Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the abca's podcast. I'm your host ryan brownlee.
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Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or infoottingpros.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 this week on the ABCA Podcast, we're joined by ABCA ATEC NJCA Division 2 Coach of the Year Pearl River Head Coach and Athletic Director Michael Avalon.
Since taking over the Wildcats program in 2016, Avalon has transformed Pearl river into one of the premier junior college baseball programs in the country.
Consistently competing for conference championships, regional titles and national championships, Avalon led Pearl river to its second NJCA Division 2 National Championship in five seasons, adding the program's first national title in 2022. The championship followed an incredible 2025 campaign which the Wildcats won a program record 53 games and finished as national runners up.
Pro river has become a model of consistency with multiple conference championships, Region 23 titles and NJCA World Series appearances. While consistently ran him on the top programs in the country, Poe river has helped more than 100 players continue their baseball careers at four year institutions while emphasizing academic achievement, personal growth, accountability, and the development of young men.
One of the foundations of his program is a philosophy built around four simple words, Success, organization, attitude and pride, or soap. It's philosophy passed down from his father that's become a defining part of Pearl river baseball and the culture Coach Avalon is established in 2025, Avalon took on another major leadership role when he was named athletic Director at Pearl river, giving him the opportunity to extend the same championship mindset across the entire athletic department.
In 2026, Pearl river made history by becoming the first NJCA Division 2 institution to win baseball and softball national championships in the same season. Incredible accomplishment speaks to the culture and expectations throughout the athletic department.
Let's welcome Michael Avalon to the podcast.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: What's up?
[00:04:09] Speaker A: How are you? Good enough. Coach, Long time no see.
It's been a while.2022, I think.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Last national championship. Yep.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Maybe I need to see you more.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. I look forward to seeing you for sure.
I look, you know, that's. That's a good thing for sure.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: That is a good thing for sure. I need to get back to Enid, actually. I haven't been. It's a. It's so hard covering everything.
Oh, I know, Louis. It just.
The hard part is when you go to the west coast, it's hard to get back to some of the other ones. Just.
It's never going to be perfect.
But I do, I do love Enid. It's one of my favorites.
They're now in Lewiston. The ni. Those have been probably outside of obviously Omaha, but those really have been. And Grand Junction too. But Enid just has that small town feel to it that I love.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that's one of the cool things is just getting back and seeing all the folks that are there that you have those relationships with. And, you know, I mean, those people give up a lot to do that for you too, you know, which is special because they don't have to. And they, and they do it to make it special for us, which is, which is cool and unique. So.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: But you can, you know, it's just like anything, you invest your heart and soul into it, you want to keep doing it, you know, and I'm sure it's something they, they look forward to every year because it's gratifying for them to pull that thing off.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. It's great for the town. And you know, and I still. That first year we went 19, when NOC union was in it, it was, it was a really cool experience. I know that you Know, Grand Junction gets that with the number of folks they get. But for us, that place was packed and they were all wearing red and black. And I told the guy working and I was like, look, I know all these people are not fans of us, but this makes this really cool being able to play here. And, and the crowds have always been good, but that was a little different with them being in it.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: So, yeah, Enid, just because it's an enclosed space, it feels more intimate. And Grand Junction is good, but Grand Junction's wide open. Like it's, you know, it's backed up to a football stadium. So it just feels more wide open where. Enid, I love it because you just feel like you're on top of everybody.
[00:06:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Whether you have 500 folks or a thousand, you know, it feels like it's packed. You know, it feels like you have a good crowd, which is, which is cool.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: Here with Michael Avalon, ABCA, a Tech NJCA Division 2 coach of the year. Pearl river had a great year. Another great year. 1511 national championship. I just read where you were named athletic director last year around this time, so congrats.
[00:06:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Staying busy. So I appreciate it. Thank you.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: How confident were you that you were going to get the at large bed?
[00:06:54] Speaker B: Well, I mean, you feel good about it. We knew we played a tough schedule and that was purposeful. But, you know, when you're sitting there in that limbo, when you're waiting to hear officially, it just. Man, your mind plays so many tricks on you. And, you know, the hardest part is keeping those guys believing, which this group did an unbelievable job doing that, which I think is why we had the success that we had at the World Series. But it's, it's not. Again, we felt good about it, but until you finally hear those words and, you know, get that email saying, hey, you're in.
You know, you can't relax and can't breathe and it's just a weird waiting period. So. But we were very thankful for it.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: How was your prep?
[00:07:30] Speaker B: While you're waiting, you know, again, we did feel confident.
So I thought, I thought the, you know, I thought our preparation was very good, practices were good. We gave him a couple days off. You know, we felt like we had to do that. And that's one thing, man, I've, I've grown so much in the 20 something years that I've coached now.
I used to just. Man, every, you know, we used to try to get the most out of every day all the time.
And one thing I've learned, especially in the game of baseball, one of the most difficult things is just the length of our season. You know, we start practice early, you know, middle of August and played all the way until June. And so there are a lot of days off. We give them that. I used to not when I was young and thinking, man, we had to go, go, go, go, go, go and get better, better, better, better. But one of the biggest challenges we have is the link. So our guys thankful we're in a great place where guys love being here.
So it is a very intimate time of the year when you're the only ones on campus and you practicing by yourself.
Nobody else is here, you're eating, you're not eating in the cafeteria, you're going out and having to prepare meals and cook, format your house and different things. And people from the community were, were feeding us different things. So a really cool time of year, something I look forward to. And I obviously don't take it for granted either though.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yeah, that's something that probably people don't realize from outside the baseball college coaching community is trying to. When school's out, like, what do you do for meals for everybody? Like, that's a huge undertaking because you can do some cool stuff with it too.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Yeah. In small towns like Poplarville, you know, there's not a whole lot of options. They get tired of eating the same thing. And so thankfully we have a lot of people in our community that come together. Heck, our chamber of commerce and Poplarville got together and provided meals for our teams during that time. And that's just again, a special place that we live in. And you know, our president, former alumni, you know, cater meals in, whether it's Dickey's Barbecue or whatever it may be.
But again, those are really special times. That's where, you know, I tell people all the time, junior college baseball is just different. You know, I had four guys in my way, wedding from my junior college baseball team.
You know, I tell recruits all the time and you literally live with your coaches and your teammates, you know, for a year or two. And that's, that's tough to do with anybody but with 30 guys. But it also becomes a really special, unique brotherhood.
And those moments at the very end, especially that, that two week period of preparing for Enid and also then the trip to Enid and then, you know, driving the two bus, you know, the two day bus trip over, man, it's just such a unique time and you continue to grow and to get stronger as a team. And I think that was what you Saw in a and back to back
[00:10:09] Speaker A: years playing for the national championship.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
You know, man, I've said this to a couple of people as I look back on the last two years and what's the difference in winning it and not winning it? I can't figure that out. I don't have that answer.
Because the team that, you know, finished nine out short, in my opinion, you know, we had the lead and you know, you know, two years ago with nine outs to go and we're up four runs and everything looked like it was falling into place and we came up short.
