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Send us a text What separates consistently successful baseball programs from the rest? For Coach Jared Ingersoll of American Fork High School (UT), it's creating what he calls "the AF way" – a distinct approach to baseball marked by exceptional energy, relentless hustle, and players who genuinely compete for each other rather than themselves. After leading his program to three state championships in five years, Ingersoll pulls back the curtain on building championship culture. He reveals how...
What separates consistently successful baseball programs from the rest? For Coach Jared Ingersoll of American Fork High School (UT), it's creating what he calls "the AF way" – a distinct approach to baseball marked by exceptional energy, relentless hustle, and players who genuinely compete for each other rather than themselves.
After leading his program to three state championships in five years, Ingersoll pulls back the curtain on building championship culture. He reveals how fostering authentic team chemistry creates an almost tangible feeling in the dugout when players truly buy into playing for something larger than individual achievements. "Very few people actually have an idea of what it means to be on a team where you can almost feel it," Ingersoll explains, describing the rare chemistry that emerges when players learn to value collective success.
Particularly fascinating is Ingersoll's approach to player development and role management. Rather than avoiding difficult conversations with players receiving limited playing time, he creates space for honest dialogue: "I want your heart. I don't want you to sugarcoat how you feel inside." This vulnerability-first approach allows him to help players find meaning beyond statistical contributions. His story about a senior catcher who barely played but received MVP consideration demonstrates how deeply Ingersoll values attitude and team contribution over mere talent.
Throughout the conversation, Ingersoll shares practical strategies that have built his championship program: pressure-filled practice situations that prepare players for big moments, detailed pregame routines that signal professionalism, and constant communication with parents about expectations. He balances traditional baseball approaches with modern adaptations, demonstrating how championship programs evolve while maintaining core values.
Want to create a baseball program known for both winning and developing exceptional young men? Listen as Coach Ingersoll breaks down his blueprint for championship culture that goes far beyond just collecting trophies.
Join the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast where an experienced baseball coach delves into the world of high school and travel baseball, offering insights on high school baseball coaching, leadership skills, hitting skills, pitching strategy, defensive skills, and overall baseball strategy, while also covering high school and college baseball, recruiting tips, youth and travel baseball, and fostering a winning mentality and attitude in baseball players through strong baseball leadership and mentality.
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Transcript
WEBVTT
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Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged, you'll learn what it takes to win a state baseball championship, not just once, but three out of the last five years.
00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:26.010
We discuss the underrated factors that contribute to a team's success how to develop players' buy-in strategies used to help players handle pressure in big games, with Jared Ingersoll, head coach at American Fork High School in Utah.
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Next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter, presented by Athlete One.
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Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches, with 27 years of high school baseball coaching under his belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball, from game-winning strategies and pitching secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills.
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We're covering it all.
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Whether you're a high school coach, college coach or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field.
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Discover how to build a winning mentality.
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Inspire your players and get them truly bought into your game philosophy Plus, get the latest insights on recruiting, coaching, leadership and crafting a team culture that champions productivity and success.
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Join Coach every week as he breaks down the game and shares incredible behind-the-scenes stories.
00:01:18.031 --> 00:01:23.750
Your competitive edge starts here, so check out the show weekly and hear from the best coaches in the game.
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On Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.
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I'm your host, coach Ken Carpenter, and today, if you're looking to build a championship program that's consistently winning year after year, you're going to really enjoy today's guest.
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Jared Ingersoll, has been doing it for 24 years at American Fork High School and winning state championships.
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That's his job.
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If you enjoyed today's show, please be sure to share it with a friend and don't forget to hit that subscribe button and leave us a review.
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It helps us to grow.
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The show Baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time.
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The netting pros specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball, softball, and this includes backstops, batting cages, bp turtles screens, ball carts and more stops, batting cages, bp turtles screens, ball carts and more.
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Contact them today at 844-620-2707.
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Check out Netting Pros on X, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects.
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Coach, thanks for taking time to be on Baseball.
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Coaches Unplugged, you bet it's a pleasure to be here.
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Well, we were going to try to do this recording a couple days ago, but you had something come up and I have a lot of firsts on this podcast and you were going to be the first one to say I had to take a trip on a helicopter, so we needed to back out.
