[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Ryan Brownlee.
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Joining us this week on the ABCA podcast, Alcorn State University recruiting coordinator Oscar Reed. Reed joined the ASU staff this summer after coaching two seasons at Alvin Junior College.
Reed got his coaching start in 2010 at Crescent City Baptist High School, with other stops at Prairie View, A and M Leesville High School and on the travel ball side with 12 baseball and Houston Wildcatters. Reed spent time in the corporate world at Eaton Corporation, Richard Wayne and Robert and KPRC 2 NBC.
Reed also handles the pitching coach Duties for Alcorn State. This episode covers recruiting, pitching and life sacrifices to stay in coaching. Let's welcome Oscar Reed to the podcast.
Here with Oscar Reed, recruiting coordinator at Alcorn State, has been at every level of amateur baseball coach and was also at Prairie View, Alvin, jc, but a bunch of travel and then also high school baseball too. So, Oscar, thanks for jumping on with me.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Ryan. I appreciate it, man. Thanks a bunch for this. I'm fired up about it.
[00:03:42] Speaker A: Yeah. And we talked pre call. You were in corporate America for a while. What kind of nudged you to get into coaching.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So, man, really my faith, I'll go all the way back to when my playing days were over. You mentioned prayer View. I graduated from there. I finished my senior year at 22 years old.
Was pretty bitter about it. You know, I first off, I wasn't very good. It took me five years to start one. But I was determined. And then I remember like a dream, waking up one day in right field at Texas A and M when they were number five in the nation.
[00:04:17] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: So I wanted to play against the best in the world. Never thought I would coach.
And then, you know, didn't get drafted again. After having one decent season, I thought for whatever reason, I did enough to get drafted or signed. Free agent. I had one scout on me from the Angels and. And I'm thinking he's going to pull the trigger, at least with a free agent deal. That was 2009. The Angels went a different route and went with a guy by the name of Mike Trout.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:04:42] Speaker B: But anyway, tried out for a bunch of teams. That didn't happen. And I said, all right, we're done with ball. You know, I did what I wanted to do, played on the highest level and went into corporate America. My first job, I remember being at my mom's house in laplace, Louisiana. I'm working at a place that I interned at imtt and my old high school called and they said, hey, man, you're the only one off of our 04 graduate team that went on to play Division 1 ball. We need a head coach. I said, absolutely not. I think my time is done with baseball. Kept focusing on work. Well, they called again and they mentioned money and I got my attention. I took the meeting with our athletic director, Coach Johnny. Rest in peace. He passed away a couple years ago and he told me it'd be $3,000. I started adding up $3,000 along with what I'm getting at the oil plant. That's pretty good money. I take the meeting. He says, you're ready to go. I asked, hey, how does this work? Is this monthly, bi weekly? He said, what are you talking about? I said, that three grand we talked about also, that's a stipend. I said, wait a minute, you want me to do that? This was four months.
I ended up taking the job and fell in love with it and forgot the prayer that I had after I graduated. Because the prayer was, hey, Lord, what am I going to do with my life? I've been playing ball since I was 6 years old.
Forgot about it. Ended up coaching high school baseball, varsity baseball team at Crescent City in 2010. We did pretty good that year. I said, all right, I get it. God, if this is going to be my ministry, I have one request. I just want to do it on the college level. So from there I started doing a bunch of research. I became an avid bio reader, ended up going to get a master's degree and started my career from there in prayer. View gave me my first opportunity on the field. Houston Baptist back then, which is now Houston Christian, gave me my first opportunity on the compliance side because at that time I was still torn between do I want to go the athletic director route or coach. Obviously, you know, gravitated towards coaching.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: What clicked for you your fifth year and you're not the first player that's maybe it's a late bloomer where if you play long enough, at least you're going to probably figure it out at some point. What clicked for you that fifth year of college where it was like, okay, now, now I've got some things figured out, man.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: I think it's a testament of kind of what we're seeing today. I was older, you know, I was. I finished my senior year at 22 years old.
So sometimes, man, a lot of times, rather, you'll figure it out. In my case, I figured it out too late.
But again, being able to start that year, you know, get well north of 100 at bats, play against a team like A and M, Baylor, Texas State, some of them guys are still playing today.
Paul Goldschmidt was the first baseman for Texas State. Matt Carpenter was the third baseman at tcu. I can go on and on, Matt, but what clicked? I think just being older and just all that work from six years old and I had a ton of coaches, man, I can't rattle them off all right now. But my high school coach, coach Steve Siravalo, just being around a lot of people, listening and putting in the work, eventually it's going to click for you. Those that are God Gifted. Some of those guys already have it. And then along with work, you know, that's why they make it to the next level. But as far as me, I just think being older than, you know, along with the work that was put in.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: And it seems like with your resume, you've worked a bunch of different jobs also outside of baseball to kind of make this whole thing work for yourself.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Which was confusing in the beginning. I'll share a short story with you. I don't want to be long, long winded, but, you know, there was one point in my career to. Whereas I got out of baseball for a few years. I think that's what you're alluding to. It was after I left Leesville High School and I had some college opportunities on the table. I'll never forget getting a call being in Leesville.
My fiancee at the time, now wife. I put her on speaker because we've been waiting for this call. We went high school, but we knew at some point we were going to go back college. That was the mission before we started dating. That's the first thing I asked her. Hey, are you. Are you willing to take this ride? That's very important to have your significant other understand our industry. You already know that, but we got some calls. I said, hey, listen, regardless of what happens here, I know how this works and I pray we get it. I'm moving my family back to Houston, but we did have two opportunities on the table after leaving Leesville that fell through. And then my worst fear came to fruition. I had to dust off the old resume. But again, being a believer, man, God really works in mysterious ways. I know that's a phrase, but I got to live it because going back into corporate America for the time I did, I still have relationships with those prominent companies in Houston that I'm going to use and leverage right here at Alcorn for our student athletes. Same thing I did at Alvin, actually had the CEO for Richard Wayne and Roberts down at Alvin on a zoom call. So those relationships that was built are going to help us today. Also, more important than the relationships, this is how God I knew he had my family in mind.
