Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the abca's podcast. I'm your host ryan brownlee.
New ABCA Podcast sponsor Driveline are longtime friends and I've used many of their products when I was coaching in the youth camps. Now, if you want to truly optimize your pitcher's workload, Pulse from Driveline Baseball takes simple pitch counts to the next level. Pulse is a wearable sensor that precisely measures every throw your pitchers make on a daily basis. Pulse tracks both throw count and throw intensity.
Trusted by MLB organizations like the Cincinnati Reds, elite college programs and individual athletes at all levels, Pulse is changing the way throwing workload is managed. With the Pulse Team Dashboard, you'll be able to make data driven usage decisions to optimize training and injury prevention for your entire team. Visit drivelinebaseball.com Pulse to revolutionize your pitching staff's development and health today.
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 on to the podcast.
Joining us this week on the ABCA podcast is 2025 ABCA soldier sports high School Division III Assistant Coach of the Year St. Thomas Aquinas Assistant Coach Michael Jacobs Aquinas is coming off back to back Kansas Class 5A state championships, the fifth overall for the school. The Saints finished the season with a 274 record.
Jacobs is a Kansas City native, Aquinas alum and pitched collegiately for the University of Iowa, graduating in 2010. Jacobs worked in banking before going back to get his teaching degree in 2014.
Jacobs has great feel for developing amateur pitchers, so this is a deep dive into pitching development and arm health. Let's welcome Michael Jacobs to the podcast.
Here with Michael Jacobs, ABCA Division 3 High School Assistant Coach of the Year, St. Thomas Aquinas But Kansas City native, also Hawkeye native, alum. But back to back state champs for you all. Michael, thanks for jumping on with me.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: No, happy to be here.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Hey, what'd you learn from Mike Bodicker growing up?
[00:03:26] Speaker B: Oh man, where do you start? I think just the nature of being a pitcher. I think a lot of stuff that maybe, maybe is kind of missing now, but just learning how to.
Oh, I remember he worked with me a few times before I went up to Iowa, but just playing catch the right way, being able to throw a change up was a big one because I know he was known for that a lot. But I think the pitch ability component was huge. That's kind of what set me apart as I came into school or came into college.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: And your change was probably your best off speed pitch. What did he mention? We get a lot of questions on, on change ups. What, what did he mention to you about the change up?
[00:04:10] Speaker B: I think honestly, and it honest today that probably the best drill for that was just to play catch with it as much as you can.
He mentioned to like to play catch with it further than, you know, the pitching distance, just to train your arm, you know, use your eyes so you can see what it does, the life that it has. Focus on the feel of it rolling off your fingers.
All those little things that you know, are super important for that pitch to ultimately develop and you know, look like the fastball coming out of your hand as much as it can.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Do you think young kids overcomplicate the change up? It just seems like people try to go too much to the edges and then it's way off the plate.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: No, I agree. And I think, you know, I. When I talk to a lot of our incoming freshmen that come in, when they throw, if they throw a change up, they try to be too fine with it. Kind of like what you said. Instead I go into the black or going to the corner of the plate, you know, just use, use the plate because it's going to move, it's going to have good life, hopefully. Or we can work on that, you know, if it has depth, even better.
But just to use because we want that, we want it to be a swing pitch because if you throw it the right way, you're going to hopefully trick the hitter and get him out front and get, you know, we contact or that ground ball or that soft fly ball.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: What have you used? I'm sure you're dealing with a lot of different hand sizes with the kids that you coach. What, what different grips are you using depending on the hand Size, Honestly, I.
[00:05:37] Speaker B: Think for someone with just normal average hand size, that the circle change is always a good one to go to. I like using the seams with that.
But honestly, I think too maybe if it's somebody younger just putting three fingers on the baseball and then playing around with the depth in the hand and maybe the distance between their fingers and just experimenting with that, which is why, you know, when you play catch, you can do all that kind of stuff.
[00:06:05] Speaker A: That's what we kind of focused on too, was trying to keep their middle finger where their dominant fastball was. Whether it was four seam or two seam. We tried to keep the middle finger close just because they were used to ripping their fastball with their middle finger in the same spot and then trying to manipulate the other fingers around that, if we could.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Agree.
[00:06:26] Speaker A: You're right in the middle. You said you just got done with parent teacher conferences.
You know, how have your teaching responsibilities developed over time?
[00:06:35] Speaker B: You know, I'm currently in my ninth year teaching, so teaching is a second career for me. I was in banking for a little bit and started coaching right after school. And then I was in banking for three years and that was tough to do both. So, you know, my mom's a teacher, so I kind of knew how that, how that goes. But also, you know, being a teacher, you get off at 3 or 3:30, whatever the end of, or dismissal is. So it's easy to roll right into practice versus, you know, a 9 to 5 job or 8 to 4 or whatever you have. But I think too, it just has helped me with kind of my confidence and just explaining things.
You know, it's definitely made me a better coach. It's a lot easier to, um, like I said, explain concepts, teach things, teach things in different ways to hopefully reach, you know, different, because everybody learns a different way.
Or, you know, you kind of explain the same concept in three or four different ways just because that's what kids need. But I think just overall, my confidence in my ability to coach, my confidence, ability to communicate, and just kind of along those lines, we never really talked.
[00:07:45] Speaker A: About it when you're in college, but when you were a business major, in the back of my mind I'm like, I really hope he gets into coaching.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah, it just, it took me a little bit. I was super indecisive when I went to Iowa. I even started off as an open major because I wasn't quite sure. And then when I wanted to declare, I chose business because there were so many options. And then I'm not Sure. Why I chose finance originally. But it ended up working out for me because it saved me on some classes to take when I got my teaching certificate because I had all those business electives done. So that helped me get right in or get into teaching a little bit quicker, so kind of teaching business elective classes.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: So what are the benefits of being at a private school?
[00:08:30] Speaker B: I definitely. I'm biased because I went here and it's kind of how I grew up. I grew up going to a Catholic grade school and then obviously high school. So K through 12, you know, I knew nothing different.
But I think just some of the things that really stick out to me are just the culture and the family type atmosphere is huge. And that's in a lot of places. But I think it's just a little bit different here when you have the faith component mixed in, which I think is, you know, there's a lot of benefits beyond just the obvious for that.
The community part, you know, community service is a huge part of coming to Aquinas or being a part of Aquinas. And again, that's such a game changer for someone's just ability to give back, how it makes you feel better and all those things.
