Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to the ABCA's podcast. I'm your host Ryan Brownlee.
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Next up on The ABCA Podcast 2025 ABCA Soldier Sports NCAA Division 2 Assistant Coach of the Year Angelo State Assistant Sam Mote Mote joined the ASU coaching staff in 2018 and has helped elevate the Rams to one of the best hitting teams in the country, leading the Lone Star Conference and batting average in four of his seven seasons.
During the 2023 National Championship season, Moat helped the Rams as the fifth best batting average in the country at.342 while also ranking third non base percentage and runs. The Rams also held the top fielding percentage in Division 2 at.985. 2022 was the best offensive season the Rams have had, scoring a program record of 677 runs which led all of Division 2.
The Rams finished with a 357 batting average, which was the highest in the country While leading Division 2 in on base percentage, doubles and ranking second in hits with.763 while making their second straight College World Series appearance.
While at Angela state, Motus coached eight different NCAA Division 2 All Americans, including the 2019 NCAA Division 2 Player of the Year, Josh Elmer. Prior to his time at asu, Mote was a volunteer assistant at Texas A and M Corpus Christi. Before that, he spent two years as an assistant coach at the University of Northwestern, Ohio State.
Mote also spent three years as an assistant coach at Iowa Western Community College, where He won the 2014 NJCA National Championship and came in fifth at the NGCA World Series in 2015.
So welcome Sam Moat to the podcast.
Here's Sam Moat, ABCA Division 2 Assistant Coach of the Year Angelo since 2018, national champs in 2023. Also national champ at Iowa Western in 15, but spent time at Corpus Christi and University of Northwestern Ohio. Sam, we go back to the Midwest days many, many moons ago.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: No doubt. No doubt, man. Thanks for having me on. It's, it's, it's. I'm honored and humbled to be here, man.
[00:04:24] Speaker A: Yeah, and congrats, by the way, because it, this is really hard for us. We have so many good assistants and our, our committees do a really good job of putting names, but it is really hard to choose just because there are so many deserving assistant coaches out there.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: Well, absolutely. It's like when Brooks, he told me, I was, it was, I was shocked, obviously. Humbled and, you know, excited.
[00:04:47] Speaker A: So you've been at just about every level, you know, what has each level taught you along the way?
[00:04:56] Speaker B: Oh, man, it's crazy to think about just being at all the different levels. Right.
And picking up different things. For me, really, it's just being able to really just be able to talk to people and learn from people at that are coming from different a backgrounds, you know, ability levels. Not saying that one level is better than the other by any means, but just, just learning from those, you know, just different people in different parts of the country has been the kind of the biggest thing for me that I've learned from all of those levels, whether it's Ohio, you know, you know, you know, out in Iowa or down here in Texas. Just kind of seeing the, the differences in everyone.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: Do you feel like you have a better appreciation of baseball overall because you've been at those levels and you've been a lead at all those levels? Do you have an appreciation of how good baseball is at Every level.
Yeah.
[00:05:54] Speaker B: I think what I've realized is just the biggest difference that I've seen is just the depth of competition. I think everybody's good, right?
Every. Every team's got some. Has a dude or, you know, a big bat in the middle of the lineup or what. What. Whatever it is. It's just that depth of competition as, you know, you. You move in, you know, to your conference and you get those. The separation between the elite teams and the good teams versus kind of the. The middle teams and all that, I think that's been the biggest thing that I've really taken from bouncing around to, you know, the different levels is just the depth of.
Of the. The competition and the quality of the teams.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: How different have the personalities been of the head coaches that you've worked for?
[00:06:42] Speaker B: Let's. So, you know, being at Iowa Western with Coach Reardon, I think, you know, everybody knows. Everybody knows Coach, and he's awesome.
You know, very demanding, but very, you know, very understanding of, hey, this is the way it is. This is what we're going to do. This is the expectation.
And, hey, either get on board or get out, basically, which I think is why he's really successful.
You know, then going back to Ohio to Unoh, I. That was actually a weird deal. Like, I actually played for Coach Hartman, so that's. We kind of knew each other, so that was just a different dynamic, but again, an unbelievable coach as well.
And then here with Coach Brooks, who's been winning at a high level for forever.
A lot. I think a lot of their personalities are really similar, but just different way. In different ways, right? Just different ways of doing things. But I think at the bottom. At the bottom line, you know, success is. Is success just how we get there could be different.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: Was it Coach Hartman that suggested you should get into coaching?
[00:07:59] Speaker B: Man, I don't know. Maybe that. I. I think so.
Playing for him in the summer because, you know, up in playing in the Great Lakes League, you know, I was an okay player. By no means would I ever think that I was going to play at the next level. So, you know, kind of coaching for me was. Was going to happen, right? My dad was a coach.
I've been around the game since I was 2 years old, so it. It just made sense. And then getting around, you know, Coach Hartman and getting to know him and like, hey, man, this kind of does make sense. Hey, you should probably do this.
It's worked out well.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: You have any tips for interviewing? We get a lot of questions. I get a lot of questions from Coaches about moving up and moving in different levels. You've been at a bunch of different levels and done a good job moving your way up. You have any tips for interviewing?
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Just be you. That's the biggest thing for me. For me, like, I, I am who I am.
Obviously, beliefs and philosophies change, but at the end of the day, I'm, I'm me. It's. And. And be you. And just don't try to be something you're not. Because, you know, people in this game, everybody, like, and just people in general see right through that. Right? Like, if. If you're trying to be somebody, that's who everybody wants you to be, it's not going to work.
So just again, go in and be you. Be unapologetically you. And I think you'll get more respect out of going about things that way than trying to fake it.
[00:09:30] Speaker A: What are some of your philosophies or beliefs that have changed over the years?
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Oh, man, it's a lot.
You know, I think the game has changed a lot. I think the, the bats have made offensive philosophies change quite a bit.