Without spending time in corporate America, being away from college ball, there's no way I'm able to afford to purchase my family our first home. You know, by doing that, we're pretty set up in that area. And now we got another opportunity to kind of finish what we both started, my wife and I. And being on this journey, you know, to working and coaching on Division 1.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: Ball with that conversation with her, because this happens a lot. Because I think you got to have that conversation with your significant other. But until you actually get into it, you really don't know what it entails. How is that process in the beginning for y'?
[00:10:07] Speaker C: All?
[00:10:10] Speaker B: Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth, right? So going back to being in my childhood room at my mom's house after getting the bachelor's degree and trying to figure out life right after I got off my knees and prayed and then realized, this is going to be my ministry, after working at Crescent City Baptist, which is now Crescent City Christian School in Metairie, Louisiana, I did research, man. I became an avid bio reader because, look, I just read the best in the world's bio. Just. And that's the cheat sheet for younger coaches. I'm not a guru. This is what I did. And I got the answers to the test on how to navigate and put myself in position to being a coach. Now, through that research, Ryan, one thing that stuck out to me, I was going to be poor for a while. I didn't get into this industry for the money. I think we all know that.
And just the faith again got me through. And I'm just thankful to even be back on this level. You're not guaranteed. And. And in my position, Coach Hardy could have called 100 different coaches, you know, for him to call me and the power of social media, we kept up with each other over the years.
I'm thankful to be here. But to get back to the original question, man, reading bios, you know, filled in some phone calls. The ABCA has been huge in, you know, my development and my positioning as a coach as well, too. So all those things combined.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: But also the benefit of you working on the amateur side, with high school and travel, you kind of understand the recruiting landscape a little bit more there, too, because you've been on that side of it as well, trying to help kids get to the next level.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: No doubt.
Again, during high school. What again, we have our plan, and then God has his, and he laughs.
[00:11:50] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: My plan was to never, after leaving GR City, to be a high school head coach.
And I'm so thankful for that opportunity at Leesville.
Listen, coaching on that team, I got to meet Jonathan Harmon as a sophomore who won our MVC award his sophomore junior year. Jonathan Harmon pitches for the Cincinnati Reds today in their minor league organization.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: You just knew he was the guy. And. And I take no credit for his development. He's one of them dudes you just get out of the way and don't screw it up. That was my job with Harmon, right?
I remember texting Mike Partita his junior year saying, this is going to be a guy. Put him on your board.
Fast forward about four or five years later, while I'm in corporate America, I'm watching the draft because again, we're baseball abbots, right? Jonathan harmon gets drafted 13th round. I text Partita, is this your guy? Yeah, man, I remember. So he followed him all the way to Northwestern. There's another guy that stands out from Leesville, Caleb Westfall. Well, I looked up one day, Caleb Westfall is on LSU staff. He's now on South Carolina staff. So, man, high school taught me a lot. And here's another good point. With high school, there are some outstanding coaches on that level and then the select ball level.
One thing that I learned was the titles being on whatever level. They're all important, right? But there are some select ball coaches that will coach a high school coach and a college coach underneath the table. Respectfully, there's high school coaches that could coach on this college level. You know, college is difficult to get in for a multitude of different reasons, but being able to coach on the select ball level, high school level, junior college level, which is in the Division 1 level, man, that helps in so many areas, especially recruiting and obviously relationships.
[00:13:40] Speaker A: And there's a lot of art to the recruiting process, being able to project kids out. What are some of the things that you're looking at now? You know, because it's so different now at the Division 1 level, especially with where you're getting kids from, pulling kids from. With the transfer portal, with amateur kids, you know, how are you kind of projecting kids out to maybe be a fit for you at Alcorn?
[00:14:02] Speaker B: So really good question. So for us, and I've had long talks with Coach Hardy all summer about this and even now, and for us, what I told him is, you know, hey, Coach, you know, the transfer portal and really the roster limits. Now that works in our favor, in my humble opinion, right? Because back then, with all due respects to, you know, our. The power for schools, right?
There was a time to. Whereas you could hide and hort players, that day is no longer. So what that means is the guys that sit the bench and don't get at bats at the bigger schools, they're going to transfer out, right?
That benefits the student, that also benefits the mid majors like us at Alcorn State. So, you know, we just had a talk the other day with Coach Hardy and had a smirk on his face.
And I know he believes it, but I said, coach, you know, you brought me in here. I've always just recruited anybody. I didn't care if lsu, Oklahoma, whoever was on the list, knowing that there was a good shot, that we don't get them. But you never know where somebody's going to be a year or two down the line. And in today's age, especially sitting in that respect, that seat. As a recruiting coordinator at Alvin, I got to see a lot, man, between the end of October and early December, I would probably Talk to between 25 and 50 players that are released and they're going junior college, right? So I've always been a person who is. I'm going to shoot my shot at whoever, you know, it's a numbers game. And that's probably the corporate America sales side of me. Make the call. The nose hurt a little bit. Getting ghosted hurts a little bit. But that's the worst thing that's going to happen. They don't respond or they say no, but you, you, you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take. You've heard that before. So for us, I think it's going to work in our favor.
Again, just talking about it yesterday, about the, you know, getting on the recruiting trail, it's about really establishing that relationship. I was listening to something the other day. Coach Fran Brown with Syracuse, his quarterback now was a guy that ghosted him back then when he was a recruiting coordinator or something at Rutgers. And they joke about it today. Hey, you're answering the phone how? Because I'm at Rutgers or when he was at Georgia. So long story short, it works in our favor if you put the work in and just build a relationship.
[00:16:17] Speaker A: And I think the benefit of you being in high school and travel side is you've had to coach multiple positions too, because you look at your resume, you have a background in coaching just about everything on the field and still learning, right?
[00:16:29] Speaker B: So I've handled pitching for quite some time now, but obviously as a head coach, you need to, you know, have a wide scope of the game. And certainly way back when, when I was a head coach, I credit a lot to the staff that, that we had. There's no way you can do all this yourself, but being diverse in that space and even select ball has, has really helped. You want to see how good you are as a coach, as an assistant coach, a young coach, I can't stress enough how important, you know, if you get to be a, if you get to run the show and be a Head coach anywhere, cut your teeth. That's going to help to develop you and discover who you are as a coach. I believe if you're assistant coach for so long, you're going to start to mimic who you're around. And then when it's your time to lead, you don't know who you are and you're learning on the job. The players that find that out. But just being on all those different levels, yeah, that helped to develop me as a coach. But still to this day, you know, Coach Hardy and I'll have dinner every night and I'm just listening. You know what's so impressive about Coach Hardy who's been around this game for 20 plus years, just his appreciation for the cerebral part of the game is second to none. So being a student of the game, even till this day, I'm the furthest thing from a guru.