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So, for the sake of the listeners, what happened on this helicopter ride?
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So it's my brother's 50th birthday.
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We're one year and 10 days apart.
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He also was a head coach at Lehigh, which is one of our same region schools.
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We've had to coach against each other for a while and he stepped away and his assistant over there.
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And for his 50th we have a buddy, a common buddy that I don't know if you've heard of bucked up energy drinks or bucked up pre-workout or they do creatine, they do all kinds of things.
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Well, he's kind of the CEO of it.
00:04:01.627 --> 00:04:11.073
He's kind of the CEO of it and last year we went to Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field for two times in three days and that's what we did last year.
00:04:11.073 --> 00:04:12.566
So he was putting a lot of pressure on me.
00:04:12.566 --> 00:04:19.009
So I asked my buddy, ryan's his name at Bucked Up and he says we've been talking about going helicopter fishing.
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So there's a mountain range in Utah called the Uintas and it's out in the sticks and he said let's do it.
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So he picked us up the other day and we went down there and took a helicopter deep in the mountains and fished this lake and caught like fish almost every cast and it was a lot of fun and that's kind of that's my first time on a helicopter and if I ever hit the lottery, that's the first thing I'm going to buy, because it was pretty sweet.
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Really Wow.
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What were you fishing for?
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We were fishing for trout brookies, eastern brookies.
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They weren't very big but they were sure marked up and pretty fish at this time of year.
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Great.
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Well, there you go.
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That's a first for me.
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I love a coach with a great story, and that definitely is a good one there.
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Well, you just capped off your Utah State Championship in, I believe, the last five years.
00:05:14.935 --> 00:05:20.411
Yeah, what was the most underrated factor that contributed to your team's success this year?
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Well, we kind of underachieved, in my perspective, in 24.
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You know, we went into the state as the number one seed and, to be honest with you, we were kind of honoring me and my coaching staff.
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We talked a lot in the fall about better leadership, being better prepared, playing more together as a squad and, you know, going into the season we knew we were going to be tough just not how tough and especially when our backs are against the wall.
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But this senior group was probably one of our more did just an incredible job of leadership and playing for each other and not caring who gets the credit and being very unselfish in our bats and just finding ways to put the ball in play.
00:06:11.572 --> 00:06:30.586
And with two strikes and just so impressed by our senior group and their leadership, that was probably our biggest thing that we focused on and asked the kids to do and they responded and totally got the job done you know you, you had mentioned that.
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Um, you know you, you you got your guys to basically buy into a concept and yes, and it really paid off.
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What, um, what have you had happen in the past where you're like, okay, we, we've got to make a couple of changes and, going into the season, that was one right there.
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Were there any other changes that you made?
00:06:55.504 --> 00:06:56.586
Well, I don't know.
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You know, looking every year is kind of different.
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But we, I think we have a really good system in our program if the kids do buy in, but we weren't playing.
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I mean, one of the biggest adjustments really is we just I hate boring baseball Like I expect high energy, I expect them to play hard.
00:07:19.004 --> 00:07:26.836
It's kind of we call it the American Fork way or the AF way, and our kids kind of say that and it's kind of some verbiage that's used around the locker room and on the field.
00:07:26.836 --> 00:07:28.757
And what does that really look like?
00:07:28.757 --> 00:07:36.822
Well, hopefully we think it looks like the world just a little bit different, a little bit tougher, a little bit more excited about the work and the task that's in front of us in the game.
00:07:36.822 --> 00:07:52.305
And you know there was a time in 24 where we got deep in the state tournament where it just didn't click.
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And it's weird how some years it'll click and some years it won't.
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And you know we've tried to prepare our kids to make it click every year.
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And it's winning a state championship.
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It's not easy.
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Um, it's sometimes and I told our kids the other day in the classroom that you can't take for granted the success that we've had and we can't relax because when you do that you'll get beat.
00:08:09.334 --> 00:08:13.889
And I was just, really just.
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We ran in, we sprinted off the field, we went and charged out to defense.
00:08:17.740 --> 00:08:28.238
I don't know, the kids just bought into that and played really hard and was just so proud of them just bought into that and played really hard and was just so proud of them.
