Ever wondered what it takes to build and sustain a championship-winning high school baseball program? Join us as Jess Smith, head baseball coach at Russellville High School, shares his incredible journey from being a college catcher to leading one of Alabama's top high school teams. Listen to how his transformative experiences and the legacy of former coaches Chris Heaps and Jay Stanley continue to shape the powerhouse that is Russellville's baseball team. Jess also gives us a glimpse into his life off the field, balancing his passion for coaching with a love for outdoor adventures like turkey hunting.
Shifting gears, we delve into the evolution of coaching styles, emphasizing the importance of intentional conversations and building genuine relationships with players. In an era dominated by social media and external pressures, it's more crucial than ever to earn players' trust and see them as whole individuals with unique lives and challenges. Reflecting on personal experiences, we offer invaluable advice for young athletes to embrace sacrifice, hard work, and the courage to remain committed to their dreams despite societal pressures.
Finally, we tackle the challenges and triumphs of travel baseball in Alabama, emphasizing the need for affordability and collaboration among all stakeholders to enhance player development. Jess shares memorable stories of intense high school baseball rivalries and the profound lessons learned from overcoming failure and transitioning coaches. With insights drawn from sports legends and a focus on relentless work ethic, this episode is an inspiring mix of personal stories, practical advice, and the passion that fuels successful coaching and athlete development. Don't miss out on these compelling tales and lessons from the field!
Ever wondered what it takes to build and sustain a championship-winning high school baseball program? Join us as Jess Smith, head baseball coach at Russellville High School, shares his incredible journey from being a college catcher to leading one of Alabama's top high school teams. Listen to how his transformative experiences and the legacy of former coaches Chris Heaps and Jay Stanley continue to shape the powerhouse that is Russellville's baseball team. Jess also gives us a glimpse into his life off the field, balancing his passion for coaching with a love for outdoor adventures like turkey hunting.
Shifting gears, we delve into the evolution of coaching styles, emphasizing the importance of intentional conversations and building genuine relationships with players. In an era dominated by social media and external pressures, it's more crucial than ever to earn players' trust and see them as whole individuals with unique lives and challenges. Reflecting on personal experiences, we offer invaluable advice for young athletes to embrace sacrifice, hard work, and the courage to remain committed to their dreams despite societal pressures.
Finally, we tackle the challenges and triumphs of travel baseball in Alabama, emphasizing the need for affordability and collaboration among all stakeholders to enhance player development. Jess shares memorable stories of intense high school baseball rivalries and the profound lessons learned from overcoming failure and transitioning coaches. With insights drawn from sports legends and a focus on relentless work ethic, this episode is an inspiring mix of personal stories, practical advice, and the passion that fuels successful coaching and athlete development. Don't miss out on these compelling tales and lessons from the field!
Today on the Athlete One podcast Jess Smith, russellville High School baseball head coach.
Speaker 2:Freshman year resulted in me being our starting catcher at Central Alabama Community College to losing my spot and us winning the National Championship and me being in the bullpen and so, man, that was like one of the best things that ever happened to me. Um, looking back on it, it was like I had it. I blew it but had we not won it and I got to learn how to be a teammate and fight through that struggle. It just it lit me on fire. Fight through that struggle, it just it lit me on fire.
Speaker 3:You're locked in to Athlete One, a podcast for athletes and coaches Coming to you from Dublin, ohio, here to bring you expert advice, insightful conversations and powerful stories from guests who play or coach sports. Now veteran high school baseball coach and someone who has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes your host, ken Carpenter.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to Athlete One, a podcast for coaches and athletes. I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and today's show takes us to northwest Alabama, where I sit down with a highly motivated young head coach, jess Smith. He's taken over a powerhouse program that has won back-to-back state titles. Coach Smith walks us through his approach to coaching today's high school baseball player, what he does to continue the winning tradition and his response to going from a starting catcher to bullpen catcher during a national championship season. The Athlete One podcast is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The netting pros specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, bp terminals, screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches and cubbies. The Netting Pros also work with football, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. You can contact them today at 844-620-2707, that's 844-620-2707, or you can visit them online at wwwnettingproscom, or check out netting pros on Twitter, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects.
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Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to the Athlete One Podcast. I'm your host, Ken Carpenter. I'm your host, Ken Carpenter, and joining me today is Jess Smith, head baseball coach at Russellville High School in Alabama. Coach, thanks for taking the time to join the Athlete One podcast.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Well, if I'm correct, you're just coming off the golf course to join the show. And was it a good day?
