don't want you to go be doing a pull down out there when you're, like I said, you're supposed to be using all that exertion on the mound. So. And that's something that, like I said, going back to that for those freshmen, like, those are things that those kids don't maybe not know. Right? Like, you know, we're doing a bullpen with a freshman and we, you know, we have, we do summer stuff with, with freshmen only. And, you know, I remember a freshman, he was supposed to be starting the game, and I see him out warming up and he is throwing it as far as he can, you know, just the most long toss that he could possibly do. And I just remember talking to him like, hey, what's, you know, what's, what's your thought with that? You know, I don't want to approach him and be like, don't do that. So just kind of checking his brain. And he was like, oh, that's just, that's what my coach told me to do, you know, and I'm not blaming the coach. Like, that's, you know, but he just, that was something that he didn't know. So it was a good learning moment for him. Of like, hey, here's why I think we shouldn't long toss on a day when we're gonna go. Go throw. So that's a teaching moment. [00:44:09] Speaker A: When are there days to stretch out, though? During the week. So around there maybe bullpen and then games. When do you have them stretch it out? [00:44:17] Speaker B: So, yeah, so I kind of. In the season, the kind of framework that I like to give each pitcher is doing a bullpen two to three days before they start. So let's say, you know, they're. They're pitching on Thursday. Well, that means on Tuesday they're doing their bullpen. And so that would mean on Monday, then they would get Stretched out. So that would be a stretch. Stretching out on Monday, bullpen on Tuesday, the immediate day before. I call it a hybrid day. I'm not a big, flat ground guy. I, I would prefer everything to be done off of a slope. So we call it a small box, you know, just bringing in the catcher at 50ft instead of 60. So it's the same purpose as a small. As a flat ground just off the slope. So they'll do that on a hybrid day, and then the immediate day after is recovery. That would be, you know, an ideal, perfect situation, but it doesn't always work out that perfectly. But, but usually I would say a day or two before they do their bullpen is when they probably would be stretching out. [00:45:29] Speaker A: Sprint work day. Two day before they start that sprint work day. [00:45:33] Speaker B: Yep. And we incorporated this past year, I saw this. I don't remember who it was, but it was some. It was a. It was video off of abca. But this coach was talking about before every bullpen, he had their pitchers do sprints right before they threw. And he was talking about, you know, in a game, especially for high schoolers, maybe you just hit a double, right. And so you're tired, you're exhausted, and now you're going to go out there and pitch. And so, you know, he talked about that. So we started incorporating that last year and obviously the guys didn't like it at first, but eventually towards the end of the season, they would do it without me even telling them. So we started doing. Yes, it does. Yeah. And it, and it makes the bullpen more game like. Right. Which. The, the biggest danger of bullpens is when it's just going through the motions. So, yeah, so we, we started doing those. It's just two sprints, you know, there and back right before they pitch. But yeah, we'll do. We'll do sprint work. Um, and then after they throw their bullpens, they have some light conditioning that they do, and that's something that I've implemented more. I didn't really do much conditioning with my pitchers my first couple years just because I didn't realize how important it was. But yeah, we, we implemented that a lot last year. And, and it, you know, it was beneficial. We played a month longer than most other teams, so it, it was needed. [00:47:10] Speaker A: General fitness still matters 100%. [00:47:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, matters big time. [00:47:16] Speaker A: Will you shut down after the fall then? Do you shut them down? [00:47:21] Speaker B: Yes. Ish. [00:47:23] Speaker A: Ish. [00:47:24] Speaker B: Ish. Yeah, they. A lot of our guys play club, so even if I wanted to shut a guy down, they're still going to play. But I'm kind of more on the process of maybe a deload rather than a full shutdown. [00:47:43] Speaker A: I agree with you. [00:47:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Like there. And there are some guys who do genuinely need to, hey, don't pick up a baseball for a couple weeks. There are some guys who need that. But I would say for the most part, especially in our winter break, it's like a two to three week stretch where we don't see them. I would, I encourage them to do more of a deload, still throw. But when you completely shut them down for those four weeks. Yes, yes. And then they come back in January and it's like, gosh, we just stretched you all the way up to 60 or some pitches and now you're coming back or season's a month away and you can only throw 20, you know. So, yeah, we, we try to do more of a deload and it honestly works out better that way because like I said, so many of our guys play club, so they're throwing