And then the discipline part too, you know, I feel like at private schools, I mean, there's a different standard that kids are held to or there's some expectations there, which is, I think, a good thing.
It takes some kids a little bit longer than others to get used to that, but. And that's definitely not something that they, they see the benefits of right away.
But long term, you know, that's that the habits that you'll fall back onto when, you know, it sometimes comes time to, you know, do things or find that self discipline to, you know, get up when you need to or do something you don't want to do that you need to do, you know, all that kind of stuff.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: How many alums do you have where they're sending their kids to Aquinas?
[00:10:06] Speaker B: Oh, quite a bit. There's tough for me to put a number on that, but it's. There's a big alumni base.
You know, that's. I'm just thinking there's a football game here tomorrow. But those, they have big alumni tailgates that I walk by because I work a lot of those games for supervision and that kind of stuff. But it's. There's a good following the community, the surrounding community here is pretty big and it's a pretty special reach that it has.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: I think that's where it Shows up is in the sporting events with this little spirit piece.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: Agree, for sure.
[00:10:40] Speaker A: And you. I mean, you grew up in a large Catholic family, yes?
[00:10:43] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely, huh. A lot of younger siblings, so. And actually my younger brother is a coach on staff, so last year he was my first year back. He was our JV coach, and then last year he was our. Another one of our varsity assistants, so that's pretty cool.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: What'd you relay to him about getting into it?
[00:11:02] Speaker B: I think. I think just helping just to obviously to continue to be in baseball, but ultimately just to give back to the game because it's such a huge part of your life and obviously the playing part ends at some point for everyone. And then, you know, there are so many people that, you know, poured into me or gave to me when I played that I only felt like it was the right thing for me to do, to do that. Plus, you know, it's pretty cool when part of your job is to be a coach in the best, best game.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: In the world, you know, and you feel like. You seem like you're kind of built to be an assistant coach too.
[00:11:41] Speaker B: I. I enjoy that.
I, you know, I kind of. I really like what I'm doing, and I feel like whoever I. I mean, I've coached for a couple different head coaches, and I feel like one of the bigger parts of being an assistant is to try to compliment what the head coach does.
You know, obviously, you know, you do everything, the way the program is set and all that, but you compliment what he does because that just helps the development piece as well.
[00:12:08] Speaker A: What number state championship was that for Aquinas?
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Number five. For baseball?
Yeah.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Did you know you're gonna. Did you know with the group coming back that you had a chance to repeat?
We.
[00:12:24] Speaker B: There was.
We had two really. I mean, we had a really good senior class, and we had two really special seniors last year that were outstanding baseball players, but I think they were even better leaders and better teammates, which is, you know, it's a very common term, but they were like the ultimate glue guys last year because we had probably our more talented class was our junior class last year, and maybe seniors this year, but like. And these guys were super talented ones at Purdue right now, and another one is at Hutch Community College. And they're. They can both play baseball for a really long time, but their ability to lead, be good teammates, you know, hold people accountable, and they really kind of held up their end for, like, the definition of a player led team. Like, they were two special kids. Then the senior class in general, I don't want to shortchange the rest of them, but overall as a group, it was a really good group.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Were they that way as freshmen or did that develop over time for them, being leaders?
[00:13:25] Speaker B: So they. I was at a previous school when they were freshmen. I first had them when they were juniors, but they both were varsity players.
So from what I know of them and just the relationship that I have that, you know, they have that, you know, kind of that uncanny ability to, you know, lead by example and, you know, work hard and pull people along when they need to.
At least that's. That's kind of my observations from the past two years with them.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: How early are you getting with your new kids? So the freshmen that walk in the doors, how early are you getting them?
[00:14:00] Speaker B: So we will start some speed and agility and strength training right after Thanksgiving, and then we can't. It's. The past two years have been better. We have been able to start, like pitchers and catchers the four weeks leading up to the start of the year for two days a week. So I'll be able to see some of them then.
But just kind of seeing their athleticism. The ones that don't do a winter sport, we'll see.
But, you know, our head guy will teach PE or he teaches PE and he has a weights class, so he'll see some of them there. But a lot of them will play football, so we don't see a ton of them, baseball wise, a little bit. Maybe in the summer we have a 9th grade camp for a couple days. But it's. That's tough too, because, you know, you're right in the heat of summer baseball. So some kids won't come or they won't know about it or, you know, stuff to do. Camp Monday, Tuesday after a.
A weekend tournament with your returning guys.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: When will you start their throwing program for the spring?
[00:15:09] Speaker B: So I, I kind of put together a generic return to throw where it starts super slow and kind of builds into, you know, long toss and some short boxes and some skill work and drills and bullpen that kind of starts after Thanksgiving.
A lot of them and pretty much most of them are a part of an academy or club where they have their own pitching program with that. So I kind of with them. I try to communicate with them as much as I can, but I kind of blend what I want them to do with what they're currently doing because the last thing I want to do is, you know, overwork them in the off season. But I also want them to work on more than just, you know, whatever, you know, they're working on adding in some of those little things that, like, come the first week of practice or tryouts, you know, we want to make sure that we're practicing those as well.
[00:15:59] Speaker A: How much will you communicate with the facilities guys on that side?
[00:16:04] Speaker B: I know a lot of them, and I'll reach out to them from time to time. So we will communicate because I've coached at a few different clubs just to make that connection and, you know, again, just be a part of baseball in the summer.
So I'll talk with them especially too, if somebody, you know, someone's coming back from an injury or kind of if they're working on a certain part of their delivery.
So that way, because the spring is so short, you know, you want to maybe kind of pick up where they left off once the spring starts, because you don't want to. If they're working on something, you don't want to completely change if it's, you know, not beneficial for them.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Do you have any set drills for you guys with delivery stuff?
[00:16:46] Speaker B: So there's a few, like two or three.