You know, rather than just sit in the box and hope for a, you know, a three run homer. Those are harder and harder to come by now, especially it's the bats. The pitching's way better now, more dynamic, I would say.
You know, I think the biggest thing for me is.
I don't know if it's changed, but like just chaos is just being able to create chaos offensively and almost like, you know, you think back to the old UNLV basketball days and it's the 40 minutes of hell, like it needs to be nine innings of that because it's, it's really, really hard to, to defend and to prepare for a team that you don't know what you're gonna get. So I think just being able to do multiple things and multiple things well, you know, I love golf, so having, you know, going to play golf and having a full bag of clubs makes the game a lot easier than just one or two. Right. So I think just being able to be really dynamic and adjustable is the big thing that I've kind of felt myself kind of transitioning to.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Do you feel like, though, because offense was so predicated on home runs that teams got away from working on defending chaos and practice.
And how can a coach.
Because I think that's the way we're heading now.
How can a coach combat that with their practice plan? As far as planning for chaos, I think adding that offensively allows that in your practice plan.
I was always part of those action oriented teams. Every place I coached that was action oriented. And we did try to put a lot of pressure in a lot of different ways. So I think part of that is if your offense is set up that way, it does make it a little bit easier to practice it.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know, for us here at Angelo, like, that's, it's no secret. Like, you know, we're gonna bunt, we're gonna run.
So our guys are facing that every, like you said, every single day. So they're kind of preparing to, to handle that. And I think where, you know, it separates what we do from, I guess what a lot of, I wouldn't say a majority, but what a lot of people do is, you know, we're, we're.
That's part of our offense. Like, that's, that's our identity. And, and I think you just have to take that leap and like, hey, this is who we are. This is what we're going to do. And like I said, our guys are facing it every single day. So I think that's, I think, I think obviously in practice it goes hand in hand. Right. Like you said, if, if, if your offense does it, I think your defense kind of elevates itself to, to be able to handle that sort of thing.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: I feel like Coach Reardon's biggest impact on the game is the point game and dead ball, live ball, because I saw it, I was at Butler last week and they're doing point games. So shout out to Coach Reardon. Are you guys using those at.
[00:12:45] Speaker B: And point game? Yeah, point game all the time. It just, it's.
I remember the first time we did it here.
Our guys were like, what is going on?
And I'm like, hey, man, just run.
Just run. Like, you'll figure it out. Because like, you, you can explain point game, but you can't explain point game until you just do it. So trying to explain it was like, all right, you know what? I'm just. This is what we're gonna do. Just go and like, our guys were exhausted and just, just crushed and, and now they, they love it. And it's, it's a staple for what we do and just again, creating chaos and, you know, run hard, turn left.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Yeah. For coaches that have never used point game, explain it. Because I think there is the offensive component to it, but there is the defensive component too. Like, there's just 100 benefit on the defensive side of using it.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. So basically what point game is, is you get the beauty of it is you can make up any situation you want, right? Whatever you want to work on that day, whether you, you know, runner at first, first and second, first and third, bases loaded, whatever you want to do.
And basically it's one swing and the offense gets a point for every base that they touch.
So they're getting, you know, trail runners coming hard out of the box, taking extra 90s, going first and third on a one hopper to the left fielder. Like you, you're not going to really do that in a game, but you, you'll see in, in the point game, if you turn hard, that guy might bobble it. And then we get a free 90 and then the backside runners going to second base. Now we're second and third, nobody out, and we get a huge inning anyway. They get a point for every base they touch.
And then the defense, the, the, the big component on the defensive side is obviously you're getting your, your defensive coverages, your double cuts, your, your, your just everything that can come up in a game. And then the, the big thing for us and everybody in point game is the defense gets minor, you get minus five points for, for a double play. And as we know as, as baseball guys, double plays are just absolutely demoralizing, you know, for an offense. So being able to turn double plays is huge and everything. All those situations are always done with one out.
So the defense has that opportunity to, to score some points.
You know, I just think for the defensive side, just handling pressure, being able to handle the ball, knowing a Guy's going to first and third, second to home, whether they're going to be out by 40ft or not, you still have to make a throw, make a catch, make a tag.
And a lot of that going on is where guys, you know, screw up and get, especially when they get tired. Well, you know, you're in May and it's a Sunday. It, you're going to be tired.
So being able to perform when you're tired is huge.
[00:15:48] Speaker A: I think the other benefit defensively is you have to stay with the next play too. Like, you may not get the lead runner, but you can't put your head down and not pay attention to the backside runner too. I think it forces the defense to stay in there and realize that, yeah, it's not just about the lead runner sometimes it's making sure we take care of the backside guy too.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: No doubt. Then, then we, we see it all the time. A guy tries to throw a dude out the plate, oh, I got, I gotta shot this guy. Oh, he's safe. And now the goes to second base. And then the next guy hits a routine ground ball to short. You're like, that's a double play. We're out of the inning. And then you look up at the end of the inning and we gave up six runs and we're like, just throw the ball. Just, just be conscious of where everybody's at. I think is, especially today. Right. You know, I think the, the, the game awareness has gone away.
It's, it's something that I think everybody is, is fighting a little bit, is trying to get back to understanding how, how to play the game of baseball.
So I think again, point game just allows you to in real time kind of teach and relearn that and foul.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: Balls and swings and misses. You lose, you're out.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Yeah, go pick it up, man.
Don't foul it off.
[00:17:04] Speaker A: That's the other part of it.
Guys trying to hit your bat. Don't, don't file the ball off.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: Yeah, just. Yeah, go get it next time.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Where are you starting with your individual hitters? I know your guys roster is pretty diverse on bringing guys in from different areas. Where are you starting with your hitters?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: So in the fall, like, so when we do. So we do fall. We started fall really early this year. We jumped right into team.