That's the beauty of this game. And you can never not learn something new. And that's where I'm at with it.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: With being at a new place. Where's the first place you're starting with the players.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Yeah. So still getting to know some of the position guys. I'm getting better with it now. I told him the first two weeks, I'm gonna screw your name up. The pictures, I got it. It only took me a week because I see them every day. Meetings, we're working. We're in indie ball right now.
And yesterday, still, being in individuals was our first intent day where coach raised his voice and it got guys, we had a lot of deer in the headlights. Whoa, who is this guy? Yeah, it's no longer the recruiter anymore. So, man, just recognizing guys right now. But I'll tell you this, we're older and again, it's the beginning, man. We're getting after it. We know that we have an uphill battle, but the guys that we brought in, man, they're all like minded. We're all like minded. Not one time have I ever heard someone talk about what we don't have. These guys all wanted to be on the Division 1 level. They're here now, which again is not an easy task.
I talked to them about this the other day about there's some really good players that aren't playing D1 right now because I guess they thought that they would have so many different offers from these different schools.
They're playing lower levels. Some guys aren't even playing. They're taking a gap year because over this summer, you know what it was, it was kind of the goalpost for moving it was new rules. It was, you know, really get in where you fit in and some guys, man, aren't even playing right now. So to be on a Division 1 program, be in one right now is huge. Uh, and, and I'm certain I'm fired up about the guys that we have right now, but we got a lot of work ahead of us.
[00:19:22] Speaker A: Are you playing outside competition this fall? Playing outside.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: We have two junior colleges on the schedule to jucos.
[00:19:29] Speaker A: So when do that, when do those games start for you all? How much time you got? How much lead in time before you get.
[00:19:34] Speaker B: I want to say they might be the, the middle or, or early October.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: So you got some build up time with the arms then.
[00:19:39] Speaker B: We, yeah, we, we have time again.
We're, we're, we're really appreciating the individuals right now and, and like not wanting to waste a.
Because we're all so new, you know. So the detail part about it, which again Coach Hardy leads there and, and we go as he goes, man. So we're not in a rush to start those 45 days at all. We have some time but yeah, we have two quality jucos that are coming in that, that we're excited to see and play somebody else when, when that time comes.
[00:20:08] Speaker A: Have you started bullpens already?
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Like, like small ones. It's all light work right now. Like right now is, is really a buildup build up. We're not even in pitch design right now. I'm going to tell you the focus right now is how many strikes can we throw competitively.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: Right.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: So we're, we're not going to get into the detail part of it with, with pitches, design and, and how we're going to pitch in a game, you know, probably until mid September, something like that when our team starts. Because the focus again I, you got to prove to me you can throw strikes. That's the, that is the part that we have to nail right there. Cutting down walks, keeping us in the game. If they get on, they got to earn it.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: You've been, you kind of have a 30,000 foot view since you've been at a bunch of different levels.
Main is the development plan much different, say a travel side, high school side, college side. Is the development plan much different?
[00:21:04] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. I think anytime you're, you're on a staff as an assistant, everybody has their own way of doing it. Right. So coach Hardy again his way. This is probably the most detail oriented guy I've ever been around, like to the t. To the time a meeting starts, what time we're going to finish and then if you're not on time, you're going to see the bad side of them.
So. Yeah, I mean, it's been different everywhere that I've been, Alvin last year. Certainly different, you know, all the way down to my time at Prayer View and even my first go around here. It's. It's been different every year, which is challenging and. But I understand. My job again is to adjust to the head coach. You know, one thing I do appreciate about Coach Hardy is just the trust that he has, the autonomy. Hey, look, I hired you, you're the pitching coach, you know, so, you know, I'll, I'll invite him to pitching meeting sometimes. Sometimes he doesn't need to be there, but he comes when I need him to, so just the autonomy that he gives me. But again, we go as he goes and it's certainly different this year. And again, like I said earlier, we're all still learning because there's so many new guys that have been brought in this year.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: Will you script bullpen?
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Yeah, when the time comes for sure. Like when we. Again, this is the ramp up stage, I would probably say towards the middle end. Absolutely. You know, we're going to definitely do that. That's important to do.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: How many, how many bullets are they going early here? So say that first bullpen for you guys. How many, how many pitches?
[00:22:28] Speaker B: The first pin was, was, was 10 pitches. It was 10 pitches, you know, so again, it's a build up from there because you got to understand the first, the first time we enter squad, which we have a while for that, you're not doing more than one inning.
[00:22:40] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: And the goal there is to get out of that inning without walking anybody.
[00:22:44] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: So really they should hit us off the field. If he says flip it, it's because they hit the ball.
[00:22:49] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: You shouldn't walk anybody there. Especially with the type of focus that we have and what we're doing with our data strategically, these guys understand the focus on one thing right now. Hey, who's going to, who's going to be on that leaderboard that we have with, with strike strikes percentage?
[00:23:05] Speaker A: How are you handling guys coming in? And you probably dealt with this a little bit at junior college. Guys that have never pitched in the bullpen before and trying to help those guys transition to bullpen arms because not everybody's going to start.
So how are you helping guys transition to bullpen roles that have never had to do that before?
[00:23:25] Speaker B: You mean it like guys that are transitioning from starter to reliever?
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: Yeah. A lot of conversation. Conversation. And right now, because we're all so new, roles aren't defined. So I'm going to know your role.
We got 45 days to do it. I'm annoyed about halfway through.
[00:23:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:23:42] Speaker B: And when I tell our pitchers, you know, I'm the type of pitcher coach, man, it's, I talk a lot. But it's very important for me to listen to you right now. The phrase is I need you to listen to your body, listen to your arm. If there's anything nagging, I don't need you to try to muscle through it. I've seen this before.
[00:23:59] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: So getting back to your question conversation along with the data that we have, and then their performance is going to define who, what, when and where.