But as a coach also, I've tried to learn and mature and learn that, hey, let's not harp on those last nine outs, you know, that that team was maybe just. It's hard to say this because it doesn't make sense to the normal person, but I think coaches that do this for a living understand this is. Man, that team was just as special as the team to me that won this national championship. And yet they don't have national champion. They have national runner up by their name. But, you know, they, you know, they were a special group. And I don't have the answer to why this one or that one did.
I'm very thankful for both groups and I'm. But I am thankful that these, these sophomores from last year had a chance to return and get that taste out of their mouth. And I think that's what drove. When you look at Landon Watts, one of our big arms, I mean, I would have had to fight the base. I had to pull the baseball out of his hand, you know, 130 pitches in and you know, in relief in that championship game because he had that taste in his mouth from not finishing it the year before.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: And you said it in the article. You said it's really hard to win it. Like, it's really, really hard to win.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. You know, this, this school has been around for 100, I think 1909, however many years that is almost 130 years and they've won two national championships and they had some really good teams. And, and so it's very, very hard.
You know, another thing, and you didn't ask this, I'm going to share this. But you know, I've learned this and I had other coaches tell me this.
Winning a national championship doesn't, doesn't, doesn't change a whole lot as a coach. It just doesn't.
You know, that's, that's one thing, especially with this second one, I had somebody ask me which one Feels better or worse. And I said, they both are amazing, but they haven't changed who I am as a coach or who I am as a person.
They still, you know, pale in comparison to the bigger picture of getting to impact these young men. And, you know, national championship is really, really cool, and it's really, really special. I don't want to take any away. You know, as you just said, it's very, very hard to do.
But if that's what we put our success in as a coach, then we, we failed. Our impact, our, our, our reach is much larger than a national championship. And I know this without a shadow of a doubt. There are coaches and teams that work maybe as hard or harder than we did last year and maybe maximize more than they could have out of their teams. But just because they're not national, you know, they weren't named crowned national championship or weren't able to win that last game, doesn't, doesn't and should not dictate their success. And the way look at their program. So again, that's, that's the guy that, you know, I still want to consider myself a young coach, although this gray hair and all this is changing that, that thought on myself. But I have tried to mature and look at the bigger picture of things.
You know, as far as that goes,
[00:13:14] Speaker A: I think the hard part is you have to win it. To realize that that, like, it doesn't really change much.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: That's the rub of the whole thing
[00:13:22] Speaker A: is like, you've got it, you gotta win it. But then you figure out, like, that really didn't change a whole lot.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Right. Well, and I'll share this. You know, we have an acronym in our program. Soap. I got it from my dad, who was a basketball coach. Soap.
Success equals organization, attitude and pride. And, you know, as a young man, and even as a coach, I made the mistake. My dad would ask, what's the toughest part? And I said, success. Winning. Winning a national championship is the toughest part of that. And he said, no, son, having pride in everything that you do is the toughest part. Making sure that you take pride in being the best coach, husband, father, son, you know, friend, all those things.
And that just, you know, reiterates what he meant then was don't worry about the success. You know, don't worry about the big win.
There's so much more to it. But until you win one. That's a good point. It is hard to realize that, man, there's coaches out there all across the world doing an unbelievable job, doing the same job that I'm doing. I was just blessed and very fortunate to be able to win a national championship because I had really good players that went out there, made the plays. But I've also coached a lot of really good players that weren't national champions. But guess what?
They were. They were highly successful and great, great people and great players as well.
[00:14:33] Speaker A: And won a nail biter. That's the thing. Like the way you guys want it, like 11 inning walk off.
[00:14:38] Speaker B: Like, man, what, what a credit to South Mountain. You know, I looked at, I saw a newspaper clipping the other day and you know, people have, you know, questioned, you know, we played four games. I think they were 6 and 2 or something and in the end, or 7 and 2, whatever it was. But I just remember looking at their record in that World Series and they had been out there for, for 17 games. But I knew when they were there and was very impressed with the team they were and the players they had last year.
When I saw them in that national championship, I knew immediately this was not going to be, you know, an easy one, which, which no national championship should in my op. And we had to earn it. We had to fight. You know, we had that interesting weather delay that it was sunny the whole time, but there was lightning within 10 miles. And you just sit there in those moments, you're like, man, what's going on? Why is it, you know, it's sunshine and people like, why aren't we playing? But obviously they did the right thing with the lightning being in the area. And so you had to wait through that and then to go extra innings and have so many big swings in that game where the bases were loaded for both sides. Both pitchers did, you know, a really, really good job. Their, their starter was unbelievable throughout that tournament and just, you know, in my opinion, put that team on his back and that's what, that's what great players do. And so no doubt it was a nail biter. It was tough. There was a lot of frustration in that game that we could have let beat us. But fortunately we were tough in those moments and stayed the course and kept believing. And so I was very, very proud of that.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: People that are not from the Midwest don't realize if you have lightning in the area that that could possibly mean you're about to get £30 seconds. Like you just don't know in that part of the world, like you, you better stay off the field because there could be, it could be good all day or there might be a tornado coming at some point.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And that. But the weird thing was, it was sunshine. You're like. And they're calling a rain delay. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, what? And it didn't make sense to us. And so. But everything worked out. And it was, you know, what an experience, what a memory.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: Is this team as physical as the one when I saw in 2022 from position players, I thought they were.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: They were, yes.
Pretty special.
You know, this team really, really defended. I think we finished number one and double plays, I think number two in fielding percentage.
You know, we finished first in our conference and pitching, but. But pitched at a five, which. That's a whole nother story for another day as far as the pitching side of things now in college baseball.
But this. This team, I thought the defense was. Was the difference for us now. Physical, without a doubt. I mean, we hit 110 home runs or whatever it was, which was. And I thought one through nine, we had a chance to run a ball out of the yard, which is. Which is special.
But I give a lot of credit to our defense this year, and we were. Our shortstop. I've been fortunate to coach a lot of good shortstop. Gatlin Pitts, our shortstop, who's now at Western Kentucky, had the highest fielding percentage that we've ever had at shortstop. And so a lot of credit to those guys. And what we were able to do, we made outs. Outs. And that's a really important thing to do in the game of baseball.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: Format changing for the tournament. Junior college. Is it this year or is it the year after?
[00:17:41] Speaker B: After this year, the 28.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: 28. So going to super regionals. Correct.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: Which we're excited about. That's going to be pretty cool. You know, having the, you know, the regionals that you got to get bids to and different things and. And not being, you know, all locked in there at one location, being able to travel a little bit. I'm looking forward to it. I think it will continue to improve our World Series. It's tough, but it'll just make it tougher, which is. Which is what it's supposed to.
And so I'm excited and, you know, looking forward to that new format and hopefully that will continue to push teams to play tougher schedules. That's one thing we haven't shied away from. And, you know, when you're in the middle of it sometimes and you've got, you know, Florida Gulf coast and Northwest Florida and Chipotle and those. Those bigger guys, and hopefully we can figure out a way to still allow those games to happen.
