Latest / Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball / Interview with Air Force Head Coach Mike Kazlausky - Ep. 176

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Interview with Air Force Head Coach Mike Kazlausky - Ep. 176 · Dugout Dish Baseball Recruiting Podcast powered by EMD Baseball

• 0:02
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• 1:12
  Speaker B: welcome to this week's edition of Dugout Dish podcast. I'm Andy Kitties, joined by my wonderful co host, Keith Glasser. Keith, how we doing?
• 1:19
  Speaker C: Great. How are you?
• 1:21
  Speaker B: Got another special guest on tonight. I won't delay the introduction. Once you, once you kick us off here.
• 1:28
  Speaker C: Yeah, no, we, we're fortunate enough tonight to be joined by someone who's super high energy. And I'm, I'm couldn't be more excited to have on our podcast, but the head coach at Air Force, Coach Kaz, who's entering his 15th season at Air Force. Super excited to have you on. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to sit down and talk recruiting with us in college baseball Coach Kaz, welcome to the podcast.
• 1:52
  Speaker D: Oh, boys, thank you for having me on. And I'm excited. Let's get this thing going.
• 1:55
  Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Before we get going, just give the listeners a quick rundown of your career, what you've done and what you're doing or how you got the Air Force.
• 2:04
  Speaker D: All right, well, back in. Let's go way back. So my dad was my high school baseball coach, and I grew up in a small town outside of Chicago. My dad said, hey, there's a guy from the Air Force Academy. I think you should listen to him. And my first question was, where is it? This was before travel ball, cell phones and things of that nature and computers. So it's like Colorado. Like, well, I've never been to Colorado. I was always interested in the military, but where I grew up, there was no military whatsoever. None in my family. And I listened to this gentleman speak to me and the word that really resonated with me was the word challenge and all. Growing up and being in high school, three sport athlete, I did very well academically. I was a good kid and I wanted to push myself to see how high I can go. And coming to the Air Force Academy has definitely did that to me and it pushed me along. And following playing four years of college baseball, had the opportunity to play under Paul Maneri and coach under him for a few years. I was a C17 cargo pilot stationed in Charleston, South Carolina for majority of my career and for my military career, probably every three to four years you move, you do something else. So for me, I was either flying jets in Charleston, South Carolina or as coaching baseball. And you know, I've been in Iraq and Afghanistan and been in combat, been to 77 different countries, been shot at, taking missiles up my butt, you know, at least warnings about them. And then also, unfortunately, I've also had the opportunity to bring our boys home in flag drape caskets, which really sets the tone of why I'm here and who I am of what we do out here, because it's a whole heck of a lot different than just going to a normal school. So being the head coach out here for 15 years, I don't take it for granted. This is a true honor and a privilege to be around such unbelievable young men and women that are willing to raise their hand at the age of 17, 18 years old to serve and fight and protect the greatest country in the world. And, you know, we're at the point now we have a change of leadership that we're going to make our military great again, we're going to make our country great again, we're going to make our military great again. And I'm excited to be back in the hunt and be back in the fight with our new administration.
• 4:19
  Speaker B: Wonderful. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, right off the top, obviously. Thank you for, for your service, what you've done as a member of the military and what you continue to do at the Air Force Academy. I know me and Keith have, have close ties to the military and, you know, it's, it's an honor to be on here with you and really appreciate everything that you do and continue to do.