Speaker 2:Yeah, top ten to join the show. And uh, was it a good day? Oh, yeah, uh, top 10. We didn't. We didn't take home the the big chick, but top 10 finished.
Speaker 1:So you can't complain whenever you're uh, spend your fridays at the golf course yeah, well, I I'm a terrible golfer and uh, I'm convinced if I could just use a fungo bat I'd be a lot better. So absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was on. I was on on a team with two other really good golfers and I was just there for moral support.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there you go. Now. Is that your favorite thing to do besides coaching baseball?
Speaker 2:Oh man, it's summertime, it probably is All season. I spend a lot of time deer duck hunting. Man, I really just enjoy being outdoors, being active. My passion really when it comes to outdoors being an outdoorsman is probably turkey hunting. But you know that interferes with prime time baseball season. So I'll make sure on our Saturdays during turkey season we we have a one o'clock start instead of that 11 am start typically. That way I can spend some time in the woods Saturday morning ah, there you go.
Speaker 1:I like that well you're you're a fairly young head coach and you've been to back-to-back elite eights there in Alabama prior to you taking this job. Russellville, I believe, won back-to-back state championships. What do you point to as the team strength and the reason for you guys putting together a string of years where you guys are being very successful?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I wish I could look you in the eye and tell you that I'm taking credit for it. But it wasn't me. It's kind of my job to just keep the standard going. Kind of, in Russell baseball history we reference our program as the gold standard. You know we're the Golden Tigers, so we reference the baseball program as the gold standard. And, man, I have to give all credit to the head coach before me and the associate head coach with me now, Coach Chris Heaps and Coach Jay Stanley.
Speaker 2:Man, the last decade, you know, here in Alabama they've won five state championships and that's included the COVID year and one runner-up, you know. So that's six of nine playing for it. And you know, and then the two that I've been the head coach, we've been eliminated in the quarterfinals and, man, it almost feels like a kind of like it was a failure in a sense. You know it's a bittersweet thing. You want to take pride in making it that far, because baseball is really really hard and playing on the biggest stage is really really hard. I think Tony Vantella was talking about that after winning the national championship it's just like this is really hard to get here. Championship just like this is, it's really hard to get here, um, and then I think that what has been the key to success over this last 10 years, you know, and what I'm trying to just continue is, you know, a culture of work ethic. You know, coach heaps, um, if you know him or have heard of him, and that is the, that's the hardest working dude in the business, you know, and one of my first days working for him he said you know, I believe luck is a four-letter word, spelled W-O-R-K, and I find the harder I work, the luckier I get. And man, that's just been kind of the staple of our program. And being uncommon, you know, that's the phrase that he kind of coined a decade ago at Russell, and man like I don't have enough pride to just eliminate it from our program.
Speaker 2:Man, we do, we want to be uncommon in everything that we do, and that goes from coaches all the way down to seventh graders and the parents within our program and it's a family-type feel. I mean, Russellville is a very, very tight-knit community and so part of that continued success comes from, you know, our younger athletes who are. Success comes from. You know our younger athletes who are, you know, third, fourth, fifth grade sitting in that stadium watching. You know the baseball team dogpile after, you know, winning the state championship and they want to continue that and they want to be a part of it. And it's like for such a small town, small community, it feels like, you know, that's the center of the universe from February to May and all hands are on deck. But yeah, I really believe.
Speaker 2:You know Coach Sheets, Coach Stanley, those two guys a decade ago came to Russell and you know those two things work and being uncommon in everything you do it starts in the classroom, you know, and then it's supposed to be when you enter the baseball stadium. You enter the facility every day at two o'clock. You're going to be uncommon. You know the common thing to do is go through your pre-throwing arm care routine just mediocre, you know that's what most high school programs are doing, but not us. You know we take an extreme level of pride in the smallest of details, you know, from pre-throwing to catch play, to not just taking ground balls but how we take those ground balls. You know like we preach that perfection, footwork, we're going to be on time, it's just.
Speaker 2:That was the precedent Coach Heaps established and, man, it's been able to continue because everyone's bought in. You know, like you can't sit there and say, well, one person is responsible for all of this. No, one person is responsible for getting total buy-in from an entire community. You know, and same with me, Like I've been very, very blessed to be around people like coach johnson, uh coach heaps and uh coach stanley, who, you know, inspired me to, in essence, be uncommon, um, and kind of want to follow in their footsteps and feel their shoes well in your what is the most important trait to have as a head coach in order to be successful.
