Patrick Jones Baseball

In today’s episode, a newly recruited hitting coach, Rachel Huggins, shares her experiences in coaching at Eastern Illinois University. Rachel shares how she was recruited during her high school years. She also talks about her recruiting process today as a hitting coach and how she helps hitters build their own approach and in individualizing the different pitches and parts of the zone.She shares her and the team’s philosophy when it comes to hitting. She also talks about how she builds relationships with the team and points out what they need to improve on.SHOW NOTES:[2:25] What is your recruiting process as a high school player?[3:48] Is there anything you would have worked on or focused more on as a player in high school to get ready for college?[4:46] What other sports did you play?[5:19] In the recruiting process, do you look for players who have played multiple sports?[6:01] What are you looking for when you are recruiting players?[7:08] Do you look for defense first type players or offense first type p

Millard Dawson enters his fifth year with the baseball program at Seattle U in 2021-22, and his fourth as an assistant under Head Coach Donny Harrel. In his first season, Dawson served as a student manager for the Redhawks. He assists with the recruiting, small-game offense and outfielders, while also serving as the team's first base coach.Millard shares his experiences being a competitor playing multiple sports and how he's grown as a hitter over the years. He tells us about professional baseball and what it all takes to be a complete hitter. He also talks about letting players be their own hitting coach.He shares the importance of understanding how the body moves in sequence and getting hitters to understand how their body moves via drills or constraints from the ground up.Millard shares some tips on how to be successful from a hitting standpoint. He talks about why he wants to give back to the youth and college athletes and help them learn from the mistakes that he made along the way.In this

I'm Patrick Jones and I used to be a hitting coach for the Baltimore Orioles. Now I work with hitters in the private sector in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also help players with college recruiting. In today's episode, we're going to talk about college recruiting. Specifically, we're going to talk about division one players versus d2 and d3 players.Learn the reasons behind why certain players are getting recruited to Division 1 schools and why others aren't.It's a tricky topic to talk about because it's not always easy to see why certain players get chosen over others. But I think it's important for us to understand the reasons behind these decisions so players can better prepare for their future in terms of playing baseball in college and make sure they're doing everything they can to get recruited.SHOW NOTES:[1:34] Your age is important and the year you graduate is important.[2:11] All these big conferences are looking at you.[2:41] Remember how social media works you don't go viral by just doing ordinary thi

In today's episode, I speak to Dawn Weatherwax. Dawn is a Registered/Licensed Dietitian with a specialty in Sports Nutrition and Founder of Sports Nutrition 2Go. She is also a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, which is the premier professional sports nutrition credential in the United States. In addition, she is an Athletic Trainer with a Certification in Strength and Conditioning from The National Strength and Conditioning Association. She brings a comprehensive and unique understanding of the athlete's body, and its nutritional needs, to those interested in achieving specific performance goals and optimal health. Dawn is an active member in the American Dietetic Association (ADA), Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionists Dietetic Practice Group (SCAN), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA), National Athletic Training Association (NATA), & Greater Cincinnati Athletic Training Association (GCATA).Dawn shares nu

In today’s episode I speak to Bryce Neal, Bryce is the hitting coach of the University of Louisville. Bryce comes to Louisville after serving as an assistant coach at Bucknell University during 2021 season. Prior to his stint at Bucknell, Bryce served as a volunteer assistant coach at Arizona State in 2020. He has also worked as a private instructor and spent five years coaching one-on-one private lessons at Perfect Timing Baseball and Softball in Springdale, Arkansas. In 2019 he worked as a camp instructor for LSU softball. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a director and coach for Midwest Nationals Baseball in Springfield, Missouri. While there he was in charge of developing training programs as well as travel logistics.He talks about softball from a development standpoint, hitting, recruiting, offensive strategy, and the mental side of the game.He shares some of his experiences in baseball and how he evolved as a coach.In this episode, learn how they do things at the University of Louisville.S