• 4:41
  Speaker D: Well, guys, I mean, it's. I bleed red, white and blue. And there's no doubt about it, I am a true American and I love it. Everything that we do out here is about, it's with passion and energy. It's not about just winning a baseball game. It's about winning, winning in Life. And our mission here is fly, fight, win. I actually put a little more caveat to it, to our guys on our team. It's fly, fight, win, kill. And if you come to this school, especially if you're going to be a baseball player, you're gonna have three options. You can go Special Forces, you're going to go fly jets, or if you want to go to medical school. Because if you're not one of those kids, I want kids that are going to be on the tip of the spear and not kids that are willing to hand out water bottles or towels at the end. So that's kind of our mentality and our attitude out here. It's an attack mentality. I want you to get after it every day. That's not just on the baseball field or the weight room. I mean, I expect our kids to be leaders in the classroom. I expect them to be leaders in our military duties. Because at the end, we are making military warfighters. I'm not making professional baseball players here. Yes, Everyone wants to talk about Paul Skeins. And you know, if you want to talk about Paul, Paul didn't want to leave our school. Paul loved our school. He didn't want to leave here. He sat in my office and we cried together because it was the right thing for him to do. And when it's all said and done, even Paul wants to get back in our military because that's what truly makes America what it is. The greatest country in the world is because of the 1 percenters out there that are the true sheepdogs of our country that we gotta protect, protect us from the wolves. You know, 99 of Americans just sit in the damn stands and watch. And we're looking for kids that want to stand up, put their hand up, put the right foot forward and go do something that's a whole hell of a lot bigger. So, yeah, I like the Special Forces aspect of it. That's what we're trying to train out here is true killers and war fighters. And then, you know, once again, if they don't want to do that part, then let's go put some damn warheads on forehead heads and turn people into hair, teeth and eyeballs and pink miss. And be part of that kill chain that our country expects of us and, you know, put the bad dudes in the ground. So that's kind of the, the fun aspect of this. It's, it's just practice for what we're doing. General MacArthur once said, on the fields of friendly strife are sowing the seeds and other days and other fields will bear the fruits of victory. And I am so fired up about that because that's all we're doing. Last year we had a great opportunity that we played Fresno State. The last year we win, we win the whole conference. We've never won the conference ever. In the mountain, we ended up sweeping Fresno State. We win the conference. And prior to that series, news media came out here and said, biggest weekend ever for Air Force baseball. I said, what are you guys talking about? These kids are just playing the game, but they learned so much. The valuable lessons to learn how to deal with stress, pressure, adversity, teamwork, cohesive unit, winning, losing, the ups and ups, the ups and downs of it, that when it really freaking matters, that next game they. These guys are going to play after they graduate from this school is no longer a game. It's called war. And that's what we're prepping these kids to be is war fighters. And, you know, at the end of the day, I want these kids to go do God's work for our country. So it's kind of an important aspect for me to promote that image to our kids of what our expectations are. So, you know, whether we win 50 games, whether we win the conference, whether we don't win the conference, at the end of it, it's all fine and dandy because I. When those kids walk across the stage, when they shake whoever is going to be, or hopefully it's going to be President Trump or Pete Hegseth this year, when they throw their hat in the air in front of 40,000 people as a Thunderbird jets ripping overhead, I know they're ready to lead. I know they're ready to go fight. I know they're ready to go protect Americans, and that's what makes it special out here. And we just hired a new soccer coach here about two weeks ago, and I'm excited for him, and I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him. I said, you got one of the three best jobs in the country. I'll say five. You know, the three. The three are Army, Air Force and Navy. But let's also not forget about Merchant Marine and Coast Guard, because all five of our academies are built upon kids that want them to do more in their lives instead of just saying, I want to play baseball, I want to play soccer, I want to play football. We're looking at the whole person concept where these young men and women are dedicating their lives for service, and that's. That is special. And I'm married And I have two kids. And my wife and I, I told her early on, I want to have nine. I don't know why, maybe it's a baseball thing or whatever it is, but I want to have nine kids. My wife, we compromised, so she wanted to have two. So we end up having two. So that was our big compromise. And my daughter and my son, they were very fortunate that we were at the United States Air Force Academy for the past 17 years. My daughter had opportunities to go to other schools. My son had opportunities to go to other schools. But they were surrounded by the greatest role models and mentors that I as a dad, could have ever asked for. These young men and women that are here, the cadets, they've been raised with great morals, great values. They're great kids, they do things right. And my kids were surrounded by them on a daily basis. So my daughter ended up graduating from the Academy in 2022. She's flying $300 million jets C17s in Charleston. My son's a senior here. He's getting ready to graduate, and he's hoping to go to graduate school paid for by the Air Force, and then following that, go fly jets as well. So I'm very thankful that my children have opted for military service, because I think all men and women of this country should serve in some way, some form, some fashion. Some may medically not be able to serve, but the reality is that service piece and understanding what it means to wear American flag on our left shoulder when that national anthem is being played, that better fire you up and understand why that national anthem being played, because it's part of that 1 percenters out there that give us the ability to play the national anthem. So I want to make that crystal clear to everybody out there that, you know, you want to be a true man, a true woman. You want to see what you're truly made of, and you try to come to the greatest school in the world, because that one thing that we will not accept at this institution is average. Because average is unacceptable, especially for Americans that are out there that are counting on, once again, these men, these women that wear our nation's uniform to do more. So that's what we're trying to do out here, guys. And it's, yeah, it's winning is great. Playing baseball is fine and dandy. But at the end day, we're just trying to make, you know, great men. We have a mission statement, of course, from the baseball program. We're trying. We raise great men, great husbands and great fathers. There's nothing about baseball, there's nothing about winning championships, nothing about pro baseball. Great men, great husbands, great, great fathers. Then along with that, you know, our vision statement, we take boys, we make them into men. We take men and make them into war fighters. How's that for a start?