Speaker 1:Is it the uncommon part, or is there something more that you looked at?
Speaker 2:Man, I feel like I look at it and it's not just one thing For me, it's two. You know it's, yes, that being uncommon. You know outworking everyone and and in baseball we all know that. You know we spend a lot of hours at the park. There's just no way around it. We do, but how intentional are those hours spent? You know, like I said, from the time that we exit the locker room and go into the arm care room prior to our throwing program, at what level are you executing? I know what type of day we're going to have when I can hear a pin drop. You know, while we're doing our free throwing, it's like they're locked in. You know time to go. Now we're going to take an extreme level of pride in our throwing program, defense, offense man, our scrimmages, um. So for me, yeah, that's, that's a huge piece of it.
Speaker 2:Um, I think for me, probably the foundation of being successful as a head coach and in my opinion and I'm young and it may change um, just humility, uh, man, being being humble, like being humble, being okay with admitting that you're wrong and maybe you don't do as good of a job at certain things as other people, but you empower those that do, or you, you listen to your assistant coaches ideas, you listen to your players conversations, um, and just don't let your ego get in the way. Um, and that's a. That's a really hard thing to do when you're sitting in the captain's chair and, uh, it boils down to winners or losses. Like you can, it's really easy to to get caught up in that world where I feel directly responsible for how successful we are. Yet if my ego gets in the way of that, then I could potentially prevent our team from reaching their fullest potential.
Speaker 2:You know like, for me, 30 years old, head coach at Russell High School is the greatest honor that you know. It makes me emotional saying those things to you. It is, it's an. I'm so blessed, but the thing that I think I'm so blessed with is being around those people. You know, like I referenced, coach Johnson, coach Heaps, coach Stanley, heck, all my heck, all the staff that I work alongside.
Speaker 2:Man, I've just been very, very fortunate and I think I had a vision of what I wanted this to be and I stepped out, you know, from an assistance role with Coach Heaps and Coach Stanley to go on my own as a 25 year old and man. You know, it was just like I got the blueprint. I know how, man, I know how to win championships. I've seen it done and boy did I come to a rude awakening. It's like, all right, sit down and evaluate. Success leaves clues and you've been around arguably the most successful people in your state, in your profession. So how can you blend the things that made them successful with what you bring to the table and how can you, you know, build off of feedback from those around you? So I would probably say that's to me, the two key components of being successful.
Speaker 1:Well, coaching today's athlete is different from what it was when I grew up. I'm an older guy. I grew up in the 80s. Talk about your coaching style and what advice. Since you're 30, I consider to be still a fairly young coach.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir.
Speaker 1:What would your advice be to a veteran coach who has that it's my way or the highway coaching style?
Speaker 2:Right, man, I think you know number one. I tell people all the time it is different now, no matter you know how much you want to argue and say it's not, it is. It's just an entirely different world that we live in. Even you know, when I was a senior in high school playing for Coach Johnson 12 years ago. It's completely different and he'll tell you I'm completely different from you know, as a player then in 2012, as the kind of kid he's coaching now. But again, I say this, like with today's athlete, and I think that's probably one of my strong suits and I fall short a lot, but one of my strong suits is just being able to connect with my players, and I think a lot of that has to do with the age. And so I tell it's not so much, you can't coach today's athlete hard, it's, you have to earn the right to coach them hard.
Speaker 2:Um, with that being said, like there's just so many avenues of information out there that like if you tell a kid one thing, hitting he's going to be like well, I saw on TikTok, you know teacher man talked about snapping the barrel and it's like why should I listen to you and not him? And it's all about that connection, that you're able to build that level of trust with today's athlete. And then you have to be really, really, really intentional. To do that. Um, and I think that's really hard with being a head coach is because you're responsible for so many things. You're responsible for the practice plan, you're responsible for knowing who's doing what, when and where and establishing that, the fundraising, the communicating with the parents, the bus rides, the scheduling, and the list goes. Being a janitor, the field head, field crew guy, like there's just so many things that go into it.
Speaker 2:And you have to be really, really intentional with your conversations with your players. You know you pre-practice, you know those times before we walk in the armchair room, am I going around talking to guys? You know, and I'm not just saying the kids today. They know the superficial, you know, versus authentic conversation. Like, do I show them that I genuinely care about them as a human? They have to know that, man, I have their best interest at heart and I think, if we were to just hash it out, the reality is the difference between old school and new school coaching is basically that statement where you know I play really, really bad and we'd get beat. And Coach Johnson, you know, have a colorful conversation after and I'll never forget, always like my parents asking me you know what Coach Johnson say. You know nothing. You know I would never, ever, ever dare to.