00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:39.514
Well, I wanted to ask, if a coach is listening out there right now and they're in that situation where they've made a couple deep runs but they just can't quite take that final step to win the state title, what would you recommend?
00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:48.932
Well, a cool thing about our program is, I feel like and this is my 24th year here at American Fork.
00:08:48.932 --> 00:08:50.455
I've had to dodge the mob a few times.
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They came after me when we were unsuccessful.
00:08:53.740 --> 00:08:56.169
I don't think there's a coach out there that hasn't dodged the mob.
00:08:56.169 --> 00:09:01.668
You know, parents or admin or leadership, that's above you kind of a thing.
00:09:01.668 --> 00:09:15.727
But the biggest thing that I would say is that our kids, we get into them in a respectful way, but they know that we care about them and I talk a lot about them.
00:09:15.727 --> 00:09:30.369
I tell them I love them, I want them to love each other and that's a hard thing because they come from all kinds of different walks of lives and just getting kids, hey, you don't need to hang out on the weekends, but when we walk through and we're between the white lines, you guys need to have a common respect and a love for each other.
00:09:30.369 --> 00:09:47.749
Very few I say this a lot to our kids very few people actually have an idea or a feel of what it actually means to be on a team where you can almost feel it in the dugout that if we get behind a couple rounds or if we get up a couple rounds, that we're going to extend the lead.
00:09:47.749 --> 00:09:51.350
It's almost a palpable like, you can almost touch that feeling.
00:09:51.350 --> 00:10:02.284
And the kids have to be held accountable, they have to be respected, but they have to know that you care genuinely and that you love them.
00:10:02.284 --> 00:10:10.529
Because if you have that kind of that common I know it sounds kind of cliche, but if they're not going to care until you know how much they, you care about them.
00:10:11.631 --> 00:10:21.900
And I feel like we have a good relationship with most of our players we push our players.
00:10:21.900 --> 00:10:23.403
There's the way they handle the failure part of the game.
00:10:23.403 --> 00:10:28.653
I mean, sometimes a kid will make a mistake and he'll come off the field and he'll have like six or I have a really big staff.
00:10:28.653 --> 00:10:34.110
You have like six or seven coaches that they'll be told by other coaches hey, what do you think you could have done better?
00:10:34.110 --> 00:10:35.081
Well, what about this?
00:10:35.081 --> 00:10:35.703
What about that?
00:10:35.703 --> 00:10:44.347
I mean, really the only time I ever really kind of lose my mind is when there's a lack of effort or a lack of that's pretty much.
00:10:44.347 --> 00:11:03.144
It Just not hustling, but just the team concept is what you have to have to get over the hump, in my opinion, and it's rare to actually get teams to actually all be pulling in the same direction and it's a culture thing and it's an everyday fight to get that culture to be there.
00:11:04.407 --> 00:11:13.327
Well, you talked about dodging the mob there and, uh, you know, do you think over your career that?
00:11:13.327 --> 00:11:16.702
Has there been any change that you've noticed where you're like?
00:11:16.702 --> 00:11:20.860
I think players want to be coached hard Sometimes.
00:11:20.860 --> 00:11:24.811
Mom and dad maybe may not be quite as receptive to that.
00:11:25.392 --> 00:11:25.961
Yeah, it's.
00:11:25.961 --> 00:11:32.399
It's a weird time in high school athletics, especially baseball.
00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:41.684
You have the showcases, you have the summer baseball and you know when, when we get our kids back, all from those things which we want our kids to go to.
00:11:41.684 --> 00:11:46.792
We've had a lot of guys go play college baseball, those things which we want our kids to go to.
00:11:46.792 --> 00:11:48.759
We've had a lot of guys go play college baseball.
00:11:48.759 --> 00:12:04.394
But the parents sometimes we have a parent meeting as soon as I make the final cuts and I just kind of lay it out there and kind of stick it to them a little bit and I times we have usually have about 35 players in our program.
00:12:04.394 --> 00:12:08.849
That's sophomore to varsity and I times that by 24 and that's something like 1500 athletes.
00:12:08.849 --> 00:12:10.134
I don't know what the number is, but I go 0% and I go.