Actually there's four of them that are a part of our weekly schedule that I really like because it works on different parts of their delivery. So, like, it's typically they'll do their drill work days or two days after they pitch. So you have your game day. Then the next day is, you know, really light range of motion. Then the day after, they'll get some easy long toss. And then we'll do a little up the mound drill where we kind of turn it the other way just to work on getting downhill and using our lower half. And then we do a little. I call it a little leg lift drill where they'll get to their. Their. Their gather position and I'll flip them the ball. And then they kind of finish throwing. We do a little breaking ball drill where their back leg's on a chair to kind of isolate the wrist and the fingers to spin the baseball. And then the past couple years, I've started to add in the walking wind up, because I like that. To promote, you know, direction, keeping a fluid delivery and also while their body's moving to be able to gather their weight. So I kind. I like those a lot. Cause it's. They teach those mechanic. That parts of the delivery without getting too mechanical, if that makes sense.
So it's just, you know, kind of one set, three to four or five reps of each, just, you know, and it's a part of their Weekly schedule just so they get that piece worked in as well.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: Use chair drill to help guys get over their front side better, too.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: I like that.
I think it's even in the drill with. With the breaking ball. If they, you know, all I really tell them with that drill is to, you know, spin the ball to the bottom of the zone. And I feel like if they. They can do that and we're about 50ft away, if they can execute, then I feel like they're able to get over their front side.
What I really. I like to up the mound roll for getting over the front side because, you know, it's. It looks super awkward. It's super weird if you. If you don't know what it is. But the first time I have kids do it, they're just like, you're asking me to do what?
And. And I really just tell them, hey, give me a strike at the bottom of the zone. And if they can do that, they kind of. Their body moves the way they want to. They get downhill, they finish over their front side. All the. The stuff you want them to do.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: In a game, we flip that for hitters too. If guys are having a hard time getting down tail with their swing, we would flip the. Basically off the BP platform.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: They'd hit okay. Yeah.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Justin Tool. Shout out Justin Tool. That he spent a lot of time.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I've seen that.
[00:19:10] Speaker A: I like on the platform.
So that first bullpen, when they're getting back, how many pitches? What's that look like when they're getting back? They're building up. What's that first bullpen look like?
[00:19:20] Speaker B: So if we're talking like the first so tryout week, I like to ideally see him off the mound twice. Like, we'll kind of split them up. So like that Monday, Tuesday, like upperclassmen one day, you know, freshman sophomores the other. And it's kind of. It's a real brief, like, script, like 16 to 18 pitches where they kind of show me all that they have.
And then, you know, with it being low volume like that, we can bounce them back, you know, two days later. Ideally, if, you know, weather wise, we could like to go against live hitters for like an inning, four or five hitters, but if not, well, it'll be just a little bit heavier bullpen where I can script it out to where we see more of their pitches. We'll put, you know, hitting dummy in just some stuff to make it more game. Like to see, you know, them execute better.
[00:20:14] Speaker A: Do you have to make many cuts?
[00:20:18] Speaker B: Not very many. Thankfully. Because then again, being an assistant coach, I don't have to do a lot of that, but I think we had five or six maybe last year and then the year before maybe a little bit more.
But yeah, that's worst part of the job. I, you know, feel for our head guy when that, that day comes.
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Do you have many basketball players?
[00:20:40] Speaker B: We do. We have a decent amount, pretty much a good amount of the freshmen, which is great. We want them to do as much as they can their freshman year. And then there's. We had a few last year, which is, you know, a battle on its own because you want them to focus on the sport that they're in. So you kind of have to figure out a way to get their bullpens in.
Just speaking of pitchers. But then position player wise, you know, I feel like it's definitely workable where you can maybe hit a couple times a week, but you definitely want them to focus on the sport that they're in versus, you know, trying to do both.
[00:21:19] Speaker A: I mean, but what, what do you recommend to those guys that are in the middle of basketball as far as trying to on ramp for their arms?
[00:21:26] Speaker B: I think so. I will get with those guys. We'll meet during school and we'll kind of take it week by week and we'll, we'll try once we get into January or halfway through January, we'll, we'll. I'll tell them we try to get off the mound once a week and we just build that way.
And I can try to work around their game schedule. Like our varsity guys play consistently Tuesday, Friday, so we try to get it somewhere like on a, maybe a Wednesday or a Sunday when, you know, it's a lighter practice for them.
But it's just, to me, it's, it's important that they do something. And it doesn't have to be a lot because you don't want to show up once basketball's done and, you know, hardly picked up a baseball because that's just an injury waiting to happen or, you know, you just bring it back really slow and with as short as this spring is, you know, they're not ready till almost the last month.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: You have them do a J band circuit maybe to stay active, even if they're.
[00:22:27] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I, I love those. I think they definitely have them do some sort of arm care. I know I have them do a J band routine before they pick up a baseball every day at practice just to help with that, the mobility and the, just the active warmup that, that they already do.
[00:22:46] Speaker A: What you said that that day after throwing off the mound, what does that look like from. Yeah, from trying to get mobility back that day after.
[00:22:56] Speaker B: So that will be. So I really don't. I. The day after they're on the mound or a game day is really the only day that I kind of cap how far they throw. I really don't want them to go more than 90ft just because I want it to be just easy range of motion. And then I feel like the day two or the day after that we can start to do some easy long toss to work out more soreness. Um, but I think just the day after we'll easy catch and then we'll do a little bit like dry stuff on the mound where we work on controlling the running game.
Um, and then they'll get some conditioning in and that just kind of varies if they're a PO versus a two way and then that's one of the more heavier like recovery arm care days.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: I mean what does the conditioning look like? Go through that. I know position players are different because they're getting their sprint work in on the field, but go through kind of what that conditioning looks like for the week for them therapy.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: So it, I kind of, I try to mix, it's more sprint, sprint based and agility based. But I do like to have a day or so of like a little bit of a clean out run. So if, if they're a two way guy, I'll wait to do the conditioning obviously till the end of practice because if they do any type of running with the team, you know, that should be good enough based on what, what they do. But usually maybe the day after we'll do a little bit of, maybe a little bit of a light jog and then I'll also mix in. They'll also have some sort of sprints cause I kind of tie in like their performance the day before. I, I keep track of winning counts like getting ahead versus falling behind. So that's kind of a more of an incentive to, to do that. So we add a little bit of sprint work in based off of that and then the days after that.
Some days will be agility. Like we'll do some cone drills like 5, 10, 5 or kind of. I have just a little bit of a sheet that they look at and they kind of pick their own or we'll do some, some sprints or.
And again I'll mix it up as the year goes just to give them some variety. Jog, sprint.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Jogs are always tempo stuff is good.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And then.
