Mike Sabatino - ABCA/Soldier Sports High School Div. I Assistant Coach of the Year, Edwardsville (IL) HS

[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the abca's podcast. I'm your host ryan brownlee. This episode is sponsored by Netting Pros. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time. Netting Professionals specializes in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for backstops, batting cages, dugouts, BP screens and ball carts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, dugout cubbies and more. Netting Professionals is an official partner of the ABCA and continues to provide quality products and services to many high school, college and professional fields, facilities and stadiums throughout the country. Netting Professionals are improving programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or infoettingpros.com visit them online at www.nettingpros.com or check out Netting Pros on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. Make sure to let CEO Will Minor know that the ABCA sent you. Now on to the podcast. Next up on the ABCA podcast is ABCA Soldier Sports High School Division I Assistant Coach of the Year Edwardsville High School Assistant Coach Mike Sabatino Sabatino joined the Edwardsville coaching staff in 2018, coaching the freshman and took over as varsity pitching coach in 2019. Since 2019, the Tigers have gone a combined 198. 42 with three state championships and a third place finish. They've averaged 33 wins in Sabatino's six seasons. The Edwardsville pitching staff has had a cumulative ERA of 2.17 with double digit winners in Matt Boyer, Spencer Stearns, Logan Gigas and Chase Milburn. Sabatino is also the Director of Athletic Performance at Maximized Pitching Lab. Get your patent pen ready because it's a great episode on how to blend some of the new pitch modalities into your program to keep your pitchers thriving in season and in the off season. Let's welcome Mike Sabatino to the podcast here with Mike Sabatino, ABCA Division 1 high school coach of the Year Edwardsville high school since 2019, but also works for the Illinois Gators. But Linden Wood alum. But Mike, thanks for jumping on with me. [00:02:45] Speaker B: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. [00:02:46] Speaker A: Hey, what have you learned from state champion head coach Tim Funkhouser? [00:02:51] Speaker B: I mean the biggest, I would say the biggest thing that I've learned from him is one adapt to, you know, everyday needs. Like, like today is going to be a great example. He is. He's really good at putting blinders on and being able to focus on the task at hand. I know there's. We have a lot of different things that can play a part into setting up. You know, today is an example because we have weather playing a factor, kids signing up late, making sure that, you know, we're organized to go inside or outside. And, you know, there's. There can be a lot of outside noise that can affect what we do on a daily basis. And he's so good at just honing in on what needs to be done for the day. You know, I've learned a lot on and off the field from him as well. I mean, he's been a great mentor for me in and out of the classroom. We work in the same office together each day, so that has its perks as well, and a lot of laughs go on each day. But he's just an outstanding person and he's been able to be a mentor on and off the field, in and out of the classroom, and he's one of my. One of my dearest friends. [00:03:53] Speaker A: You guys, you run tryouts? [00:03:56] Speaker B: What's that? [00:03:57] Speaker A: You guys run tryouts? [00:03:58] Speaker B: We do, yeah. [00:03:59] Speaker A: So you're getting ready, you're getting ready to start that first? [00:04:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we're going to start. We're going to start our tryouts. You know, it's different year to year depending on the kids. This year we have a lot of new faces, so it's going to be fun to see who we have out there each day. I think we have around 90 signed up for tryout so far, which is around the number that we usually see sometimes. You know, that varies year to year. But no, this is going to be. It's going to be a fun class to see. [00:04:26] Speaker A: How do you guys run those? How do you run your trouts? [00:04:30] Speaker B: Usually we'll do like today, obviously, weather depending. We usually try to do like a pro day, pro style day. And then we'll move into more of like a structured setting and we always finish with live at bats. So I anticipate us going especially for like our. Our varsity group varsity tryout. We'll do pro day and we'll go into more of a structure setting tomorrow and then Wednesday we'll try to finish with some live at bats. Year. Year to year, it changes Last year because it was so nice during our tryouts. So we started right off the bat with. We got some times on the basis. We got some velos across the infield, did ma on balls, and then we went right into live at bats to see what we had. And we can get numbers on guys this year. It'll be a little different because we do have weather playing a factor. So it's trying to manage. Can we get guys to put to do live at bats right away? Can we, you know, do we have to go inside to do the turf, you know, at the sports barn or whatever that, whatever that might look like. So I think it's as far as live at bats is probably going to be pushed back a little bit this year just because of the weather. But I think today once the weather breaks, we're going to come back with our JV and freshman squads for their tryouts and then we're going to pretty much go right into live at bats because the weather should move out by the time they arrive. We'll go three different groups. We'll go our varsity group first right after school, jv and then freshmen. So we're going to try to get them as much reps as we can so we can get numbers and everybody see what we have. [00:06:07] Speaker A: How, how are the live at bats structured? [00:06:11] Speaker B: It obviously depends on the level. Our freshman, our freshman sophomore group, JV group, they pretty much get 12 to 15 pitches or they go three to four batters just enough for us to get some velocities and see what their pitch arsenal is. And then we usually start with a 11 count. We'll play double innings. So we just try to roll guys through and just collect all the data that we can. And then varsity will be structured a little bit different. We usually still go one, you know, one one counts depending on the, the staff that we have returning on which who that's going to be is depending on how much length they have or if it's a returner senior that is going to be one of our top guys. We're probably going to extend them out a little bit anyway. So it just kind of depends on who that is and what time of the year we are actually able to do that if we're going to start that off the bat or if it's going to be, you know, prolonged during that, that first week or so. [00:07:09] Speaker A: I think the thing that I've always appreciated about Coach Funkhouser is he's a lifelong learner. You know, you always see him at clinics. He speaks on the clinic circuit. I do too. I saw you spoke this year at the i70 clinic. But has that rubbed off on you a little bit as far as being a lifelong learner? [00:07:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it's so much fun being able to go to different clinics. Tim and I went to the abca, I believe my first one was Indianapolis. So it was really cold that year. But that was just my first experience being able to kind of get thrown into the fire and understand, like, what this actually is. And I couldn't have been happier to be there for my first ABCA and being able to roam around. And it's funny looking back on that. I was always the guy that was just following Tim around, and now it's. I have people coming up to me asking me questions. So it's fun to continue to learn and teach other people as well that pop in and ask questions and. Yeah, I mean, Tim's a clinic, you know, fanatic. Like, he goes all over the place. He goes to multiple different clinics. He'll speak at multiple different clinics. I usually go to about three or four a year, depending on, you know, where I'm at within my families. I have a little daughter now, so I don't get to go to as many as I would like. But no, I, I get to, you know, go to different clinics across the state or across the Midwest country and learn different avenues to. To continue my, my coaching journey. So I know I love it. And yeah, Tim and I are both in that setting of trying to learn as much as we can. You're in and you're