00:12:10.153 --> 00:12:21.101
I personally I don't do a lot of things really right in this world, but the one thing that I can do is I can read your son's body language and I can tell by the way it's getting talked around at the dinner table and it should be talked around at the dinner table.
00:12:21.101 --> 00:12:27.735
I can tell by the way if it's positive or it's negative around at the dinner table.
00:12:27.735 --> 00:12:29.698
I can tell, by the way, if it's positive or it's negative.
00:12:29.698 --> 00:12:31.200
And parents, I go.
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:36.511
If you feel like bucking that trend by telling them you're getting screwed by the coach or you should be playing over this guy, you're not doing your kid any favors.
00:12:36.511 --> 00:12:44.422
They need to learn how to compete and battle for that position and through the game of baseball there's a lot of life lessons that are learned.
00:12:44.422 --> 00:12:57.761
And if you tell their kid or rescue them from the battle or the position that they're in, that's not helping them out in life.
00:12:57.761 --> 00:12:58.543
And it's a hard, hard challenge.
00:12:58.543 --> 00:12:59.905
But I kind of stick to the parents I go, let us do our job.
00:12:59.905 --> 00:13:02.230
But I also have an open door policy.
00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:11.160
Like I don't want to see you up in the stands with a dark cloud over you trying to get other people to pull over your side about what should be being done, I go.
00:13:11.160 --> 00:13:12.947
If you've got a problem, come look me in the eyes.
00:13:12.947 --> 00:13:15.086
Let's try to find common ground.
00:13:15.086 --> 00:13:17.548
You deserve an explanation of why we do what we do.
00:13:17.548 --> 00:13:18.924
You're invited to all the practices.
00:13:18.924 --> 00:13:19.587
Come to the practices.
00:13:19.587 --> 00:13:20.806
Come see what we've got going on.
00:13:20.806 --> 00:13:33.481
I mean, we're with these kids more than their parents are really and we want them to understand why we're doing what we're doing and I feel like I used to be really good at this.
00:13:33.542 --> 00:13:39.322
But sometimes, now that I'm getting older, I find myself being a little bit lazy on the communication with the kid.
00:13:39.322 --> 00:13:49.635
Like we started a freshman in center field over a junior and I went to the junior and I said you deserve an explanation of why we're doing what we're doing.
00:13:49.635 --> 00:13:55.870
And I just said he's more of a playmaker, you both will make the plays, but I feel like he'll go get the ball.
00:13:55.870 --> 00:14:03.506
He's more of a competitor and so I had to explain that to him and I go it's not that you can't do it, but you've got to find a way to get better at that of competing.
00:14:04.408 --> 00:14:19.986
So under helping daily communication and sometimes I swept stuff under the rug in my past and it's come back and bit me Like you have to have those kind of talks, the hard talks, but I think that it's the way that we have to communicate with the kids or with the parent.
00:14:19.986 --> 00:14:34.466
But I've had parents come in and they want explanations and we try to explain it to them of why we're doing what we're doing, and I'll always have another coach with me and it's not an easy thing when their kid's not playing.
00:14:34.466 --> 00:14:36.691
But it's not about their kid, it's about us.
00:14:36.691 --> 00:14:42.384
It's about our team and about what makes us the best.
00:14:42.384 --> 00:14:57.552
But also one of the keys is, like in the past years, we've had seniors that like, maybe their role is just pinch running, maybe it's their job is to come in later innings when we need a defensive sub that we make us better defensively.
00:14:57.552 --> 00:15:03.292
Maybe it's you're just a pitcher only for us.
00:15:03.292 --> 00:15:09.546
You know, whatever the role, helping them to feel comfortable and to helping them feel valued that is the key.
00:15:12.211 --> 00:15:24.269
Without a doubt, and that's that's kind of what I was wanting to know is how do you treat and handle the player who you know he he's just not going to get that much playing time.
00:15:24.269 --> 00:15:33.768
But you don't want to mess up the team chemistry and sometimes you know you get those guys that'll be like I don't care, coach, I want to be on the team.
00:15:33.768 --> 00:15:39.808
But then once the season gets rolling, it's like their attitudes change a little bit.
