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Send us a text Mason Stookey knows the true meaning of rebuilding. When a tornado hit Coweta (OK) High School's baseball field in 2021, destroying their fence, equipment, and freshly planted rye seed, he faced a critical choice: follow the trend toward artificial turf or recommit to maintaining a premier natural playing surface. His decision to double down on tradition speaks volumes about his coaching philosophy. "When people step into our yard, I want it to be the best surface they can be ...
Mason Stookey knows the true meaning of rebuilding. When a tornado hit Coweta (OK) High School's baseball field in 2021, destroying their fence, equipment, and freshly planted rye seed, he faced a critical choice: follow the trend toward artificial turf or recommit to maintaining a premier natural playing surface. His decision to double down on tradition speaks volumes about his coaching philosophy.
"When people step into our yard, I want it to be the best surface they can be on," Stookey explains, detailing how he meticulously mows the outfield daily at three-quarters of an inch with a reel mower. This commitment to field maintenance isn't just about aesthetics—it's about teaching players to invest sweat equity into something greater than themselves.
This philosophy extends throughout Stookey's program, built on three fundamental pillars: accountability, responsibility, and attention to detail. His weekly grade checks require players to collect performance feedback from all their teachers, tracking not just grades but missing assignments and classroom conduct. "That's not a lesson just for baseball," Stookey emphasizes, "that's a lesson for life."
Perhaps most innovative is Coweta's "Tough Fridays" initiative—replacing traditional practice with team-building mental toughness workouts. Players work in "boat crews" to complete challenging tasks that build resilience for high-pressure game situations. The results speak for themselves, with the team winning approximately ten games in walk-off fashion during a recent season.
Stookey's coaching journey began after his playing career ended due to injury. Initially walking away from baseball entirely, he experienced an epiphany weeks before college graduation: "There's people and teammates that had given me so much and taught me so many lessons through the game that I wanted to give back."
From navigating the challenges between school baseball instruction and travel ball coaching to his unforgettable story of chasing a player's runaway steer across the baseball field, Stookey's conversation reveals a coach who combines traditional values with innovative methods to develop not just successful teams, but successful young men.
Rebuilding After Tornado Damage
Three Pillars: Accountability and Responsibility
Practice Planning and Team Development
- Follow: Twitter | Instagram @Athlete1Podcast
- Website - https://www.athlete1.net
- Sponsor: The Netting Professionals
- https://www.nettingpros.com
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to Mason Stuckey
04:50 - Rebuilding After Tornado Damage
09:15 - Natural Surface Pride
12:03 - Three Pillars: Accountability and Responsibility
17:07 - Practice Planning and Team Development
20:45 - Leadership and Communication Approach
27:55 - The Rivalry and Personal Motivations
29:31 - Steer Chase: Baseball Field Adventure
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.881 --> 00:00:02.926
Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
00:00:02.926 --> 00:00:06.373
What do you do when you lose a lot of players to graduation?
00:00:06.373 --> 00:00:17.332
Taking pride in natural surface when everyone else is getting turf and focusing on three things accountability, responsibility, attention to detail.
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With Mason Stuckey, head baseball coach at Coweta High School in Oklahoma.
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Next.
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On Baseball Coaches Unplugged at Coweta High School in Oklahoma.
00:00:25.321 --> 00:00:26.460
Next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:29.503
This is the ultimate high school baseball coaching podcast.
00:00:29.503 --> 00:00:38.988
Baseball Coaches Unplugged your go-to podcast for baseball coaching tips, drills and player development strategies from travel to high school and college.
00:00:38.988 --> 00:00:47.853
Unlock expert coaching advice grounded in real success stories, data-backed training methods and mental performance tools to elevate your team.
00:00:47.853 --> 00:00:57.914
Tune in for bite-sized coaching wisdom, situational drills, team culture building, great stories and proven strategies that turn good players into great athletes.
00:00:57.914 --> 00:01:04.060
The only podcast that showcases the best coaches from across the country With your host, coach Ken Carpenter.
00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:06.283
This is the best coaches from across the country with your host, coach Ken.