out. [00:08:45] Speaker A: You took over in 19 with the pitching for Mike Waldo. Was that difficult at all? [00:08:51] Speaker B: You know what? Waldo did such a good job of just understanding the staff that he had. He was able to have a little bit more of an old school mindset, I think. He was able to get guys to play really hard for him. He was able to get guys to perform on the field. They just wanted to run through a brick wall for him. So being a. I was with him for one year, so my first year I was freshman coach in 2018 and then slowed into coach Waldo's previous role. I have a different philosophy than his, so getting guys to jump on board and understand what I was trying to get across took a little bit of time. But I think understanding that we already had a few guys that were trying to do the new wave of driveline, plyo, that whole nine yards. So being able to bring them on board to what I was teaching, it didn't take as long as I anticipated. But it definitely took a little bit for them to earn my trust. And once we were able to do that, get buy in from the guys, it was. We started to take leaps and bounds as they just trust the process throughout that. So it was. It was fun watching Waldo behind closed doors and being able to understand his process his scouting philosophies. That man would just scout more than anybody I ever knew. And it was very impressive to go through and understand, like, what's he actually reading within the swings? Is he picking up on something for the defense? Is. Do we have to. Are they doing something within a bunt defense or bunt play or, you know, whatever it is, it could help on either side of the ball once we got into the postseason or a big conference game. So he would have, you know, ton of notes, and I really took that from him. I would say that's probably the biggest thing, is don't ever. Don't ever be underprepared. Try to focus on, you know, every avenue of what you could possibly face. So I. I do a lot of scouting within that. Within the season, postseason especially. But honestly, being able to work with different guys throughout the off season, I'm able to see a little bit more. So I already have a pretty good pulse on what guys are doing once we get to that point within competition. So it's fun seeing them make their adjustments. It's fun making our adjustments. Just the game within the game. [00:11:13] Speaker A: What are the most important things when you go scout and you're watching a hitter? What are the most important things for you when you're breaking down an opposing hitter? [00:11:20] Speaker B: I really like to understand just, are they. Are they aggressive early? Do they expand the zone? What pitcher matches up with this guy the most? I would say an example of our scouting and what that can do for us. A few years ago in the postseason, we were playing Brother Rice, and we had to understand who. Who can match up against that team better. And we were trying to figure out, lining up, you know, the guys, is it going to be a Spencer Stearns? Is it going to be an Alec Marketo, who both have very successful careers with us? But we went with those two guys during that game because they're. They attacked batters that are really good at throwing inside, and they had good breaking balls. So that kind of led up to our state championship game. We're understanding, like, hey, this team's going to chase it a little bit more. They're going to be a lot more aggressive early in the count. So we threw a guy, Gannon Burns, who could throw the ball in the outer half, and he could sink it, he could cut it, so he can mix it really well. And we knew that matchup was going to be, you know, really tough for the opposing team. And understanding that we. Once we got in that situation, we have our matchups, and it's how do we pitch to them? We know how to pitch to them, and let's go to battle. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Nice. How do you balance that with going with a pitcher strengths maybe, as opposed to a hitter's weaknesses? [00:12:40] Speaker B: I really like to practice that throughout. I know a guy right now, Tony Eberlin, he's coming to tcu. He's a guy that has a lot of carry on his fastball. So within practice, we're going to focus on throwing up in the zone. If he's struggling with that, maybe we throw that a little bit more in live at bats. I was focused on fastball command. We really want to dominate this upper third. That's going to make your breaking ball that much better or there's going to be structure throughout. I took a great line from Derek Johnson over the rubber, over the plate. So, man, I love that. And being able to prolong that during our season, just week to week, what's it going to look like? We're going to be over the rubber, over the plate? Can we structure that to line up against our big conference opponent? Can we line that up against our big, you know, postseason game? So it's understanding, you know, are you over the rubber, over the plate? What is going to be our objective throughout the week and can we get better and prepared going into our weekend or conference game? [00:13:42] Speaker A: Do you feel like making that distinction for them over the rubber, over the plate? Especially on over the rubber day where they are allowed to tinker around with some of their stuff. You feel like it frees up your pitchers when you make. [00:13:52] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say looking back on how I started, I was so focused on being task oriented to, this is what we have to do. This is what I want you to do. I don't think I really gave them as much freedom within that, but whenever I sat down with Derek Johnson, just hearing him talk about the simplicity of things, and I was like, man, this makes so much more sense. And I was able to kind of take that back to our guys. And when we're over the rubber that day, I'll say, hey, this is your day. I want you to focus on some, you know, pitch ability. If we need to focus on a breaking ball a little bit more today, let's do that. If we want to focus on fastball location, like, whatever you want to do, let's focus on it. And it's individualized. Our guys so much to where they're so bought into those days. If they want. If they want to do something specific, I am all for it. But the days roll over the plate, that's a little bit different. I'm kind of, I'm going to be on you a little bit more. We're going to be more structured, have a strategy game plan. So it's just preparing us for competition, whether it's that postseason conference game or just a bigger game within the season. [00:15:04] Speaker A: And for people listening in, you can go 2020. DJ spoke in Nashville on the main stage and the youth stage and he addresses it in both of those talks. So anybody that wants to dive in a little bit more on over the rubber, over the plate, go back in 2020. And I think he spoke when he was at V. I think he spoke about it then too. But 2020, if anybody wants to go and watch DJs talks, you can dive in a little bit more because it does make sense. And I think the upper level pitching guys that I do talk to still use those terms. Over the rubber, over the plate. [00:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah, that, that abca looking back, like, that's kind of when everything started to come around as like Driveline was really big, Rapsodo was doing their thing, Trackman was coming out. So there's so much technology being thrown at you and there's so much information being shared during those times. I remember we went out, had some fun one night. You may have been there as well, but we were sitting there and I sat down with Derek Johnson for man, I think it was like an hour and a half and had a couple drinks and we just, we just talked ball and just hearing his simplicity. And I wrote down, you know, like a novel's worth of different things that I took back. And that's to this day one of my favorites, like just sitting down, talking shop. [00:16:20] Speaker A: You're kind of in that hybrid of coaches now that we have. You coach high school, but you also help in a facility too, which is cool because I think that's the way it's going now with the high school guys. It's a blend of both. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I'm doing maximize pitching lab. I'm one of the main guys down there, so I work with Brett Huber and I, I love the blend with it one because within our IHS guidelines, like I'm still able to work with guys in the off season, but seeing them within that environment of other guys in our conference or just across the state, across the mid, you know, the Midwest one, it creates that competition in the off season that you've probably weren't looking for in the past. But like, it's so much fun going and see this last Week, for example, you had Nick Sciroto on the mound, who is, know, our big sophomore. He's continuing to take major jumps forward, but then he's throwing right next to Anderson Coffin from Alton High. So seeing those two guys go back and forth, it's. It's friendly, but, you know, there's an edge there. And it's just so much fun to work with both of those guys. I see it as, one, I get to work with my guy, but two, I get to continue, you know, developing our area and making our area better, stronger, competitive environment for everybody to succeed in. So it's so much fun in that realm for me. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Yeah. And Tim wanted me to ask you that too. Funk wanted me to ask you, like, how do you blend that? You know, obviously they're. They're in your facility, but they may play for someone else. But knowing you like I do, like you're still trying to get everybody better. It doesn't matter school they go to. That's almost like a Legion approach. Even though those guys aren't playing on a team together, it's almost like the old school Legion approach where all your guys in the area were around each other on a different, different setting. And then you would go out and compete against each other in the spring. [00:18:13] Speaker B: Yeah, I love it. I can't get enough of it. My wife tells me that all the time as well. So being able to be down at the Sports Barn with those guys, I'm down there, man, three, four, five times a week. And just seeing their routines develop, their bodies grow, they're physically getting stronger, they're mentally getting stronger. Just that overall preparation into their high school season. It's so much fun for me to be a part of and see and then continue to stay in touch with them throughout the season. I don't shy away. If somebody were to reach out to me and ask me a specific question, whether it's, you know, somebody from. To topless or if it's somebody from Alton High. It doesn't matter where it is. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna not help. So I. I love that side of it. I love the connections that we're able to make and the communication side. It's just such a fun, fun part of the job. [00:19:08] Speaker A: I saw. I saw a video on Facebook from the convention. You were talking about the great Ape grips. [00:19:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Great Apes has been great for us. I brought that into our high school, and I've brought that into the Sports Barn as well. Great piece for us. We were able to use that for, you know, forearm strengthening, conditioning recovery. We have a guy right now going through Tommy John within our, our, our high school setting and our trainer, Katie Hamilton, she uses that with him pretty much daily. You know, we like it so much that we took it down to the sports Bar. We've done a little partnership there at the Sports Barn with Hit Lab and Jake Depew and then we've done it with Logan Wager on the SSM side. So pretty much our areas is dominating that Great Apes grip. And Brent Gibbs is awesome. He's a buddy of mine. He's from Alton High. [00:20:01] Speaker A: Grew up playing all names in my sweet spot of being at Iowa. [00:20:05] Speaker B: Yeah, ye dude, he's, he's the man. I love that guy. Yeah, we played baseball together growing up. His dad and my dad are, you know, they went to high school together and they're, you know, they're really good buddies. So it's always fun being able to help out, you know, somebody within our area that's trying to promote their brand and being able to have our guys utilize it on such a high level. So it's a great piece and highly recommended for anybody that's, you know, looking forward for something like that. Yeah. [00:20:32] Speaker A: How have you, how has your philosophy on maybe strength and conditioning and some of the training modalities out there? How has that changed over time with you since you got into it? [00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say early on I was a little bit more, I won't say old school within it, but like, hey, we're gonna go in. These are our main moves. I want you to hit and then we're done. And it was a little bit more strength specific. Over time we've been able to incorporate a lot more technology into our weight room. Whether it's at Edwardsville or even down to npl. Just understand the technology side. So we're doing a lot more bar speed testing, we're doing a lot more jumping. We, we purchased the OVR this past offseason and it's been huge for us and it took a little bit for our guys to understand I don't have to be the strongest man in the room, but if we're able to move within a certain ratio of that day, our guys are doing their output and they're able to really focus on continuing getting stronger. We just went through our, at the high school, we just went through our in season prep or our transitioning to end season phase and you know, I completely flipped the, the program on us and we were focusing a little bit more on the bar Speed side. I wanted them to be in a range of 1.0 plus for our main movements. And the conversation was, hey, we are trying to stay healthy moving into the season. We're trying to continue to promote what we're doing in the weight room. You're not going to lose your strength, so don't feel like, man, I'm not doing 3:15. I'm not. I'm going to, you know, wither away. It's like, no, let's focus on moving the bar fast with the intensity, and then your gains will still be there. [00:22:15] Speaker A: Same thing with sprinting, you know, and. And to go back to Covid, like, you think about COVID but when I would interview some of the strength and conditioning coaches, even though it's the bar, you're basically sprinting with the bar. Your form has to stay good, but it's the same thing as with your legs, because your sprint. Sprinting is the most important thing to do with your legs. It's the same thing with the bar. Like, it's basically doing sprint work with the bar. [00:22:38] Speaker B: And we sprint out of season. We sprint three days a week. We have the OVR system that tracks our numbers. So we. We use that three days a week. Are we going to record them every time? No, I don't want us to do that. But we want to be able to see numbers and continue to. To move through. But the. The competition that. That also brings, you know, we have a few guys here that are pretty much in that same realm and they all push each other because they're all trying to beat each other within the numbers. And it's so fun to see that, like, as soon as you see those numbers are, they are all in on, like, I'm gonna beat you today. So it already creates that competitive edge out of season that you're looking for, you know, once we get to, you know, competition itself. So it's. It's fun to utilize those and see guys grow throughout. We just did our assessments down for MPL and guys took massive jumps under the bar and they're learning how to move properly. The intensity is there of what we're looking for. So it's so much fun seeing, seeing guys take. Take their jumps out of season and looking forward to that moving in season. [00:23:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's a great way to assess in season, too, with what you're doing. [00:23:51] Speaker B: Yeah. And for in season, I already had a couple of my guys ask me what we're going to do in the weight room this year because we have the new technology, the Guys that have been around, they already know that we're going to lift two, three, four days a week in season. They're obviously not going to be hour long sessions taxing the body. But like we have a system and an organization that understands what the weight room means to us, so we prioritize it. For example, we have, I'm gonna have some, pretty much our top four guys throw off the mound today in a bullpen and then once they're done, they're transitioning into the weight room. They're going to focus on their recovery lift and then that sets them up for the rest of the week. So pitchers specifically will go three to four days a week, whether that's a full body, a full body strength, a full body power. And we'll get our athletic day in and then we'll get some sprint work in as well. So they're pretty much doing something two or three to four days a week as far as the weight room. So they continue to see their growth. And then positionally we'll focus on pretty much two to three days a week because they're already getting their sprinting and rotation