Is that new?
Yes, it was by design.
Just we knew we had a bunch, a completely new group, so we knew we were going to have to do a lot of work on the back end. Right. So we jumped right in. Actually tonight is the last game game of our fall World Series. So we'll jump, we'll be jumping into individuals next week, which is, I mean, the weather's still great, so we could have pushed it back, but knowing what we had to do. So when we, when guys get here, we really don't mess with them much.
Kind of just let them, let them play.
I mean, guys have had some success and hey, it just doesn't make sense to change stuff right away. Right.
So let's see if they can see if it translates and if it does, then we leave them alone. And then, then when we jump into the, you know, if for some reason it doesn't work out and we jump into some individual times. For me, where I start is starting on time. I think that is huge.
I think understanding when to start your, your swing or your move, I think that is a struggle. You know, watching a lot of the postseason baseball now, guys are starting so early and it's awesome to see and I think that's the biggest fight for me right now with our guys is him and start early.
Well, coach, I am.
No, you're not. Start earlier.
So I think that's where, that's the, that's exactly where I'll start with our guys is just starting on time and then I think starting on time and then swinging at the right pitch. Those are, those are the two.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Those go hand in hand.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Timing and pitch selection go hand in hand.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: No doubt. And I think those two things alone, I think can, can kind of change a hitter really. It can take you from a.300 hitter to a.340,350 hitter. If, you know, we're swinging at the right pitches, we're on time to those pitches. And then obviously, you know, bat path and all that stuff, which it. We can do 17 more hours on that and have 47 other people disagree and agree. And, But I just think if you, if you simplify it down to swinging at the right pitches and being on time and direction, I think those are the three things that kind of are non negotiables, I guess.
[00:20:06] Speaker A: So what are you showing them in video? Them as far as timing and when they move? I know everything's predicated on their style. And, and you know, for me it was their style. And so we tried to show different styles from the pitcher's view as far as, okay, this guy's pretty basic. This is when he starts. If he's a toe tap guy, this is when he starts. If he's a big old leg kick guy, this is when they start. Is that kind of what you're trying to relay with, with your hitters on that, with the picture?
[00:20:35] Speaker B: Kind of.
So, you know, we, I mean, obviously we have all the video, the systems and everything, but for us it's more individualized. Like, hey, like, we want you to start early. Well, what is early to you?
Okay, so this feels early to me. Okay. Are you on time? Oh, yes, I am. Okay, then. Then you're starting. Fine. Well, I'm still feeling a little late. Okay, then start earlier. Like it's, it's really. I, I don't like complicating things because it just dumb it down. And, and hey, how can I get from A to B as fast as possible and as fish. Efficient as possible? Right. So you know, the, the video stuff. Like we'll show them some video, but again, it's more of a, of a hey, when you tell me when you're starting kind of thing. Because I think if I can show them, if I show them on a Video of, hey, this is when you should start. Well, and I asked them, tell me when you start. They're not aligning. Right. So being them, being able to communicate to me, I think is more beneficial than me telling them, hey, this is when you need to go.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: Yep. Love it. We would use stopwatch for guys, too. They're load to contact time.
[00:21:54] Speaker B: Yep. Absolutely.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: Just to verbalize it for them to be able to hear it, because, again, they just don't know, like, until they. Until they start feeling it, it's. It's hard for them to make adjustments. Coach Brooks said you're one of the best infield guys he's been around.
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Well, that's awesome.
No, I.
I was an infielder, man. That's.
So it just came natural, I guess. And that's. That's really, you know, kind of takes, you know, hits me a little bit, like, that's awesome to hear.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: So how do you get them to get to their prep steps consistently?
Because that's kind of the timing part of hitting. Right? I think that's the. The simplest part of playing defense is being able to do that consistently. Just like being on time as a hitter, I think being on time as an infielder is as simple as you can get. It is.
Is that part of it? And if you can get them to do it every time, it makes it a little bit easier.
Yeah, it's easier, but a little bit easier.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: It's. It's funny, I was watching our game the other night, our fall World Series game, and I was watching our shortstop who played a ton of third base in high school, so he. He was a guy that would just kind of start wide and kind of rock and then hop. And I'm like, okay, that's not going to work in the middle, at least for me. Right?
And I'm like, okay. So it's funny you asked that, because I've, like, the last three days, that's what I've been thinking about, is how can I.
How can I get those guys to do it more consistently? And I think again, you know, going back to Coach Reardon, it.
He talks about boredom and frustration in baseball, and I think the boredom part is getting guys to do that consistently. And, you know, it's a constant. A constant, constant, constant battle with those guys of, hey, every pitch for 200 pitches a night, you are doing this, and you might have to move on five of them, 10, 15, I don't know. But the one time you take off is when you know that ball in the hole, you just don't get to. And now we lose by a run because you didn't do what you're supposed to do. So we mess with timing all the time. You know, as basic as throwing the ball up in the air, catching it to simulate stuff in bp.
I'll sit back and watch them and make them take two or three steps either direction where the ball is hitting.
And just, just again, just constant talking about it and hey, this is what we do. This is how, this is what we, I believe is going to help you have success. And just constant, just constantly dripping water on that rock right until it breaks.
So that it's, it's the biggest battle, which, it's the simplest thing to do in the world, right?
[00:24:59] Speaker A: It's pitch to pitch, like that's it. And like, if you want to get out of funks, do it every pitch. Like, if you want to get out of defensive funks, do it every pitch. I like swinging and missing on the Fungo every once in a while just to see, just to see if. God, to be able to check to see if they're doing it. It's just, it's really hard, but it is the simplest thing that they can do to get ready every time. But it's really hard to do.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: It is. And the, the issue for me was like the, the fungal. That's a really good idea, swinging a missile on the Fungo. But I, we don't hit it. I don't hit a ton of fungo.