00:01:06.302 --> 00:01:16.620
Carpenter, baseball Coaches Unplugged is proud to be partnered with the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time.
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Coaches, are you hoping to get one more season out of that batting cage or L screen Tire, broken ball buckets or windscreens flopping in the outfield vents?
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00:02:32.741 --> 00:02:35.068
Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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I'm your host, coach Ken Carpenter, and we are into Season 4.
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And the first thing I need to ask is don't forget to hit that subscribe button and share this show with someone who loves baseball.
00:02:48.270 --> 00:02:55.125
Also, look for a new episode every Wednesday where I sit down with some of the greatest coaches from across the country.
00:02:55.125 --> 00:03:13.453
Today, I get to sit down with Mason Stokely Coweta High School in Oklahoma and he's got some great stuff he needs to share, and stick around to the end to hear the crazy story about a coach, his wife and a steer that all show up at a baseball field.
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Well, we're in the middle of September and I don't know how you guys do it out in Oklahoma.
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What are your priorities for your team this time of the year?
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What are your priorities for?
00:03:24.442 --> 00:03:25.544
your team this time of the year.
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Right now we're focusing on we graduated a bunch of guys last year so we're focusing on trying to build not necessarily rebuild our culture but the leadership within the guys that are having to step into some roles and build some team camaraderie around everything and just get them gelling a lot.
00:03:45.328 --> 00:04:05.569
So we've spent a lot of time this fall already, you know, just doing some live stuff, whether that's two pitch or putting them in different situations, and you know we've got some stuff that I picked up from Coach Perry, keith, down at Connor State here of Skull Games, just putting them in competition-based settings and game situations and see what we've got coming.
00:04:05.569 --> 00:04:08.560
So try to figure out what we need to work on this winter.
00:04:09.662 --> 00:04:12.247
Well, we talked before the podcast started about.
00:04:12.247 --> 00:04:47.922
You know, I like to do research on each guest that comes on and one of the first things that popped up I saw was in 2021, you guys were hit with a tornado that it sounds like it done some damage and you've made it a priority to have a top notch field and for both players and opponents, and talk about when you did what after that happened and why is it so important to to put all that effort into your field and why is it so important to put all that effort into your field?
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Yeah, I mean there's in 2021, I think my rye seed was six days old.
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I just put it all out and everything and our field got directly hit with a tornado and you know, we lost our fence and everything our turtle, our mower, you know everything you can think of.
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So that hit pretty hard.
00:05:09.838 --> 00:05:18.223
I took over a field that was in really good shape and I wanted to continue that and be in good shape.
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I've had the pleasure of, through my playing career, of playing on really good surfaces and you know, being around the game for as long as I have, I realized that, you know, some athletes aren't as fortunate to play on good surfaces and everything.
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So when people step into our yard, I wanted to try to be the best surface that they can be on.
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Um, you've been around the game long enough.
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You know that a pristine natural surface plays really, really well.
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And it's something else in a world that you know everybody's transitioning to turf in.
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So, taking pride in the field and also, you know the boys in our program they have a big hand in that when they put sweat equity into the field to.
00:06:03.451 --> 00:06:06.685
You know, take pride in it and, yeah, this is our field.
00:06:06.685 --> 00:06:09.485
We want you to come play here, we don't want to come play at your place.
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So just being able to have that yeah, this is our field, is kind of what we go for.
00:06:20.362 --> 00:06:23.947
And am I correct to say that you mow your outfield grass?
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Yes, yeah, we do.
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You know, in the spring we don't mow it a whole lot before spring break, but the week before we leave for spring break we put some fertilizer down and then we water it in heavy for a week.
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So when we get back it's green and lush and everything.
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And the boys call me crazy.
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But yeah, I mow it just about every single day.
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We mow it at three quarters of an inch with a real mower.
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So yeah, it gets mowed every single day.
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We try to do a different pattern that we've never done before every week.
00:07:01.192 --> 00:07:04.624
So Well, you're, you're one of the.
00:07:04.624 --> 00:07:07.451
You're becoming a a rare person.
00:07:07.451 --> 00:07:20.531
Nowadays, Like you said, everybody's transitioning to either a turf infield or a complete turf field and, uh, you know, I I always felt I never had a chance to coach where we had turf.