[00:24:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: But we're already preparing for that again. At dinner last night, Coach Hardy and I talked about that. At some point I'm going to ask you, Reed, you know, hey, you know, what's the plan for, you know, such and such? Because he looks like he's going to be our mid relief guy, our long relief guy, our backing guy, and we'll certainly have a plan for that.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: You guys in the weight room now too?
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. I can't rave enough about. That was a recruiting pitch. You know, we're, we're to have three strength and conditioning coaches, the head strength and conditioning coach and Coach Gant is a baseball guy.
[00:24:41] Speaker C: Right.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: I think he was drafted a few different times. So anything you give me that's gonna, that I can leverage in recruiting, I'm gonna do that. So our guys go, I think there's three different slots in the morning. So they get that out of the way. I think it's one, say it's three or four times a week that they do that. And then we get to the baseball part and then, you know, we'll have our conditioning side of that later on in the day, typically after we're done practice.
[00:25:04] Speaker A: And you do have a data background kind of on your resume, looking at that. When did you start diving into some of that stuff to help with pitchers?
[00:25:13] Speaker B: Then when it became popular. When the, when the, when the world was talking about spin rate and, and just, just data alone.
You, you have to, it's irresponsible if you don't pay attention to. Especially if you're a fan of the game.
[00:25:28] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: I was thinking about this the other day.
I use data. I think it's important. Number one, our guys like it as well too. They love it, actually.
But you can't, I'm not Going to swear by it. And an example that I. I paid attention to was. I don't know if you remember the World Series. I want to say it was the Tampa Bay Rays.
I forget the coach. It might have been Cash.
[00:25:52] Speaker C: Right.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: What's the pitcher's name? Yeah, I forget him, actually. I was with Zach.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: That's a good story. I was. I was with Zach Dillon. We were running.
I was filming the 12 and we talked about this for the listeners. Oscar coach with the 12 was Zach Dillon, who. He and I. Zach and I are watching that game, and it's Blake Snell.
And there it is. He's at, like, I want to say, 55 pitches. I think it was like 55.
And they pull him then. And the Rangers end up winning and winning the game. Winning the game.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: I both know how hard it is.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: And it wasn't.
[00:26:30] Speaker B: Let alone.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: It was like the seventh inning, like he was cruising. And immediately. It was. Immediately they pulled him and. And the game was over. That was. It was immediate.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: And the camera guys did a great job at zooming in on Snell. I'm just like. As a fan, like, leave them in this the world. Leave him in. If like any. Pull them in. I think I'm a fan. I think he's a great coach. But on the flip side, coach manager Bruce Brochy, who's out of the game forever, comes back, wins the World Series in his first year back. That's not by accident. I heard him speak.
You have to. You still have to have baseball feel. So getting back to the question, I'm. I marry them both. We're certainly going to use the data, but you still have to have your baseball instincts and feel they go hand in hand, in my humble opinion.
[00:27:20] Speaker A: Well, Chapman's a good example this year. I don't know if you saw that story. They said this is the first time in his career he's trying to spot his fastball.
First time. And he's been the big leagues forever and he's rolled through. Like. I think he's. I think it's been like 40 outs in a row. 40, 50 outs in a row. He said this is the first time he's ever concentrated on trying to spot his fastball.
[00:27:43] Speaker B: And I can with the Chapman. I can.
[00:27:46] Speaker A: And it's made a lot of money just trying to throw it over the plate rather than just spotting a fastball.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: I could believe that. But at the same time, been on that level with his ability and the amount of just quality pitching coaches that's been around. It's also Hard, hard to.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: It is. It's extremely hard to say. That's not a. Like he had to have tried to spot a fastball, but I don't know.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Oh, goodness.
Your development calendar, I mean, you guys deal with, with a wide range of ages now.
Majority of your guys transfer older guys or do you have some high school guys on your roster too?
[00:28:23] Speaker B: We had a, we had a long conversation about that. Again, you gotta, you had. There was a lot of learning on the fly this past summer. This past summer is super important for everybody.
Being able to sit back for a while and just study the Division 1 level and where our game's going and how it's growing and, you know, changing.
Especially sitting in that recruit coordinator seat on the junior college level. I think in today's age, unless you're just the best of the best, which the bigger schools get first dibs at those guys coming out of high school, man, you got, you have to go older. I think you're doing a kid a disservice by putting an 8, 17, 18 year old on a Division 1 level when he's going to be playing against older guys.
[00:29:04] Speaker C: Right.
[00:29:05] Speaker B: And may not, you know, clear the 50 at that mark. Where you go down to junior college where you have a better chance. It's not easier. I am a JUCO alum from a player, you know, to now, my time with Alvin. And there's some absolute dogs down there, especially in Region 14, right? Just outstanding coaches. And then the players just look at their resume. A lot of those guys from that conference and not just Region 14, but across the country, they go on to some of your favorite schools. So baseball and the development side of it, Ryan, it is here. And some people may be mad at me or disagree with what I'm about to say, but you owe a lot of that development to perfect game. I don't care what you say, but now you're seeing more and more guys throw 100.
That ain't by happenstance. You know, they are playing year round ball. They are paying more attention to taking care of their arms. But you know, again, the younger player, we're, we're going after older guys because we have to, right? You have to win on this level, as you already know.
And like I stated earlier in our conversation, because of the portal in the roster limits, you have a shot at whoever because there's only, there can only be.
What is it, 36, 38? Guys, I know you got the DFA rule now, but there is a limit, which means there's more talent that's accessible to us and everybody else that wants to try.
[00:30:33] Speaker A: And you talked about kind of holding off pitch design. When will you start pitch design with the pitchers?
[00:30:42] Speaker B: Probably the middle. The, the middle of the, the, the, the early beginning, like right now. Again, it's, it's. We're just getting into fastball changeups, right. Like right now. Matter of fact, we're introducing our off speed pitches next week. Right now it's fastball, fastball, fastball and just building up.
[00:30:58] Speaker C: Right.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: So I'd probably say maybe by like the second inner squad or something like that. It'll, it'll be pretty early because again, that's gonna, that's gonna also help with us recognizing who our guys are.
[00:31:11] Speaker C: Right.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: So it'll be pretty early with pitch design and just kind of open it up for these guys. They're already chomping at the bit to coach. Can we throw? Well, we have a lot of time, guys. It's going by fast, but I can't stress the fact that we are taking advantage of our indie work. The 45 minutes that we have.