• 11:36
  Speaker B: Love it.
• 11:38
  Speaker C: I am. I'm ready to run through a wall right now.
• 11:40
  Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I'm ready to roll.
• 11:42
  Speaker D: Hey, I'll tell you a real quick story. I've had the opportunity to be around Paul Skeens since he's been in the big leagues. And if you guys ever watch Paul Skeens for the national anthem, he comes out of the dugout, he stands on the field and he's at a perfect position of attention. He's not swaying around. His feet aren't, you know, spread apart. He's got his feet at a 45 degrees, heels are together. His left hand's in a cup, a cup in his left hand. Thumbs on the seam of his trousers, pointing down. Four fingers on top of his hat, his hands directly over his heart. And he stands there and he listens. He doesn't move. And that's why Paul Skeens is a little an icon right now to Americans, because that's what we need. We need just great Americans. You don't see Paul Skeens tatted up and long hair. Even though I don't care for the beard and the mustache, you know, I run clean shot or clean cut and shave. But, you know, that's an another thing. But, you know, I'm working on Paul with that.
• 12:42
  Speaker B: So you talk about the 1%, right? And obviously there's an incredibly high standard that's required to be a part of what you guys do. Not only from a program perspective, but being a part of the academy and the long term mission that guys have to buy into. How do you go about identifying these guys? What's that look like in terms of recruitment into your program and making sure that you're getting exactly what you need, not just for your program, but for the academy and for broadly the American military.
• 13:08
  Speaker D: Well, Andy, for us, and I'm assuming it's the same for Coach Traz and Coach Tristano, we go out and just recruit normal kids when we're going out to all the different events and showcases that are out all over the country and we're identifying baseball players. But the first question I will always ask the club coach or whomever, high school coaches, I want to know grades. I want to know grades first and foremost. And then I'll directly ask the coach Is there any character issues with this kid? And if I. It's a clean little bit of character at the start where he goes, now a kid's a great kid and he's got a 4.0, then I'm locked in. It kind of makes recruiting a lot easier for us that I don't have to watch the whole field because maybe I'm only got. I have to lock in on two or three kids that I'm truly going to watch. And guys, I'm going to be honest. Recruiting to any of the academies, it's easy. Everyone thinks it's so hard. But when you're taking great young men that probably been raised with great, you know, great family atmosphere and that understands morals and values in education and then you had an opportunity to look at an academy where it's not just a $600,000 full ride scholarship. It truly is an opportunity of a lifetime for these young men to become great. And what parent out there would say, that's what I want for my kid? And everyone thinks that the academy is a bunch of crazy ass weirdo kids that run around in camouflage shooting guns every day. That's not what we do. The kids go to college. It is definitely a little bit more. There's structure, there's organization, there's discipline, which every kid needs. Because if you're going to be a Division 1 athlete to begin with, you got to have that. You don't live your life in chaos, you know, yes, you got to make your bed, yes, you have to have your haircut, yes, your room has to be in order to. But this is how you should be living your life. So I find recruiting extremely easy at the academies. So yeah, maybe we're not going to get a five star, four star kid that truly thinks he's going to be the next Paul Skinnies out there. But the reality is, when you look at it, that is so hard to be able to do that. That man, this is the golden ticket in life. This is an unbelievable opportunity. Opportunity to do something that's bigger than yourself and why wouldn't you want to do that? And who in their right mind wouldn't want to go out and fly jets and go do God's work for us? I mean, that is the ultimate. So this past winter break I had the fortunate opportunity from a military perspective. Know a lot of people I have, we had 32 kids got strapped into a jet, 32 of our baseball guys. So over winter break they got to go in an F15, F16 and go put on a Flight suit, gravity suit, parachute, helmet, mask, advisor, go 400 Mach 1, pull nine times your body weight, maybe throw up on themselves. And they said, coach, it was effing awesome. That's the