00:07:20.531 --> 00:07:36.110
I always felt like as a coach it's it's almost as a time when you're working on the field to just think about everything and kind of process everything that you're you're trying to get done and I always enjoyed that field work and.
00:07:36.110 --> 00:07:42.146
But there's times now where I've looked back on and go, wow, man, it'd been really easy to have turf.
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How do you feel about that?
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Yeah, no doubt I love taking care of a natural surface.
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I do.
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I love working on it as much as I may complain about it sometimes to my assistant coaches, or they're complaining to me that they're having to be out there doing it and stuff.
00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:03.591
But you know I love taking care of the natural surface.
00:08:03.591 --> 00:08:06.959
But you know I love taking care of the natural surface.
00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:15.411
I love, like you said, the time to be able to process everything and think about stuff.
00:08:15.411 --> 00:08:17.519
It's like when I'm mowing and that's kind of my Zen.
00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:22.947
Just just get to be in my world and think about whether that's lineup stuff or whether that's think about.
00:08:23.668 --> 00:08:27.915
You know what we could have done better last game, what we need to do for practice, whatever the case is.
00:08:27.915 --> 00:08:34.529
And I love you know we've had kids come through the program that don't know anything about working on the field.
00:08:34.529 --> 00:08:38.061
That you know dig in right beside us and learn stuff and they learn.
00:08:38.061 --> 00:08:41.586
You know qualities that push them.
00:08:41.586 --> 00:08:46.272
You know far beyond what high school baseball does that push them far beyond what high school baseball does.
00:08:46.272 --> 00:08:47.472
So that aspect of it I like.
00:08:47.472 --> 00:08:57.027
But now on the flip side of the coin, it would be really nice after a game to just turn the lights off and head home or, in the summertime, spend a lot more time golfing or fishing.
00:08:57.027 --> 00:09:03.173
But it is what it is and we're rocking and rolling with it.
00:09:04.740 --> 00:09:14.169
Well, how do you approach developing a program that consistently produces competitive teams and, more importantly, great young men?
00:09:17.701 --> 00:09:18.182
For us.
00:09:18.182 --> 00:09:21.370
I mean we focus on three big things.
00:09:21.370 --> 00:09:25.621
For me, the big three are accountability, responsibility and attention to detail.
00:09:25.621 --> 00:09:34.265
You know, if we can get those three things in check, I feel like that takes you a long ways in life, more than just the game of baseball with.
00:09:34.265 --> 00:09:37.748
We push a ton of accountability and responsibility.
00:09:37.748 --> 00:09:52.556
We run grade checks every single week and the kids take a piece of paper around all their teachers and have to fill it out with class, grade, missing assignments, conduct in class, stuff like that, and then at the end of the day they have to turn that into us.
00:09:52.556 --> 00:09:57.937
So it's a deal where, yeah, you may be passing a class but you've got five missing assignments.
00:09:57.937 --> 00:10:03.700
Like that's not acceptable.
00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:05.883
We need to button that up because that's not a lesson just for baseball, that's a lesson for life.
00:10:05.883 --> 00:10:12.486
If your boss tells you to turn stuff in and you don't turn it in, then you're going to have to go find another job and it's hard to look your wife in the eye and tell her that.
00:10:12.486 --> 00:10:25.509
And then one thing big for on the competitive side of everything that we developed two years ago is it's going to sound crazy to a ton of people out there and in our little world it works.
00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:36.832
But we don't practice on Fridays in the fall, we do what we call tough Fridays and we, you know, talk about what we're going to do and talk about what it builds and all that kind of stuff.
00:10:36.832 --> 00:10:39.408
And then you know, we put the boys through a workout.
00:10:39.408 --> 00:10:46.160
That workout may be five minutes, that workout may be 45 minutes, depending on what we've got drawn up for that day.
00:10:46.160 --> 00:10:51.712
And you know, we put them in boat crews and they have to work together and everything.
00:10:51.712 --> 00:10:56.889
So just kind of building the mental toughness aspect of it to.