I don't. I, I, I use, I use pitchers and I set up tees and have pitchers hit off tees to our guys. Just, you get more, you get more realistic ground balls, more realistic spin. Right? So I, I just. Now there's a time and a place when, hey, we, we really need to, to work on something here. So I'm going to go. Some fun goes. But a lot of the time it's, it's, it's pitchers hitting off a tee, just creating different hops and different pace and all that stuff.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: What are the differences for you with the middle guys and the corner guys?
Because I, for me, I've always views them almost as there's two different positions.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: Like there are, There are. I think, I think obviously every coach in the world would love to have four shortstops in the infield.
[00:26:18] Speaker A: It's not the easiest thing for middle guy to go to the corners, though.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: It's not, it really isn't really hard.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: The angles are the middle guy to go to the corner.
[00:26:26] Speaker B: It is. I struggled with it when I was an average player.
But yeah, I think getting the corner guys to understand that it's okay to, to not get in front of the ball and take a drop.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: I think being in front of the ball for them is a bad thing because they're catching the ball in the middle of their body where they're not supposed to catch it. They get handcuffed on a lot of balls.
[00:26:57] Speaker B: Yes, it hinders guys quite often. And then for me, the biggest thing that I'm spent with this team is just the depth of where to play and being okay. Hey, like I'm okay to play, you know, 10 steps behind the bag, like it's okay. Like the ball's going to get on me pretty quick.
And then just understanding just the nuances of, of the angles at third base, right? Of they're a lot sharper.
You know, hey, when do I go get this ball? When do I, when do I retreat to create a long hop?
And then for whatever reason, middle guys that go to third base or any third baseman, they're so afraid of their backhand.
And I don't, like, man, you've been to shortstop your entire life. I move you 30ft to the, to your right and now all of a sudden your back end's gone.
I don't get that speed.
[00:27:53] Speaker A: I just always felt like it was the speed and you know, again, trying to keep it simple. It really is. It's either going to be a backhand or a forehand at third, right? It's really what it's going to be. Their footwork is just basically flip flop between a backhand and a forehand, 100%.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: And I tell guys, hey man, if you just backhand the ball, it's so much easier.
[00:28:16] Speaker A: You don't have to work as hard throw too.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: And so I, but I think again, I just think infield is, I'm so passionate about it. I just, I love being around the infielders. I love listening to people talk about infield play and just all the, all the nuances now of, you know, of timing, of tags, of everything. Like, it's just so fascinating to me that something as simple as catching a ground ball we can, we can dive so far into, right? So I, I just, it's, it's awesome.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: How many guys do you have to go to move to first that haven't played first base before?
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Quite a few.
You know, here on our national championship team here, our first baseman was a third baseman his entire life.
And then it just, with some arm issues, he just, hey, we're better if you go over there and the guy didn't make an error. And I think, I think the value of, of a really good first, if you have a really good first baseman, your team defense gets elevated so high. It's such an undervalued.
[00:29:30] Speaker A: You think 30 points on fielding percentage.
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Oh, easily.
[00:29:35] Speaker A: I, I think it takes a 945 team to a.975 if you have a good first baseman.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean that team actually, so that team, the 23 team, we fielded 985 with, with a guy at first base that didn't make an error.
And it's just, it's such a, it's such a security blanket to have over there. Just as long as you don't throw it over his head, we got a shot. And, and that's the big thing that I talk to our guys about all the time infield wise is, hey, just don't miss high, don't miss high, don't miss armside. And we have a shot and. But yeah, so moving guys to first, I think, you know, I love having, you know, non traditional first baseman, right. Just because of just the. Being able to, to have the footwork of a middle guy. Being able to have the, the hands of a middle guy. Right now guys that play first all their life obviously know the nuances of the footwork around the bag and all that stuff, which is, which is awesome too. But it's just the ability, like I said, to have four shortstops on the infield. It's, it's kind of the dream, right?
[00:30:47] Speaker A: How are you teaching footwork then for them as far as picking balls, receiving? How are you teaching footwork at first base?
[00:30:54] Speaker B: So the, so we'll start. Actually, I was doing it a couple of weeks ago with our guy because he's transitioning to first base.
The first thing I do is ask what, how are you more comfortable picking the ball, backhand or forehand?
And he says, backhand. I'm like, okay, then we are striding to make every pick a backhand.
And because that's what you're comfortable with now, we're not going to neglect forehands, right, because they're, they're going to happen, but we're going to try to make every pick a backhand.
And then to me, like, it's just getting to the bag.
You know, I, I still like the, the old traditional get to the bag, get your heels on it and kind of square up to the, to wherever the play is. I just think it gives you the freedom to move and we do kind of lean more towards the, the right, the right field side of the bag because we don't want guys missing arm side.
But. And then the timing is really I want to stretch as late as possible and I want my, basically my left foot to hit the ground because our first baseman's right handed.
Basically my foot to hit the ground as soon as I make contact with the ball.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: I think that's the simplest way to put it too. And that's, that's where you always see the first baseman mess that up is because their feet get preset and they lose their athleticism. Flat footed. Like I, I think that's the best way, simplest way to put it is that your, your glove side foot is contacting the ground at the same time as the catch and that might be picking that might be a regular receive because now you're staying athletic.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's the same thing as a pre pitch for the infielders. That timing is, it's no different. So it's again baseball, it's crazy. You can balance timing and direction, right? In baseball it's all those three things.
You got to be on time with your feet, got to have some athleticism with your balance and everything. So yeah, that's again, I try to keep it simple.
[00:32:53] Speaker A: You as a coach, you probably know that may happen when they get on campus. Do you relay that at all to guys before they get there or just kind of let it play out in the fall?
Because I'm sure you've recruited guys are like he's probably going to go to third or first at some point. Do you relay that at all or you just letting it play out when they get there?