Speaker 2:And it's just different now.
Speaker 2:You know like the kids are going home and they're saying everything you're saying and we know you know, being in this world, you know you're going to make pretty much everybody upset at some point in time because baseball there's, you know, nine spots and we got 30 plus kids on roster and man, you're going to upset those people and it's just part of it because they love their child. But when your child goes home and talks about how much they love you whenever they're not playing, you know, then I think you've won. So for me it would just be really being really, really, really intentional with learning who your players are, showing a genuine care for them as a human first, you know, not just a baseball player, but as a student you know, in their relationships, their friendships, dealing with things with their parents, just showing that you genuinely care, building that bridge of trust so that when they get on TikTok later that night and see some hidden guru talk about drill work, they don't come back and, just you know, debunk you To me. That's how it translates.
Speaker 1:Right? Well, this kind of leads into my next question. You know, what would you tell yourself as a high school player based on your experience as a college player and a coach? Now that you know, if you look back at your 16- 17-year-old self, what would you go back and say to you know, know, if you look back at your 16 17 year old self, what would you go back and say to you know, make you probably a better player yeah, man, you're asking all the questions, giving me emotional.
Speaker 2:I got chills, you know, thinking about telling my my younger self um, man, I would say is just be good with that sacrifice, like, be good with being different, you know, and it makes me again, I get a little emotional thinking about it. It's just how much this game means to me, and it's not just being successful, it's just the process that baseball requires you know, like you have to put in the work and it still it may not reward you Like it still may not and it doesn't guarantee you success. And I saw a video, you know, years ago where a guy had said, you know, his pro ball career didn't go how he wanted to and he kind of crashed and burned and then he reset and basically said you know I'm going to do everything I can. And so if I could go back and tell myself that is like be okay with being different, you know, your friends in the summer, they're all you know, they're going to go to the lake and you know they're going to go whatever.
Speaker 2:But like, don't, don't let that fear of missing out Keep you away from your dreams. And also just the failure associated with baseball. Like, had a really good high school career, was a highly recruited college athlete and just and in my opinion, crashed and burned in my college career. Um, and a lot of it, was my response to failure. Um, that process changed for me, you know. I went from a really really hard worker that was, um, you know, sold out to that process. I was good with making that sacrifice. I was good. You know, my friends always used to say, like, oh, the streetlights are on, jess is going, you know he's going home you know, like, um and no, he's not going to be here this summer, he's going to be in who knows where across the earth.
Speaker 2:And I experienced a little bit more challenging times in college and then failed. And so if I could go tell myself that man, just like, do the work, keep sacrificing. You know, the most beautiful things come out of that struggle, like the thing that you can't do really well right now. You know, which, for me, was the offensive side of the game. You know I was. I could have some, I had some quality at bats. You know I was a good team player, but I wasn't going to hit for high average, I wasn't going to hit for power.
Speaker 2:Um, but man, I let that failure kind of deter me from conquering that. And so if I can go back and tell myself, you know, at a younger age is like that struggle you don't see it now, it's something that you know is really, really in your head. But if you just grind through it like, find somebody around you that you trust and will go to the ends of the earth for you, walk on to them and go to work, man, so yeah, that would be, that would be what I would say to 16, 17 year old Jess what I would say to 16, 17-year-old Jess.
Speaker 1:Well, is there anything specific where, maybe at the college level, where you're like you just wasn't getting it done and you were failing and you were like how can I turn this into a positive? Is there something that happened where you're like, okay, I'm not getting it done, but I changed this and it x happened.
Speaker 2:So I went in. I was always, um, I was a catcher and I was kind of your, your, your defensive guy. You know, we all know those it feels like with catchers you get one or the other. You know you got a hitter, that, whatever, and then you got a catcher, that, whatever offensively. But I think in high school, you know, I proved that I was kind of equal out, but I would say a little bit heavier on the catching ability side, you know.