00:10:56.889 --> 00:11:03.649
You know, when we are down two runs in the sixth or seventh, like hey, we've got more in the tank, we can go.
00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:14.287
And you know, a couple years ago that paid dividends, I think we had 10 games that we had won in walk-off style or somewhere close to that.
00:11:14.287 --> 00:11:17.590
So that's kind of a glimpse of what we do.
00:11:17.590 --> 00:11:22.908
But the big three are accountability, responsibility and attention to detail in everything that they do.
00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.081
Well, walk me through a practice planning.
00:11:26.081 --> 00:11:35.870
As far as where are you, what are your must have drills that that you think drive the most results for you.
00:11:38.798 --> 00:11:43.296
Yeah, so I may go a couple of different ways here.
00:11:43.296 --> 00:11:47.152
So if I steer too far away, just stop me and pull me back.
00:11:47.152 --> 00:11:55.138
But you know, we spend the first three weeks of fall doing a little bit of live stuff.
00:11:55.138 --> 00:12:07.096
We'll do a little bit of drill work and everything, but we do a ton of live stuff, especially this year with a new infield coach coming in to our staff and allowing him to just see what we've got and allow him to get a game plan.
00:12:07.096 --> 00:12:09.149
We did a ton of live stuff.
00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:24.020
But we go, you know, three weeks in the full live and everything, and then we actually go into a seven week shutdown program where our guys don't throw it all just as an arm care, you know, flush out anything you got going on from summer and stuff like that.
00:12:24.020 --> 00:12:34.600
So whenever we get into that seven week window we really hit every day is, you know, of course we're going over your bunk coverages and your first and thirds and rundowns and stuff like that.
00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.845
Of course we're going over your bunt coverages and your first and thirds and rundowns and stuff like that.
00:12:37.845 --> 00:12:44.349
But my guys will get anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes of individual defense every day.
00:12:44.369 --> 00:12:46.832
You know, for me I work with our catchers at Coeda.
00:12:46.832 --> 00:12:51.279
So for me, we've struggled the past couple of years on throwing guys out.
00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:56.601
I don't know if I should let that cat out of the bag, but we're working on it and our guys are getting better at it.
00:12:56.601 --> 00:13:00.722
So I'm working with those guys on, you know, how can we get a clean transfer?
00:13:00.722 --> 00:13:02.063
How can we clean up our footwork?
00:13:02.063 --> 00:13:03.044
How can we go through there?
00:13:03.044 --> 00:13:10.534
Um, and just doing a lot of I don't want to call it dry work, but everything to the point of throwing Um.
00:13:11.014 --> 00:13:25.013
So, but then we go into, I'm sure, just like everybody else, we break down base running, we teach you how to run from home to first and then, once we've covered that, then we go to first base and go through all our crannies there and then we go to second and, you know, work our way around.
00:13:25.013 --> 00:13:35.625
So, uh, yeah, I think yesterday's game plan was practice plan, was, um, our boys stretched, they did the recovery work, cause we're in our shutdown window.
00:13:35.625 --> 00:13:46.508
Um, we went base running at first base, um, working on leads and secondaries and still starts and everything, uh.
00:13:46.508 --> 00:13:58.969
And then we went into 25 minutes of individual defense, uh, then we flipped into a pfp circuit off the mound, uh mound, getting guys moving, getting them where they're supposed to be and everything.
00:13:58.969 --> 00:14:01.299
And then we ended the day with a bunting competition.
00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:07.677
We set up cones for drag bunts and safety squeezes and we split them into two teams and it pays to be a winner.
00:14:07.937 --> 00:14:10.787
so there you go.
00:14:10.787 --> 00:14:11.768
I like that, I.
00:14:11.768 --> 00:14:14.850
But I want to go back to you when you talked about your catching.
00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:26.902
Do you think it's more important to have a catcher who can frame and block versus having that catcher with a cannon back there?
00:14:31.606 --> 00:14:38.480
I'm going to combine the two there and it's the conversation that I've had with our guys this year.
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.048
I'm still a firm believer in old school style.
00:14:40.048 --> 00:14:42.653
You know you're going to be the toughest dude on the field.