[00:33:12] Speaker B: Just kind of let it play out.
It really, it's.
Again, baseball has a funny way of policing itself and how things work itself, work themselves out.
I mean there's guys that we recruit that, you know, whether it's an outfielder that we recruit that we're like, okay, like he's probably gonna end up going to the mound just because he, he's got some arm strength or whatever.
But no, we'll let him, you know, get here in the fall and go through, you know, hey, I'm a shortstop. Okay, then go play shortstop.
And after, you know, two hours you're like, hey man, you're probably not a shortstop. Let's try over here. But yeah, no, we'll let guys, you know, the beauty of here is we'll let guys fail and they, they have a shot to come back, right? So it's and I and I don't say those guys are failing because we have a bigger plan shift.
[00:34:08] Speaker A: It's what's best for the team. Like, it's not a fail. It's okay. This is what's best for our team. Yeah.
[00:34:13] Speaker B: So it's not, I mean, majority of the time it's not communicated because it'll be communicated when it happens and we'll be like, hey, this is what we're thinking.
This is why. We're thinking it. Because you got to give them a why. Right.
Especially now.
[00:34:30] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you said it. I mean, what are tips for communicating with this generation of players?
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Be honest.
I, I still think it, I still really believe that, the honesty part, especially now, because I think they can see right through the bs.
I think there's so much of that out there that if you're just black and white with them, I think that is, I think that in just in general, just black and white stay out of the gray areas because that kind of leads everything up to interpretation is the best way to go about it. And it, again, just, hey, facts. This is how it is and this is where we're going.
[00:35:19] Speaker A: What have you added drill wise, infield or hitting? You have you added many new things. It just seems like there's always new stuff coming out. And I always like asking good coaches that because you kind of vet, you guys vet what's good, what's not good, just through trial and error. You guys have kind of vetted out a lot of that stuff through trial and error.
[00:35:40] Speaker B: Hitting wise. I mean, again, I think hitting can get so complex and so complicated that try to keep it simple. Like, we still have, like, I think for me, if you had a, you know, hey, you can only have a couple things. Like, I'm doing it, I'm doing angle BP and I'm doing short bat stuff. I think those two things clean up so much, man. Infield wise. I made, I, I think I made up a drill we call chaos.
And it's just a ton of ground balls, a ton of double plays. The pitchers are involved, they're running around like crazy.
And that's kind of been one of our staples here for the last, you know, five or six years is, you know, the Thursday before a game, it's. It's chaos day. And all the pitchers, you know, they're doing PfP double plays, covering first tweener bunts. There's.
If you don't know what you're doing, pitcher is going to get hit with a ground ball. And it's hilarious to watch because they run out and everybody off the field screaming, get back. And it's because myself and our pitching coach, Coach Foster, we aren't slowing down. When we're hitting, the fun goes because we know what we're doing and it's, hey, man, head on the swivel and figure it out.
[00:36:54] Speaker A: With starting fall ball earlier, were you, were you managing their, their bullets, their workload at all? Because you're getting right into it. How are you managing the position players workload with their throws?
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Just a ton of communication. Right.
Again, I, and we've had guys in the past where they're like, I'm like, well, first of all, we'll meet, like, we have position meetings before we start, so I'll meet with all the infielders, kind of go through our expectations, kind of our, our blueprint as an infield, right?
And then the biggest thing for me is like, hey, man, like, if your arm feels good today, we're going to throw.
And if you're hanging and need a day, take a day. Like, I don't. It's. It's September. I don't care.
But just that constant communication and then just, just being aware of what, what we're doing in, you know, the, the little short practices before an inner squad or whatever.
Just being, being, you know, aware of. Okay, hey, today we're doing this, tomorrow we're doing this. Okay, so Indie D today, let's just do a no throw day and kind of just, it's, it's more feel than really, you know, kind of the traditional tracking of numbers of throws and all that. It's more of a feel thing. And, and trust in those guys is, hey, coach, I'm hanging a little bit. I'm only going to go to 90.
Beautiful.
[00:38:19] Speaker A: Who do you feel like over the years, coaching wise, had the best hitting routines for you? Could be pregame, could be in game.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: Routines as in players I've coached.
[00:38:30] Speaker A: Yeah, guys you've coached, man.
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Trying to think there's, there's a lot of guys that come to mind that we've had here. Aaron Walters was one of our, our best hitters here.
Was an A and M transfer. Just knew the type of hitter he was, knew what worked for him.
And I think again, there are a lot of guys are different.
[00:38:56] Speaker A: What works for him?
When you say he knew what worked for him, what worked for him.
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Simple.
Just. Just simple. It really was. It was, hey, coach, can you come.
Come toss me a few? I'm gonna, I'm gonna hit some high tea and can you come Toss me a few and I'm gonna hit a couple backside doubles and then I'm gonna be good. All right, Aaron. Good.
And then, then there's. So that. That was him like it was just. Then there's other guys that we've had, so we're lucky. We have two pro batters in our indoor facility which are game changers and we have guys that live off of them. And I think those, that, it helps them, I think it humbles them at first because the, the stuff that those machines throw is ungodly. It's on. Everything's high spin, everything's gross.
But guys get better, right? So you know, we had a. Josh Elvir was the 2019 National Player of the year. I don't think I've ever saw Josh make contact off that machine.
But it just understanding, you know. And for us, we used it a ton for pitch selection, strike zone awareness, you know, because we haven't paired with the hit track. So we know the strike zone.
But yeah, I think just the routine wise, I think it, it's, it, it's so individualized just like everything else in this game, you know, I think. But Aaron sticks out to me as just the simplest. Like, hey, take 10 swings off a tee. All right? Couple backside doubles.
All right, I'll see you at first pitch, Aaron.