[00:31:30] Speaker C: Right.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: We're locked in on that. And that's very important as well too. That other stuff is coming and it's going to get here fast.
[00:31:37] Speaker A: And their stuff will dictate their roles too.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: Oh, no doubt about it.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: And that's where you have to start to get into some of their other pitchers at times too, especially once you start facing batters, because that's going to define their roles too. What their stuff is.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. Another conversation we had in confidence, Coach Hardy and myself, it's looked like right now. I like the fact that they can see the leaderboard. There's a data, you know, kind of an analytics thing that I put together to where they can see where they rank as pitchers. And it'll update every time we put the numbers in on it own. They can see it on the S drive right now. It's a, it's a competition of who can throw the most strikes. Right now this is just bullpens. You got some guy that's down at the bottom that, you know, he, he's down in the dumps about it. So strategically it's working. This is what I want. I want you. This tells me you care about this stuff.
[00:32:26] Speaker C: Right?
[00:32:27] Speaker B: But I've also seen this movie before. I won't say what player it was. I had to put my arm around him the other day and say, hey man, we hadn't even got on the bump yet.
I got to see how guys throw when there's A batter in the box. Right now, there's no batter in the box, so there's opportunities for guys to climb. And you're certainly right when, when, when the lights are on and coaches play ball in the inner squad, some other guys are going to emerge. And we're looking forward to that. But again, man, we are so locked in on the little detailed work that we have right now in our indie work.
[00:32:55] Speaker A: Well, once you start facing batters, will you have like a spreadsheet against hitters as opposed to bullpens? Will it be blended together? How do. I'm always intrigued by the numbers and how use numbers to tell stories.
Will you have it separated out, bullpen work? Hitters will be blended together. How does all that information come together?
[00:33:15] Speaker B: You bet. You bet. So Coach Hardy and the position player guys, it's. It's two other coaches that we have. They have their deal. They have their own thing with the pitchers.
I certainly, I chart. We chart all bullpens and we're also going to chart in games. So it's kind of broken down to. Whereas here are bullpens. And then once you set foot on the mountain and inner squad, it's all defined because we want to see that. We're going to compare that, we're going to talk about that, the study it, review video, all that stuff. So, yeah, will we combine them offensively? We won't combine them, but we certainly compare notes and that helps us to build our depth chart and also define the roles that we're talking about.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: Because that's always intriguing to me because, I mean, we've seen it with hitters and pitchers. You might have a guy light it up in the bullpen, and then when they start to face somebody else, they can't get anybody out or same thing with hitters. They might tear it up in the cage, but once they start having to make swing decisions, it doesn't always work for guys on the field.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: It's interesting how that works, right? Yeah. And so that's some of the stuff we're talking about.
And we'll see here. We'll see here pretty soon.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: Since you just got there.
You know, for you guys starting to prep, how different. When you talk to Coach Hardy, how different is the fall as opposed to the spring for you all?
[00:34:31] Speaker B: Well, this being my first time working with Coach Hardy, that's. That's still a question mark in terms of the spring.
But the fall is. Is like everywhere else, kind of like what we talked about, man. You're through conditioning, through meetings, through guys that have brain farts and show up to study hall late and other meetings that we will have.
Everything you do is being documented and is a part of the competition, especially the school part that doesn't get talked about enough. We're still college athletes, student athletes.
[00:35:02] Speaker C: Right.
[00:35:03] Speaker B: So everything you do is being documented and will be talked about. When defining who's going to be in the starting line, starting nine, you know, who are the guys that are competing? Because again, no. No roster I've never seen is going to stay the same. That conversation will be had.
But in terms of will things be different in spring? Sure. You know, and during the winter break when guys are on their own, they'll go home with, you know, their packet of things that we want them to do combined with what when we, when we get back. It's no longer trying to figure out who the guys are. Listen, you have 45 days plus your indie work to, to, to win a job. So I don't, I think that's across the board. That doesn't change anywhere. But once we get back from the winter break, you already know who the guys are. Now it's preparing for your season, you know, and winning games.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: What are you guys using for pitch calling?
[00:35:59] Speaker B: There's some. I don't want to reveal that part yet, but we're going to use some type of electronic system. I don't really want to give that out but I think, you know, in this day and age, man with how smart players are and even coaching staffs. I was talking to one of my buddies the other day, you know, at another university. I won't mention some of these guys assign guys to like steal signs or. You certainly part of the game is which. It's a part of the game at second base. You know, if you still are putting fingers down, I think you're subjectible of, you know, putting your picture in a bad spot. So I just, I think, I don't know if you can do that in this day and age because guys are so smart in technology as well too. So we're going to use. Utilize a form of technology and I appreciate it because it speeds up the game. You have the 22nd pitch clock.
So that form of communication, I think just in today's game you have to use it.
[00:36:51] Speaker A: You have to. I just said just as much of pace of play is in play. You have to find a way to be able to get stuff in quicker for your guys.
[00:37:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: What do you like doing pitch calling wise, because that was part of your resume too is calling pitches. Do you like, that part of it.
[00:37:09] Speaker B: I love it, man. I'm so excited, you know, to, to, to be back again on this level, you know, to be able to call pitches.
That's the part that I pride myself on. And I mean, it's all, you're, you're a part of the game, right? A big part of the game, but a part of the way I work with our guys, again, it's, I allow our guys to shake, right? Like, I'm, I, that does not offend me. I, I, I tell them, like, look, if you shake and they hit it 450, it needs to be one of these, right? Vice versa. If I call a pitch, which will happen sometime, and they hit it off the wall or they hit it for 50, that's what me. Let's get them and what I want to see out of you in responses, right? Let's, let's, let's get the next guy because that's what it's about.
We're teaching our guys right now.
Knock on wood. Someone boots a ball behind you, turn around, hey, I'm going to get you another one, right? The worst thing in the world is a guy knows he screws up and you turn around and mean mug them or say something you're not supposed to say. So nobody's trying to screw up. But in terms of pitch calling it, we're working hand in hand. We're doing this thing together, right? And when it goes right, you're getting all the glory, right? When it doesn't go right, I got to put you in a better position. And we're working really, really hard right now to earn each other's trust and respect.