during practice or live competition. So in season, yeah, we're going to continue to use the devices and try to focus on a range to be in and continue to continue to hit our jumps. And I, I always like to say we want to be maintained plus because there's a lot of guys that talk about, hey, we just want to be recovery, we don't want to get hurt during the season in the weight room. I always say if you're coming in at say 185, we need to maintain that weight or continue to add as we go through because we don't want to go backwards because if you go backwards then more risk of injury comes in and then this, that fatigue sets in a lot more than it usually does. So Hammer, that weight room is, has [00:25:40] Speaker A: been huge for us and you're losing a long period of time to still train. And with a, a younger group of players and college players, you can still push them. The body will acclimate to it. I've told people that forever your body will acclimate to whatever you ask it to do, training wise. [00:25:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we still move weight. It's. We're not, we're not strength or we're not losing weight in the weight room. We're not going to go to lesser percentage like just the volume shrinks. We still want the intensity and we still want the intensity and weight to be up. We're just not going to do the volume. So they're still maintaining their strength. They shouldn't go backwards at all. So it's been a great piece for us. [00:26:23] Speaker A: What about any of your pitching philosophies? Have those changed over the years? I mean you talked about over the rubber and over the plate, but anything else has changed for you from a pitching philosophy? [00:26:32] Speaker B: I just kind of go back to when I first started. It was a little bit more like hey, this is what we're doing. Not allowing as much flexibility, which I think when I came in at that time I was a younger guy. So I was trying to them understand the respect and trust within that process. But now over the time it's been a little bit more open and communication. It's just been that give and take a lot more. If they know I trust them, they trust me. It just creates that buy in. And honestly working with them in the offseason continues to, you know, carry over. So it's. There's just a comfort level there. And open communication has been, I would say, the biggest thing. Don't feel like I'm a closed book, like I'm an open book. Come talk to me about anything. We can figure it out. I feel like I've been a great sports psychologist the last handful of years with just the different personalities that we've had and the skill levels of what we've had. We've had anybody going from being a draft prospect to hey, they've made five mile an hour gain throughout the season and we're super pumped for them and they've continued to earn different innings throughout. So we've had a wide range of different levels and being able to meet everybody where they're at on those specific days I think has been huge for me. And understanding that hey, there's more to this than this is what we have to do and how I kind of get that tunnel vision. [00:27:58] Speaker A: Your i70 talk on two way players, how'd you approach that? Would you relay to the coaches in that room? Because I think all high school coaches deal with two way players. [00:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, I think that is the one topic that is never talked enough about. [00:28:12] Speaker A: I talk about it in mind with my throwing program. I do bring up every place I coached that in college we had two way players. [00:28:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I just think it's undervalued as we go through. I think I've done a great job of it managing different guys because this is something that I've continued to learn throughout just being organized within it. I have spent a Ton of time in the past years. I, I did one today of just going to excel and creating the work. [00:28:43] Speaker A: Yeah, the workload. [00:28:44] Speaker B: Excel, create a schedule, Let the kids see it. Because if you, if you let them see it and you let them into your thought process, then guys will kind of buy into what you're wanting. So it's a day, one day to plan it out. Like, hey, this is what we're doing. Joe Shiroto last year, this is really one of the first times I did it. He was on a structured plan and we also were going to North Carolina. We had bigger games throughout the season. He was talking to, you know, he was getting different exposure. So I sat down with him. I was like, hey, this is what I think is going to happen this year. Obviously there's going to be some adjustments within the season, but mapping out what his week to week would look like and the games that he would go against it made our planning, Tim and I's planning so much easier on when he can play the field, when can he press the gas pedal? So it was just that structure was so much easier going into it. Yes, he's, he's at Alabama right now and he was a higher, higher draft stock type of player for us, so organizing that. But it doesn't have to be just a player like that. You can sit it down with your short starting shortstop, you can sit down with your catcher outfit, whoever it is, like if that's your top arm and your top position player, your top bat, like you want to go into the year knowing, hey, this is what it's going to be. And you can probably have him plays, you know, DH the next day. Maybe it's a pinch hit roll just so throughout the season. He continues to stay 100% and you're not going backwards. [00:30:18] Speaker A: How'd you handle his workload in practice as far as balance and pitching and then also playing defense? [00:30:25] Speaker B: Yeah, well, Tim, Tim allows me the flexibility to oversee all arms. So it's. He always goes to, hey, what's Sab say? Whatever Sab says is what you're doing. So managing everybody within that realm, like I'll have a sheep that I post every single day for practice. I already have one made up for tryouts of all the people that said they're going to pitch or trying out for throwing, hey, this is what you're doing for the day. There's going to be a few of them that are going to be on the mound. There's going to be a few of them that are doing heavy catch Play with a flat or when you know, whatever that is. But a guy like Joe, it was, hey, we're going to do our bullpen today. After that you can make your throws from the outfield. This is your heavy day. We're going to make your heavy day, your heaviest. And then when you're light days, you're not throwing from the field, you're just doing your footwork reps, tossing the ball off to the side. There were going to be some days, hey, you got medium catch play. Once you get through medium catch play, I want you to do some spin development stuff. Come over here with me real quick. Let's focus on some spin. You can throw a couple positionally if you want to. Don't feel the need that you have to. And then we'll be ready to go for our next outing. So it's, hey, if there's, if there's a day, if it's your shortstop, I don't think it's necessary for them to make throws every single day. Like if you're continuing to do that, you're just putting wear and tear on the body. And I think velocity is a great indicator. Like I have guys go behind home plate and get Velo's every inning. So you might have a guy like Joe who can throw, you know, a whole game and not really go backwards on his Velo. He's going to maintain that throughout. But you might have another guy that he might be your number two or your top reliever that he's going to be really good for 35 pitches and then you'll start to see the Velo drop. Well, if you got a guy that's really good for 35 pitches, make him really good for that 35. And if once that Velo starts to go the other way, it's hey, get somebody ready to go. You know that number is approaching, have somebody ready. So whenever he's done, you can carry right into that and that guy's going to stay fresh longer knowing that he got his 35 in. He was really good during that time frame. Let's get him out, get him recovered so he's better for his next outing. [00:32:42] Speaker A: How much time with your young guys do you have to spend with their prehab and their warm up stuff to teach them all of that? [00:32:49] Speaker B: So I think for, for me, that's a great learning tool in the off season again, like I have, I'm just fortunate to be able to work with my guys and putting in a routine early in the off season helps us carry that into the season. So there's, there's different ways I go about it. One, you should have a