anyway, so shutting them down wouldn't really be beneficial to them. So. [00:48:36] Speaker A: And you'll have to be. You'll have to do a lot more coaching this fall with losing that many guys. [00:48:41] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:48:42] Speaker A: Which is fine. [00:48:44] Speaker B: So fun. [00:48:44] Speaker A: It's going to be different, though. I mean, you got to adjust. [00:48:46] Speaker B: It's going to be so different. Yes, we, we, we had our end of year coaches meeting a couple months ago and that was the thing that we talked about was like, we're gonna have to, you know, not start over, but we're definitely gonna have to go back to quote, unquote, day one basics. Right. We're probably not. Probably. We're definitely going to be very young and it might even be one of those things where it's like there's a junior who's trying out that we know isn't going to really contribute and there's this freshman who probably shouldn't be on varsity, but we know he's going to contribute in a couple years, so we might take him instead. And so it's, it's gonna, yeah, will be very fun, but it's going to be a very different year than last year. But yeah, Pollock and I have talked a lot about that and we're both excited for that, honestly. So, yeah, we'll be, we'll be a young team, so it'll be, it'll be interesting to see. [00:49:45] Speaker A: How are you mixing in PFPs and holding runners? [00:49:49] Speaker B: Yeah. So in season we do a lot of PFP we have this drill called, what does he call it? 5 Series. And so, you know, we had to have a different script of, of drills that we do, and that's where we incorporate a lot of PFPs in season. Um, but I work a lot of, of holding runners in bullpens. Um, one of my favorite things to do is if, you know, I, I have a guy in the bullpen, I love to just scream very loudly, step off and see if he box or not. Um, so I, I love to do that. But, yeah, I, I, I have guys in our bullpens. I'll, I'll tell them to, to pick right then and there. And I haven't had anyone actually throw yet, which is good. But, yeah, we'll do that stuff in our bullpen. I always have my little stopwatch. I'll work time to plate. I'll time their holds. I'll say UCLA out loud so they know, hey, I'm doing L a lot. I'll have them, you know, mock look twice to second or something like that. So we do a lot of that in our bullpens to make them game like, but also it, you know, anytime they're on the mound, I want them to be in that zone of this is the situation. So, so yeah, we do a lot of holding and stuff in a bullpen, and that works. [00:51:14] Speaker A: Well. How are you teaching breath work, then? I mean, you and I both dealt with anxiety, players, coaches. So when are you, when are you starting to teach some of the breath work and routine stuff to them? [00:51:26] Speaker B: Yeah, when is is right away. I think it's got to be one of the first things you teach. And the reason I think it's so important is because you doing that breath work is not saved for the biggest moments, you know what I'm saying? Like when you're, when you're all the [00:51:44] Speaker A: same moments all the time. [00:51:46] Speaker B: Yep. Yep. One of my favorite stories was there was a, an Adam Wainwright video where he was talking about his mindset, you know, and he was talking about his first year when he came in, didn't do so hot. And going into that spring training, you know, LaRussa and the coaching staff was planning on cutting him, but all off season, he committed to treating every pitch like the last pitch of game seven. Right. That was his thing. And so they ended up winning the whole thing that year. And how he explained it was, larussa asked him after they, he just closed out the World Series, he was like, man, how did you do this? We were going to cut you, and now you're you're closing out the World Series. And his whole thing was like, man, I pitched in. I don't know what it was. I pitched in 15 games in spring training. I pitched in 60 games in the regular season. I did another 10 in the, in the playoffs. So he was like, I've closed out the World Series 100 times like this, this isn't anything new for me, you know, and so I, I, I send that video to my players all the time to have them watch it. And, and I, I say that story because that goes back to the. There's no such thing as little things, right? Like how you treat a random, random practice in November. You know, if you're not doing your breath work then, and you're not being grounded then, like, then why would you do it when the game really matters? You know? So teaching that breath work at the very beginning is, is important. And, you know, there's a lot of different. I don't want to say mental tricks, but tools that you can use. And, and each player likes a different kind of thing, so. [00:53:29] Speaker A: And that's. Yeah, we, too, with new guys, they've probably never been taught how to actually breathe. [00:53:33] Speaker B: For sure. [00:53:33] Speaker A: Yeah, they're breathing, but to actually. [00:53:35] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. [00:53:36] Speaker A: Correctly is. [00:53:37] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:38] Speaker A: Is a difference. [00:53:38] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:39] Speaker