Just for us regionally, it is. It's tough to, you know, find other opponents to play out of the state of Mississippi, to have a diverse schedule and play some different teams. So that's the one thing I'm a little worried about. Just making sure that we find a way to make sure that, hey, it's still a good thing for Division ones to play Division two baseball. It doesn't matter. Division one, Division two, on some levels, get out there and play and get after it.
So hopefully we can figure that part out. But very, you know, really looking forward to the new format, and I think it will, again, improve our World Series, make it tougher, which is. Which is fun and exciting.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: And by the way, you must have adjusted the athletic director's role, too, because you were named athletic director of the year, too, right?
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Well, you know, again, I'm lucky to be around really good coaches and really good players throughout our sports program. And that's based off our. I'm sure a lot of our winning that we were able to do at Pearl River. And so, yeah, it was a really cool, you know, award. But again, give credit to all the coaches and our student athletes.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: I mean, how are you. Are you running that similar, running a department? Are you running it similar to the baseball program?
Are there similarities?
[00:19:34] Speaker B: That's just. That's the only way I know how to do it, you know, is. Is to, you know, try to do things the right way. First class. We want Pearl river to be an experience in every sport.
We want everything to be from our concession stands to our recruiting philosophies, to winning to losing. We want to try to do the very best and make our fan experience the best that we can.
And so I've got really good people, you know, on our team. I think the most important thing that I do in our baseball program, and then you take it a step further, a step bigger in our athletic department is. Is hiring coaches. I think that's the most important thing that we do. You've got to hire coaches that have the same vision, the same goals, the same passion for the place. And that's hard to do. That's not an easy thing.
But you want, you know, talk about recruiting. Yeah, it's important. But you better have the right coach that has the passion and. And the understanding and the belief in recruiting that you have.
And so we're very, very fortunate here at Pearl river to have great people that are working with the starts at our administration, top to bottom. They want to be the best. They take pride in everything that they do. Pride, respect, class, character is what we, is, who we are here at Pearl River. And so very, very thankful to have an opportunity every day to show up at a place like this and go work.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: You go off gut feel in the interview process with that. You got checklists?
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah, for the most part, yes.
There are certain things you look for in the interview. How they answer questions, how they. How they present themselves.
You know, one of the biggest things I look for, honestly, is a sense of appreciation. I want to hire people that going, that are going to appreciate the opportunity to work at a place at Pearl River. I want to have recruits that are going to. In this day and age, the way things are, with all the money out there and collegiate sports, I think the thing that's lost is the appreciation factor, because I think appreciation is strong. If you appreciate something, you're going to protect it, you're going to secure it, you're going to make it better. You're going to do all you can to make sure that it's the best it can be. Without appreciation, that's hard to do. And so that's the thing that people ask me personally, hey, what's your strength, maybe as a coach or what have you? Man, I love this place. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to show up every day and get to coach these guys, to get to be a part of this athletic department.
And so you got to have. In my opinion, that's one of the biggest things I look for. And that is a gut feel. You have to. I mean, you have to get a real read on people, you know, because. Because people can talk and that's. That's one thing, but, you know, that, that genuine, you know, appreciation or the passion they have for something is so important.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Did you have to tweak your baseball responsibilities much when you took over as athletic director?
[00:22:13] Speaker B: It's a. It's a challenge. You know, we have 13 sports here,
[00:22:16] Speaker A: and I didn't realize that's a large. That's a lot.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: I mean, we. We go from everything to men's, women's basketball. We have football here, which is. Which obviously is. It's, you know, it's a huge talk about the number of players and the scholarships and the fundraising and the money and all those and the coaching and all that.
But not just that. Then you look at all how NJCAA is growing. We're looking at flag football coming up next year, so maybe 14. We're looking at, you know, we have esports now, which is. Which is a whole Archery.
And so there's so many things, men's and women's golf, I could keep going on. So, you know, it's. Again, I have to have people around me that I can trust. And one of the big things I've had to do as a coach for the baseball side is trust my assistants even more. And. And you. You know, when you're in those situations. I was talking to Jeff Johnson at Chipotle, the other went down there and played, and he's in that same boat with having just hire the right people and trust them to do their job. You know, when a guy walks in and says, hey, this guy can do it for us. I got to go with it. And, you know, got to trust him. But you also have to coach that and mold that in those conversations before and let him know, you know. You know, let our guys know the magnitude of what they get to do here and the responsibility.
And so that's. That's been a tough part. Kind of let my hands off a little bit in some areas.
And then also having three kids of my own, you know, and who are active, and I got a. An 8th grader, a 9th grader, and a junior who are in the middle of their football, baseball, volleyball, basketball. And so making sure that I'm present for that, that's something that's ultimately most important to me is my family.
And I would tell anybody, if you have your priorities straight, everything will work itself out. You know, the right people to take care of things for you in your life, do things the right way. We say it all the time. Good things happen to good people, you know, and that doesn't mean bad things don't. Tough times don't. But, you know, throughout the course, you keep trying to do things the right way as best you can, knowing you're not going to be perfect.
You know, things will work out for you.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Then you feel like that's one of the bigger separators with junior college baseball is the false schedule. You guys can play
[00:24:19] Speaker B: it. It has been, you know, it's. It's been a big positive for us.
You know, in Mississippi, we actually weren't allowed fall games for a while, like two games in the fall. And that was very difficult. Then. Then we went to a period, I think, of two years where they said, no, no fall game. We had budget cuts. You know, it's been eight, nine years ago.
But now we're back to a national schedule in Mississippi. And, you know, there's, you know, that's a big positive, getting to play for These freshmen getting to put them in the, you know, the, the bowler, so to speak, and see, see how they handle it.
But there's also been, you know, there's some frustrations with that starting so early. I mean, we get back and we're practicing for two weeks and we're going out there and trying to compete. And so you'll knock some guys back and, you know, we've had some guys come in and lose a little confidence because they've been thrown in that boiler. But that's where you have to readjust as a coach and spend different time with different guys and make sure they understand that, hey, I've had some guys have some terrible falls like to where they, you know, I wasn't sure they were going to make it through the, to the fall and come back in the spring and then they've showed up in the spring and they've stuck with it and they've been big time players for us in the spring. And so you got to keep that at the forefront, make sure that, you know, it is a process. But I love playing in the fall, you know, especially in the heat down here in Mississippi, because it has been absolutely horrendous this year.
If we had to practice without getting a chance to go outside and play against somebody, man, that would be absolutely miserable for four weeks on weeks. But thankfully we get to go out. We've got a great opportunity this week to go down to the Shulker Stadium and we've got a great tournament going on down there this, this week to play. And just, that's just an example again, how great that is for our sophomores to be recruited and seen at these different venues in the fall.
Because those guys at the Division 1 level, Division 2 level are so limited when they can recruit in the fall. And so you want to pack it in there. But again, we also have to keep in mind what's best for our success in the spring and how do we go about that.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: And Alan, transfer portal being a benefit for junior college baseball?
[00:26:20] Speaker B: Yes, in some ways. No in some ways. I know that's not the answer people want to hear. I do think with five for five, you're going to start seeing, you know, more player, better players falling down to the junior college level just because there's not enough room at that, you know, at the Division 1 level anymore. And so I think all levels of baseball will improve because of that.