00:15:39.808 --> 00:15:40.730
How do you handle that?
00:15:40.730 --> 00:15:42.041
You know?
00:15:43.043 --> 00:15:47.802
just pull them aside and say how are you feeling right now?
00:15:47.802 --> 00:15:50.308
You know, like, where are you at, like what do you see?
00:15:50.308 --> 00:15:52.924
And I go and I'll say I want your heart.
00:15:52.924 --> 00:15:54.312
I don't want you to sugarcoat things.
00:15:54.312 --> 00:15:57.842
I want, I want to know how you feel inside about what we're asking you to do.
00:15:57.842 --> 00:15:59.485
Maybe you don't know what we're doing.
00:15:59.485 --> 00:16:00.687
Well, here's what I think you should do.
00:16:00.687 --> 00:16:01.828
I want your heart.
00:16:01.828 --> 00:16:04.774
I want you to not sugarcoat how you feel inside.
00:16:04.774 --> 00:16:08.085
Okay, and they'll explain to me and I'll go.
00:16:08.085 --> 00:16:10.812
Well, how can we make you feel more valued?
00:16:11.760 --> 00:16:15.010
You know, in this program, for example, we had a senior this last year.
00:16:15.010 --> 00:16:17.586
We have a really good junior catcher.
00:16:17.586 --> 00:16:30.048
He's committed to BYU and this senior catcher that came in you thought he was the starter and it was going to be the final game, like he came in and just worked his guts off.
00:16:30.048 --> 00:16:34.465
So I had an awesome opportunity to talk to him after the season out in Omaha.
00:16:34.465 --> 00:16:51.203
We go to the College World Series every year for like 10 games and he happened to be out there and I had him come sit down by me and I said, just so you know, I'd probably give you the MVP, and he kind of looked at me, like huh, and I said he probably had four bats, he probably caught maybe two innings.
00:16:52.105 --> 00:17:02.443
I said what you did, how you came in every day and gave us everything and try to improve and try to get better, and when we'd score runs he was the first guy out to congratulate.
00:17:02.443 --> 00:17:33.640
Like his attitude and like going from here forward, like in his life, whether he's going on a mission or he's going to be a ceo or he's going into the business world, that attitude will make him so valuable to whoever he's around and to help kids understand that it's hard and I've lost the battle on some of those things too, you know, and and but that helping kids feel valuable in their role, whether it's the bench or the starting pitcher or the shortstop or the catcher, is so crucial.
00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:37.701
But it takes time and I can't do it all myself.
00:17:37.701 --> 00:17:39.381
I'm lucky that I have great assistants.
00:17:39.843 --> 00:17:44.465
Yeah, those guys are critical to your success.
00:17:44.465 --> 00:17:54.884
And if you could talk a little bit about those guys and if you could talk a little bit about those guys.
00:17:54.903 --> 00:17:55.625
So I have my yeah, we.
00:17:55.625 --> 00:18:00.211
I feel bad when I see some of these coaches that try to do all their selves.
00:18:00.211 --> 00:18:08.540
Some I'm, I'm, I'm not I'm not very good at handling things by myself Like I put a lot on my assistant's plates, like I expect them to coach.
00:18:08.540 --> 00:18:17.661
My head assistant's been with me for 24 years and we've had disagreements and just a relationship but we trust each other.
00:18:17.661 --> 00:18:26.837
We go to these, we go to the College World Series, we go to these ABCA conventions together and we kind of fishbowl Like our coaches meetings.
00:18:26.877 --> 00:18:34.836
When we're talking about some of our personnel they get kind of heated sometimes because one guy you know, and ultimately it's obviously my decision.
00:18:34.836 --> 00:18:43.464
But I want their input, I want them to challenge why we're doing what we're doing or why we're doing what we're doing with this kit or this player, um.
00:18:43.464 --> 00:18:51.760
But at the end of the day, like before the state tournament we'd had, this was kind of crazy because we'd been winning.
00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:58.268
But I felt like me and the pitching coach and the pitching coach and the defensive like adjusting the defense.
00:18:58.268 --> 00:19:12.443
We were kind of chirping at each other during the game and we talked about how we need to broadcast to the team that we're all on the same page.