A: Half the time they're hyperventilating. [00:53:42] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, conscious breathing is, is important. It's different than just naturally doing it. [00:53:49] Speaker A: So are you calling every pitch? [00:53:53] Speaker B: This past year was the first year [00:53:55] Speaker A: I didn't see catchers and pitchers run it. [00:53:58] Speaker B: Yep, yep, yep. So we had a catcher this past year who was. He just was. He had a really good feel. He was really good at managing a game. And so, yeah, this was, this was the first year that I did not call pitches, which, honestly, I kind of enjoyed. But, yeah, our Tetris pasture. No, I know. [00:54:29] Speaker A: Like, if you're gonna run it, then, yeah, talk about it in between innings, but, like, you can't. You just. [00:54:35] Speaker B: Yes. No, you can't. Yeah. And we still have, like, you know, the little mic thingy, so we're still in his ear, but a lot of times that's more of, hey, last at bat, he pulled a fastball inside. You know, it's more of helping him with that aspect rather than being like, read and swing. Hey, let's go. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, we're still in his year, but, yeah, he, he called last year and did a really good job at it. [00:55:00] Speaker A: So all 15 of those guys from last year, they playing college baseball somewhere. [00:55:06] Speaker B: Most of them I want to Say maybe eight or nine of them are. Yeah. So a lot of playing juco 4 year. [00:55:14] Speaker A: A mix. [00:55:15] Speaker B: Yep, a mix. [00:55:17] Speaker A: Great juco down in that area. [00:55:20] Speaker B: Great juco. [00:55:20] Speaker A: Yeah, great four years. There's some phenomenal, for sure. But also. Yep. Great junior college baseball. [00:55:26] Speaker B: Yep. We have. We have two guys going to Mesa Community College, which is awesome. That would be a good place for them. We have one guy going to Glendale, and then we have three guys actually going to Citrus College in California. So, yeah, three guys going there. We have a. We have a guy going to an NAIA school here. We have a guy going to a D3 in Minnesota. So kind of. Kind of a mix, but most of them are jucos, which I think is the. The way to go nowadays. So. Yeah. [00:55:59] Speaker A: So a lot of conversations going with kids as far as what you see might be the right fit, because kids don't always. Yeah, kids and parents don't always know what the right fit is, and sometimes they don't want to listen either. But, like, how. How are those conversations? Because obviously you don't want kids to have dreams, but you also need to go find a place that you can actually play. And there's a million different levels that you're probably going to find the right fit at any level, if that's really what you want. [00:56:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:56:28] Speaker A: College baseball, 100%. [00:56:30] Speaker B: And I think that that's one thing I didn't know when I was coming out of high school was that if you really want to play college baseball, you can find a place to play college baseball. Without a doubt, you will find a place. Um, so, yeah, I mean, I think I. I did honestly notice us more of an understanding from this pastor's group of, like, in years past, trying to explain to a kid why juco was a good route. He. Maybe it didn't really work, but this year, all the kids who were going to juco were excited to go to Juco. So I don't know. I don't know if it was just them. [00:57:14] Speaker A: I think there's. I think that's one of the benefits of social media is like, I think, oh, yeah, there's a light being shined on all the different options. [00:57:23] Speaker B: Yep. [00:57:23] Speaker A: And I think with the roster cap at D1 now, I think. I think people are starting to. To maybe be a little bit more realistic about what their. Their viable options actually are, which I hope. [00:57:35] Speaker B: 100. 100. And I know that, like I said, we had three kids who all went to Citrus College, and the first one who signed with them, you know, he was excited to go there because he had done his research and you know, he, he found he was like, gosh, coach, like 70 of the players who go to this college end up going to a four year after a year, you know, whatever the statistic was. So he did his research and found a coach who was really involved in getting kids to the next level. And you know, they, it, it worked out and two of his teammates ended up following him out there. So yeah, I, I, I think the juco route is, is a very wise decision for, for a lot of kids nowadays. So. [00:58:26] Speaker A: Especially with the five, five coming in. [00:58:29] Speaker B: Yep. [00:58:29] Speaker A: D1's got it now. D2 just okayed five for five, so. [00:58:33] Speaker B: Oh really? Okay. Yeah. [00:58:34] Speaker A: If you spend two years at a junior college, you're still gonna have three years left. [00:58:39] Speaker B: So I got three years. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, it's, it's a good route, [00:58:45] Speaker A: honestly nowadays and cheaper. That's from experience. I have a 23 year old that's finishing up juco. Yeah, I have a 20 year old who started at 4 year. And there you go. Financially, way different. Way different. [00:59:04] Speaker B: It is big. [00:59:05] Speaker A: How are you guys handling the workouts as far as weight room, strength and conditioning stuff? Do you guys handle that? Are you having somebody do that for you guys? [00:59:13] Speaker B: So this past year, so we, we have a baseball locker, a class period in the day that is for baseball. But last school year they hired a full time strength and conditioning coach as a teacher. And so he is incredible. He did so many amazing things for not just the baseball team but our whole school. He made a huge difference. So they don't, they don't lift every day, but I think during the season it was maybe two or three times a week depending on game schedule and whatnot. But he is, he's so good at organizing all that and planning all that. Like we don't have to think of it at all. We don't have to put any thought into it. [01:00:07] Speaker A: Which is even though if you got him for, for five days, I mean you might have two or three lifts, but then you got to play all day. Like there's, there's a bunch. Yeah. Those days. [01:00:16] Speaker B: Yeah. He does conditioning days and med ball. [01:00:18] Speaker A: Like there's, there's plenty of stuff you could do with them. [01:00:21] Speaker B: Oh yeah. And he, and he, I remember there was one day like he, you know, speaking of gamifying things like he, he, Everything was a competition. They did this med ball game competition one day that the kids don't even realize that they're getting in this massive workout. They just Think they're playing the game, you know, so he. He's been incredible for not just our baseball program, but the whole school. So it made a difference for sure last year. And, yeah, we're. We're lucky that he's there. [01:00:48] Speaker A: Is there anything that you wish somebody would have told you before you got into coaching? [01:00:54] Speaker B: Oh, man. You know, it's funny because the only [01:00:59] Speaker A: reason I got it. Listen. [01:01:01] Speaker B: But I would not have listened. That's for dang sure. Yeah. Um. No, but the only reason I even got into coaching was because I wanted to be an athletic director. So I was getting. I was. I had my master's in sports admin, and as I was getting my masters, I got connected with an ad, and he was like, hey, if you're going to be an athletic director, you probably should have some coaching on your resume. So that's literally the only reason I ever started coaching, was because I wanted to be an AD and I need this on my resume. So I didn't really put that much thought into coaching my. You know, going into it. But from day one of coaching, I was like, yeah, this is all I ever want to do in my life. So I honestly feel like I have hit the jackpot of. Of being a young coach. Like, I mean, I'm only 26. I've only been coaching for four years, you know, but, like, the amount of people that I've had who have poured into me as a young coach, I have been so blessed by it. You know, at Westwood, it was J. R Langston. He. He introduced me to the abca. [01:02:11] Speaker A: He. [01:02:11] Speaker B: He poured in so much to me that I just. I would not be the coach I am without him, 100%. He took me to my first ABCA in Dallas, and, you know, it just. He was incredible. So I've just been so blessed to have so many great coaches that I've been around. And like I said, Coach Langston pushed me to really get involved with the abca. And just over the years, I've gotten more involved. And what I love about baseball coaches, but ABCA is you can reach out to any coach and they are willing to talk to you. You know, like, I Even just in this past week, like, I remember last year, I got connected with Keith Madison. Saw him at an FCA night one night. He gave me his number. He said, don't ever hesitate to reach out. Of course I hesitated to reach out because I'm like, gosh, it's Keith Madison. Like, But I texted him last week, and he was like, yeah, let's call. So we were on the phone for almost an hour, an hour and a half, you know, just him pouring into me. Like. Like, who does that? You know? And it's. But that's just the baseball community. That's the ABCA community. And I've been super blessed by it. So I feel like I've been poured into so much from so many different coaches. [01:03:30] Speaker A: So to answer your question, that's a compliment to you too, because you come across that way and you're not going to pour into everyone and you've handled it the way you're supposed to handle it, and you've handled things right. [01:03:44] Speaker B: I appreciate that. [01:03:44] Speaker A: So people are going to be more willing to pour into you if you handle things right. [01:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:03:49] Speaker A: What did you think? [01:03:50] Speaker B: I appreciate that. Oh, my gosh. Dude, I felt like I was a five year old walking into Disneyland for the first time. It was the coolest. I swear. I walked around Dallas with my jaw on the ground the whole time. It was incredible. Such a cool experience. I mean, yeah, it was awesome. And the coolest thing about Dallas, because it was my first convention. I remember sitting in the first session. I think it was Jay Johnson that year. [01:04:22] Speaker A: It was