Speaker 2:So then I went into college, my freshman year, and it was just like you know, first day of VP, I'm seeing guys, you know, 75% swings backside, 375, you know, just effortless, and I'm like dude that takes everything I got. Hey, you know, and I might not still do it. And so I started, you know, getting a little overwhelmed, thinking I wasn't. You know where I was. My confidence took a hit and ultimately, you know where I was, my confidence took a hit and ultimately, you know, my freshman year resulted in me being our starting catcher at Central Alabama Community College to losing my spot and us winning the National Championship and me being in the bullpen, and so, man, that was like one of the best things that ever happened to me, looking back on it, it was like I had it. I blew it but had we not won it? And I got to learn how to be a teammate and fight through that struggle. It just lit me on fire, you know. So I returned back my sophomore season and this was before the transfer portal was a thing, but there was still some embarrassment following my freshman year, as high level of a recruit as I was, and I thought I was going to go JUCO and then just play one year and go sign a professional contract to you know, catching bullpens in the national championship game and again going back to why that was. The best thing that ever happened to me was just it lit me on fire, you know.
Speaker 2:I came back home and I asked one of our assistant coaches, coach Hunter Vick. I came back home and I asked one of our assistant coaches, coach Hunter Vick. He's the head baseball coach at Chattahoochee Valley in Phoenix City, alabama. I asked him, you know, at the time, like, is there any league that you know I can go play in? And he said let me, you know, make some phone calls. And I ended up going to Outer Banks, north Carolina, and, man, I lived. It was awesome. I was so fortunate I was on a condo on the beach but I had, you know, 24-7 gym access. I had cage access. You know, outer Banks, there's a lot of dunes.
Speaker 2:So, with that being said, man, I just blocked out the world and I went to work. I said, you know, like we may not win another national championship, but I'm not going to blow it, I'm not going to do that again. I'm coming back, even though there was some temptation to transfer because of that embarrassment, you know, it was like, just, I was whatever. No, I'm coming back and I'm going to be the guy. And so, you know, just left the state of Alabama and drove, you know, twelve hundred miles away and Live in Outer Banks for that summer, and just went to work, you know, spent my early mornings running those sand dunes and then headed to the gym and then headed to the field until we played. You know the 7 pm start.
Speaker 2:And so then, you know, coming back my sophomore season, it was like, yeah, juco, you get a fall season in alabama. Man, I got that first offer from, uh, the university of north alabama and I was like I don't even need to know how much money, what. Yeah, I'm, I'm committed, you know, like I'm in um, because it's just that humility, man, man, you, just you learn to take baseball with a grain of salt and your ego can't get in the way. You know, I thought I was this player but I just, for whatever reason, I let some circumstances prevent me from being that. But, man, I think that was one of the things I'm most individually proud of was just that failure, that embarrassment, but then you know, fighting my tail off through it, where a lot of people didn't know the embarrassment I was experiencing, you know, individually, and getting that offer and opportunity to go play beyond junior college, for an opportunity to go play beyond junior college.
Speaker 1:Well, it just shows that hard work pays off, and you did that. Well, let me switch it up a little bit here. And the College World Series just happened. What's your take on Coach Schlossnagel leaving Texas a&m the next day after almost winning a national championship and it just absolutely blown up on the internet?
Speaker 2:yeah, man, it's, it's. It's sad, um one, I'm never gonna fault another coach for bettering him himself or his family. You know, um, but the, the myth, the method of execution in that transition was handled poorly in my opinion. Um and I, it's easy for us to sit here and and say that behind the computer screen, but we we haven't sat and lost the college world series and had a reporter right off the rip look you in the eye and say are you leaving? I couldn't imagine just that stress and how you would respond. So I feel for him in a way.
Speaker 2:But that doesn't change my mind on you know, hey, I'm all for people bettering themselves and their families, and sometimes in our profession you have to do those uncomfortable things, their families, and sometimes in our profession you have to do those uncomfortable things and it feels like you're not being loyal to people and it's it's a lot deeper than that. But you didn't, you didn't have to go so far as to say the things that you said. You could have just been a little more vague, man, you know what I mean. Just been a little more vague and you'd call it a little less heat. So well, travel baseball travel baseball.
Speaker 1:Is it big in Alabama?
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So it's like that everywhere. Let me ask you this what can be done to make it a more positive experience for players, coaches, parents, umpires and you know, and even making it more affordable? What would you do if you could step in and say, all right, this is how it's going to be run?
Speaker 2:The question is, the key ticket to me is the affordable piece. You know it's. There's a lot of powers that be that. You know. It's just unfortunate right now where we're currently at, and I think that'll probably change with time but we can't compete with. You know the, the perfect games and the pbr tournaments. If you're a high level, you know travel ball organization, you're going to go play in those events, you know, and those events cost x amount of money and that means you have to play, you have to pay X amount of dollars to be a player.