I say no and yes because now those guys have that option of going from four to four when they used to have to. If it didn't work out the four year they were, they were forced to come junior college for the most part. And so yes and no, there's going to be more players available, especially now with the 5 for 5. In my opinion, us being limited in the out of state player in Mississippi that we're allowed.
We've had to adjust our recruiting philosophy a little bit there because I do think there's going to be a better player available. So I think it's going to help us. But the portal, you know, I thought last year there were going to be several guys available at the break and I, and I think the consensus from all junior colleges were there just weren't that many. And so I think you're going to see it more on the front end. On the recruiting side, you know, those seniors coming to junior college instead of going off to the four year level
[00:27:27] Speaker A: has it affected options for where your guys go. You have good players so I can't imagine it's affected a whole lot right where you send guys.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: No, we were fortunate this past year. Of course that's something I was worried about, you know, and I still am again now this is now you're starting to see the 5 for 5 really show up in the coming years. So we'll see.
My message has changed a little bit to our sophomores. If you know, these guys obviously want to play at the Division 1 level, that's the goal. I'm a Division 2 player. I played at University of West Alabama, very thankful for my time there. I don't care where they play, I want the best fit for them.
But obviously these guys want to play at the highest level and you see what's going on at those levels now and I get it.
So that's why I tell them if you get a Division 1 offer, you better consider it.
That is just. Whereas in the past three, five years ago I would have been like, hey man, if you don't get the right offer, wait, you know they're coming, you know they're going to see what they have. It's early, but I think, you know, a lot of these guys are predetermining how many junior college kids are taking, how many high school kids they're taking because of that limit.
I think you have to be careful on how you, you know, explain to your guys what, what's best for them. And so I do it the easiest way. Hey, any division one offer you get, if that's your goal, you better consider it. You better look into it and see if it fits. You.
And so we have some guys, you know, I think that will commit earlier than maybe they did in the past because of fear of the portal and things like that. But I probably think that's good advice.
[00:28:57] Speaker A: How's the new stadium been?
[00:29:01] Speaker B: You said our stadium? Yeah. Oh, it's, it's great. We've got a new little project going on right now. We've, you know, our, we've been fortunate with new dorms right next to our baseball field and we're adding a new little feature to our field, outdoor kitchen area that our guys are going to use that's going to double as a game day deck. And it's going to be a really cool, you know, one of the things we want to do, we just want an atmosphere. We want our fans to come to little, we call it Pop Vegas down here in Poplarville to where we want people to come here and just enjoy the dub. It's a special, unique place. The thing I love about this place is, you know, we weren't fortunate to be given, you know, millions of dollars to build this big time facility.
But this, this compares with any facility in the country as far as junior college and a lot of, you know, four year schools, in my opinion. The thing I think that makes this place special is just, just the atmosphere. I said it. When I was a player at Holmes community college in 2002, when I came down here and played in the regional, they were number one in the country. And I walked on this campus for the first time and I said, man, this place is just different.
It's special. It's got a unique feel to it. And I think that's because this community has just gotten behind this baseball program in our athletic department and they pour everything they can into it and they want to see it be the very best and they want to come out and enjoy it. And so that's what's special about this place. But, you know, we're thankful for it. We stay busy. We're going to continue to improve it and you know, keep, keep making improvements as we go.
[00:30:25] Speaker A: Messaging change at all after you guys won it last year with the new group.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: Not, not so much. You know, everything's, you know, rocking along and, and you know, our, our, you know, our recruiting has been, it's been great. You know, it's, it's one of those things where, you know, I think the biggest thing from winning a national championship is that, you know, our national kind of being out there, that's been a thing. You know, we want to get down as far as the recruiting side and into Texas and Florida, where, you know, there's some, some, some higher caliber players on the national stadium, I think when you have a chance to win a national championship that obviously gets you in the door, you still got to work at it. You still got to go get those guys. But, you know, one of the biggest things that I struggle with is Mississippi is pretty special when it comes to baseball. We play a different brand of baseball. You know, you show up and, you know, there's guys are getting after it and, you know, playing extremely hard. They all know each other. And so one of the things we have to kind of debate against as coaches is, is this player from out of state better than the player we can get in the state of Mississippi? Because that's what we want our out of state players to be. But again, fortunately, and a credit to our coaches in high school baseball in the state of Mississippi, baseball is really, really good. And so, but you know, winning a national championship obviously gives you that opportunity to go out into a broader recruiting area and attract better players. And so that's been one of the biggest, you know, improvements from when a national championship that I can see.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: What do coaches need to hear about developing hitters right now?
[00:31:58] Speaker B: You know, as far as the. That's a good question. As far as the hitting side, one of the things I struggle with most is, is just, you know, the lost art of putting the baseball in play power is. So, you know, we, we have trackman now and you know, I'll be the first to say, you look around the state of Mississippi, the baseball fields aren't the biggest. You know, they're, they're, they're different.
As far as.
And so what we try to teach our guys is, yeah, you're hitting the baseball out of our field. I've had four year guys ask me that and I had one guy tell me the other day, hey, I know he's got power at your place. Does he have power at our place? And I said, well, I think so. But with this track, man, and it goes hand in hand with velocity on the mound.
You know, I've got Jackson Estes currently, who was an all American last year for us. And I tell people all the time he's probably the best hitter I've coached. I've coached really Goodman's. Tate Parker was the national player of the year a couple of years ago. But as far as just pure hitter, Tate had more power. But as far as pure hitter, I think that's the thing that's lost In a game of baseball, it's just a contact guy that can really, really hit, that understands situations and different things like that. They all want to hit with the power. Even these little guys show up at practice and they're, they, you know, and I'm like, that is, that is not who you are. That's not who you need to be. But that's all, you know, everybody wants to backflip. Everybody wants, you know, the show and in the clip on Instagram and all that. And when you hit a seed up the middle, you know, 100 miles an hour for a base hit on a two strike count, that's, that's not as, you know, social media worthy as the, as the bat flip off an 80 mile an hour arm that went, you know, 340 foot or something. So I think that's one of the biggest challenges is teaching guys how to be pure hitters and hit and understand situation. That's my most frustrating thing for sure. And so that's something we try to work on a lot in practice is, you know, situational hitting, understanding the game also just, man, we got to get tougher with two strikes. There's so many strikeouts in the game now. And I think if you, you know, the offense is up, but think about how much better your offense can be if you're putting baseballs in play. And so that's one of the things we try to focus on, you know, here. And you know, you mentioned earlier our physicality, which is something we like, you know, we like to run the ball out of the yard and that's obviously that's the easy way to score if you can hit it over the fence.
But we want to be able to put pressure on people. And so hitting and baserunning is something that's very important to us here.
[00:34:25] Speaker A: And playing hard, who runs your strength and conditioning Currently?
[00:34:29] Speaker B: We just hired a new pitching coach, Aubrey Gillentine. He spent time at Southern Miss and he does that for us.
He's got a background in kinesiology. And so we have looked for our athletic department. We are starting to look at hiring a strength coach. You know, a lot of football programs down in Mississippi have that.