Again, we came in, we didn't know each other. My first message to the team, certain, but I'm going to earn your trust and respect, the same thing, vice versa. You got to get mine. And that's what the fall is for. And we're currently doing that.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: I think I got better at that as I got older, of allowing pitchers to just stay with their strengths as opposed to worrying as much about the scouting report because guys are going to miss spots anyway.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Yeah. But again, I think, I think the scout report is important. Again, I think it's responsible to have that read that this game is beautiful because it's, it's, you can't just be robotic, right? You can have the perfect scouting report, the metrics, all that, and still get your butt kicked. You still got to go out and play the game and hit spots like you mentioned. You know the best part about this Ryan, though, which again, I'm preaching to the choir, is anybody can be beat, man, with that guy on the mound, you have a chance. If you're in the zone, keep guys off balance, know how to work up, down, in and out of the zone, keep us in the game. Anybody can be beaten. That's the beauty of this game. It's not like football where, where it's just, man, you could prepare all day if, if, if, if the level of the playing field isn't the same, you, you really don't have a shot. But in baseball, we saw it a lot last year with the Murray States and the Houston Christian.
[00:39:52] Speaker C: Right.
[00:39:53] Speaker B: And, and the utsas of the world, which I saw firsthand. At Alvin, we played those guys in the fall. I wasn't surprised at all at what they did.
[00:40:00] Speaker C: Right.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: We had a pretty good team at Alvin and they handled us in the fall like they were supposed to. They're the Division 1 team, so. But anybody, man, we learned a lot last year, can be beat. You know, with, with you having that guy with the ball in his hand.
[00:40:14] Speaker A: And with pushing the, your guys fall later. That's because of the recruiting calendar too correct. To give you time to get out and see some guys in the fall.
[00:40:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that's.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: The weather is good enough. You know, those of us that coach in the north, we, we had to start earlier because we couldn't get on the field in, in November. But for you got better weather down that way you can push your, your timeline when team practice starts because your weather's better. But you're also trying to get out and see guys too for that month.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: No, no doubt, no doubt. Which is, which is a big part of it. Again, you got to see guys, you got to rely on certain sources like I mentioned with, with perfect game. I mean today, in today's age.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: I.
[00:40:55] Speaker B: Think we're blessed especially with social media and guys being able to post and see somebody and you know, you can take a look at a guy in New York and as coaches, we all have people across the country that, hey, I can't get up there right now. Can you give me a little bit background on this guy before I give him a call? So yeah, man, but certainly recruiting definitely plays a part in, you know, the schedule being moved and things like that.
[00:41:16] Speaker A: Do you have a fail forward moment? You have something you thought was going to set you back, but looking back now, it helped you move forward?
Could be professional.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: I think it could, I think it could be what I, what I mentioned earlier about just my, I Did not understand.
I didn't think I'd have to go back into corporate America years ago. I did not understand it and was really bitter and upset about it. Confused as well, too. You know how you do everything right, right? Intern, go work for free, network, abc, all that stuff. And then, boom, no job opportunities.
It was. It was gut wrenching. It was heartbreaking.
And then it was harder because I'm a newlywed at the time. So you can't sit around and sulk and be mad at the world. You got to go to work. And that's what I did. But it. But again, my faith got me through that and. And again, I realized it probably halfway through that God's still in control. He's right there through it, you know, And I mentioned those relationships that I have today. I remember, you know, being at a job. I worked at KPRC, Channel 2. This is an NBC affiliate. Every time I walked into the news station, like, lord, what are we. What are we doing here?
[00:42:27] Speaker C: Right?
[00:42:28] Speaker B: Three monitors. One monitor, periodically during the day is keeping a baseball game. Some of my old friends. So it was. The fire was still there, but having to lock in on corporate America was still developing there, man. Sales and being a recruit and coordinator, a recruiter in general, they go hand in hand.
[00:42:47] Speaker C: Why?
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Because you got to. You get to talk to people, be personable, be yourself.
So I would say that was probably one of my failing forward, you know, days again, especially going through that, being in position of buy our first home in a beautiful neighborhood, you know, in Houston, Texas. Sienna, in still today, waking up today, being a Division 1 coach, man. So that's my moment right there that I'm certainly thankful for.
[00:43:16] Speaker A: What is some advice for young coaches about trying to stay patient in the process? Because it does get frustrating. You know, you said it. When you're doing everything right, you're doing everything that people tell you to do. But there's no blueprint for getting that next job. What's some advice for staying patient in the process?
[00:43:33] Speaker B: Yeah, man. One thing I learned, Ryan, is that again, coaching on all those different levels, there are really, really exceptional coaches on each and every level. I've met some high school coaches that without a shadow of a doubt could be valuable quality on some Division 1 program, D2, whatever, right? Same thing for select ball.
I think. I think it boils down to what your purpose is and what God has in the cards for you.
My prayer a lot is, God, what is your. Your plan, not mine. This wasn't forced, right? Coach Hardy called me, and again, he could have called multiple different guys.
So the things that have happened in my career, it was clear Christ had his hand on it.
[00:44:18] Speaker C: Right?
[00:44:19] Speaker B: So my advice to any coach younger in the game, you can work your butt off if it's not in the cards for you. You know, it may not happen, and you can do everything right?
[00:44:31] Speaker C: Right.
[00:44:32] Speaker B: Or it may not happen when you want it, but it'll happen. And I'm a living testament of that. So I think in whatever we do in life, trust God that he has you.
Whether that's corporate America coaching, whatever it is that you do, there's a plan for you and be excited about it and understand the responsibility of it.
[00:44:55] Speaker C: Right?
[00:44:56] Speaker B: Because at the end of the day, I made a deal with God.
Whatever group you put in front of me, they're going to know.
[00:45:02] Speaker C: Right.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: Who you are. I don't force Christianity on anybody not doing that. That's not how it's designed.
[00:45:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: But I'll try to. You're gonna know, you know, what the. What the belief is and who he is and that he loves you. So whatever it is that you're doing, man, you certainly got a network. Your credibility is important, right. Work ethic. Because in this small fraternity, in the baseball world, you and I know, coaches talk. They're going to call around before, you know, they bring you into your camp.
Social media is important. I think that's a gift and a curse. You have to be careful there.
Here is one big one that's not talked about enough. If you're looking to break in work camps, whether it be junior college camps, Division one, Division two, you never know where coach is going to be the next year.