[00:25:10] Speaker A: So yeah, when are you introducing new pitches at all? I'm sure you probably have some freshmen coming in that don't even know how to grip the ball.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Yeah, honestly, to me it's when I watch them play catch, you can just kind of see how like obviously the importance of playing catch, you know, we could talk for hours on that. But even just gripping a normal four seam grip with your fingers on top and your thumb underneath and having them backspin the ball when they play catch, because there's so many times when, you know, you see the side spin or, or whatever, just kind of starting with that. And then, you know, I'll definitely spend some time watching them and seeing what they do well and then kind of making note of what they struggle with and maybe kind of what I see. But I try not to change stuff immediately. Now there's some stuff that you know, you want to, but usually, and that's probably one area where I've probably gotten better as a coach is I try to observe and listen more and give them some time and then kind of see what they do well because, you know, you never want to change somebody right away. Or at least I try not to.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: How are you communicating with them? It's a different generation with the phones. How are you communicating with them?
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Like, are we talking like right, right now or more during the season?
Usually like I kind of like I'll use email to send or their weekly schedule out. Like I'll put that together and like what day they are starting on Monday.
So I'll use that or sometimes I'll just snap a photo of it on my computer and send it in a group text.
And then we use an app called Remind.
Our head coach does that and then he'll send some, you know, kind of a variety of stuff. But I'll usually just use the text message or the email because they all, you know, have their email connected to their phone. It's just a matter of them checking it.
But usually like that's the part two and then even the text message piece. Like if there maybe they have a bullpen later that day sometimes, you know, I'll ask them what, what they want to get better at or what. Give me a goal for this bullpen and I'll kind of work that into the script that I have for em.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: You have team building stuff you guys do with them?
[00:27:25] Speaker B: We, we do, we kind of like in our off season workouts. There's usually like some sort of competition that we'll do whether it's a sled push or we'll do like, med ball relays. I think that is a good part of that.
And then we.
A lot of times we have one baseball field here. So, like, when we have all four teams early on that are practicing there, we set up little stations where we rotate. And usually one of those stations is a classroom where, you know, we watch a leadership lesson or we maybe we go over cuts and relays. Um, but the. The leadership portion is, you know, kind of falls in the line of. Of that as well.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: Do you have a favorite leadership video?
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Oh, man, I.
It's tough. There's so much out there. I think it's hard for me to go away from, like, the Ken Revisa stuff whenever, like, I'm talking with someone or and they're struggling with, you know, their emotions or slowing things down that.
Evan Longoria E661. It's. It's the best one. None of them have really seen it. And I tell them too, like, I've seen it over 50 times and every time I watch it because if I send it someone, I'm gonna watch it again just as a refresher. But I always get something new.
But it's all.
[00:28:44] Speaker A: Anyone listening in? If you haven't seen it, email me. I will Dropbox it to you. I Dropbox it out still, like, for people that haven't seen the E60 with. With Longorian and Reviza, email me, text me, I will Dropbox it to you. I think it's the best place to start with your team. When you talk about peak performance stuff, I think it's the best video to show. It's still, to this day, still the best video to show.
[00:29:08] Speaker B: Agree it's. It has so much to unpack from it, but it's so simple. And that's honestly, when you're working with high school kids or just anybody, I feel like simple is the way to go.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: When are you introducing that with them then on the field? So obviously you've got your classroom sessions.
How are you trying to reinforce that in practice with your pitchers, with their routines?
[00:29:31] Speaker B: I'll kind of get a feel for once the season starts, like what they already do.
And then I'll kind of add it as on an ad needed basis because I don't want to add too much to their plate because, you know, I feel like in the information age that we're in, there's so much out there I want to get an idea of, you know, what they've been working on and kind of, you know, what their Process is or what they're thinking.
And then if I see, you know, obviously they're thinking about five different things, I'm like, all right, well, let's try this little routine where we don't get on the rubber until we're ready to make the pitch. If it takes 30 seconds, if it takes a minute. Obviously, we don't have the pitch count that they do at the upper levels.
But I think that just, you know, a simple example right there, just to keep them present, which, honestly, huge part of the mental game right there with.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Your bullpen early preseason. I mean, you're trying to get ready to go against somebody else, but there might be some mechanical stuff that you still have to work on with guys because they're young. How much of that time in preseason is mechanical work or competitive work? You know what they say? Over the rubber, over the plate?
[00:30:39] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I love.
I talk about that all the time. Those two different mindsets.
I honestly, I try to focus on delivery work as much as I can in the outfield during catch play.
Like, I can't forget who I heard this from, but I know, like, the. The pitching lab is the big thing now, and I tell my guys, like, the outfield is my pitching lab. This is our time to work on, you know, if it's, you know, your direction with your lower half or if it's, you know, your glove side or if it's staying in your backside a little bit longer. And sometimes I'll introduce just different drills for them, just for them to work on. And, like, when they play catch, just do a couple. And then as you move back into your long toss, let's blend it into what you're doing. Now. If it's something really drastic, like, we're super far across our body with our stride in the bullpen, you know, maybe we'll take a break from the. The script that we're on, and I'll put a PVC pipe down and make us more direct. I do. One thing I. I put in last year was I put in. I created, like, little tunnels. So, like, we use spray paint, and there are two little white lines that go from the. The sides of the home plate as far back as we can, and I kind of use that as their Runway. So, like, let's keep our head in the Runway for as long as we can.
Just simple little things like that. But I try my hardest to do as much delivery work as we can in the outfield and in long toss.
And then usually, like, when they're on the mound, I try to video almost all of it that I can with my iPad or I have my phone kind of set up on the. The fence kind of behind to give them different perspectives and be like, so here's what we need to work on. Here's a great time to work on it. But if it's something that needs to be changed right. Right away, I think you'd never want to waste time with that.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: But how often do you share in the videos?
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Usually a lot of them will ask for them. So I'll kind of give them my phone at the end and they can kind of work through it that way.
Yeah. Or if I. If I see something when I watch it later that night after I get done with whatever, you know, I can kind of use imovie and kind of break them apart and send them over like you said. Or I'll just show them the next day. Be like, hey, when we play catch today, let's really work on, you know, maybe getting our hand out a little bit sooner so our timing's a little bit better. Or, you know, if I slow it down to the release point in their heads. Yanked off to the side. Let's. Hey, let's keep our eyes level today on the glove until they catch it or something. Just little cues like that.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: How many of you new guys have even thought about their glove side or what their glove side is doing?