[00:40:35] Speaker A: Something be said for that. Hey, square the ball up and like get on and the next thing. Because I think sometimes guys overdo it or they just, they swing into bad habits sometimes.
[00:40:45] Speaker B: 100 and. And I think it's a fine line. Right. You know, I, I'm, I, I still believe that those who hit the most hit the most.
But I think there is a fine line of. You get, you know, diminished return. Right.
But I, it's, it's like, it's like anything if, if you want to be good at it, if you want to be elite at it, you have to do it. You have to constant repetition and, and be okay. Being boring, because I think, I think greatness is boring.
[00:41:14] Speaker A: Friends of mine with the Guardians and they said Jose Ramirez, they said his routine is pretty much the same every day. He doesn't get there real early, but it's the same thing every day. I think he's one of the best hitters we have in the game.
Says the same thing every day. And they said it's not, it's not earth shattering stuff, but it's the same every day that he shows up, it's about 40 minutes before game time, does the same thing and then goes out and rakes in the game.
[00:41:41] Speaker B: Yeah, I think we can get.
We, we make hitting so complicated now. I, I think it, I, it's difficult. I don't, I don't, I don't want people to.
[00:41:54] Speaker A: That's the beauty of it though. The beauty of it is, is it is so hard. Like that's the beauty of hitting.
[00:41:59] Speaker B: But if you simplify it down and is. It does become easier, I will say, you know, hey, I'm looking here. Oh, it's not there. I'm not swinging now. Way easier said than done, right? When the guy's throwing, you know, 94 with ride and, and the game winning.
[00:42:19] Speaker A: Runs at second base or third base, 100. There's a lot of factors.
[00:42:22] Speaker B: There is, there is. So, and I think that comes down to our, our training environments and the way we work and putting as much pressure on them in those situations. So when we do get in the game, oh, I've been here before and, and that's, that's something we do a lot of too. And, and we're lucky.
Yeah, we're lucky that we don't play any non conference games, which is so January 30th, when our season starts or whatever the day is, that game matters.
So when we get to postseason, everybody's like, oh, it's post season. Oh, dude, we've been doing this since January.
Calm down. It's just baseball. We'll, we'll be fine. And I think that that helps us like, so when we get to, you know, you get to carry and it's, you know, the, the, you know, the national championship game. Well, hey man, it's just baseball. It's the same thing you played in January.
So that, that I think that part being able to, to put pressure on as guys as early as possible and as much as possible in practice is going to make the game so much easier.
[00:43:31] Speaker A: Been on two national championship teams.
What do those programs do differently as far as developing players but also focusing on winning too.
[00:43:42] Speaker B: At neither place was winning really discussed.
And that's the biggest similarity I can draw from, from both of them that we went about things in different ways, but it was more tailored to the process of, hey, we're going to do this, we're going to, then we're going to do this, then we're going to do this and then we're going to look up in June, then everybody's going to dogpile and get a big old ring.
But I think, yeah, I think those are the, those. That's the biggest thing is we though we mentioned winning like hey this is what you have to do to win. It's not like hey we have to go win this game. But these are the steps to take to win games.
You know, winning is hard when he's really hard. So why talk about it? Just talk. Focus more on the process of doing the things that need to be done to put yourself in the best position to win.
[00:44:43] Speaker A: How much info scattering report wise are you relaying?
[00:44:50] Speaker B: So I do all of our, our hitting scouting reports so I'm researching all our opponents pitchers.
It's, I just started opening them up to them or I'll, I'll like early in the week once like I'll start giving them video so they can start watching stuff with, with very select numbers of percentages and things like that.
But basically is, is I'll just spend the week kind of doing, doing my mad scientist deal and, and then get into the games and you know we have the binders of, of stuff of information but a lot of it is hey, this is what he does. This is, this is, this is his strengths. This is what we're looking for. Here we go again. Trying to, trying to give them as much knowledge without paralyzing them so they can still go out and, and perform and, and just let it go with.
[00:45:48] Speaker A: What'S going on with D1. Is your guys roster management switched much? Has it changed much for you guys with everything that's going on, the craziness.
[00:45:56] Speaker B: Of Division 1, if you ask Coach Brooks, we have, he would I think would like us to get a little smaller.
But again it comes down to if we think a guy is going to help us.
[00:46:12] Speaker A: It would be really hard to turn a good player down.
I'm sorry. Like it is, it's hard if you have a hard player out there that you feel like is going to help you win. It would be really hard if you don't have a roster cap. Like it would be really hard.
[00:46:25] Speaker B: We do not.
[00:46:25] Speaker A: So it would be really hard to turn a player down that you felt like it's going to help you win.
[00:46:30] Speaker B: And I think too, I think again just like everything else there's a point there's too many right where if you don't, you know, whether it's, you don't have enough staff to be able to manage and be able to work with those guys, I think then it does hurt you. So I think, you know, I don't know what that right number is. I don't know if it's, I have no idea. That's not for me to figure out Right.
I just.
When they would. They give me the rules. Okay, here we go.
But no, I think, you know, ideally, I think to start a fall 40, 42, maybe, and then just kind of go from there. But again, I think, again, there's. There's people in a room somewhere trying to figure that out right now.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: And you've been through it. You've been to different parts of the country recruiting.
Give somebody a tip that. Because I had to do the same thing, give somebody a tip that's going to a geographical area that they've never really coached or probably recruited a whole lot. What are some of the tips on going to those new areas and. And managing the recruiting of heading to a different geographical area to recruit?
[00:47:43] Speaker B: So I was. When I came. So when I went to Iowa, I. I was lucky.
You know, I joined a staff with Coach Reardon, Rob Allison, who's crushing it with PBR out there.
So I learned so much from those guys of just getting to know the people that were entrenched in those areas. Right.
And then, you know, going back to Ohio, I kind of knew new people.
Just. That's where I'm from. Grew up.