routine schedule or you should have a routine established before we get into the season. So I'll say hit your routine when you're ready. Let's focus on this for the day. Being able to do that allows me the freedom during catch play to walk up and down the line, have that conversation. I would say a great example of that is Tyler Powell from last year. He's at SIU right now. He. I had a specific plan for him that day. Hey, I wanted to be long toss and do some things on the mound, off the front of the mound, just to focus on some feel. As I was walking through, I noticed that he wasn't doing a long toss day. I said, hey, Tyler, what's going on? Why aren't you doing your long toss day? What's up? And he just said to me, I just don't feel that great today. I'm gonna throw to 90ft, I'm gonna mix in some fastball, change ups from the stretch, and when I'm done with that, I'm not gonna throw from the infield that way. I'm ready to go for Saturday. And I was like, perfect. Awesome. That's a very mature way of handling that situation. Some guys, if they don't feel comfortable within that setting, they'll still go out the long toss. They'll still chuck it. By the time we get to the mound, they let gas and I'm like, hey, what's going on? And then that's when that conversation will happen. But Tyler was mature enough to understand and just our relationship in general, like, hey, I just, I don't feel comfortable doing that today. I'm going to focus on my recovery side. I want to be 100% for Saturday and I want to be ready to go. That's perfect. That's awesome. Great response. [00:34:39] Speaker A: Do you have set structured like drill, catch play drills or any of that? Is it structured or is it, is it freedom, like flat ground? Is it structured with the flat ground stuff too? How structured is it? [00:34:49] Speaker B: Oh, I'll structure it. But those days I also get flexibility within. So last year was the first year I did this and I presented it as what at well, as well at the i70. And it was a dynamic circuit. I thought it was great for our two way guys. So a guy that was like hunter ball, who's our shortstop and one of our top arms this year. So allowing him flexibility to run down the line, hit a quick dynamic, he's One, he's maintaining his. His pitching technique. He's focusing on the mechanical side. But I'll give them different options throughout, different categories. So I'll have like, head. We're going to do our log series, which is going to be a water bag on your back. We go through balance point, stride, uphill, downhill. Then we have the water bag, water ball bag, and we'll go through different movement prep series with that. We have PVC pipes. We'll go through different feel movements, or we'll go through pull series, whatever that is. And we'll finish it up with J bands, wrist weights, plios catch play. So it's just a great way one for POS to stay engaged. As we all know, pos can have a little different. A little different mindset. So giving them something to do throughout was a great piece for us. At the beginning of practice, we'll have about 20 minutes or so. It's kind of an individual time. We'll go through different circuits. Pos I usually have them do their dynamic circuit pretty much every day. That way they can pick and choose what they want to do within that. But it also incorporates. We'll do base running at first base or second base, wherever Tim wants to do his base running. And then coach Ol. I'll do bunting on the field. We'll do it at first. We'll do a home plate, second or second base. And then we'll do two machines. And we get a lot of reps in that way. And our third group is catch play. Where I will be. I'll manage the pitchers that are there. I'll manage the position players that are playing cash on the line as well. So going through that circuit allows freedom for guys. For me in particular, have that open conversation, but it allows guys to go into the bullpen or our pitching area to do whatever drill package that they want to do for that day. And yes, I'll structure it. Some days, like, hey, we're really struggling on the front side. Let's focus on this. Or, hey, you're drifting forward. I really want you to focus on the water bag today or you're not getting into your back hip. Let's focus on the Corvillo belt. So we have a lot of tools that we can utilize, but those guys have a little bit more buy in when they're able to continue working on their craft each day. [00:37:31] Speaker A: Yeah, adjustment for everybody. The water bag's been a really good adjustment. [00:37:36] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, I love it. You can be pretty creative with it as well. Like, you see the standard drills, but you can also throw in. Hey, let's go with like I did it with Chase Milburn last year. Like he struggled with his back knee. So I threw that water bag on him. I had him go just to figure out a different drill. I had him go on the back, I had him go on the front. I would put a pull up band connected. I either hold it or connect it to the fence that we had right behind our mound. And that way he focused on staying in his back knee. But he's also staying stacked with his hip as well. And he was able to make that adjustment. But it's just those simple little things that you tinker with to get the most out of, you know, different players. Some guys is going to be something like that. Some guys is going to be, hey, we need to get on the velo belt from the front is just going to be creative throughout the game. [00:38:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I mentioned the core velocity belt. I mentioned it all the time. If you really want to teach your players how to feel counter rotation between the hips and the shoulders, it's the best way to do it. Because once they learn the drills, you don't even have to coach it anymore. [00:38:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. The Corville belt's been great for us. We use it a ton in the off season. Water bags we use in season, out of season. A simple PVC pipe, you can use that for directional purposes. So just some simple different things that we utilize that will get the most out of players day to day. [00:39:01] Speaker A: I've asked a lot of pitching guys here lately. What for you dictates whether a player sets up on the arm side or the glove side of the rubber? [00:39:10] Speaker B: You know what, I, I'm not too particular depending on stuff. I know there's some guys that I've tinkered with. Hey, let's put them on, you know, the arm size, put them on the glove side, whatever that looks like to them. Some guys have done really a really good job of maybe moving to their arm side. But some of them aren't just comfortable. And I want guys to be comfortable because if you're comfortable on the mound, you're going to get the most out of them. We're not gonna, I'm not gonna dictate, I'm not gonna dictate who you are. I might throw it out as a suggestion. We actually had a guy that we're working with this off season. He had, he's more of a three quarter arm slot, kind of throws across his body a little bit, but he was throwing from his glove side. I was like, hey, why don't you try to slide over a little bit, make that slide a little bit more deceiving. And he did that. And he's like, man, that makes a lot of sense. I haven't thought of it that way. [00:40:03] Speaker A: Got more of the plate to work with. That's been my thing. You just have more of the plate to work with. [00:40:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I was like, and he's a, he was six two, long, lengthy. And he's gonna run it up there at about 88. So he's got a lot of sink and then he's got a slider. I was like, why not mess with it like that? And he's like, man, I haven't even thought of that. So I put him on the numbers. Numbers actually got better because it got. He got more to his front side and the velo went up a little bit because of that as well. And just continued to go one after the other. And he's like, man, this, this was a great adjustment. And that's what he's doing every day now. [00:40:37] Speaker A: And the back foot flight slider plays then too. Like, yeah, you can see the batter's back foot, like from the glove side. You can't see their back foot. You have no idea where you're supposed to get that ball to. But for a guy that has a good slider to be on the arm side, you can see the back foot of the hitter. Yeah, you can if you're on the glove side. I think it opens up a lot more of their stuff to be able to hit location too. [00:40:58] Speaker B: Right, right. And depending on the skill level, I think throwing different ideas out there to