00:14:42.653 --> 00:14:49.609
You're going to wear it off your chest, You're going to, you know, both knees off the ground and we're going to be subtle with our movements.
00:14:49.609 --> 00:14:58.735
But with the new style of catching and the way it's evolved and everything I tell our guys, when there's nobody on, you're going to be as relaxed as you can and you're going to steal strikes.
00:14:58.735 --> 00:15:01.133
We're going to try to get the strikes at that point.
00:15:01.133 --> 00:15:10.216
But when runners get on, your priority is not the strike anymore, it's blocking baseballs and throwing runners out and trying to save the 90 feet.
00:15:10.216 --> 00:15:17.398
So to answer your question, I don't know, flip a coin, I'm split the difference.
00:15:17.398 --> 00:15:22.456
But when there's nobody on, I want the strike call, I want the good framework and all that kind of stuff.
00:15:22.456 --> 00:15:26.777
When there is runners on, we're going to try to save that 90 feet as much as possible.
00:15:29.725 --> 00:15:38.039
High school baseball often comes down to execution and I always feel like the team that makes the fewest mistakes typically wins.
00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:42.797
What areas do you emphasize the most to give your team an edge?
00:15:45.245 --> 00:15:47.894
I mean in the different facets of the game.
00:15:47.894 --> 00:15:52.335
You know, on the mound, we're going to attack with a fastball and command the fastball in the zone.
00:15:52.335 --> 00:15:55.510
Even if you know what's coming, it's still a game of baseball.
00:15:55.510 --> 00:15:55.985
You're hitting a round ball with a fastball and command the fastball in the zone.
00:15:55.985 --> 00:15:56.847
Um it, even if you know what's coming, it's still a game of baseball.
00:15:56.847 --> 00:15:58.035
You're getting round balled around bat.
00:15:58.035 --> 00:16:02.032
We got seven dudes standing out there, that against your one.
00:16:02.032 --> 00:16:06.070
So we're going to command the fastball and and we're gonna, we're gonna live and die by that.
00:16:06.750 --> 00:16:18.080
Um, on the defense of everything, we're gonna make the routine play routinely, like if you make the sliding backhand in the hole and go across the infield and get that out like great, good job.
00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:27.255
But I want you to feel 10 out of 10 ground balls that are hit straight at you and pick it up and throw somebody out, because, to your point, we got to screw up less than them to win a ballgame.
00:16:27.255 --> 00:16:32.817
And if we're not making that play, you know at least 90 percent of the time it's pretty hard to win ballgames.
00:16:32.817 --> 00:16:43.071
And then, on the offensive side of the ball, we try to create chaos.
00:16:43.071 --> 00:16:47.304
Uh, we're going to be a controlled chaos in our aspect of handling the bat, moving guys and stealing bases um to try to make you as uncomfortable as possible.
00:16:47.946 --> 00:16:54.716
So what's the most important leadership lesson you try to instill in your players before they graduate?
00:17:04.505 --> 00:17:04.967
Um, oh, that's a good one.
00:17:04.967 --> 00:17:08.378
Um, at the end of the day, uh, I want them to grow as a person within our program, regardless of wins and losses.
00:17:08.378 --> 00:17:17.109
Uh, I've had this conversations with with admin and multiple people in our program Regardless of wins and losses, I want him to be a better person when he walks out of our program.
00:17:17.109 --> 00:17:23.958
So being able to push those guys to be the best teammate that they can be.
00:17:23.958 --> 00:17:27.268
Whether you're 0 for 4 or 4 for 4 at the plate today, I shouldn't know.
00:17:27.268 --> 00:17:31.905
If a dude hits a home run or a dude strikes out, are you the first guy to put your arm around him?
00:17:31.905 --> 00:17:34.211
Are you the first guy to pick him up?
00:17:34.211 --> 00:17:36.213
Are you the guy to coach him up whenever he messes up?
00:17:36.213 --> 00:17:51.107
Because the second that you do something, I want somebody coming to do that to you, and whether they're freshmen or seniors in our program, they've got an open floor to to be the guy that you know tries to help somebody out, or just being the great teammate in that aspect.
00:17:51.188 --> 00:17:54.432
so, looking back at your playing days?