who? [01:04:23] Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. So I remember sitting there and I'm from Tucson, and so Jay Johnson was at U of A. So I, you know, I was excited, you know, like, I know this guy. I didn't know him, but, you know Tucson. So I remember sitting up there in the first row and I look over and there's Tim Corbin and Jim Schlossnagel, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, these are legends right here. And. And I remember Coach Langston was like, just go talk to them. And I was like, no, I can't. Like, there's no way. But he was like, dude, like, they want to talk to you. Like, it's not a burden to them. So I remember I went up to Coach Corbin that first time, and we probably only talked for 10, 15 minutes, but that was the coolest thing. And just the willingness of all these coaches to stop and take 10 minutes and talk to you and pour into you was. Was awesome. But the trade show was awesome. It was. I mean, it literally was. It was one of the coolest experiences ever. [01:05:18] Speaker A: And it's crazy. It is. [01:05:19] Speaker B: Dude, it's so cool. I. I will never miss a convention unless, obviously something crazy happens. But they're. They're. They're awesome. They're so cool. And I'm. I'm the kind of guy where I don't really care where it's located. I'm going because I know that the convention is worth it. So it's. I love it. It's. It's so cool. [01:05:39] Speaker A: All right, give us your fail forward moment. Something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward. [01:05:47] Speaker B: Yep. You know, I've actually thought about this a lot because I've listened to so many of these podcasts. So I've always thought, man, what would mine be if he asked me that? But I honestly think my, my year of coaching at Arizona Christian was a big fail forward moment for me and not in the sense of, you know, AC was awesome. I, I loved coaching at Arizona Christian. I love the players, I love the coaches. I love the NAIA level. It was incredible. But I think the reason it was a fail forward moment for me was because up until that point in my coaching, my perspective on coaching was all wrong. It was very much like I was trying to be in control. I was trying, I was chasing next big thing. I was, you know, it was, it was. My coaching was very much me. And the side effect of that was I was barely home. You know, I've been married to my wife for, for four years, and she loves that I coach and she supports it big time. But like I said, during that year, I had my 40 hour normal job, drove an hour and a half one way to go coach, and then would spend 20 or 30 hours coaching there. And I just never saw my wife. And our first daughter was born halfway through that season. And it kind of just woke me up a little bit of like, oh, my gosh, I'm never home. I'm never. I don't see my family ever. And I, I was convicted during that season. And I don't remember who I heard this from or where I heard this from. It's way too smart for me to make up to come up with it. So I don't know where I heard it from, but it's become kind of a guiding light for me of, you know, as a coach. I want to be the best I can be. Right. I want to be a Hall of Fame coach, whatever that means. Right. But what I realized that during that season is, like, the only hall of Fame that actually matters is the hall of Fame of my household. Right? Like, when it's all said and done, let's say I'm blessed enough to be a Hall of Fame coach. I don't want to be sitting in that hall of Fame ceremony with my wife and my daughters and they're sitting there listening to all these things that people are saying, and they're sitting there like, well, that's not the dad I experienced. Like, that is my worst fear. You know, I don't want that. So that whole season really kind of shifted my perspective of what is it that I'm chasing. And if the answer is not faith first, family second, then coaching, if the order is anything off of that, then I'm doing it wrong. So I needed to learn that people [01:08:36] Speaker A: end up on their coaching path. [01:08:38] Speaker B: Yes. Yep, 100%. And I, I, you know, I, I want to coach at the highest level possible. Like, that's still a dream and a goal for me, but I'm not gonna sacrifice that. Family time. That's your 100%. Yeah. Which is 100%. Yep. Which is yep, yep, 100%. [01:09:01] Speaker A: What about your morning or evening routines? I know you got kids, but obviously, yeah, you have your Jesus shirt on. So. And I always consider, like, quiet time. Like, for me, like, people are like, well, my bi. I'm like, well, yeah, that's, that's actually a routine, like something you're doing on a daily basis that, that keeps you on the path. [01:09:19] Speaker B: Yep. Yeah. So it's, I always try to wake up before everyone else does in my house so I can have that quiet time. But yeah, it's. I have three things every morning that I sit down and do. And it's, it's that gratitude journal that I talked about. I sit and do that. I have this, this dad parenting devotional type of thing that I read and go through. And then, yeah, it's, it's spending a good chunk of time in the Word in the Bible. And, you know, my full time job is I'm a licensed minister with Fellowship of Christian Athletes. So that's what I do for, you know, most of