them. Like, hey, have you thought about this? Have you thought, have you thought about moving more towards the middle of the rubber? Have you thought about moving more to the opposite side? Just kind of perking their interest. And then they're like, I haven't thought of it that way. And then once they start doing it, it's either. I don't like that at all. It's like, okay, that's fine, let's go back to what we had. Or like, hey, this actually really works. I am really uncomfortable doing this. So I think it's give and take, open communication on understanding what the arsenal is for that each guy and then where you can go with it day [00:41:35] Speaker A: to day and your stuff playing. Depending. It's okay to move on a right hand and left handed batter too. Like my college roommate did that. If it was a lefty, he was on this side of the rubber, if it was right, he was on the other side of the rubber just to allow his stuff to play a little bit better. [00:41:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:41:48] Speaker A: More creative with it for sure. What about the fall? Can you guys do much in the fall with them? [00:41:53] Speaker B: No, we don't. We can have it as like an open setting. We actually just had open field a couple times in the fall this year. We hadn't really done that in the past. We have guys playing deep into the fall anyway with their clubs. So we try not to double and double them up and want them to kind of focus on what they're doing this year since we have such a big turnover, like, hey, why don't we do. Why don't we do a couple of days in the fall just to see. Just to see the guys. And it was really good for, you know, me, Tim and Olau to get through that. Just to see guys in the setting kind of gets the fire going a little bit and then just kind of propels you on the off season, maybe talk, have one on one conversations with different guys. So it just allows you a little bit more flexibility within that one. You're able to see players and where they're at at the moment, but you might be able to have a couple conversations throughout just to see where they're at. How are they physically, where they at mentally or they do they need a break? Do we want to go right into an off season with hitting the ground running? So it just kind of depends on what their off season goals are. And just it was great for us to kind of see guys and meet them where they're at for that particular time. [00:43:07] Speaker A: With your returning pitchers, when did their on ramp start? [00:43:11] Speaker B: We have a couple different guys within that. Our off season development started in October. Just kind of getting an on ramp phase. Like we're not throwing during that time. We had guys like Nick Shiroto that continued to throw throughout the fall. So his on ramp looked different than a Tony Eberlin who had, he took time off in the summer. He. He went out, competed and did his thing like he was supposed to do. And then once he got his innings limit, it was, hey, let's go into shutdown for a little bit and ramp ourselves back up so he had a little bit more extended time, whereas Nick continued to compete in the fall. So a guy like Tony who had the whole off season, October is going to be an on ramp. Just get through, get the body moving again, kind of rehash some of the movement prep stuff. And then we started transitioning into light catch play. And then we went into, you know, management of catch play, of, hey, we're going to throw, you know, a heavy day now. We're going to get three days in, we're going to get four days in. Then we went to a velocity phase, we went to a, a blending phase. And then season prep is what I usually like to call it. So guys are different. Whereas Nick, for example, he pitched later into the fall, his on ramp was pretty much in a little bit in late October, early November, maybe a little bit longer into November just to see how the body felt. But weight room wise, both of those guys wanted to, they wanted to put on some weight, wanted to put on some size. I believe Tony is up 13, 14 pounds from that time and Nick's is around the same. So those guys killed it in the weight room this offseason and that was their main goal. And you started to see that within their velocity too. Their velocity. Then Nick took a big jump. He's. He's right around 90 miles an hour right now. Whereas Tony, his bottom number continued to climb. So for me, being consistent within his movements, he got so much stronger, so much more consistent. So that bottom number continue to grow. So it's going to be fun seeing those guys go compete and actually put what they did in the off season, put that on the field and see where they're at. [00:45:28] Speaker A: What are you gauging innings limit for the year then for guys? [00:45:33] Speaker B: I would say obviously depends on the, on the player. I think around that. 80, 85, I think is what we usually communicate. Some guys are going to be a little bit more, some guys will be a little bit less. But understanding that who the kid is, what the objectives are, are they having stressful innings, are they having, you know, when they're pitching, are they pitching in the summer where it's going to be a little bit more relaxed? Are they throwing in front of scouts in the summer? Are they throwing in Arizona? Big events at perfect game events, are they going, you know, the big massive pbr Depending on where they're going is to their workload. Like I had guys last year that pitched throughout and we capped them off at 80. We had guys that were capped off at 60, depending on their workload and they're more of a two way guy. But we had maybe a guy that got him a little into the low 90s as well. So we try to pay attention to the workload, have that open conversation, hey, where are we at? Where, where are we trying to go with this? You pretty much, you Finished your fall circuit, like, there's no more need for you to ramp back up. Let's shut it down and start focusing on the next calendar year. So it varies from guy to guy, but obviously with their end goal in mind on what they should be doing throughout to understand what that's going to look like a little bit more in detail. [00:46:58] Speaker A: How are you handling that in the summer? It just seems like in the Midwest they get bombarded with events. How are you handling their bullpen and side work with those guys even though you aren't around them? How are you relaying, Hey, I know you were going to these events, but you're still going to have to throw. You're going to have to long toss. You have to stay on your schedule. How are you relaying that to your guys in the summertime to make sure they're staying healthy? [00:47:19] Speaker B: So I always make myself available. We do NPL in the summer as well, so we're doing different things there as well. They come in two days a week, three days a week. That way they're, they're getting their lift in, they're getting their bullpen in and GBA is in the facility as well. So Seth Von Baron, like communicating with him every day, and Jake Depew, like, those guys are awesome to communicate with and like everybody gets it like where we're at and it's, it's so fun to go down there and understand. I don't want him to throw this amount of pitches today. He's going to focus on this. There might be a give and take, there might be a little bit more of a communication, but everybody's going to be on the same page, knowing what the end goal is. They're not just going to run out different guys just to throw. There's going to be a plan, there's going to be organization to it. So all of us working together as one is really important. [00:48:14] Speaker A: Once the season starts with the Midwest, with the weather, you just never know what's going to happen. So how do you keep guys sharp just in case the weather turns and it rains a lot or we can't get outside? How are you trying to keep guys sharp once you get started? [00:48:28] Speaker B: The biggest thing is for, for our setting, we have the flexibility to go down to the sports barn. So if we have to go inside, we have a facility there that, where we can continue live at bats or we just structure it. Hey, if we have a conference game on Thursday, Thursday is going to get rained out. We're going to push that back to Friday. Depending on who the person is to what they want to do. Some guys want to hit a little primer, lift, touch and plios and you're ready to go for the next day. Some guys want to focus on, hey, I just want to hit some J bands, catch, play and mobility, that's fine. Some of them might say, if we have a Thursday game, the game gets pushed back to