In today's episode, I speak to Paul Reddick. Paul is the Founder of the Baseball Education Center.Paul is also one of America's top young speakers. He speaks to numerous youth, high school, college, and business groups every year. Paul's speaking career is centered around empowering youth and college groups to achieve lasting success, greater friendships, and healthy relationships.In this episode, he talks about The Recruiting Process, The Politics in Baseball, Scholarship System, Baseball Culture, Player commitment, Self-development, and Building Relationships.He talks about how he helps players get better and offers advice to aspiring players who want to be recruited.Listen to learn more about baseball camps in this episode.SHOW NOTES:[5:54] While you were doing this were you also coaching too?[8:08] What advice would you give yourself 20 years ago?[11:40] What's your take on social media and recruiting?[17:03] Why does he need to win?[17:48] If a college coach loses his job.[18:28] When parents ask me all

In today’s episode, I speak to Connor Gandossy. Connor came to Creighton in the fall of 2017 from Saint Louis University, where he served as an assistant coach for four seasons. Prior to coaching at Saint Louis, he was an assistant coach at Jefferson College.Connor has been an instrumental part of the Bluejays’ successes leading to a trip to the NCAA Regional finals in 2019. The 2019 team was ranked among the 25 teams in the nation and claimed the BIG EAST regular-season and tournament championships.He is responsible for recruiting, developing catchers, and working with the offense for the Bluejays, the same responsibilities he had at Saint Louis.In total Connor has coached 28 players who were drafted by MLB. In addition to the teams’ on the field accomplishments, 25 Bluejay players were named to the 2018-2019 BIG EAST All Academic team.In today's episode, he talks about leadership, development, how to go about recruiting, how to utilize the transfer portal, what specifically he is looking for when recruiting

In today’s episode, we have Steve Merriman. Steve returned to the Wolverines baseball program for the 2021 season after previously serving as pitching coach in 2002 and 2012, in addition to starting his coaching career at U-M as a hitting coach in 1995.Steve worked in the Colorado Rockies organization, where he was the minor league pitching co-coordinator and pitching coach for the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats.He worked with the Chicago Cubs in 2018 at their high-tech pitching lab in Mesa, Ariz., and has other professional coaching experience with the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, and Detroit Tigers organizations.He currently serves on the advisory board for OnBaseU and has previously served in various professional roles, including area scout, AA pitching coach, and MiLB Pitching Coordinator. He has also coached at all levels of college baseball, including three seasons at Michigan.In this episode, he shares his insights based on his experiences helping players improve their mechanics and he speaks of

In today's episode, I speak to Brady Kirkpatrick. Brady joined the Florida Atlantic University staff as pitching coach in September of 2021. Brady comes to FAU most recently having coached at Harvard University for the past three years.  Prior to Harvard, he coached for two seasons at Monmouth University. Before that, he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Rochester University, and coached two summers with the Mountain West College Summer League as well. Brady’s playing career began at the University of Maryland, for three seasons. He finished his college career at the University of San Diego, and began coaching there as well, in the fall of 2015 as a volunteer assistant.In this episode, he talks about the landscape in the summertime as a Division I baseball coach.He says that players need confidence to improve, and that confidence comes with preparation and organization.He shares what he does every day when it comes to recruiting. He talks about structure and the mechanic

In today's episode, we have Troy Merriman Troy is currently the hitting coach at the University of Findlay. He played at the University of Findlay, and now he's coached there for eight years.In this episode, he gives some insight into not only how they do things at the University of Findlay, but also how the DII landscape is laid out, what scholarships are like at that level, how they allocate money at Findlay, and then he gets into a little bit more in-depth on what specifically are they looking for out on the recruiting side. Troy talk about how do they go about trying to develop players and what tools they use. Learn if they utilize the transfer portal.We can get into a lot of different areas of a college program in this episode!This episode can be very beneficial for parents, players out there, and even coaches maybe in other schools giving you all kinds of insight into what exactly goes on behind closed doors with these colleges so be sure to listen in!SHOW NOTES:[2:31] What's been something that stands