00:17:54.432 --> 00:18:00.971
Uh, this is a question I kind of struggled with trying to figure out how I wanted to word it.
00:18:00.971 --> 00:18:08.397
But what is something you do as a coach for your players that you wish you would have had done for you when you were playing?
00:18:09.424 --> 00:18:35.623
Hmm, I would say, you know and this is another thing it may be crazy to some coaches out there in the world and stuff, but you know, if there's decisions that we're struggling with as a coach and stuff you know I talked about, we've got, you know, our boat crews and those guys have leaders and they've been elected by their teammates, for whatever reason, good leadership qualities, stuff like that.
00:18:36.885 --> 00:18:40.279
We lean on those guys sometimes like, hey, you know, we're struggling.
00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.670
You know, on a coaching side, who needs to play shortstop today?
00:18:43.670 --> 00:18:46.538
What are you guys seeing, what are you guys feeling?
00:18:46.538 --> 00:18:53.669
What's the conversation happening in the dugout of the guy that's there, the guy that we're thinking about putting there?
00:18:53.669 --> 00:18:55.836
Where are their head states, and stuff like that.
00:18:55.836 --> 00:19:11.694
So, being open with the players and them having those questions asked, I feel like whenever I was playing, that's something that I wish could have voiced an opinion.
00:19:11.694 --> 00:19:29.234
Now, whether that opinion got taken or not, like for me when I was playing, whatever, but having the platform to be able to be like, hey, man, this guy's got something going on at home and he's mentally not here, like we may need to take another step somewhere else to get somebody else in there, or whatever the case is.
00:19:30.945 --> 00:19:57.686
Yes, that's a great point, because when you look at a dugout, the guys in the dugout have a pretty good idea of what's happening with the team, and I always was one of those coaches who I handed a lineup card out right before the start of the season and I asked every player to make the starting lineup and then I compared it to what the coaches were thinking, and the players pretty much have a pretty good idea what should be happening with the team.
00:19:57.686 --> 00:20:16.587
From your experience as a coach, though, in conversations you've had with other coaches, what is the biggest headache that you feel coaches have to deal with and what's your best advice for handling those problems?
00:20:18.541 --> 00:20:22.008
Oh man, my mind went one way, but the answer I'm going to give may be another way.
00:20:22.008 --> 00:20:31.392
I would say the biggest thing that we battle within our program is the travel ball world and the lessons world.
00:20:31.392 --> 00:20:42.829
You know, we work with guys to try to get them in an aspect of trying to get you to be the best, you to help the program, because if you're better, then our program's better.
00:20:42.829 --> 00:20:54.471
And you know, guys step out and take lessons or play travel ball, which I'm a hundred percent for but we're trying to teach them one thing and they're getting taught another thing over there.
00:20:54.471 --> 00:21:11.471
So, trying to figure out a way to have those conversations with the athletes and their parents of, hey, what he's doing is not wrong over there and what we're doing over here is not wrong over here, how can we blend those two to try to get everybody on the same page and working in the same direction?
00:21:11.471 --> 00:21:16.950
At the end of the day, as parents and as us coaches, we want your kid to be the best that he can be.
00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:19.382
So how can we make that happen?
00:21:19.662 --> 00:21:25.040
And I think that's something that we've struggled with in the past in our program.
00:21:25.040 --> 00:21:26.885
That is getting better, um, and?
00:21:26.885 --> 00:21:28.369
And then another thing is.
00:21:28.369 --> 00:21:35.846
You know, take our seven week off shutdown program to to let arms heal and everything like that.
00:21:35.846 --> 00:21:45.400
Um, and getting guys to and parents to really buy into that, uh has been kind of our biggest struggle of you know.
00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:52.228
We got guys that get hurt in the summer and then they come back and we try to shut them down but they're cleared to throw from their ortho guy.
00:21:52.228 --> 00:21:59.420
But now you know we're in our shutdown and we don't let them throw and it's like he's released, why is he not throwing?
00:21:59.420 --> 00:22:05.066
And it's like, well, another six weeks off isn't going to hurt, it's only going to help him get better.