You know, honestly I'm a little hesitant there because I want, if, you know, we do it for our athletic department, I probably like two of them. One maybe to help with the male sports and female sports or divide the sports in half just because when you have 13 sports, somebody's not getting the attention that they deserve, you know, student, athlete wise. And so that's something that we're looking at, but I feel like two would probably be what's best for us.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Have you had to have conversation with your pitchers, too? Because as the offense, I think it has to do with the bats. Probably just as much as anything with those conversations, coach, because they're going to give up runs, especially out, especially in Enid. Like, if the wind's. If the wind's right, need, you're going to give up. It's not as hot as Grand Junction, but it's similar to Grand Junction. If the wind's right in Enid, you're going to give up some runs.
[00:35:36] Speaker B: Well, I've had several conversations with folks over, you know, about last year. It seemed like ERA and all that stuff, which just ballooned last year. And I think one of the things, you know, I mentioned trackman. And so right now, currently out of 15 schools and in Mississippi, I think five of us have trackman. Well, we're sending those reports to umpire and that's, you know, everybody wanted that and everybody thinks that's a great thing.
You know, I'm a pitcher. My background and pitching is my. Is. Is. Is what I feel like I know more about. And when you start holding guys accountable to that strike zone, it changes the game at our level again.
You know, velocity is. Is every. Every stadium you go to now, there's. There's a radar up there. You know, guys will break their neck turning around to see what the pitch was, you know, everywhere. And we do it. I'm guilty of it. We have events every weekend and we've got our track man on the board, which. That's why people want to come play here too. Is, you know, to see their numbers and see their statistics and all that stuff. So you just have to tell again, it's. I know it sounds old school, and I'm definitely an old school kind of guy, but, man, we got to throw strikes and it's that simple. We got to learn how to pitch again. We got to learn that. You know, there's some, I mean, I hear pitching coaches all the time talking about throwing the. Throwing the slider hard. You know, I want to see the velocity on the slider. I'm like, man, I want to see location first. You know, I want to see the movement of the baseball. I want to see an understanding of what you're trying to do with that pitch, the count.
And so that's something that is frustrating. Just like this year, yeah, we led our conference in era. And I tell coach, Coach Gillentine all the time, like, hey, we pitched at over a 5 era. So yeah, it may have been great that we let our conference. That's not speaking highly of our conference when it comes to pitching right now. But, you know, the year before we led the country and I think we're at a, you know, right at a three. And so that's where we want to be moving forward. And I still think you can do that, but you have to have the right. You got to coach them, they got to understand what's important when they step on the mound. And the.
But when you're on the mound, the least important is the velocity at that point, in my opinion. You know, there's so many more things that matter matter at that point. And so that's where we try to do a lot of our focus. But again, that's also why the strikeouts are up, because the stuff is so much better. I mean, there are.
We went to our sophomore showcase the other day and you've got multiple guys in Mississippi throwing 95 miles an hour plus. That never would have happened five years ago if you had a guy sniff a 95 man. He was, you know, it was like, well, you know, this guy's got every offer there is. And now it's just so much more common.
[00:38:11] Speaker A: I think Trackman too, with the tighter zone. I think that's where the offensive numbers have come to too, because I think pitchers there out to. They have to pitch into a shorter window than they've had to in the past.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: No question.
You know, our umpires, as soon as they leave here, they, they're, they're going
[00:38:25] Speaker A: to ask they want, they want and we're going to send it to them,
[00:38:28] Speaker B: you know, and they want to set up because they're trying to work up. Well, they're trying to get that. I mean, they're trying to get there and you know, I get it and I understand it and again, I, it would make no sense for me to say that we want, you know, strikes called that are balls. That's not what I'm saying. It's just, man, you. When you shrink it, there's got to
[00:38:47] Speaker A: be some wiggle room, though.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: There's the highest level in the major league level when they're that good and they're experienced and they can absolutely throw the baseball where they want to. Great. But for us, these guys are learning, they're mature and they're developing and there's got to be a little play there.
[00:39:04] Speaker A: Understanding there your prep out and Enid changed at all.
[00:39:10] Speaker B: Good question, man.
Personally, yes, when I, when I went to Enid the first time. I watched every game and I started every pitch and I locked in not so much anymore. I take my family, enjoy it.
[00:39:26] Speaker A: You can watch it on the computer, right.
[00:39:28] Speaker B: I prepare for the team, but I go out there and try to enjoy the host family and all those families that are out there that we get to see when we're fortunate to get out there each year.
And so I try to take advantage of that. I make sure that our players enjoy the experience of Enid more so than just the game, because you don't know if you're going to win or not.
Like, you feel good about it. You're at the World Series, every team there feels good about it. But we want that experience to be something they remember forever. And there's. It's bigger than a win or a loss in a ball game.
You know, we used to practice on the way up there, you know, both days, and felt like we had to get. We don't practice on the way up there, and we make a total travel day out of the first day. We stop. We. We go eat together. Enjoy that. And so. So I think at that time of the season, for the most part, the Hayes in the barn is the old. The old saying.
And you got to trust those guys. You got to keep those guys fresh, and you got to get those guys to where they just show up and they're ready to play and they're looking at each other next to them, front and behind them, and they're playing for that guy and for Pearl River. And so that's kind of been the mindset that we went up there with lately.
[00:40:36] Speaker A: And you mentioned the heat, too, by the way. Coaches is. The heat affects coaches, too. Like, if coaches are out in it too long, like, that affects judgment. And like, all that stuff goes into play for coaches, too.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Yeah, that's, you know, that's what I tell our guys. This time of the season is like, you know, we never played. We're on turf, and it's hot right now. But now, during our season, this is in preparation for hopefully the regional and for any. This is the only time you get to Play.
Literally, it's 95 degrees, so I'm not turf. It could be 115 and it's miserable. But I remind them at different times throughout our fall, it's like, hey, right now you're preparing for when you're in Eden and it's. It's hot and you've played a nine game at seven, you know, two o' clock and turn around the next day at two o' clock, and you got to go again.
This is where you got to dig in. You got to remember those days, those, those dog days of August. And remember, hey, this is what we prepared for in our, our hitting facility doesn't have air conditioning. You're in there sweating and you're sweated down, and these guys walk off the field in the fall and they're completely soaking wet. And then you say, hey, we're going to wear, you know, and that's, that's, you know, that's, that's, that's, that's going to play that seventh, eighth, ninth inning and finish it. And so I think as coaches, you just have to be aware of that and make sure you make those points to them. And so they can. When you get to Enid, you can revert back, say, hey, remember me telling you in August when it was hot? It ain't no hotter there. I can promise in Poperville, Mississippi, it is hot right now.
So you're prepared for what you're fixing to be in. And you've been. And you've been put through it and remember that experience and let's go get it.
[00:42:03] Speaker A: I think coaches do such a much better job now with rest and recovery than we ever had.
I also think that's where the physicality comes. I think coaches are offering players much better opportunity to get rest and recovery so they can. Anything they break down, they're going to build back up. I think that's why we have more physical players now, too. The training's better, but I think people understand about wrestling recovery a lot more now, too.