So new people there. And then when I went. Came to Texas, you know, went to Corpus again, joined a staff with, you know, Marty Smith, Nick Magnifico, who was an absolute rock star on the recruiting trail.
Just. Those guys taught me so much of just being able to.
To latch on to people that are entrenched in those areas and those geographical areas and learn from those and. And not necessarily, like, you know, steal from them or. Or whatever, but. Hey, where's that guy going? Okay. That guy's always there. Those guys are really good. Maybe I should go there and just. And just being able to. To communicate to people that you've never spoken to and being okay to reach out on a random Tuesday. Hey, this is, you know, Coach Mo from Angelo State. I just got here.
What do you got then? Just not being afraid to do that and not being able. Not being afraid to just put yourself out there.
[00:49:16] Speaker A: Good recruiters are wired different.
[00:49:19] Speaker B: They are. They are.
[00:49:20] Speaker A: They are insane. I. I give it a compliment. Good recruiters are insane in the. In the best possible way.
The hours they put in and they. They are insane. The best possible way.
[00:49:32] Speaker B: Yeah, agreed. Agreed. It's.
And it's. It's. It's so hard now because it used to be like you could.
You could find a diamond in the rough, right? And now you can't.
Everybody knows. Everybody, you know, with. With Twitter and all of this. Stuff. There's no hidden gems out there.
And I think that's what makes, that's what makes us, I think, different is, you know, I think development at our level and at Angelo State is unbelievable because we're not getting those first rounders or those high profile prospects, right? So we have to do our jobs and turn them into those types of players. And we have, and we're lucky here, we have all the, the resources that we, you know, the, the, the, the tools and take back resources because everybody could use more, right?
But we have everything that we possibly could, could want at this moment to get guys to, to, to be the best versions of them.
[00:50:37] Speaker A: With starting team practice earlier, did you guys adjust your lifting schedule at all from years past?
[00:50:44] Speaker B: A little bit.
We did a couple things different.
So we do.
So we're not an early morning team. We don't lift early.
But so we kind of, when we're doing team stuff, we kind of tailor it around their class schedule. We have certain pods with our strength coach.
They come in, sign up, hey, you got, you might have eight guys in your group, go lift with them, and then one day a week, they will lift as a, together as a team. Then once we get into the individual stuff, we'll go into team lifts. But not, not a, not much has changed. But, you know, as far as the schedule goes, we're still getting in there, getting after it. And we're lucky. We have unbelievable strength coach who just crushes our dudes. So it's good.
[00:51:29] Speaker A: What'd your dad relay to you before you got into coaching, if anything?
[00:51:35] Speaker B: Oh, man. A lot probably, I've probably forgotten a lot of the stuff that he's told me.
[00:51:41] Speaker A: It's in there somewhere.
[00:51:43] Speaker B: It is, it is all the time.
So, man, the big thing is, is, is just believing and trusting yourself.
That was kind of the things that, that I still, and I'm still struggling with that right of, of. Okay, hey, this is, this is what I believe.
Okay? Just, just trust yourself, man. Like, just get out of your way, let yourself go, understand that you're pretty decent at this thing and, and go do it. And hey, you've been doing this long enough now. You know what you're doing. You're good at it. Trust yourself and go.
[00:52:18] Speaker A: That internal dialogue can be really positive or, or negative. It really. It just depends. That internal dialogue is a lot. It, It'd be interesting to be able to mic up people's internal dialogue, to hear the internal dialogue for people. I think about that a lot. Like, it would be fascinating Because I do view it as separate things like who you are and then that voice inside your ears is two completely different entities. I get, I get out there on some of that, but I do feel like, I think you, you have to like who you are and then that voice that's in your head, those are two different things.
[00:52:55] Speaker B: No, thoughts become things too. So you gotta, you gotta be able to, you know, talk to yourself the right way. And I think if I, I think if I mic'd up my inner voice, I need a beep, a bleep button.
[00:53:08] Speaker A: I would too like that thing.
[00:53:10] Speaker B: I would just stand on it.
[00:53:12] Speaker A: My coaching one because I've been out of it for so long, that one's gone away. Mine's in the weight room. I still have that mfer in between my ears working out.
[00:53:22] Speaker B: No doubt, no doubt.
[00:53:23] Speaker A: Have you gotten a lot of inexpensive experience? You've been around really good coaches just what to do, but also maybe what not to do. I think you learn a lot on both sides of that. Have you gotten any of that over the years?
[00:53:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I've been extremely blessed to be around, like you said, some of just unbelievable coaches and unbelievable people.
I think that is, I think that's more, you know, more important than the coaching side is just the, the people, the coaching side, you know, baseball is baseball, right? It's 60ft, 90ft. We get it.
But being around such good humans and, and watching them as, as fathers and you know, me having a three year old daughter now and just I, I see myself like mimicking some of the stuff I've heard and yeah, I think the, the knowing what to do, what not to do. Hey, let's try this. Okay, that didn't work. I really didn't like that. Okay, I'm not going to use that, you know, next year or next week.
Yeah, I think just the, again, the people have been like you said, just rock star people. I've been around, you know, from, from coach Reardon to coach Brooks here.
You know, you know, I'm not going to name everybody because I'll forget somebody, but yeah, I think just, I think that is, as a guy, you, if you move around, I think is invaluable is, is yes, take stuff that you love, but hey, you got to look at stuff that you don't really like too because everybody in coaching borrows from everybody else.
But if you try to do everything, then you're getting nothing accomplished.
So you got to think about what's working. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:55:11] Speaker A: Do you have any tips for coaches that are having newborns.
I think it's the most difficult time in your coaching journey is when you start to have children.
[00:55:23] Speaker B: So I'm lucky. My wife is a rock star, which everybody says that, but she, she does. She was, she was a college athlete, so she gets it. She actually coached college volleyball, so she, she gets the coaching life.