Saturday, hey, let's touch, let's touch some off the slope today. I just want to throw 8 to 10 and just get my, my, you know, my lower body underneath of me. That way I feel as strong, tight and ready to go for that next outing. So I mean, it varies, but it goes back to being organized and communicating those kids on what the objective is for that week. And yes, we've had days, we've had times where we're rained out three days in a row. So it might be, hey, let's try to get a little bit more of an extensive bullpen in. Maybe we get batter standing in. So we still continue to pitch with intent. That way we don't go backwards. So with everything that we do, if it's going to be a day where we're focusing on preparation or an over the plate type of day, that intent is still going to be there and we're still focusing on getting the heart rate up. Let's move properly, let's attack, let's have a mindset and try to stay true to a game plan. That way they're still maintaining their workload for the next time out. [00:50:10] Speaker A: You deal with many basketball guys. You got many guys that play hoops. [00:50:14] Speaker B: We have in the past, this year, I think we only have, I think we have one guy that's playing basketball right now at the, at the varsity level and he is not a pitcher. So it's, it makes that a little easier. Like we know who the kid is. Like, he's hitting throughout the off season. It's like, hey, when you're ready to go, let's go. But we've done it a lot this off season with maximized pitching. Lab of hey, we got a lot of guys playing basketball, so let's focus on, hey, these are the things that we're going to want you to focus on throughout the year. Continuing to move your arm is important. We don't necessarily. Some guys didn't go through a velocity phase because their body was already taxed enough. So it's, hey, let's continue to move our arm whenever it's time to get to the mountain. Let's touch the Slope and then we'll continue to have our intent days in the facility. So there's a couple of guys that came in twice a week. Majority of our guys come in twice a week. But say day one is going to be their moving into the season. Day one is going to be their slope day. So they can do more of a short box touch and feel, understand what the movement is doing down the mound. And then their bullpen day, we're going to ask them to have a little bit more intent. Pitch count is going to be much lower, but it's, they're still going to be ready to go for this season. Guys recover differently, so if they're a key guy on their basketball team, their body is going to be beat up a little bit more. So it might be a little bit more recovery focused. If guys are not as as much of an impactful player, we might be able to push them a little bit more off the mound. But we don't want to interfere with basketball season either. We want them to be healthy, to dominate on the court, but we also want them to be prepared for their season. And I think, I think a lot of guys understand that give and take. We haven't had anybody bark back at us during those times as everybody is on the same page and we have that open communication to where if there is an issue, we just talk it out and understand, hey, it's okay, like you just played three basketball games this week. We can, we can take it back a little bit. Maybe it's not a full day off the mound, maybe it's, hey, let's just touch the front of the mound, stay sharp. That way we can be ready to go for our next time. So that we've managed it that way as well. So I think it just varies on, varies on the player and the type of player and what kind of shape they're in and how their body's taken basketball. Because as you know, when you get in the thick of basketball, your body takes a beating. So we try to, we try to manage, manage all that and help everybody out as much as we can. [00:52:49] Speaker A: You mentioned being a sports psychologist. Do you have any go to's to help with players deal with performance anxiety? [00:52:55] Speaker B: Man, I've been challenged in different ways, that's for sure on how to maximize different guys. I talk a lot about visualizing what you're doing, be present where your feet are at. I think it's been a great addition to our bullpens. I think it transitions to the mound a lot is I will if A kid is struggling with the breaking ball, and they're getting really frustrated with it. Like, like, hey, let's understand what we're doing. Like, take a deep breath. Let's really focus on what we're trying to accomplish. You getting frustrated with the failure is not going to help you with the next pitch. Okay? So we have to think pitch at a pitch, pitch by pitch, one pitch at a time. Visualize your success. Visualize the shape of the pitch. If you're in the game, in the moment, visualize. Visualize the success. Say you're gonna say you got yourself into a basis of count or basis of situation. 2 outs, counts, 2, 2, 3, 2. Visualize the success of overcoming that moment. I think it's been big for our guys to understand that side of it, because in the past, guys would be so lost or they'd feel so anxious and mountain visits, you know, you take your mountain visits, you have your catchers talk, and then it's. It just got the point. Like, hey, you got to visualize your success. And once you can start visualizing what you're doing, be present where your feet are, and then it's one pitch at a time. Breathe. Focus on the catcher. Focus on your. Your visualization, visualization of your success or whatever that's going to be. So just focus one pitch at a time. Visualize success. [00:54:35] Speaker A: That's why I've tried to show some of those emotional freedom techniques a little bit more now, because you can't think your way out of the anxiety. So the touching, the tapping piece, it's a way. It is a way to get rid of some of that, but with the physical touch piece of it. Hey, how much of that too? Maybe. When do you go to a grip change? Say, say a kid's really struggling trying to throw a breaking ball. When will. Will you tweak a grip every once in a while to see if that will help them? [00:54:59] Speaker B: Yeah, funny story. Funny story. In season, this was. This would have been 20. This would have been 22, 22, 21 or 22. Our starting pitcher was struggling with his breaking ball. And he wasn't a guy that had a plus plus breaking ball. He wasn't a guy that had upper 80s velocity. He was a guy that was going to be 82 to 85, maybe grab a six. His change up was really good and he knew how to pitch inside. So that made his. It made his average breaking ball look that much better. Well, there was a time where it kept backing up on him. I would get the rapsodo out we look at numbers, we tried different grips and our camera guy got a picture of him against Collinsville. And I look at it in the paper, I'm like, holy crap. And he was, he had a funky grip, nothing of what we were communicating. And he wasn't throwing it with any seams. He was getting on the side of the ball. And I'm like, dude, it took, it took a picture in the paper for me to realize what the heck you're actually doing. And then we fixed it and he was good to go. But sometimes it's just those, those weird little things that kind of get you back on track. That's funny. [00:56:13] Speaker A: How are you helping them with the recruiting process? The landscape has changed so much from when you and I were in school and going through it. How are you helping them with the recruiting process now? [00:56:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I think one, Tim is connected with anybody, so he's able to communicate on the players behalf a lot more than I can. He's just so connected to anybody. He's a phone call away from who you want to talk to. So it's just a conversation of hey, these are the top schools that we want to talk to. Maybe I have some connections within them that I can just simply reach out and talk to. Maybe we have to rely on Tim a little bit more or maybe utilize NPL or even GBA to get a contact or, or a local high school coach for a contact, like whoever that is. So the, what I love about baseball is everybody is everybody is always reaching out to somebody. So it doesn't matter who it is, you can always reach out to that person and somebody's going to have a contact for a school that you want to reach out to. So I would say it's always evolving depending on who the player is, the level and the contacts of what we [00:57:25] Speaker A: have your players going to the next level, what do they relay back to the high school guys that are going through it? What are the things that they relay back to the high school guys