[00:42:26] Speaker B: Well, the thing I've noticed most there is when these guys, you know, come in and you work all fall and they gain weight and they get stronger because we kill it in the weight room. That is something that, you know, that's. There's, there's two reasons I feel like we've been successful here at Pearl River. One is we want to be the most physical team in the country. That's just. We're going to go out. When I first got here, I can remember Anthony Izio, who now at Jacksonville State, and we looked through the, through the jerseys and we had all these mediums. And I don't want no more mediums. You know, like, we got to get some big guys. And so we went out and they're 616263. We want physicality. And then the second thing is we want to have the most pitching depth in the country. And that's what we go out and do each year we want. Those are the two main things. If you're good on the mound, you got a chance to be good. Bottom line, if you're bad on the mound, you're not going to be any good. Just. That's just my opinion, but I think the numbers tell you that.
And then this game, as you just mentioned, and bigger, faster, stronger, that's. That's what guys are. When you go watch major league baseball games, it is unbelievable the size of these people and how they move and how they do. And so as coaches, we have to be understanding of that and make sure that, you know, we don't run as much as we used to. I used to run guys all the time. Now we do our conditioning in our weight room.
When you watch the. I mean, when, when guys run enough, they sweat a lot. Well, look at the guy's shirt. If he's stripped, soaking down, he's. He's conditioned, his heart rate's up, he's. He's ready to go. You know, baseball is a little different game as far as, you know, the breaks in between each pitch. And so I think you have to, to learn and grow there.
But we try to make sure that we are considerate of the days off and making sure their bodies recover. Now, I do tell them, in the fall, you're going to be sore. We're going to go play fall games, you're going to be sore. Now in spring, I can promise you we will do a much better job of making sure that when these games count, you're going to be fresher, you're going to feel better, you're going to be closer to your best.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: How can you get this generation of players to buy into something larger than themselves?
[00:44:31] Speaker B: Great question.
I think that's, I think that's your culture. I think as a coach, I think you 100%, I guess, gain that respect for your program. I think how you go about your business, I think about, Think about how you work. I think about how you relate to your players.
You know, we talk about three things. Last year, you know, the number three was three chords strong. Our faith, family, and baseball.
And with that, you know, we always want our faith to be most important for these guys. We want to show that family. I tell them your family's way. If you got a problem with your mom, your dad or something. And our guys go through this. I mean, these guys have issues. We have players currently that, you know, mom's dealing with medical issues and different things. And so we have to be Considered that as coaches as well. But, but, but we also.
One of the things I try to teach these guys is right now, at this time in your life, baseball is really, really important.
You have to get these guys to take advantage of that and to maximize what they're able to do with it, because they're going to regret it if they don't. They've been, they've been blessed with ability.
They're really good players. They wouldn't be on our teams. But now the thing is, in anything in life, but right now, baseball, we want you to sell out to it. We want you to get everything you got to it. We want, we want to teach you. We have an old school punch, punch clock in our, in our hitting facility where we teach them to work. These guys say they want to play 162 games a year.
They don't know what that means. They don't know what that's like, driving. And I tell them, hey, you know, Yankees offer you today. They're going to send you down to Florida, away from your mom, your dad, your family.
You're not going to know anybody and you'll see them in nine months, probably. That's, that's different. You don't understand really what that is. And so we try to help them, but you got to get them to buy into punching the clock. You got to get them to understand that that's what you want and this is what it takes.
And so it is, it is different. You know, there's, I guess the biggest adjustment for me personally as a coach in the last 10 years has been the positivity that these guys want, they want to be told. They don't want to be told, that's not good. They want to be told, good job.
And I think we have to be understanding and we have to accommodate that a little bit. Bit.
But I'm still going to be tough on them and I tell them that. But at the end of the day, one of my sayings is you may walk off the baseball field and I may not be happy with you, or you may not be happy with me, but you know, I love you, I believe in you and I care about you. And I think if we can get to that point with these players, that starts in recruiting, you know, because for us in Mississippi, we recruit two years out, which is crazy for junior college. So our relationship with these guys is so long, but that's, that's where we try to do it. I think the coach sets that example. I think he sets that standard and we have it in our locker room again. My dad said this to me as a coach.
The only thing promised to you is to be a part of this team which is much bigger than the individual. I think they have to see that. I think they also have to understand that you can ask them at the end of the year here, hey, how many of y' all were the best player on your high school team? Every one of them stands up. We only have one best player here and there's only one out of 35 of you that are the best player on this team. And so you have to get them to understand that their roles change, their expectations change, but being a good teammate is going to do a lot for them. Not just now, but for the rest of their life. When they're a husband, when they're a father, you know, when they're an uncle, aunt or, you know, uncle or what
[00:48:04] Speaker A: have you, are those majority of the guys you might get at the break or guys you recruited along the way that maybe went somewhere else?
[00:48:12] Speaker B: For the most part, you know, we don't, we're, we don't add a whole lot at the break, but usually over the past few years, it's been somebody we've had a relationship with before.
As a matter of fact, it's funny that you asked that. There was a local Mississippi kid that just committed to a four year right before we got on the call and last night he had committed to a four year school. And I just reached out to him and said, man, congratulations. Happy for you, proud of you.
And I mean that.
I wanted to play Division I baseball ball and wasn't good enough to do it. So when I sit with these guys and meet with them, I understand their dreams and their wants. And yeah, we'd like if they don't go Division 1, we want them to be at Pearl River. But our job here, our goal here is to get these guys to the four year level.
And so I think those relationships are important because they remember that. You know, they also remember sometimes when they call you and say, hey, I'm going to go to this junior college, how you handle that, That I think is very important as a coach.
You know, this place is not for everybody. And there's, there's, I tell people that when I recruit with them, every guy, every guy that sits in the seat is different than the next guy. What's, what's important to you? Does this place fit it? We want people that want to be here, want to be coached by us, want to be a part of our program. If you don't want those things, we don't want you either. There's no, there's nothing wrong with that. But, but no question, guys, for the most part, and I will add this caveat, I think our success has helped us get in the game with some other transfer type guys.
You know, we've gotten calls from the big schools, which is, which is nice and humbling when you get a call from, you know, a big SEC school that says, hey, I've got a guy for you. Do you have room? And we're like, absolutely. We'll, you know, we'll, you know, we'll make it work. And so that's, that's a benefit of the success that I mentioned earlier.
[00:50:00] Speaker A: Your dad ever tried to talk you out of coaching?
[00:50:03] Speaker B: Absolutely. You know, I have a business degree. Yeah, that's what he told me. He said, well, he wanted me to be a lawyer warrior. And, and, and honestly, man, I was, I was going to go into business and, and start my own business of some type. And then I was working. I was finishing playing at University of West Alabama, and I just, I just couldn't do it. And so I've got a business degree and a, and a physical education master. So here, here I am and right where I need to be and so thankful for it. And there was no doubt my dad was, was proud of me for, for being a coach. And he got to enjoy a lot of moments with me, you know, when he could, so it was cool.