Resilient. That would be the best word to describe T.J. Bruce. After his playing career ended, he decided he wanted to get into coaching. When he first started coaching junior college baseball he was making 5k while supporting his wife who was still in school.  He was passed over three times while he was a volunteer assistant at Long Beach State for the paid position. He never gave up. After he became the head coach at the University of Nevada, he had a player pass away, and then two weeks later, his dad passed away. He held it all together and became a stronger man.   He did all of this while becoming known as one of the best college recruiters in the country, won a national championship, and have a family. SHOW NOTES:[1:49] Why did you decide then to transfer to Long Beach State?[3:27] When you say the style of play, what do you mean?[5:58] So you're a graduate assistant when you came back and then did you transition into just a full-time assistant coach?[9:17] During those fou

Currently, in his 7th season as a Volunteer Assistant and the University of Louisville, Adam Vrable loves what he gets to do, coach. His passion for baseball sticks out like a sore thumb when you listen to him talk. Adam played College Baseball at Coastal Carolina where get graduated with a degree in History. After graduating he began his coaching journey, with stops at The Citadel and Charleston Southern. He also was involved in travel baseball coaching in South Carolina right after graduating from South Carolina. In this episode, Adam explains what it's like coaching at Louisville, why they compete in everything that they do, and working with baserunners, outfielders, and hitters at Louisville.SHOW NOTES:[2:12] Does that change the philosophy of the game when it's that cold outside?[3:18] Do you guys change your philosophy on hitting or just approach or anything just based on where you guys play?[5:11] Would you say that at Louisville you guys didn't waver your approach too much just in the last couple of y

In today’s episode, I talk to Adam Cornwell. Adam joined the University of Indianapolis coaching staff after a two-year stay at the University of Dayton. The Flyers finished second in the A-10 during the regular season. He helped guide the Flyers to the 2nd most strikeouts in program history during the 2021 season.He joined the University of Dayton baseball staff in August 2019 following a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Iona College, where he served as the pitching coach for the Gaels.He talked about the pitching development side as a coach. He shares that pitching is all about disrupting timing.In this episode, learn about the growth opportunity as a pitcher and what velocity he is looking for when recruiting. SHOW NOTES:[2:19] What was one thing that you thought you did an excellent job of and one thing that you are reflecting you feel like you could have improved upon as a coach?[4:48] How did you get some players to believe in themselves? [7:01] What rabbit holes have you recently gone

In this episode, we have Craig Snider. Craig is currently the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M University. He won a National Championship when he was at his prior school, Florida State University, back in 2018. Craig talks a bit about what they do at Texas A&M from a development standpoint and what he's looking for in recruits. It's fun to go across onto the softball side and see some of the similarities and differences between baseball and softball, doing some cool stuff with force plates down there.He talks a bit about some of the fantastic projects behind the scenes.SHOW NOTES:[1:52] Why did you start and continue to stay in softball your entire career?[4:27] How have you evolved over those 21 years as a coach?[6:04] How have you gone about being able to make changes that show up in the game?[8:05] What good exit velocity for a college softball player?[9:09] Is there a team philosophy you have like I was listening to another podcast you did earlier. Did you talk about havi

In this episode, I talk to Mark Helsel. Mark is the founder and current director of US Elite Baseball which is a successful travel baseball organization for several years. US Elite is one of the top travel baseball organizations in the country. He talked about practical guides for parents of young athletes and how to develop youth players.He shares tips with parents and coaches on how to act during practices and games.SHOW NOTES: [2:57] What separates US Elite Baseball?[4:40] What advice would you give to people across the country?[5:52] What's been a big challenge for your organization over the last couple of years?[6: 57] What's your take on dealing with parents?[10:42] What are some of the things that you you try to educate the parents on?[16:58 What I want parents to do is understand that everybody matures differently.[20:34] What do you tell parents if their kid isn't hustling, running hard, or being a good teammate?[22:51] Glass half empty type personality and baseball.[23:52] One of the thing