my, my day. And so it's, it's always starting there and you know, sitting there with a cup of coffee and that is my morning routine every morning. I don't miss it. I hold that time so sacred because it is. I, I know that if I don't start that way, then I'm, My day is gonna feel anxious. [01:10:24] Speaker A: You could still get through it. But it's, you know, when you haven't, like, you can, I can feel the difference. You can tell when you've done it and you haven't done it. [01:10:35] Speaker B: Done it 100. Yeah. And I, There have been days that I've missed and it's. [01:10:39] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's okay. That's part of giving yourself grace Too, like, for sure. And I don't even know if it's healthy to. To be that adamant. Like, I've got to do this seven days a week at this time. Right. I think you have to give yourself grace, and there needs to be flexibility. And the good thing is if you do it long enough and you do maybe get off the path for a little bit, it's just easier to course correct and get back on when you need to. How long have you been with the fca? [01:11:07] Speaker B: Next month would be a year. So, yeah, so I, I taught for three years. Didn't really like it. And. Yeah, so, yeah, I've been with them. September 1st will be a year. [01:11:21] Speaker A: How are you helping players navigate social media? [01:11:25] Speaker B: Oh, it's hard. And, you know, it's. I think, honestly, it's. It's. It's helping frame their mindset of it, you know, and I, I tell players all the time, like, it's. Whether you like it or not, like, where we are nowadays, it's kind of important for recruiting, and it's important, you know, for. For all this stuff. So you need it. You need to be active on it. You know, it's important. But also just understanding that it does not replace actual human connection and relationships. And so you need to, again, make sure you have that balance. But it's hard. I mean, everything is social media nowadays, and there's tons of positives, but there's obviously tons of negatives. [01:12:14] Speaker A: As long as you're not getting derailed by social comparison, you'll be fine. [01:12:19] Speaker B: Fine. Yes. Which is. [01:12:22] Speaker A: It's almost hard, like, possible. But you really have to be diligent of. You do what you're consuming and realizing that 95% of it is fake. [01:12:37] Speaker B: Yep. [01:12:37] Speaker A: And your brain is predisposed to believing everything you see. So, like, that's where you have to, like, again, course correct. Like, that's not real. What I'm seeing right now is fake. I try to tell people, like, treat it like you're watching a soap opera. Like, literally treat what you see social media as a soap opera. That's what you're watching. [01:12:57] Speaker B: That's good because that's so good out [01:12:59] Speaker A: of it is not real. Just treat it like a television show. [01:13:03] Speaker B: Yep. That's a good way of putting it. I'm gonna start using that. [01:13:08] Speaker A: It's like professional wrestling. [01:13:11] Speaker B: Yeah. There you go. [01:13:12] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts? [01:13:16] Speaker B: Oh, man, I'm just. I'm super grateful. It's. It's very humbling to, you know, be. Be recognized for this. And it's just so cool. You know, I've. I'm. I'm excited for the rest of my career. You know, it's. It's cool. I feel very lucky that I've been poured into so much by so many people and I'm just trying to soak it all up. So super thankful. And I've got a really good wife and I hear coaches on this podcast say all the time, like, you can't do this if you don't got a good wife. You know, so I'm so lucky. She's incredible. She's. She loves sports, she loves that I coach. And, you know, she does a really good job of taking care of the family when I'm coaching. And so I'm super lucky to have her and, and, you know, thankful for coach Pollock. He's awesome. He's done a lot for me that, you know, more than I probably. I probably should tell him more how thankful I am for him. So, yeah, just lucky. Super blessed. Appreciate you having me on and I'm excited for Chicago. [01:14:26] Speaker A: Thanks for your time, Kobe. Appreciate you. [01:14:28] Speaker B: Thanks. [01:14:29] Speaker A: I'm excited about the new generation of coaches. After talking to Coach Wixon, I see a bright future for baseball if he's indicative of his peer group. He's a great example of doing things the right way and positively impacting the people around you and all the older coaches listening in. He's a great example of the impact you can have on younger coaches by investing your time and experience with them. Congrats to Coach Wixon on this well deserved honor. Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt Weston, the ABCI office for I love on the podcast. Feel. Feel free to reach out to me via email rbrownleapca.org Twitter, Instagram or TikTok, coachbrabca or direct message me via the MyBusa app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off with American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks. And leave it better for those behind you. You know that way Yep Wait for another day and the world will always return as your life was never for your name and you know that way Wait for another other.