And whatever level you're on, whether you're a volunteer coach or an analytics guy, whatever, give it your all. Because again, coaches move around every year, and you may be a walking resume or a phone call away from just breaking through.
[00:46:04] Speaker A: How can we help minority coaches get more opportunities? Because it is such a small community, and I think some of it's just getting people in the right rooms too, sometimes, man, I.
[00:46:15] Speaker B: To be honest with you, with all due respect, I think that's a. I think that's a better question for somebody that doesn't look like me.
I don't see color. I know that there's a. There's an issue there that needs to be talked about more. What I would like to see, you know, in the diversity rooms in the abca, I would like to see more guys that don't look like me.
We talk about that, you know, together, right? I think the ABCDA is doing an amazing job there, but I think together, you know, we need to talk and come up with a plan there and then. I've been seeing movement as well, too, but really for anybody, black, white, Hispanic, Japanese, it doesn't matter. If you want something, go get in position to do it again. Being a serial bio reader, when I came up, I knew how challenging this was.
But I'm gonna tell you what. Baseball prepared me for the game of life, for real. If I paid attention to the numbers of your chances of playing D1 ball, especially me coming out of high school, they were probably negative zero. Something I. I wouldn't have made if I'd have paid attention to the numbers.
Landing a job in Houston at Richard Wayne and Roberts or Channel 2, NBC.
[00:47:24] Speaker C: Right.
[00:47:24] Speaker B: Being a college coach today, if you pay attention to those numbers, you're already defeated, man. So I would just say put your head down if it's something that you want. This is America. You can really do anything if you just go after it.
[00:47:36] Speaker A: You got to bet on yourself. You have to bet on yourself.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Bet on yourself and just go after it. It could happen. And be willing in this industry, just be willing to be broke for a little bit.
It ain't about the money you can get there, but, you know, anything's possible, man, in this country. I wholeheartedly believe that. But I think if we continue to do what you guys are doing, I'd love to be a part of it any way I can help. Because, again, I'm not.
I. I see it, but I. I don't see color. I see people.
[00:48:04] Speaker C: Right.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: But there is an issue there, because you can probably count on two hands how many coaches there are on the Division 1 level as assistants that look like me. That is an issue. Let's just call a spade a spade. Head coaches, you might be able to count on one hand. I'm talking outside of the swat, too. Okay? But I think that there is, you know, I think people want to help. I think we want to fix that. And that just starts with a conversation in action, which I see is being done. Now.
[00:48:38] Speaker A: You talked about going into the 12 the first time. You didn't really know Zach, and you said, well, this guy's been at Division 1 or been around it. What Stuck out about Zach Dillon and kind of how he had things laid out with the 12.
[00:48:50] Speaker B: Yeah. So again, I remember walking into a room at the 12 facility to meet Zach, and it was just set up like a Division 1 program. I mean, you had some of the guys that are. That have went first round recently that you didn't know about then.
They're there now in the league or in the minors, rather, all these guys. And his handwriting is outstanding.
[00:49:15] Speaker C: Right?
[00:49:16] Speaker B: Being a, at that time, a former college baseball coach, it gave me a flashback. This is what it looks like. This don't look like select ball. So I knew without a shadow of a doubt, either Zach's been there or he's going to be there soon enough. And the thing about Zach, that stuck out, man, he didn't talk about that. When you talk about somebody being where their feet are. He was locked in on the 12 and did an outstanding job from, from what I saw with the 12, man. And you know, now he's over at Baylor, looks like he's doing a really good job. We talk seldomly, but, you know, you could just tell that guy was going. Was.
[00:49:50] Speaker A: He had just left Mississippi State.
That's the thing. He had just been the ops guy and Mississippi State had a role and cone was still the. Was still there as the head coach before he took the ad job. So he had kind of been. He'd been in Iowa, he'd been at Baylor, he'd been back at Iowa, then he was at Mississippi State. And so he kind of had a feel for, for how different, you know, programs had run things. But then I had been in that room too. When we went and filmed there, I had actually walked in that room and saw the board and you could just tell that he was going to be able to get things going just because he had everything laid out.
And he even said that he goes, I want this to feel like a Division 1 program. But also then our guys that do get an opportunity to go to that level have an understanding of what a Division 1 program looks like. And I like the fact that there was different development.
You know, that's unheard of now really, with parents and players, because they don't want to hear it, but they need to hear it like, okay, here's the best team for your son to play on at this point in his development plan. If they're an elite player, then yes, this is going to be the elite team. But he also understood that not everybody's going to get that opportunity to go to a Division 1 school. So you need to put those guys together too, from a development.
So then schools that, that are at other levels, okay, this might be a group that you want to go see because you're not going to get ghosted by this group. And I think Zach did a really good Job of communicating with the players and the parents in the 12 program. But, like, this is what it looks like. And if you do want to go play college baseball somewhere, you're going to have to compete to get on the field at those places, too.
[00:51:32] Speaker B: No, you just nailed it. There was a story that came to mind as you talked. He was the GM, so at the time working with the 12, and I didn't know the backstory about Mississippi State. Again, I'm a corporate America guy. Didn't even really want to coach there. But again, they got my attention. I'm so glad I did. I remember us doing the workouts to figure out who's going to be on one team. And I had a kid by the name of Braylon Payne on my team. He stuck out like a sore thumb. And Zach quickly said, yeah, he's not going to be with you long. He's going to be on this team. Braylon Payne ended up going first round recently, I think last year or two years ago, something like that. But I remember coaching on the team with the 12. We went to New Mexico every time I had an issue, a parent issue, because I get screamed at a lot about the parents. You know, the 12, it's. It's a pretty penny to pay, but it's worth it, right?
Zach would handle that.
[00:52:18] Speaker C: Right.
[00:52:19] Speaker B: And he was just really good at working with the parent. When you sit in that seat, you're going to have to be transparent with parents, just like you said. Another organization that does a really good job at an opportunity to work with is the Houston Wildcatters.
[00:52:32] Speaker C: Right.