Speaker 2:Now, for me, I don't really know how to alleviate that, but when you talk about you know the piece of making it a better experience for parents, high school coaches, travel ball coaches, the player all at once man, I think that it comes down to a commitment and communication amongst the organization with the head coach, and I say that and I'm going to give a shout out here to Excel Baseball Academy out of Oxford Alabama, to Excel Baseball Academy out of Oxford Alabama, ran by Matthew Meniscalco and Josh Beshears, both professional baseball players. At one point, I think you know I want to say Manny holds the hit record at Mississippi State. You know he's Gatorade Player of the Year. With that being said, like any good player I have, I send them to that organization, like because of the connection that Coach Maniscalco and Coach Beshears have with me. You know, we communicate throughout the week. Hey, you know, for example, my freshman shortstop he's going to be a 10th grader freshman shortstop one of my, you know, top right-handed arms, um is playing with them. It's like, hey, where's trip at? You know, what has he done this week? Well, you know, he's thrown probably 250 passes because he's our starting quarterback also, you know, and I had him throw in a scrimmage for an inning. So, like, you could probably get him an inning's worth of work in different bracket play to let him come, you know, compete. But that's where we're at and absolutely thank you for that communication, you know. And then he's the owner of the organization.
Speaker 2:Well then I'm able to have that communication with the head coach, tripp's head coach, and to me I think that's what it boils down to, kind of what I first started on this, that humility piece, like let's just both humble ourselves a little bit and say the game's bigger than us, like, the game is bigger than your travel organization and the game is bigger than me man. But like, if a kid is at our heart right, and his best interest is what we're doing, then let's work together. And I think that type of mentality probably convinces some parents to maybe go all in a little bit more on the high school side of things too. You know, like, like we all know, like I think Coach Johnson said it best. He said you know, travel is a necessary evil at this point. You know, and it's just, it's not going anywhere.
Speaker 2:So how can we In my opinion, the two where they kind of meet a crossroad high school baseball to travel ball. High school baseball is the team. What can I do to help us win today? Travel ball is how can I show out in front of Coach Vitello who's right there? You know, like, how can I light up the radar going to that? Who cares if we win?
Speaker 2:You know, like same with at-bats. You see guys all the time and I hear parents say that to me all the time I'm like well, he hits so good in summer ball. You know, it's like we're the problem. Well, there's no pressure in those summer ball at-bats. There is none, there is none, there is no pressure. You know, like, all of a sudden you get in the quarterfinals, the semifinals, the state championship. Every at-bat has some pressure. You know what I mean. So I think for me again, shout out to Excel Baseball Academy. Same. There's another organization in Alabama, vipers Baseball Academy, and then the one that's kind of just surfaced, uh, usa Prime, southeast man. All those people I know do it the way that kind of I'm, I'm expressing and and it works really well for our kids and the fact it makes me feel confident in sending them on that way. You know like it. Just it takes active communication and actual effort amongst the organizations.
Speaker 1:How important is it for the players to have fun?
Speaker 2:Oh man, I think we get lost in that realm of you. Know, winning takes this and you've got to do X, y, z and that's. We're not going to fray from how it looks, but at the end of the day, if this isn't the most enjoyable part of your player's day, man, you're never going to reach your fullest potential. Um, I think all of us know, as high school head coaches, we all have a bar. That bar is different every year. You know what's going to allow you to get above that bar? Well, for me it's hey, these kids love each other, they love their coaching staff and this is their, their favorite part of their day. Like they may dread first, second ball, you know that pre-cal class that's kicking their tail. But they cannot wait to get to the facility, to get to the field every day, and nobody wants to do that unless it's something you enjoy. So you, you have to create that environment, um, or else you'll get that bar and you might reach it, but then not get above it or you may fall under it. Um, so they're kids, you know, like they are, um, and this is a kid's game and it's just. We can't lose sight of that.
Speaker 2:I have to tell myself that all's just, we can't lose sight of that. I have to tell myself that all the time, we can't lose sight of that. Um, and I struggle, I'll be the first one to tell you like this if my players want to show up kind of half caught, they get that. I guarantee you. If you were to buzz one of them in on this phone call, they'll be be like that's a bad day. It's a bad day and man, I just lose sight of that. Sometimes it's like I've got to make sure this is the most enjoyable part of their day and this is their you know highlight of their high school career. Then I'll truly be able to get what I want from them, and that's hey, these guys are going to be better human beings, having been a part of our program.
Speaker 1:I ask this question to every guest. I have Hate losing or love winning.
Speaker 3:Woo.