00:19:12.443 --> 00:19:14.491
If we have disagreements, let's not do it in front of the kids.
00:19:14.491 --> 00:19:20.936
Let's try to do it off the field or talk about it when they're not being able to see that maybe we're having disagreement, kind of a thing.
00:19:21.979 --> 00:19:22.861
But I have him.
00:19:22.861 --> 00:19:24.564
Coach Homestead is his name.
00:19:24.564 --> 00:19:25.586
He's unbelievable.
00:19:25.586 --> 00:19:29.625
His boys have all played for me Scott Jepson and Brandon Devereaux.
00:19:29.625 --> 00:19:39.500
We have two pitching coaches and I wish I could sell headsets to listen to those two guys banter about what they saw between the game.
00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:48.757
I could make it is and I'm always down by them and just listening to them because there's so much going on and they both see different things but they work so well together.
00:19:49.959 --> 00:19:53.443
My hitting guys were Mitch Jones and Sean Johnson.
00:19:53.443 --> 00:19:57.108
Mitch Jones played in the big leagues, played forever in AAA.
00:19:57.108 --> 00:20:01.538
He was a teammate of mine back in college.
00:20:01.538 --> 00:20:04.865
Sean Johnson was a head coach at a time down at another school in Utah.
00:20:04.865 --> 00:20:10.438
And then we have Brennan Mascara, whose boy just committed to TCU and is at TCU as a freshman this year.
00:20:10.438 --> 00:20:20.796
Ryan Draper I mean I have like seven or eight coaches and we just got another one of my old players back who finished college and coaching at Friends University in Louisiana.
00:20:20.796 --> 00:20:39.106
So we always have a meeting and I tell them what their roles are or what their expectations are and what my expectations are, and then I just let them go and they know our system enough to know what exactly needs to be done.
00:20:39.106 --> 00:20:42.846
But I'll tell you this I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for them.
00:20:42.846 --> 00:20:49.500
And they may come into the yard fun, even when we're struggling a little bit or what it might be.
00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:52.203
They just make it easy coming to the field.
00:20:54.115 --> 00:21:04.945
What strategies do you use to help your players handle pressure, because you guys have been in some big games the last five years, and do you have something that you or your coaching staff does?
00:21:06.115 --> 00:21:09.763
You know, every practice we need to do something competitive.
00:21:09.763 --> 00:21:15.541
Um, so we do a lot of stuff actually.
00:21:15.541 --> 00:21:31.876
Um, we have a drill, we have a bunch of drills that we do where we coach pitch it or we um machine pitch it, and it encompasses every aspect of the game other than the pitchers actually pitching.
00:21:31.876 --> 00:21:35.326
But they're covering, they're backing up bases, they're moving around.
00:21:35.326 --> 00:21:40.065
If the ball gets hit off the screen, they roll too, and it's for every base.
00:21:40.105 --> 00:21:49.483
You get on offense, you get points, and so like I'll divide the two teams up, not the varsity versus the JV, but I'll try to divide them up.
00:21:49.483 --> 00:22:32.897
It takes a lot of organization and planning, which is not my strong point, and they'll sit and they'll like almost fight each other in this drill and I'll say, hey, we're just a team here, but inside I'm like we got these guys, like they're learning to compete inside the game and so like if we have a runner first and you hit a base, hit up the middle and the guy goes first to third and they overthrow the cutoff guy trying to throw the guy at third and our hitter better be on second base, and when we go to the big fields in the state tournament it will eat teams up because of the pressure that we put on people through running to the bases, we'll do like a 21 outs, where they got to do 21 clean outs, and they get three chances.
00:22:32.897 --> 00:22:41.688
If they don't do that, they have a triangle which is where you run from home plate to the right field pole, across center field to the left field pole, back to the home.
00:22:41.688 --> 00:22:47.964
And it's kind of an older way of thinking but there needs to be some kind of pressure and so and so like.
00:22:47.964 --> 00:22:53.823
When we get to like 17 or 18 outs, I'm looking around at which guys you know doesn't want to make a play that I'm hitting it out of.