[00:33:22] Speaker B: Oh, man, it's. I don't know. It's a great question.
[00:33:24] Speaker A: Is that the biggest issue with your new. With your new incoming guys is their glove side?
[00:33:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I see that. And I think, too, a lot of times just being. Obviously they're young, and some of them haven't really hit puberty quite yet, but just the body control, the body awareness is huge. So, you know, maybe just something as simple as stepping to your target when you throw or just staying closed a little bit longer. But, yeah, that glove side is.
Is a big piece, too. I like that a lot. Because, you know, you have guys that have good glove sides. I feel like they stay in their backside a little longer, which, you know, the benefits of that are pretty good.
[00:34:02] Speaker A: You guys using any technology with them outside of the video stuff?
[00:34:06] Speaker B: We have so kind of a little partnership with a physical therapist down the road who has a trackman. So the past two years, he's come and kind of set it up for one of our bullpens during tryouts so that getting that feedback is good. But we don't have, like, any of the bells and whistles, which, you know, those are good. But I'm okay with it. To me, I'd rather like when they're on the, on the mound, have them to focus on execution and competing because to me, that's ultimately what they're going to need to help the team when they're on the mound in a game. So I try to tailor all the bullpens to those two principles right there.
[00:34:47] Speaker A: Do you have a, a lot of different styles with your arms?
[00:34:50] Speaker B: There are a decent amount.
We actually have a couple. We had a young guy last year who was a JV guy. He was a little bit lower slot, which I love those guys.
And I feel like a lot of our, our infielders that are two way guys are naturally lower than normal. And then sometimes, you know, I kind of have to help them get there because, you know, they, they kind of tick up a little bit when they pitch versus on the infield. And I just kind of remind them, hey, when you get a ground ball at shortstop, are you thinking about what slot to throw? Just get it and get rid of it. So it's pitch like a shortstopper. You know, you got, you have an outfielder who throws from a higher slot, then he does a curl hop from the outfield and it's his natural slot. So but you know, it's, I don't know, they kind of get out of their natural slots in a number of different ways. So.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: And that's where video can help too.
[00:35:39] Speaker B: Yes, right, Definitely.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Show them their, their defensive throws and then try to sync that up on.
[00:35:45] Speaker B: The mound for sure. And then I look like even. Yeah, I'm not hugely with technology, but the little imovie app, you can blend the videos or not blend, overlap or overlay, whatever it's called. And that's, they can kind of, once they kind of see that, they're like, oh, okay. And it's just a matter of, you know, let's implement it when we play catch today. And then if you do it enough and you're disciplined enough to creating the habit, it'll translate to what's next, which is the mound.
[00:36:14] Speaker A: Say you got a guy shut down. What's your timeline to, to bring him back healthily?
[00:36:19] Speaker B: Well, it kind of depends on, you know, what went wrong and then obviously communicate with the doctor, parents, whomever. But honestly, like, I like, I think it's Jaeger, Alan Jaeger. His rule where you, you want to be, if you've been off the mound for like two weeks, you want to try to have four weeks of catch play before you get back to the mound, just to build that foundation.
Which is why, like, when I give or I give out the off season program to them, like they start playing catch after Thanksgiving and we really don't get off the mound till beginning of January.
So. But yeah, I like to. And I'll always err on the side of caution because, you know, we're in high school and you know, they've got a much brighter future than where they are now. I mean, that now is important because build those habits and learn as much as you can. But, you know, there's more exciting things ahead if they, you know, do the right stuff to get there.
[00:37:19] Speaker A: What are some other life skills that you guys focus on outside of leadership?
[00:37:25] Speaker B: Time management is huge with, you know, the academic standards and some of the course loads that these kids have, you know, you know, you gotta be able to keep a schedule. You gotta use your day planner, you know, maybe move beyond recording it in your phone and actually write it down.
The time management piece.
I think, obviously, and I'm preaching to the choir here, but in baseball, managing failure, you know, also understanding, and this is something I struggled with huge as a player is understanding that when you work hard, it's not gonna lead to immediate success. You just have to. To keep doing it. And that's, that's super frustrating.
But I think just any type of, you know, little concept that involves the mental game is, is huge because we see it so much with kids these days where, you know, you know, kids that have mental health issues or they're suffering from anxiety or, you know, they're just nervous in general, which a lot of people are just learning to deal with that and understanding that it's okay and having those tools to, you know, use it and learn from it, I guess.
[00:38:36] Speaker A: Yeah, because I mean, you, you were one of those guys. And we had a lot of conversations when you're a player too, like you, you worked as hard as you could possibly work almost to a detriment of.
You do have to get away from it a little bit too, you know, if you could go back and do it over again, what would some of those maybe recovery tweaks be for you to. So you're not completely just banging your head against the wall the entire time.
[00:39:04] Speaker B: I think kind of what you said. Learned to like number one, not take myself so serious and then understand that this game is hard. And the managing failure piece, I was horrendous as horrendous at as a player, but kind of just taking a break from that. And honestly, like, that's probably like you Know, becoming a dad the past year, that has helped me with that so much because it forces me to move on. And it's, you know, baseball. You know, sports are important for kids development, but it. It's just a part of their day and, you know, to get away from it and, you know, then come back to it the next day and just pick up where you left off and just honestly keep showing up.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: So, I mean, how much?
I mean, it is an epidemic. It's our epidemic. I talk about this a lot on the circuit with the suicide rates going up.
You know, it's been steady since 2016. Shocker. That's when, you know, Facebook got hot. You know, shocker. That's happened. But how much time are you spending with your players on. On that part of it? Like, reaching out to help? Obviously, they can talk to their coaches, but, you know, you may have to go to a medical professional to help some of that, too.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: No, I agree 100%. And that's. You always want to keep that in mind when you're talking to a player about those issues because it's such a serious topic and you never really quite know. I feel like how bad it really is. That's why I feel like it's so important to get to know your players and even just as a teacher, your students, because you see it all the time. But it's just. It's a part of our world today. And, you know, like it or not, it's something we have to deal with and just something to work through. And I think we all can. It's just a matter of, you know, having the right tools, having someone to talk to, because I think that's so important. You can't just internalize all of it and. But let a bottle.