And then we're lucky here too, that we have so much support of people in the community that, that have kind of taken us in and, and love loved us as in our family. So, man, just don't be afraid to.
Hey, like, I can't do that. Like, don't be afraid to say no.
You know, I think at the end of the day, like, yes, being a coach is your job, but that's going to end. You're going to be a parent forever.
So that's, that's the important side and that's what's.
And people have told me that and I'm like, okay, okay. But now that I'm in it, like, I can have the worst day here and I can come home and we could get blown out or whatever and I can go home and my kid doesn't care. She's still gonna run up to me. Let's play hide and go seek, daddy. And like, and that's, that's, that's the best. That's. That makes it unbelievable. It makes it so worth it.
[00:56:36] Speaker A: And it is because it does change your perspective with the players too.
[00:56:40] Speaker B: It. Oh my gosh, it's. Yeah, you, you definitely start to see them in a different light and, and more of. Not that they're not people right before, but it definitely opens your eyes a little bit.
[00:56:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And I, I think it gives you appreciation of the parents that are in your program too. Like, I think that's the other benefit of that too, is you do appreciate the parents in your program a little bit more and what they've had to go through to get their kid to that point. Yeah.
[00:57:09] Speaker B: And we've been, again, we've been lucky here. Like, our, our families of the guys in the program now and in the past are just, just really good, really good people and, and helps. It makes, it makes the culture easy.
[00:57:26] Speaker A: Do you have a fail forward moment? You have something you thought was going to set you back? Could be personal or professional. We all have a lot of them. So. Yeah.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: So I thought I, you know, I've, obviously, I've listened to a bunch of the podcasts, so I've thought about this.
The, the one thing that I kept coming back to was being An Iowa Western being, you know, in the fall, you know, you're going, going on the road to play 18 innings on a random Saturday and you know, being in charge of food. Right. Gotta feed your guys. So I, I call this pizza place. Hey, you know, whatever order X number of pizzas. What, what can you do price wise. Okay. Hey, let me talk to my boss. I'll get back to you.
Called a different place, they gave me a better deal. Boom. Went with that group.
Didn't call the other, other place back.
So we're in the finishing up at a game we're actually. I'll never forget we were at the University of Nebraska playing and I had two pizza places show up, each with like 45 pizzas. So I have 90 pizzas on my hand trying to figure out what in the hell I'm going to do.
And I go up to coach Reardon. I'm like, hey man. He just stared at me like I'm figured out like just the look that we've all gotten at some point in our careers. Like I'm, I'm. Yeah figure it out. So luckily, luckily the team we were playing, I ended up selling them half the pizzas because they had they for. They had cash on their all beautiful. I don't have to worry about food now. So hey, did a little, little deal on the side. Got got the pizzas taken care of and we were all good.
But from that moment on I've learned just over communicate. Over communicate and under assume. I think I, I'll never forget that. The look that just that sinking feeling in my stomach like oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to walk back to Council Bluffs.
It was, yeah it was, it was a, a learning moment for sure.
[00:59:34] Speaker A: How do you stay on top of your calendar that way? Do you use checklists? What do you. How, how are you managing your time?
I mean it's a lot coach. People have never coached at your guys level. They don't understand how many different hoops you guys jump through. How are you handling your day to day to make sure it gets done or you don't miss anything?
[00:59:54] Speaker B: I'm actually again that's something I struggle with in and being able to create those lists and those checklists and you know, Google Calendar is fantastic being able to do that. I actually still have, you know, the paper calendar that I, I write, I write stuff on.
I think as many times as I can put something on paper and write it down somewhere. I'll try to remember it. I'll text myself quite a Bit, which is, it's a weird thing to do, but I do it all the time just for reminders.
[01:00:28] Speaker A: It's not weird if it works right.
[01:00:30] Speaker B: And it, it's worked.
I get, I give a huge shout out to my wife. She's helped me so much on getting organized and hey, hey, just, just write it down, man. Just write it down. So it's, that's, that's the best thing for me.
[01:00:44] Speaker A: What are some final thoughts before I let you go?
[01:00:48] Speaker B: Man, baseball is a great game.
I think it's, it's given a lot of people so much and I think we as a baseball community need to continue to do everything we can to protect it and protect each other in it. And you know, that's why I think this organization is so great is because it's just baseball people looking out for baseball people. And that's what makes it awesome.
[01:01:15] Speaker A: I get reminders every year heading out on the Barnstormers because we have first time coaches and I've had some reach out already and they're going through the same things we all went through when they're first getting into it and just trying to be like, hey man, we've all been through this. Like it's okay to feel like you don't know what you're doing. Like we all went through it, but that's why we're all here for, is to make that, hopefully make that transition a little bit smoother for you.
[01:01:38] Speaker B: 100% just. And yeah, if there's not something in this game that somebody hasn't gone through. So we'll, we'll, we'll get through it together.
[01:01:48] Speaker A: Sam, thanks for your time. I appreciate you. I'm happy for you. I've seen Columbus and it's always good reconnect and appreciate you, sir. Awesome. Thank you, Coach Moats. Another example of finding great head coaches to work for as an assistant.
Definitely helps your career path as an assistant coach if you work for successful head coaches.
Congrats to Sam and the entire Angelo State program on this honor. Thanks again to John Litchfield, Zach Hale, Matt Weston, ABCA office. For all the help on the podcast, feel free to reach out to me via email or brownleebca.org Twitter, Instagram or TikTok to coach BR ABCA or direct message me via the MyBCA app. This is Ryan Bradley signing off with the American Baseball Coaches Association. Thanks for leaving better for those behind.
[01:02:46] Speaker B: Is and the world will always return as your life and you know that I waste.
[01:03:04] Speaker A: Wait for another day when you.
[01:03:13] Speaker B: Sa.