[00:50:40] Speaker A: What time management tips do you have? You got a lot of different hats you're wearing. How do you stay on task with everything that you have to do?
[00:50:49] Speaker B: Well, it's, I think it's got to be purposeful. I think you have to make sure, you know, as I mentioned earlier, my, my, my family, that's very important to me.
One of the hard things for coaches, I feel like, and I think a lot of people that are passionate about what they do is taking their hands off of a situation and saying, man, I can't control everything. That's really hard, especially for a coach to do.
But again, I go back to.
Well, first, let me say this. I think most important for a coach, in my opinion, there's no question I'd be way wrong if I didn't mention this is having the right person by your side. And there's no question, and I know you hear a lot of, if you listen to a lot of great coaches, you'll hear them say that, and that's where I've heard it before, is that you know, I think of just Nick Saban right now and his wife on so many different things. When he's on the field, she's right there next to him, you know, and a part of that and involved in that family aspect of it.
And that's the example that we want to show these guys, you know, that this is. This is most important.
But I do think that you have to be willing to work, work. You know, at some point, we'll retire and we'll get to enjoy a little downtime. But as long as.
As long as I'm doing this, I'm going to get everything I got.
You also have to have children that understand.
Just like.
Just like Thursday night coming up, my little girl's got her last volleyball game, but I'm the athletic director, and I got to go do a football game away. That's just part of it, but she understands that.
But also making sure your children and your family are with you in those big moments when you get to go to Enid, Oklahoma, and playing and making them a part of that, making them understand that they are a part of it, they have something to do with it. It couldn't be done without them and their sacrifice. I think that's how you make sure everything gets done at the right time.
But it does take work, and it's not easy. But also showing up each day and just going day by day. There's days now as an athletic director and a baseball coach, some people ask me, what do you got? I don't know what I have tomorrow until the day before when I get my plan ready for the day, you know, and I look and I say, all right, so organization is very, very important there, and that's where I can continue to grow and mature and get better.
But it's just making sure your priorities stay in order, and obviously we fail at that, and you're not going to be perfect at it, and you need reminders and the right people around you to help you. But that's something I have feel like I've grown and done a little better job, you know, over the last couple years.
[00:53:25] Speaker A: It's what's important now. And I. I think it's just like, okay, is this important right now that I need to take care of it? And also releasing what's out of your control.
I feel like that's what the. The best people that have time management skills, like, if it's out of their control, and I know it's really hard as a coach, but it's like, okay, that's out of my control. I'm going to release that. And I'm not even, I'm not even going to focus on it right now. It's out of my control.
[00:53:47] Speaker B: Right. And, and, and delegating is something that you have to learn how to do. It's, it's not.
But, but communication is important there. You know, you can, you can have assistant coaches or an assistant athletic director, and if you don't communicate with them, they don't, they don't. They're not told or understand.
That's part of the delegate or huge part of the delegating process is making sure there's no questions they understand and then trust them to go do it. And that takes time. You know, that's one of the things that I, that I spent a lot of time for me, just when you're dealing with 13 sports plus your sport. The other thing is realizing, and this has been one of the biggest things I've learned from being an athletic record is all these coaches care about their sport just like I care about baseball. And they want their stuff immediately. Patience does not end their vocabulary a whole lot of times. And so I'm, I'm understanding of that. And I've had to learn a little patience there and be more considerate that. Whether it's, whether it's softball, whether it's football, whether it's basketball, golf, esports, archery, flag football coming up, that's going to be their baseball, that's going to be their Enid.
And so you have to work with those people. They have to know you're in the foxhole with them and you're going to help them figure it out and you got their back.
But communication is ultimately most important. I think that's one thing that we do in our program. And I'll mention that now to coaches, man, we call our guys in a bunch and we have. They sit across from my desk just like me and you are doing right now, face to face. And we talk and we talk about, hey, where, where can you improve? You know, where can you. And they got to be able. I mean, this day and age with text messaging drives me crazy because people don't know how to talk anymore on the phone. They of text and that's easier, I think, for a lot of folk. But again, I mentioned a little bit. I'm a little old school at times. And we want to sit down and we want to make sure that guys can sit across from us and have a conversation because you get to get a feel for a person a lot More you get to see if something bothering that player, maybe there is something going on that you don't know about. And the only way you find that out sometimes is by having that conversation. And that's going to help them in life down the road. So communication, communication, communication.
[00:55:49] Speaker A: Do you have a fail forward moment, something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it was one of the best things that happened to you, helped you move forward.
[00:55:57] Speaker B: Man, I have, you know, I have so many at different times. That's one of the things when I, When I'm fortunate to go speak at some of these first pitch banquets, I talk more about my failures than sometimes my successes.
You know, one that I can remember being at Mississippi Delta, and I'm very thankful for my time there, but it was such a tough place and my family, you know, paying for academy schools and just family wasn't in the best spot. And I went and went to Delta State University and got my high school teaching, you know, paid for that thought, man, I'm. And then I even looked at an insurance job thinking, man, I'm going to. I've got to do what's best for my family and put them in a better situation.
And then finally I understood after five high school interviews and being told that either I wasn't qualified enough because I hadn't coached high school, I was overqualified because I had been a college coach and five jobs that I was told that I was getting and I was and never got them. And then. But I realized at that point that I needed to be where my feet were. And you hear that all the time. But until you're in those moments, you understand that, man, you're trying to get out of something. Just trust what's going on. Trust the good Lord. He's going to put you where he wants you when he wants you there.
And then I came down and interviewed at Pearl river, thinking, man, I'm not getting this job, but all the jobs, this is not the one I'm going to get get, because I didn't have many connections. I knew Coach Ortiz and called him and reached out to him and he helped me and made a phone call for me, but that was really the only connection I had. And. And here we are, you know, 11 years later, and I think I'm at the best junior college in the country and so thankful for it. But I can remember back in those days when I was like, man, I got to get out of here. I got to go, go sell insurance, which I didn't want to do.
And I just had to be a little patient, which I'm not a very patient person. And I had to trust and just be where my feet were. And the president, Dr. Beardwood, tells the story that when they called me, I had driven four and a half hours back home to Mississippi Delta, and I was weed eating when they called me at the field. And they were really impressed with that. But that's what I learned, is that, hey, I'm gonna go do my best. I'm gonna put my best foot forward. And if it's the right door and I'm supposed to walk through it at that time, I'll make that decision.
But I'm gonna go and make Mississippi Delta the best place I can be and be thankful to have that opportunity. And here we are, Here we sit. But that's one. And I. And then I can go back to just recently finish a nine out short at the World Series, you know, two years ago, and then getting that chance go back to 2019 when we were up 10 runs in the seventh inning against Pasco and I pulled a picture and we got beat. You know, we were three outs away from. And I thought, man, I'll save this guy for the next game. Well, we never got to the next game. And so there's a lot of moments. But it also helped me. I don't know if we ever win the national championship because I didn't learn the importance of winning that game. Game in those tournaments and not preparing for the future when the game you're in and then worry about the next one when you get to it. And so all those moments are fall. And I could keep going on and on and on about them where it's different players and things. But I think as coaches, you know, I think we, we, we learn from our failures a lot, but we also need to take those moments and learn.