[00:41:01] Speaker A: I think this group is probably. They're great, but I think this group now internalizes a lot of. A lot more stuff than past generations. And then when it does come out, it comes out in very harsh, tough ways because it. It's basically. It's like a boiling pot. Like, it builds up.
A lot of them just internalize it, but then it comes out in. In very unhealthy ways for a lot of kids now because they've held on to so much.
[00:41:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. It's, you know, something bottles up for a long enough time, you're going to explode. And usually that's not a good thing.
So. But, yeah, just kind of using it and finding healthy ways to work through it is, you know, and that's just going to, you know, help you, you know, be able to use that for the rest of your life because that's going to happen later in life too, whether, you know, it's 20s, 30s, or 40s. You know, stuff like that will come up.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: So you guys have always had a lot of college players come out of there. How have you all kind of handled the ever changing landscape of recruiting?
[00:42:06] Speaker B: That's a good question. You know, there have been a lot of. Been very fortunate to coach a lot of really good players.
I think, too, it's a lot of the recruiting and the high school stuff happens in the summer and you know that. But I think too, just keeping honestly the kids in the present and focused on, you know, where. What they're doing right now, you know, something in the future obviously is something that's uncontrollable to a certain extent. Just keep getting better today and focus on today and, you know, the rest will take care of itself.
I know that's probably not a great answer, but I feel like it's with how much. And again, I don't really know a whole lot can probably what you do about how the college landscape has changed and I'll follow that too much. But just, you know, focus on getting yourself better and figuring out where you want to play and, you know, where. You know, where you land. You land and just keep getting better from there.
[00:43:02] Speaker A: Your players that do go on, what are they relaying back? You know, maybe things that they didn't expect.
I think you guys probably do a really good job of preparing them.
But what are some things that they relay back that maybe they didn't realize was going to go on when they got to college?
[00:43:17] Speaker B: I think probably the biggest thing is just how challenging it actually is. Like that freshman. No matter where you go, that freshman fall is just so, you know, I know this is a common term. It's just such a grind, you know, it's your. Especially if you go far away from home and the new routine of school and baseball. It's the. Probably the hardest semester, you know, in your life so far. I think just being able to, you know, understand that, understand you're going to fail, but just continue to show up and just keep going and eventually, you know, the habits that you have will work in your favor.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: You call them pitches for them?
[00:43:56] Speaker B: I do. It depends on the year. The past couple of years I have and I, I know that's such a hot topic, but I mean, I communicate throughout the game with our catcher and what he sees and I even mean, I talk obviously the pitcher and the catcher I talk to the most, and I like a lot of these pitchers that we have, know a lot of the kids that we play. So I asked them for their input. Like, how do you want to attack this guy? How do you to start him off?
And then our. The catchers, too, like, you know, what are you seeing? They kind of give me a signal for if we're on the plate or we're off, but also, too, I give them to. To shake me off whenever they want. Now, there are certain times that I. I kind of trump them, but a lot of times, too, you can shake me off because I want you 100% convicted in what you're doing, but you just got to have a reason why.
So that way we can talk about it. You can tell me what you're thinking, I'll tell you what I'm thinking, but it's just because they have such a better view from where they're at. But. So I have called pitches the past couple years.
At the previous school I was at, we had, you know, it a lot depends on the catcher and, you know, his maturity and his feel for the game.
So. But yes, to answer your question, the past two years, yeah, I've called a lot of the pitches.
[00:45:11] Speaker A: How do you help them reset in between innings before they go back out?
[00:45:16] Speaker B: Prop number one, I give them a breather. I try not to talk to them immediately right when they get to the dugout.
Usually if they need to reset, it's because something happened that they didn't really care for out there, so they're probably pissed.
So I'll give them a minute to, you know, catch their breath, you know, you know, re. You know, rethink their thoughts, and then we just kind of get back on in attack mode, you know? You know, maybe if it's something that we can learn from right away that happened in the past, but I try not to focus on that too much. Just get him back in the present and be like, hey, this hitter is coming up. You know, this is what he did last time, or this is how we attacked him. Let's put all of our focus on what we want to do, not what.
[00:45:58] Speaker A: Just happened with your bullpen guys. I'm sure a lot of them have never had to come out of the bullpen. How are you helping them transition to a bullpen roll that.
[00:46:07] Speaker B: That's great question. Because it's. I think back to when I did that, because it's just you did both.
[00:46:13] Speaker A: I mean, you started some games, but you threw out of the pen too.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: Yeah. And it just, you're exactly right. And it's just a new routine and getting used to it. So number one, just getting them to embrace the role. I think pitching out of the bullpen, especially at this level is maybe looked down upon a little bit. But I just try to tell them this is, this is really cool. You can impact more games.
You know, you come in, in high pressure situations and I. Nothing against the starting pitcher, but like I love having guys that I trust the most at the end.
So sometimes we kind of flip the roles with some guys, but to kind of get them ready physically, maybe I'll, I'll structure their bullpen like that. So like maybe let's say we got to get hot a little bit quicker and then we're going to get a hitter in right away you've got eight pitches and then I'll put in the hitting dummy and you got two hitters for this pen. You know, you walk them, you owe me a poll. If you strike them out, you're good to go. So just kind of getting creative and trying to structure it as game like as possible, if that makes sense.
[00:47:16] Speaker A: Yeah, love it. Your starting pitchers have pretty much the same pre game routine as far as when they get up, when they start, all doing everything.
[00:47:25] Speaker B: For the most part. Yeah. Usually I kind of, I give them a little bit of a script. Some of them don't really know. And before I, I came here it's, they wanted to play catch with a team and then sit around for 30 to 40 minutes and then go down to the bullpen and I'm like, you know, that's, that's great but that's not really the best way to do things. So I kind of, I'll give them a little bit of script. A script where like 30 minutes before we'll do our arm car and we'll stretch on our own, then we'll play catch and then we'll. The goal is to go from the, the outfield to the bullpen. So we start with that 30 minute mark and then, then it's on me to kind of keep track of everything. So that way, you know, we had 10 minutes left over, so let's push it back a little bit.
So. And then, but then within that framework, I guess they have the freedom to kind of do what they need to do because they ultimately know themselves best. There are little things that I'll throw in there. You know, there's still kids that will want to warm up in the wind up only. And I'm like, well, you know, I like your confidence that nobody's going to get on base, but we got to prepare in case somebody does get lucky and gets a hit, which, you know, happens every single time.