In today’s episode, I speak to Marcus Davis. Marcus is a hitting coach in the private sector but has been on each side of the spectrum from former Midland and professional player to now coach of the 17U Braves.He brings a wide variety of content about college recruiting, working with players, parents' expectations, and hitting as well.He talks about working with players in the cage.Learn about work habits and the ability of players to work through some adversity in this episode.SHOW NOTES[2:38] What's been your experience you coaching travel baseball last couple of years?[3:36] What are you looking for when it comes to just players on your team obviously you can't take everybody. What type of players are you looking for?[5:02] These days it seems that there are probably way more kids feeling that they're a top prospect when they're not actually but because of how early a lot of the recruiting is and social media. How did you handle the hype?[6:40] Do you see that though with other kids nowadays where the

In today’s episode, I talk to David Pearson. David is in his first season as a volunteer assistant coach with the University of Iowa baseball program. He serves as the Hawkeyes’ hitting coach.David joins the program following a two-year run as an assistant coach at North Dakota State – his second stint with the Bison. He also has served as head coach at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) from 2016-19.In this episode, he shares tips and pieces of advice with young coaches and young players.He talks about how he goes about helping his players deal with failure. Learn from his coaching career at different levels from a Player Development standpoint and ways to get better as Coaches and Players.SHOW NOTES[3:17] What was it like playing baseball in North Dakota growing up?[4:17] When did you know that you wanted to get into coaching and that you want to be a coach?[5:08] Did you know when you started coaching were there certain things that looking back you're like probably shouldn't have done?[6:24] Th

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT AND SUMMER RECRUITMENT WITH TYLER JACKSON In today's episode, I speak to Tyler Jackson. Tyler has helped Liberty to the finals of an NCAA regional in 2021 and is in his first season on the Morehead State baseball coaching staff as an assistant coach. Tyler, who also was part of two NCAA Tournament qualifying teams at the College of Charleston, helped guide Liberty to 41 wins and the Atlantic Sun regular season title this past season. The Flames won two games in the NCAA Knoxville regional, eliminating Duke to reach the finals against host Tennessee. In this episode, he shares his experiences as a hitting coach on different levels. He talks about what he likes to emphasize with players during fall and during the season. He shares some Recruiting trail tips with everybody who’s in that process or will be in that process. In this episode learn how Tyler develops his players during the fall!SHOW NOTES[2:21] What's something that you're implementing now that you've

How to Achieve Greatness Charles Schultz is the Owner of Super Fit Ohio and Edge of Greatness Podcast. Charles has always been enthusiastic about the pursuit of excellence, both personally and in coaching others. He talks about why is it important to have relationships and build connections with players.He shares why coaches should have real conversations and open the door for players to understand that all these little things that they're working on are a specific part of their journey towards their ultimate goal.He talks about how players should sacrifice to achieve excellence in the field.Learn about the importance of proper mentality before and during the game.SHOW NOTES:[2:42] What does that mean to be great?[4:01] Building a system and then following through on the system.[4:29] When you're working with athletes they obviously want to be great so how do you go about instilling that in them and making it so it's applicable to them at their age?[5:47] Do you think it's really though sa

In today's episode, I speak to Kyle Decker. Kyle was brought on as an assistant coach in November 2020. He came to the Flyers after working as a volunteer assistant coach at Harvard University for the previous two years. While there he helped lead the Crimson to the 2019 Ivy League Championship and a spot in the Oklahoma City Regional in the 2019 NCAA Championship. He served as a volunteer assistant coach at UMass for one year and as an assistant coach for the Plymouth Pilgrims of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.He gave some tips on recruiting and shared what he is looking for in a player. He talks about what he would recommend to other coaches out there who are looking to get into college baseball.We also talk about the challenges of being a volunteer coach and the sacrifices he made to coach at the collegiate level. SHOW NOTES:[2:24] Did you grow up a Boston Red Sox fan?[3:29] The head coach at Harvard University.[5:10] You grew up with a dad as a coach.[5:44] What's one thing that you've le