[00:52:32] Speaker B: And in their general manager and high school director, they're doing an outstanding job over there as well, too, man. So again, that I credit a lot to select baseball. It's needed especially for college coaches. I can't tell you enough about just how important select baseball is because all the talents in one area. So you can knock out your recruiting at a perfect game event or Jupiter or what, because they're all right there. High school, it's more scattered. You might go see an army that you like, but, you know, the. The offense that he's facing, that they may not be. It may have one. One or two guys in there, whether at a perfect game event, you know, everybody's a dude and you really get the evaluate there. So I appreciate that level. And certainly what Zach did, you can certainly tell.
[00:53:15] Speaker A: Have you always been an avid reader?
[00:53:18] Speaker B: I actually am a skimmer, man. I do not. I probably somewhere in here I have photographic somewhere. No.
When I get to reading A lot of stuff.
I'm thinking about other things. So it's kind of like skimming. I do not enjoy reading a lot which is, it's just never been there.
[00:53:38] Speaker A: You saying you're diving into coaches bios like because that's a smart thing because you know, see that I had, I had success leaves clues like and, and I think that's, that's a good point for, for people trying to get into this thing too is pay attention to the people that maybe you want to be in their position at some point and see yourself in those positions. And, and what are the characteristics of, of the people in the professions or things that you want to be or at the highest levels and pay attention to the things that they do and the characteristics that they have.
And not that you have to copy everything, but if you do want to be in those positions, then there are certain criteria that come with being in those positions. So you need to pay attention to those things.
[00:54:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I just think it makes sense. I agree with everything you just said 100%. If it's something you want to do, the answers are really already out there. And again for me, all right, let me just go to the national champs and go down their coaching list and read what these guys did to start. And I mean it's just all there. I just, I think it's the responsible thing to do. It's a no brainer.
[00:54:39] Speaker A: What are your morning or evening routines that you have that you like? I'm sure your faith is, is one of them but do you have other things or is that the main part of your, your morning and evening routines is your faith?
[00:54:51] Speaker B: My favorite routine is FaceTiming my kid as he walks to school because I missed that.
[00:54:57] Speaker C: Right?
[00:54:58] Speaker B: Yeah, man. We're blessed to be in a neighborhood to where the school is two and a half blocks away. So those morning walks with my 6 year old I miss but because of technology, Jocelyn does a good job of FaceTime and I miss, that's part of my routine. I'm not going to miss that. Right. So you know that alone. And then when you get to work, I'm sure it's like this for everybody. It's different every day. Johnson, that's my wife, she asked the other day, so what's it like out there? What are you guys doing? It's something different every day and I love it. And you know, we get after it over here.
[00:55:33] Speaker A: I think that's the best thing about that job is it's different every day.
[00:55:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Especially being in a new environment like I'm. I'm learning. I don't bugging people right now. The office just got set up this week.
[00:55:45] Speaker C: Right.
[00:55:45] Speaker B: The Internet and you know this is my second stint at Alcorn State which I'm. I'm just like a kid in the candy shop because my first go around what I learned. The people at Alcorn State are some of the best people. The administration, some of the nicest people in the world. Kind hearted would do every. Anything you need from you just gotta ask.
[00:56:05] Speaker C: Right?
[00:56:06] Speaker B: So I'm running into people that I hadn't seen in over 10 years.
Surprised some of them remember my face. So it's been some hugs and hey, I didn't know you were back and all that. But yeah, still getting acclimated and getting things set up, learning who does what. Because there's a lot that we're trying to get set up for even right now in our fall that we're going to need. But we have an outstanding support staff here at all Corn State.
[00:56:29] Speaker A: I would take that tour with the academic people.
That was one. That was one of the first things I did. I know I'm a little bit of a throwback when it came to that stuff. I did every campus tour. Even when I was a head coach of Western Illinois. I gave the campus tour with the. With the parents and the players.
People like what are you doing? I'm like this is our one shot like for me to be able to hang out with. With them. I know it's so different now with the transfer portal. I didn't have to deal with that. So you don't maybe build as many relationships at the Division 1 level because you're getting kids transferring in the summertime so you don't have that. But I felt like that set us apart because I did actually give the campus tour with the.
[00:57:05] Speaker B: I'm with you there. You just, you just, you just gave me an idea.
[00:57:07] Speaker A: But because you're trying to learn about the school too. And I know people don't like to focus on the academic part of it, but I felt like we got a lot of kids because especially parents. We maybe didn't always get the kid, but we maybe got the parent first because they knew we were invested in to their child outside of the baseball part of it. But I know the landscape is so different with recruitment.
[00:57:30] Speaker B: You still got a recruit coordinator in you.
You know some of the ins and outs right there. I see it. Yeah man. That's an excuse to get on the cart. So I'm right.
[00:57:40] Speaker A: What are some final Thoughts. Before I let you go.
[00:57:44] Speaker B: Man, really just thank you for this opportunity, you know, like we shared earlier, you know, anytime, you know, we get to promote Alcorn State University and our coach.
Here's a request. I think you should talk to Coach Hardy, obviously, him being here last year, our commander in chief, he does an outstanding job. He's got story for days. So I hope that there's a conversation, a conversation there sometime in the near future.
But I want to thank you for this opportunity, you know, because, you know, I think there's some special things on the horizon in what we're doing internally.
We have a great leader at the top and our athletic director, our president, who I've known even the first time around here when he wasn't the president, but you can just tell and that that guy's got something special about him. And now he's. He's running the show here at our university. I hadn't had an opportunity to run into him yet, but our administration here, from top to the bottom, man, Alcorn State is a. Is a place to where you want to be and the kids that we hadn't met yet. I'm coming. You're going to know about this place, and I'm fired up and I can't wait to get you on campus to show you how beautiful it is here on our campus.
[00:58:51] Speaker A: Love it. Best of luck, Oscar. Appreciate you, man.
[00:58:53] Speaker B: I really appreciate it, Ryan. Thank you.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Good luck to Coach Reed on his new venture at Alcorn State. Another great example of the sacrifices made to stay in the game.
I'm always intrigued to see what people have done along the way to keep themselves in the coaching profession.
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 r brownleybca.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.
[00:59:27] Speaker B: Behind you Keeps on turning and your life is not for turning and you.
[00:59:40] Speaker A: Know that way Yep Wait for another.
[00:59:48] Speaker B: And the world will always return and.
[00:59:53] Speaker A: Your love is there before yearning and.
[00:59:57] Speaker B: You know, sideways.
[01:00:02] Speaker A: Wait for another.
[01:00:08] Speaker B: Day.