00:22:05.066 --> 00:22:11.211
So those are some stuff that we've had to battle, but I think I don't know.
00:22:11.211 --> 00:22:16.497
I guess the answer to the question it would be communication on all fronts is trying to make everything better.
00:22:18.520 --> 00:22:23.069
Well, every coach has a reason for coaching.
00:22:23.069 --> 00:22:24.251
What is your why?
00:22:24.251 --> 00:22:24.933
Why do you coach?
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:31.980
coaching what?
00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:32.561
What is your?
00:22:32.561 --> 00:22:32.662
Why?
00:22:32.662 --> 00:22:33.163
Why do you coach?
00:22:33.182 --> 00:22:36.347
You know, I got done playing in between my freshman and sophomore year of of college.
00:22:36.347 --> 00:22:39.413
I had a hip surgery, uh, and as a catcher it it did.
00:22:39.413 --> 00:22:44.662
It wasn't really where it needed to be, so I stepped away from the game after my sophomore year of college and I was done.
00:22:44.662 --> 00:22:45.884
I didn't want any part of it.
00:22:45.884 --> 00:22:46.785
I was burned out.
00:22:46.785 --> 00:22:47.465
I had done it.
00:22:47.465 --> 00:22:56.425
You know, from however old I was, through college, burning the candle at both ends, as we all did, um, and I was done.
00:22:56.425 --> 00:23:02.280
And then I had plans to to go to work after I got done with college.
00:23:02.681 --> 00:23:10.721
Uh, not doing what I'm doing now, um, and about six weeks before graduation I was like man, I really want to coach.
00:23:10.721 --> 00:23:27.569
There's people and teammates that I've been a part of throughout my career and everything, and that had given me so much and taught me so many lessons through the game that I wanted to give back.
00:23:27.569 --> 00:23:31.282
I wanted to be that person for somebody.
00:23:31.282 --> 00:23:36.721
I wanted to make somebody grow and just share the knowledge of the game that I have.
00:23:36.721 --> 00:23:41.031
And, um, that's really my why it was I.
00:23:41.031 --> 00:23:44.449
I wanted to give back to the game that had given me so much.
00:23:44.449 --> 00:23:45.311
So.
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:47.762
Love it.
00:23:47.762 --> 00:23:51.531
Here's one that I ask every guest hate losing or love winning.
00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:56.163
I hate losing.
00:23:56.523 --> 00:23:56.784
Why is?
00:23:56.804 --> 00:23:58.367
that I hate losing.
00:23:58.367 --> 00:24:09.991
I I don't know if it's how I was raised or or what, but I, I can't stand looking across the field and somebody else celebrating.
00:24:09.991 --> 00:24:19.064
I'll celebrate right there with the best of them when we win a game, but when we win, I can still find stuff wrong.
00:24:19.064 --> 00:24:21.348
We weren't perfect today.
00:24:21.348 --> 00:24:27.326
We could have done this better or whatever, but yeah, I just I hate losing.
00:24:27.326 --> 00:24:32.314
I don't know if that's, I don't let my four-year-old win.
00:24:32.354 --> 00:24:40.019
And when we're playing Knack 4 in the living room, so you know, my wife and I walking upstairs I'm beating her to the top, like I don't know, I just hate losing.
00:24:40.019 --> 00:24:44.501
I don't know why, I don't know what it is, but I don't know.
00:24:44.501 --> 00:24:51.865
I think it's just the fact that, like I said, you know when we win I can still find something wrong.
00:24:51.865 --> 00:25:06.453
So I remember a conversation, you know, two years ago we took it to the state tournament and I walked out behind the dugout after the celebration was over and stuff, and I remember one of the parents on the team was like you don't look very happy.
00:25:06.453 --> 00:25:09.996
I was like no, like job's not finished.
00:25:09.996 --> 00:25:10.635
We got to go to work.
00:25:10.635 --> 00:25:12.297
Now, like we got to go.
00:25:12.297 --> 00:25:18.911
So I don't know, I just I hate losing.
00:25:29.386 --> 00:25:32.460
Well being that you finished up at Oklahoma State and I'm going to assume that you're an Oklahoma State fan, but I may be wrong.
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