Speaker 2:Man, that's a tough one. You might have to buzz in Coach Johnson for that. I think I'm going to take a different approach here. As much as I hate to lose, I think it's my fuel of love. Winning. That kind of pushes me like I. I believe you know, hey, there's a scoreboard, and if there's not a scoreboard, we're gonna keep score because you and I are competing and I don't know how, what way or what, like what it looks like, but I'm gonna find a way to win. You know, um, and, and one of my high school coaches uh, it was actually my high school football coach used to say you know, I don't care if I'm playing my 90 year old, you know, grandmother and marbles, like I'm sorry, granny, but she, you know you're gonna get beat today and I really do that.
Speaker 2:Just passion for winning, because it's winning is really really hard. Right, and we talk about this uncommon process and this work, ethic and work, being lucky and and all of that is to win and winning's really, really, really, really hard. And I think earlier in my coaching career I looked at it as like losing was an expectation, where winning was a relief, and I was like man, you've got to change your perspective, it's got to be about winning. You know, like, hey, we're winning in life, we're winning in the classroom, we're winning at practice. We're winning in life, we're winning in the classroom, we're winning at practice, we're winning in everything we do. We're uncommon. So if we're going to do something and we're going to win, so yeah, I'm gonna have to go with. Uh, love for winning.
Speaker 1:But I was formerly a hate to lose type guy if you could sit down with three professional athletes, whether they're dead or alive, that you could spend time with to learn from what three athletes would they be?
Speaker 2:Man, michael Jordan, number one. Like again, you talk about that hate to lose but love to win type deal. You know the Last Dance documentary came out and what was it? Five years ago yeah, probably the quarantine era, um, and man, there was an episode I can't remember which one it is, but it's just at the end, um of an episode and michael's.
Speaker 2:Like you know, I wouldn't ask any teammate of mine to do something that I wouldn't do. You know I'm like, yeah, I may be aggressive and I may be what you think is a mean old cuss, but like it takes what it takes and if you don't want to play that way, don't play that way. And you know he started getting emotional about it and I'm just sitting there, you know, boohoo and crying and shaking like I'm ready to go. So just him. And honestly, I know you would think a baseball guy would probably say baseball player. But second would probably be Kobe, because I think he embodied that mentality as well. You talk about relentless work ethic. You know the stories of him at 3 am in the gym calling Phil Jackson like hey, where are you at? You know, like I've been here since midnight. I'm pouring sweat, like why aren't you here, so Kobe would probably be second.
Speaker 2:I'm going to throw in a baseball guy and it'd be Yadier Molina. Man, he's the reason I wanted to be a catcher. I just love the. It's really. To me, it's just the swagger that that dude played with behind the plate, like Coach Johnson put it to me, and now I do this with my catchers. It was. You know. We will be who you are. There's nine people on the baseball field and eight of them are looking at you. So if you want your team to be a tough son of a gun, who's you know, confident in no matter how bad things are going, you better possess that. And I thought Yadier Molina was the king. You know he was. Every inning of baseball that he caught. It was like you know, a I'm the captain, b I'm the best, and C we're going to win, and I loved that. So, mj Kobe, yadier Molina.
Speaker 1:Would you rather have an offense that can rake one through nine but have an average pitching staff, or have a lights-out stud pitching staff with an average hitting team?
Speaker 2:Man, that's a conflicting question, because I'm an offensive guy and, you know, as a catcher, pitchers can be my worst enemy. At times, you know, it's like, hey, you're getting a full-body massage and I've caught, you know, 72 innings this week. Make that make sense. So, with that being said, though, it's pitching defense In high school baseball at the end of the day, like if you can just one through nine have, have quality at bats and make things happen, but put pressure on defenses to make plays, you can win on the scoreboard.
Speaker 2:But if you can pitch it at a really high level, you know, throw three plus pitches for a strike, who cares about the VLO? But if you can throw three plus pitches for a strike and you make every routine play, and then that you know that that game changing, you know momentum swinging, big time play, and then that game-changing, momentum-swinging, big-time play, you're going to make it. I just believe, man, that wins championships. So, as an offensive guy, I'm going against my better judgment. But yeah, I want five arms who can throw three pitches per strike, and those nine guys out there are tough as nails. They make every routine play and they make, you know, the tough one whenever they need to.
Speaker 1:Tell me something you do as a coach that you know it's your thing and maybe the majority of coaches out there probably don't do that.