[00:48:35] Speaker A: Pretty much you have them throw the batters before they go out.
[00:48:40] Speaker B: I.
Yes, yes. And sometimes I will. I really like them to throw their first inning in the pen.
So I kind of let them, I'll tell them that and then I'll let them kind of figure that piece out on their own.
And then if they don't know what to do or if maybe they don't do enough, then I'll, we'll talk about it and then I'll interject a little bit. But like, if we're at home, we have one of those, you know, hitting dummies in our bullpen.
I love this to slip that in there. But then when we're away, sometimes they don't have those. So we just kind of take it with you that we could. That's, that's a good point. I used to do that sometimes when we're. Those guys don't fit too well on a school bus. But, but those things are a little.
[00:49:26] Speaker A: Turn that into a team thing. You could dress them up in Aquinas uniform or, or the opponent's uniform.
[00:49:34] Speaker B: No, that's a good point. And sometimes, you know, if we have an extra catcher, which rarely happens, you know, I'll have them stand in or some. Another PO that's done catching in for the outfield, you know, and stuff to get them to stand close. But they like to.
[00:49:48] Speaker A: Do you have to catch pens?
[00:49:50] Speaker B: I don't thankfully.
[00:49:53] Speaker A: Occasionally left handed catchers club.
[00:49:55] Speaker B: I, I need one. Yeah, I'll catch. I'll mix in some of the drill work from time to time and I'll, I'll play catch with guys and help them with their drills. I think it's maybe they like seeing that, that their coach mixes in sometimes with them.
But yeah, I don't, I'm not brave enough for the, for the bullpens, so. But luckily we have enough catchers that will be able to do that.
[00:50:19] Speaker A: What have you learned from Coach Sabbath?
[00:50:22] Speaker B: Oh, man, where, where do I start? I think, I mean, I didn't know.
[00:50:26] Speaker A: Coach Sabbath and then when I came over to the Royals Academy, you're like, you need to, you need to get in touch with Coach Sabbath.
[00:50:33] Speaker B: Let's.
[00:50:33] Speaker A: Thank you for that.
[00:50:34] Speaker B: No, no problem. He, he is, he's been in baseball for so long and, you know, did the junior college circuit for a while. Was it KU for a couple Stints for Hay State and then wanted to spend more time with family, so went back to the high school. And I think such a great baseball mind. Like, he will probably forget more than I'll ever know for baseball, one of those guys. But I think other than just the baseball part, I think being able to handle people and being able to, you know, communicate always in a professional way and handle a group and being able to get a point across, that's a very unique quality. That is. He's definitely really good at. And it's. That's just. To me, he's awesome at that. And then all the baseball stuff is icing on the cake, which I can't do it any justice. How much I've learned from him on that side of things, whether it's, you know, offensive philosophy or base running or even to. He's pushed me so hard to really he understand the pitching side of things and challenged what I've done, which has just made me, you know, that much better as a pitching coach or just a coach in general.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: So what are some of his questions? You know, because I think. I think we need good challenges. Like, what are some of his questions about the pitching side?
[00:51:55] Speaker B: I think just something as simple as, like, if, you know, why are you doing that drill? Like, what's the point of that? So I got to. You have. And again, you need to have that reason because ultimately everything you do needs to be able to translate to the game. I feel like otherwise you're. I feel like you're kind of wasting your time now. There's. Sometimes you maybe step back and work on a couple other things. But like, any of the drills that we do translate to the delivery, I try not to get. You know, again, like I said earlier, I try to keep it as simple as possible, but, you know, asking me why I'm doing something or. Hey, like, I. I had a good idea of a little, like, a schedule for, like, a weekly schedule for pictures, but he made me. You have to put this on paper. You have to post it so they see it. And then, like, you know, it comes to bullpens.
He made me create just like a little bit of a. Just a generic script. So, like, when I get tied up and have to go throw batting practice, they have this piece of paper where they follow just different sequences, you know, when they're throwing to the hitting dummies.
Just things like that just made me see the bigger picture while also focusing on a lot of the smaller details, which I struggle with all the time still.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: So, no, you Don't.
You were as detail oriented as anybody had had.
[00:53:18] Speaker B: So sometimes when I get too deep into the details, the bigger picture, I.
You miss that. So it's a, I feel like it's, you got to find that, that right balance.
[00:53:26] Speaker A: You have many guys that work out with Nathan Hemphill?
[00:53:30] Speaker B: We, there's a lot, not so much at Aquinas. There's a few.
One of the players here has an older brother that has, or a cousin I think that has his own little workout facility. But I still talk with him every now and then.
Used to be in a fantasy football league with him and I brought up the bottom in that league. But when I was in Olathe before here, man, he, we had a lot of kids. He actually kind of started to run some of our off season stuff our last year there.
But yeah, any, anybody that comes to me that's looking for a place, you know, I sent my brother there. My youngest sister who ran track, she went there. Anybody, you know, my wife coaches swim and she was looking for someone to run their off season. I was like, here you go, you have to use this. But I would recommend him for, for anything and everything.
[00:54:23] Speaker A: At what point did you figure out you're going to live stream your wedding?
[00:54:27] Speaker B: Oh, I, I can't take credit for that. That's all my wife.
[00:54:30] Speaker A: Unbelievable. Shout out. Shout out to her.
[00:54:34] Speaker B: Yeah, it's unbelievable.
[00:54:35] Speaker A: Might be the one and only.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: No. Well, so we got obviously married during COVID That's unbelievable. And they capped like I have a big family.
Her parents are, are separated and both remarried, so she has a big family too. And you know, we were capped at, I think it was 40 or 50 people. So we just had our, you know, super immediate family there, a couple other close friends. And then the, the system was there at the church because they live stream mass during COVID and then you know, they luckily fell into place and she obviously, she, she killed it with that.
So all props go to her on that.
[00:55:18] Speaker A: Any recommendations to youth coaches, parents, players? Right now.
[00:55:25] Speaker B: I think just in the baseball side of things, just learn the fundamentals or teach the fundamentals as best you can. Like obviously playing catch, just doing the little things. Having little routines in place for infielders and outfielders and then, you know, little drills in place for, for hitting the offensive side of things. But I think you can't over, over practice the fundamentals because, you know, and it's, it's super easy to see, you know, freshmen coming in, you know, who, who spent a bunch of time on that and then I know probably people say this all the time, but just watching baseball, not just the highlights on Twitter, but, you know, it's hard now, man.