00:22:55.556 --> 00:23:09.041
We believe in tough love when we do our individual defense, like we'll hit a bunch of ground balls and we'll throw it across the diamond to one and then I'll go two times clean, which means they have to fill, set their feet, make the throw.
00:23:09.041 --> 00:23:12.815
First, baseman's got to receive it, he's got to throw the catcher, so everything's got to be clean.
00:23:12.815 --> 00:23:14.199
If they don't, then we start it over.
00:23:14.199 --> 00:23:22.977
So we're constantly trying to put pressure on our guys because, let's face it, and we talk a lot about being comfortable in the uncomfortable situations.
00:23:22.977 --> 00:23:31.029
We talk a lot about a process, about breathing, having a focal point when you're in the box or when you're a defensive spot or when you're on the bump.
00:23:31.029 --> 00:23:37.983
You know everything we do is to try to help them to breathe and be their very best when it matters the most.
00:23:39.935 --> 00:23:45.703
What's the biggest shift you've made in your coaching approach over the years, and what do you think led to that change?
00:23:46.555 --> 00:23:52.826
Well, when I was a young coach and I took over this high school program.
00:23:52.826 --> 00:23:53.608
I played for this.
00:23:53.608 --> 00:23:58.259
This is where I went to high school and we had the best coach in the world.
00:23:58.259 --> 00:23:59.222
His name's Kim Nelson.
00:23:59.222 --> 00:23:59.945
He's still coaching.
00:23:59.945 --> 00:24:09.708
I swear he's been coaching for 50 years and he's won a bunch of state championships and he is the epitome of what a coach should be.
00:24:11.030 --> 00:24:15.365
Well, he left and went over to this other school and we hadn't been to the state tournament in seven years.
00:24:15.365 --> 00:24:20.965
So when we got back, obviously that was our goal, was just trying to get to the post season and we weren't very good.
00:24:20.965 --> 00:24:27.727
We did a lot of West Coast style baseball where we expected the kids to wear pitches.
00:24:27.727 --> 00:24:29.559
We expect them to be aggressive when they got there.
00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:30.564
But we bunted a lot.
00:24:30.564 --> 00:24:35.402
We bunted the hell out of people and it's won us a lot of games.
00:24:35.402 --> 00:24:52.866
It's put a couple of banners up in the gymnasium because we were so good at it and I've kind of gotten away from that a little bit, not that I don't, because I think bunting is the sleeping giant of baseball, because it puts pressure on our whole offensive scheme, is trying to put pressure.
00:24:52.907 --> 00:25:07.625
Let's steal bases, let's hit and run, let's move guys around and I've kind of stepped back just a little bit and trusted more of the hitter than trying to actually force things, if that makes sense is one area where I've kind of backed off it.
00:25:07.625 --> 00:25:12.121
But at some point in the season a bunt's going to win us the game, so they better be able to do it.
00:25:12.121 --> 00:25:13.903
And we do work a lot out in practice.
00:25:13.903 --> 00:25:20.362
But in the summers and the falls and in the spring we bunted all the time and so we were really good at it.
00:25:20.362 --> 00:25:27.162
Now I don't bunt as much, so when we need to do the bunt it doesn't always work out as much as I would like it to, because we haven't been doing it all damn year.
00:25:27.162 --> 00:25:30.588
So I don't know.
00:25:30.634 --> 00:25:32.843
That's one area where I've adjusted a little bit.
00:25:32.843 --> 00:25:38.866
I would like to think that I'm getting better at some things and learning.
00:25:38.866 --> 00:25:42.182
That's what's great about the game of baseball.
00:25:42.182 --> 00:25:45.260
It's constantly evolving.
00:25:45.260 --> 00:25:49.457
You go to those ABCA conventions and you're going to learn real quick that you don't know very much.
00:25:49.457 --> 00:25:52.085
You're not the smartest guy in the room, that's for sure.
00:25:52.085 --> 00:25:52.515
Like you're.
00:25:52.515 --> 00:25:54.220
It's like drinking from a fire hydrant.
00:25:54.220 --> 00:26:00.203
So I used to go to those conventions and I go to them every year and I would try to take away six to seven things.
00:26:00.203 --> 00:26:05.622
Well, now I've simplified that down to three things and just kind of try to add that better to our program.
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