Make sure our guys learn in victory, because you can learn there, too. But sometimes we just, we don't, you know, we kind of forget about that part. We just want to learn when it doesn't go our way.
And so these guys learning when they win. And I think you can get a lot done in those moments as well, too.
[00:59:23] Speaker A: Not surprising me that some of our most successful athletic departments have coaches that are running them still.
[00:59:31] Speaker B: Yeah, they've been there, they understand.
[00:59:33] Speaker A: But it's easier for a coach to walk into an athletics director's office if he's coaching.
[00:59:38] Speaker B: You can just relate so well to them and those problems that they're having. You've had them, you've dealt with, with them. You can give them advice you can give them and sometimes things not to do, you know, hey, here's, here's a better way.
And so they also just have that respect for you that hey, this, this, this guy, this, this girl, this, this lady's been through this before. And they, and I can respect this opinion because when you've had somebody that's never dealt with a parent or dealt with recruiting or dealt with a winner or loss, you know, there's a lot of people that can sit out there and scream at me all the time from the outside.
And I always want to say, man, when do I get to come to your office and scream at you? You know, I don't get to do that. But who gives you the right to come scream at me when you don't like something I've done? But you know, we have a scoreboard and that's something that pressure of having to perform and win and get the most. I mean, we're trusting 18, 19 year old kids for our livelihood. And so that takes a different understanding and a different consideration.
And so being a coach, I think we always have that to relate to. And those coaches appreciate that when we're able to give them advice because we've been through it, love it.
[01:00:53] Speaker A: What about your routines? You got any daily habits or routines that you like that you go to?
[01:00:58] Speaker B: Yeah, one of the things, try to stay healthy. I'm a big guy so I want to get up in the mornings and me and my wife, it's one of the best times we get to spend together as we walk the campus every morning, morning before we get our kids up for school. And that's something that we started a couple years and for two reasons. The obvious reason is health.
I think it is important as a coach you got to look the part. I think that helps in the recruiting side of it. But more importantly, sometimes that's the only time we get to spend together.
And those quiet times of the walk and giving her the time of talking, because sometimes the last thing I want to do when I get home is talking, talk. And you know, I'm thankful. She wants to know every aspect of what happened and what happened with this player and all that.
And so those mornings are when I'm fresh and she's fresh and we can talk and we can talk about the upcoming day in the week and different things like that. So we do that.
And then, you know, I do my Bible study every morning. First thing when I get to work.
That's very important to me. And I think that's something that takes a conscious effort and making time for those two things again.
Faith, family and then, and then baseball. And so don't, don't lift as much as I used to. Just, just from being honest, just the kids are so busy and, and when you spend the time walking and the time with all the other stuff and you're the athletic director.
But that is something I obviously used to do a lot more and would love to. And I mentioned that because I know there's coaches that are listening to this, but, but I think that's great. That's one of the things I tell our assistants, you know, hey, you know, work day usually starts at 8 o', clock, but I'll give you the 9 o' clock. If you're going to go lift, work out, do something there, there, you know, go make that time useful and, and you know, because I know our days are long and so I want them to have that freedom in the mornings to get up and, you know, do something, whether it's workout with their spouse or, or what, have them. So I think those are really important that as head coaches, we help our assistants, you know, in that way.
[01:02:54] Speaker A: You're gonna be able to get to convention. I know you're busy, you're gonna be able to get your award.
[01:02:58] Speaker B: I'm. I'm making that one. I am.
It's always a great time. It's one of my favorite times of the year is it's just getting up there and seeing everybody.
Especially for me personally, being a head coach here, we have so many events on campus on the weekends, like, I mean, literally all summer we're hosting events. We've got a college league that we host during the week. We've got like every, every weekend in the fall, we've got different teams that are coming here, playing.
It's really cool. I always feel like I need to be here for those, those events. Not that I'm at all of them, but if there's something going on on campus, I'm going to stick around here being the head coach. And so I don't get to get off campus as much as I'd to like, like and go recruiting and go see different events and things like that. And so when you get a chance to go to that convention and see some old faces, small buddies for the first time, that's really cool. And then also, man, you know, sharpen the axe, you know, get to learn and listen to the different speakers. There's no doubt every convention I've ever been to. I've always picked up multiple things that I implemented to our program.
And I tell people all the time, that's what, that's what coaching is. It's just a recycling. It's using something from somebody else else, making it your own, because you hear a lot of good ideas. You know, the kicker is making sure that it fits in your program and that you can make it, you know, put your twist on it and make it to where it can help you.
[01:04:17] Speaker A: What is. Final thoughts before I let you go,
[01:04:21] Speaker B: for, for last year on my final thoughts?
[01:04:24] Speaker A: Anything?
[01:04:24] Speaker B: Oh, well, just. Just thankful to do what I do. And, you know, I'm blessed every day to be, to be a coach and impact lives. And that's one thing. This second national championship championship really helped me understand that and appreciate that more.
You know, winning is great and it's something we're all going to work at, but, man, you get a chance to win in so many ways besides the baseball game. And these kids appreciate that.
These families appreciate. Moms and dads appreciate it.
You know, the national championship is special, and I smile thinking about it, but, man, I'm so humbled by the text that you get years down the road from a mom or a dad or a former player that says, man, thank you, coach, for the impact that you made.
You know, I'm the man that I am today because. And I know it's not because of me, it's because of this program, this place, or, you know, the different things, getting these, you know, their, their teammates.
But those are what, you know, I'm so thankful for, and it's made me better. When I'm able to concentrate on that side of it. Winning will take care of itself. If we're, if we're fortunate to do it, great. We're going to show up every day, work hard, hard, but make sure every day, these, these, you know, for me, it's. It's 70 eyeballs looking back at me every day, listening to me and, and want me to impact them. And so as coaches, that's our responsibility. That's our, that's our blessing, you know, and so we have that opportunity to go out and do the very best you can with it, appreciate it, and, and show up and give them everything you got every day.
[01:05:56] Speaker A: Thanks for your time, sir. Appreciate you. It's great seeing you.
[01:05:58] Speaker B: Awesome.
[01:05:59] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:05:59] Speaker B: Thank you, man. Appreciate it.
[01:06:01] Speaker A: Been impressed with Coach Avalon since our first meeting in enid, Oklahoma, in 2022.
Reminder to put Enid, Oklahoma, on your bucket list for the NJC World Series.
Congrats again Coach Avalon and the entire Pearl river program on a historic 2026 season.
Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt Weston, ABC Office for all up on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me via email or brownleyabisa.org Twitter Instagram, are Twitter Tik, Tok, Coach, BCA or direct message me via the MyVCA app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off with American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks and leave it better for those behind.
[01:06:48] Speaker B: And you know that way Yep Wait
[01:06:52] Speaker A: for another day
[01:06:57] Speaker B: and the world will always return and your love is never for yearning and you know that way
[01:07:12] Speaker A: Wait for another day
[01:07:20] Speaker B: Sam.