[00:56:10] Speaker A: I see so many mistakes at the big league level on the bases. It drives me nuts. Oh, you just, it's just unbelievable to me that I, for, for, you know, them railroading everyone forever about not bunning because you're giving out. It's like base running mistakes. Those are out. You shouldn't give up. But you see them. You see them every night now where it's just, I, I don't get it. I don't understand it.
[00:56:37] Speaker B: No, agree.
[00:56:38] Speaker A: And I think it's not my place, though.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I just again, try to focus on what you have and get the players you have better, but I think you can't emphasize enough the fundamentals because, you know, we always say that we, you know, less baseball IQ and a lot of these kids, but I feel like if you focus on the fundamentals, you can mix that stuff in and they see that stuff and, you know, it does get boring. But that's, you know, it's your job.
[00:57:04] Speaker A: It helps you win games.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: No, agreed. And that's championship, your job as a coach to, you know, tell them that it does win games. And when you can show them that kind of stuff, you know, it helps them move past that boredom.
[00:57:17] Speaker A: I feel like, all right, give me your fail forward moment. Something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward. Could be professionally or, or personally, I think.
[00:57:28] Speaker B: Oh, man, I hate to say this. It's probably my, my inability as a player to play as long as I wanted.
Obviously, every kid that plays baseball wants to, you know, make it to the big leagues or get drafted and play pro ball. But I was not able to do that for, for many reasons. But I think it forced me to move on. And I know with my parents pushing me just to, you know, start giving back. All these people that, you know, like I said, poured into me and helped make me the player I was, you know, now it's my turn. So being that servant leader and, you know, giving back to kids, and that's the cool part, watching them, you know, develop and do things with their career that maybe they couldn't have done or maybe they could have. But I probably say that my ability to, inability to continue to play, effort.
[00:58:23] Speaker A: Like, and that's from the coaching, my coaching perspective, like, you knew you're the player that was putting all the work in and sometimes it just doesn't work out. For guys, like. And I think as a coach, you can live with that too because you saw that you were working extremely hard. It just doesn't work for some guys. Like, sometimes it doesn't happen the way that you want it to happen. But from a, from my perspective, it was like, okay, he's doing everything he possibly do to make himself as good as he can be.
And so that, that as a coach you're like, okay, you're good with that. That, like, obviously you want everybody to go on and pitch in the big leagues. But yeah, I think that's what we tried to relay to guys too, is like, you can look yourself in the mirror when this thing is done and I think you can do that. You know, you don't have any regrets on that because you did work as hard as you could. And that, I think is all you can ask yourself that when your time is finished, that you did everything you humanly possibly could do to get the most out of your ability.
[00:59:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree with you there.
[00:59:20] Speaker A: How have your morning or evening routines changed now that, that you're a new father?
[00:59:25] Speaker B: No, man, they completely flipped.
No, I, I enjoy them. Like, ever since my daughter came a little over a year ago, you know, I spend my mornings now just helping her get ready. Like she just started a month or two ago at the daycare at the school I teach. So, you know, feeding her breakfast, spending a little bit time with her in the morning and takes a little bit of stress off my wife, you know, so she can focus on getting herself ready. But so I used to try to work out in the mornings and now I kind of push that too later on at night if I can get to it. But yeah, in the mornings it's kind of, I get up early to kind of make sure I got my day planned out and everything set up the way I want to teaching wise. And then I try to get that done before I get my daughter up because otherwise it won't get done.
So. But I think too, that's why some.
[01:00:19] Speaker A: Days you just won't get to it.
[01:00:21] Speaker B: Yeah, agree. So you just do the best you can with what you have and then do better the next day.
But no, that's been the biggest change too. And then, you know, having the opportunity just to hang out with her at night and get, you know, put her to bed and help out with that obviously gets in the way of whatever routine you had beforehand, but totally worth it in my opinion.
[01:00:42] Speaker A: So you have any social media or phone rules for the team?
[01:00:48] Speaker B: No phones in the dugout and then one of my favorite rules from Coach Sabbath is if your grandma's sitting next to you, if she wouldn't approve of what you're about to post, don't do it.
So that's, we just talked about that and personal finance as we get ready for interviews. Same, same rule applies.
[01:01:07] Speaker A: So for sure, what does winning this award mean to you?
[01:01:11] Speaker B: Oh, I'm extremely honored and grateful because I know there are so many great high school coaches out there.
To be in the top three with, you know, all those three levels is just a huge honor. And I can't, you know, thank the ABCA enough and super grateful to be around, you know, the head coaches that I've been around, especially Coach Sabbath. And then obviously the players here at Aquinas make me look like a 10 times better coach than I am. So. And then obviously, you know, my wife and my family and my parents, just all the support that they give just means the world. But super grateful and extremely humbled to, to be a recipient of, of this great award.
[01:01:55] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts before I let you go?
[01:01:58] Speaker B: Oh, man, I think I just, just gave it to you right there. Just thank you. It was great to great experience right here. I've never done a podcast before, so awesome to do this, but thank you. Thank you to the abca.
If there's anything I can do to help anybody, you know, feel free to reach out.
And again, you know, it's the greatest game in the world. So super happy to just be able to still be a part of it and still give back and help other people accomplish things that I was able to do at one point in my life.
[01:02:30] Speaker A: So thanks for your time, mj. Love you, man. I'll see you next time.
[01:02:33] Speaker B: Yeah, love you too.
[01:02:34] Speaker A: Coach Michael was another former player that you hoped would get into coaching. He was a great teammate, they worked hard and you knew he'd bring value to any program if he decided to get into coaching.
Also want to give him a shout out for coming over to the Royals Urban Youth Academy a couple weeks ago to help with our free coaches and kids clinic. Congrats to Michael and the Aquinas program on back to back state championship.
Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale and Matt west in the ABCA office for all the help on the podcast. Feel free to reach out to me via email or brownleeabca.org Twitter, Instagram or TikTok coachbabca or direct message me via the MyABCA app. This is Ryan Brownlee signing off for the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks. And leave it better for those behind.
Are you and you know that way Yep Wait for another day.
[01:03:38] Speaker B: And the.
[01:03:39] Speaker A: World will always return as your life there before your name and you know that way Wait for another.
[01:03:58] Speaker B: Day.