Speaker 2:Oh, man, that's a tough one Because I just I really believe that you know, for me I'm, I'm a a by-product of a lot of great coaches. You know that I've fallen under the line and I think subconsciously I do a lot of what they do. Um, for me I'd probably say, you know, those practices, game, days, that just probably make me unique is the level of intensity that I bring to to it. You know, like I, I fail a lot as a coach. Um, man, there's a lot of days that I wish I had back, but there's not one of them that any of the coaches that I've coached with or played, you know, when I was a player, when I played with or um, you know players that I coach now wouldn't say that I didn't bring it. You know, like um, so I would now wouldn't say that I didn't bring it.
Speaker 2:So I would say me is just that intensity level, if you know, you know If you played with me, you know If you played for me, you know, and I think that is just an element of me that probably makes me unique and a lot of times, man, it gets me in some uncomfortable situations because a lot of people you know Nick Saban says, you know, the unmotivated see intensity as aggression, you know, and it's like there's a lot of times that a kid who just he doesn't want it as bad as me Lord help him. He is 14 years old, he just kind of, you know, trying to play the game that he loves and I'm like no man, we're going to do it at this level. You know, like we're not just here, we're going to do it here, and that comes off as aggressive. But I think I've had to navigate through that as a coach. But again, probably the uh who know me best would say that that level I'll bring probably every day to finish up, funniest story that you can recall, either as a player or a coach oh man, yeah, I'll go ahead and tell you um scrimmage.
Speaker 2:One day, senior year, high school, um playing for coach johnson and we picked teams I can't remember who the team captains, it doesn't really matter on the mound. Um starting was one of my best friends. His name was blake smith.
Speaker 2:Um blake ended up pitching at shelton and uh is the all-time uhRA record holder in Alabama, juco, and probably would have been an early draft pick had it not been for an unfortunate, you know UCL tear, you know mid to upper 90s, with just a I mean power slider. But you know my senior year of high school, he was a year younger than me, junior. He was a transfer younger than me, um, junior. Uh, it was a transfer actually from our rival school, which was, uh, scottsboro, and so I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little bit of me. That was just like, hey, look, I'm all like you're really good, but now that you're here, we're going to let you know that we're the Alphas.
Speaker 2:So, scrimmage, inning worn, I think I hit two hole that day. I hit a double, no, excuse me, triple off Blake, get to third base and if you know anything about Coach Johnson's style of baseball like we're going to be just you know, reckless almost on the base pass. And so he gave me a little window where he was out of the windup and I was going to steal home on him, but he got me. So we get a run down and you know he tagged me hard on the head and I just get up and I looked at him and, man. We hit a round on him that inning and so naturally I may or may not have been, you know, in the dugout just yapping my gums at him, um, and then I come up to to bat around that same inning and he strikes me on three straight pitches makes me look like an idiot, you know. And it's just, he flexed on me coming off the mound and my young, just dumb ego self, I take my bat and I roll it as hard as I can like across the ground and try to like it just happened to be perfect. It went right between his legs as he was taking a step and it tripped him, you know, and he stopped and he looked at me and he put a spike on the barrel of my bat and just all the way down to the top and it was like we were staring at each other and we took off on a sprint and just, I don't think any of us connected a punch. We're just going haywire at each other and swinging and missing, hanging and missing.
Speaker 2:Coach Johnson had to, you know, send me to our left field porch area and he had to send Blake to the softball field which was below right field at Fort Payne, and we had to sit there and time out for the next hour. You know, with both of us being Smith, our lockers were right beside each other. So after practice it's just like looking at him. He's looking at me. So after practice it's just like looking at him. He's looking at me and I was like man, you didn't have to spot my bat like that. He was like you could have hit me in the eye instead of the side of the head and I was like I love you, man. He said I love you too, and so to me it's hilarious thinking about it. Just two guys that were just super, super competitive wanted to win. We pushed each other to those lengths in high school and I'm sure Coach Johnson, he rolls his eyes, probably when he tells that story, but I guarantee you he remembers it very vividly.
Speaker 1:Well, it's head coach Jeff Smith at Russellville High School in Alabama. Coach, really love your approach to the game of baseball and, you know, wish you the best of luck as you go forward in your career. And thank you again for taking time to join me here on the Athlete One podcast.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, thank you so much, man. It's been awesome. I've had a blast doing this. And thank you for allowing me to join me here on the Athlete One Podcast. Yes, sir, thank you so much, man. It's been awesome.
Speaker 1:I've had a blast doing this and thank you for allowing me to have this opportunity. This episode of the Athlete One Podcast is powered by the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707, or visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and, as always, thanks for listening.
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