from the college side once they get there? [00:57:36] Speaker B: Well, I think our set, within our setting, we do such a good job of preparing them for those, for that next level that when they do come back, a lot of times there may not be a conversation, it may just be buddy, buddy talk. But they're doing their work on the field. When guys come back like a Joe Shiroto, like everybody's watching what he's doing, like he sets such a great example. But it started in high school and just his leadership and his worth work ethic moving through Carried him to Alabama and the success that he's having there. So the biggest thing that he's told our guys is trust the process, being able to understand where your feet are at and buy into what they're doing. We've had people on the other side saying, hey, don't forget where you came from, because, you know, your high school, your high school coaches are always going to be there for you. And I think just in our setting, we care so much about the player and we try to get the most out of them. And whether that's on the field, in the classroom, or just in their personal life, they're always there to support them. So I think it's just understanding when players do come back, it's listening. Listen to Funky Sabs no loud, because they kind of do know what they're talking about and they're always going to be there for you. I love the side of it, of reaching out to players, just continuing that communication, reaching out to whoever that might be at the juco level. If they're playing D3, if they're at, you know, SEC, doesn't matter where they're at. That communication is always there. And it always means. Means a lot to me when guys reach back. And at the adca, we had a former player there. When I received my award, he made it a point to come out and, you know, take a picture with me and talk to me and be there for that moment. So that little things like that make. Make us feel, you know, really good about what we're doing. All right. [00:59:37] Speaker A: We talk about inexpensive experience on here sometimes. So for somebody that's getting into coaching right now, give some inexpensive experience. [00:59:44] Speaker B: I would say go out communicate or go out be social network. You never know who you're going to run into. We had the same question at the i70 clinic, and that was my communication is go network. Go to the clinics, go to abca. You never know who you're going to run into, and you never know if that person ends up in a particular spot that you can call them. And you never know when a job situation might pop up. But go learn. Go to ABCA. Go to the i70 clinic. Go to these clinics across the country that are going to help you learn, network, and be a better person and a better coach. [01:00:24] Speaker A: All right, give us your fail forward moment. Something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward. [01:00:31] Speaker B: Man, I always go back to me being so tunnel vision I've had. I can be impatient at times, just growing throughout you know, this time frame of coaching, being patient, being more open, communicating one on one with different guys, being more individualized, I think has been such an important factor for me. Getting the most out of different players. As long as you're able to create that buy in, you're going to get, you're going to get the players to compete and want to be there. So I would say back in the day being so like, hey, this is what we're doing, just being so tunnel vision to now being so much more open to whatever comes our way. [01:01:12] Speaker A: When did you finally realize or I think that's hard for all of us when we first get into coaching is, is we're going to be that way just because that's part of, of youth. When did you finally adjust to like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna loosen the reins up here a little bit more. [01:01:28] Speaker B: Honestly, it's. It took for me to go to ABCA hearing different sides to the strategies and being like, holy cow. Like, this was, this is me right now. And this is where that particular coach got to honestly sitting down with Derek Johnson that day in Nashville and just hashing out different strategies on like what he was talking about and just how simplistic he was. It's like, holy crap, this, this is very simple and I can incorporate all of this stuff. It really opened my eyes to be more patient and meet players where they're at, not where they should be or where you think they need to be, but meet them where they're at. You'll get the most out of them and being prepared for whatever comes their way. [01:02:15] Speaker A: With having a young kid at home, have you been able to maintain any, maintain any sort of morning or evening routine? Almost impossible, isn't it? [01:02:24] Speaker B: Honestly, when we get in season, I feel like my schedule opens up so much more and it's crazy to think that way because you think that, you think that once you're in season, everything's rolling. It's like, honestly, if we have a practice day, I might be home by 5 o'. Clock. If we have an early day and we're fortunate enough to start earlier in the afternoon, we get out of school at 1:45, so we're starting practice a little after 2. So if we have a quick day, I might be home at 4:30. Even the days where I'm home at 6:30 or 7. If we think back to the off season days, I'm getting home at 9:30. So it's crazy to think that way, but it's so true. [01:03:08] Speaker A: You guys have any guidelines for phones or social media with your players? [01:03:14] Speaker B: No, not really. Our guys, our guys do a really good job of that. There might be some times where we have to sit down with the player in the past, but like, it's been nothing. Nothing alarming. I think it's our guys. [01:03:28] Speaker A: I think it's getting better. [01:03:29] Speaker B: Yeah, our guys do a really good job of when we go to practice, we have a locker room and they're able to put their, their phone in their lockers. And honestly, honestly, with. Especially our off season, we do a lot of things on the phone anyway, so it's, hey, if they're going to be on the phone, let's give them a few things to kind of focus on. Where we use for npl, we use Driveline track. So it's, it's already on their phone and they do a really good job of, hey, this is what I'm doing, putting it down and forgetting it. So they're, they can be motivated that way. There, there might be times we'll have a groupme chat and I usually try to do that with our pitching staff in particular, where I'll have a link with all of our documents on it where they see what they're doing each day. But then I might throw in a specific video of what I want them to focus on so then they can use that phone for a video. That way they can have an understanding going into practice on what they're doing or simply we're just meeting for an in season meeting or weight room. They already have that. There's. So you can also use that as a tool as well. [01:04:42] Speaker A: All right, what are some final thoughts before I let you go? [01:04:45] Speaker B: Final thoughts? Looking forward to the season. Like, I, I'm tired of, I'm tired of doing the off season stuff. I'm ready to go on the field to compete. I'm ready to go. I know Tim's ready to go. I don't like the weather right now, but we're ready to get on the field and ready to go. [01:05:03] Speaker A: Mike, thanks so much for your time. Congrats again on the award. It's well deserved, but have a great another year. Have a great, another great year. Tell Funk I said what's up. All right, will do. [01:05:12] Speaker B: I appreciate, I appreciate you having me on. I've been looking forward to doing something like this and you know, it means a lot for me to be here today, so I appreciate it. Thank you very much. [01:05:21] Speaker A: Having coached in the Midwest for 18 years, I have a lot of respect for the job that the Edwardsville staff has done year in and year out. They're a great example of continuing to learn and push the envelope of player development. Congrats again to Coach Sabatino and good luck to the Tigers this spring. 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 ourbrownleyabca.org Twitter, Instagram or TikTok CoachBRCA or direct message me via the MyBCA app. This is Ryan Bradley signing off with American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks. Gonna leave it better for those behind you. And you know that way yep Wait for another day [01:06:18] Speaker B: and the world will always return as your love is never for year and you know that Wait [01:06:32] Speaker A: wait for another [01:06:38] Speaker B: day.