coolest effing thing I've ever done in my entire life. I'm like, yeah, that's why you're taking aero astro, civil, mechanical, electrical, thermodynamics, physics, chemistries. Cal, our kids are taking 18 to 21 credit hours on season. That's unheard of. We have 33 different majors. I got kids on our team that want to be rocket scientists. My kids are team that want to be astronauts. I got kids on our team, okay, Ken RTM wants to be the president, United States. That's what I get surrounded by on a daily basis, guys. Our kids here get four years to graduate and we pump them out. And it's not about putting the Air Force across our chest on the baseball field. It's about wearing our nation's uniform at the day, at the end of the day, where it should say usa because that's what these young men represent. So, you know, the greatest weekends of college baseball is when army plays Navy, when army plays Air Force, when Navy plays Air Force, those are the greatest weekends of college sports because these kids aren't looking at how much money. It's not about the money. It's about what they're learning on those friendly fields of strife that's going to propel them later in life. So it's kind of cool when you think of it that way.
• 17:03
  Speaker B: Chris mentioned to this. Chris Draza, the head coach at, at West Point, mentioned this when we talked to him, and I've talked to him about this, you know, kind of privately that. Do you find that a lot of kids don't necessarily know that they want to be a part of that until they learn what it is. Or do you often find that kids are banging down the door to try to come play baseball at Air Force? Is that what does that look like?
• 17:28
  Speaker D: Yeah, nobody knows about our school. Our schools, you know, people have maybe heard of Navy and they've heard of West Point, you know, so you got Army, Navy, Air Force. We're only been around for about 65 years, so we're the young one of the group. But a lot of folks don't even know we have a baseball program. So, yes, there's a lot of explaining to do. You know, mom's a little freaked out that we're going to go, you know, do bad things to bad people. But somewhere along life, you Got to step up and be a man. And somebody has to do it. And if it's not for that person, that's fine. Go sit in the stands and watch. Just be a great American for us. So once they understand what we do and why we do it, and if we can get kids on campus here and we showcase to them what we do, and they see that kids aren't just running around with a rifle over their head chanting, I want to fly jets like officer and a Gentleman, they. They understand that. Wow. It is a. I don't say normal school, but it is a college with unbelievable young men and women that have the greatest expectations and goals in their life to do great things. And when you're surrounded by great people, that makes them great as well. So we have the adage, iron sharpens iron. That's. That's what this whole school is about. Iron sharpens iron. And we're just. We're just making badass kids that are once again ready to go fight for us and serve and protect. So once people come out here and they see it, the parents are like, wow, you should do that. And a kid, at the end of the day, if he doesn't want to come here, I am happy. I don't want him to come here either, because if he's coming here for the wrong reasons. Each academy, we only get about a thousand kids a year because the academies are 4,000 deep. And with that, we don't get transfer portal kids. And I'm not talking athletics. I'm talking for our country. We don't get to bring in a new kid in. So once a kid decides to quit our school, we lose that. And from America's perspective, we just lost a leader for our country. And we don't have any shortage of kids that want to come to the academies we normally get. For all the academies, about 12 to 15,000 kids a year apply. All these kids have the straight A's, great act, SAT scores, the character off the chart. And, you know, it's unfortunate 14,000 don't get in. So, you know, the acceptance rate's about 7 and a half, 8%. So it's tough. It's a tough school to get in. You know, from a baseball recruiting perspective, you know, we could bring in maybe 12 to 14 kids a year, depending on what our needs are for the year. But when you start looking at it, we bring kids in here. I had five kids go in the transfer portal last year. Sophomores. We win the conference, and they think they're, you know, they're going to go elsewhere. You know what, they come in, they tell me it's time to go. Said there's a door. See ya. You know what? You don't want to be at our school after what you've got to see over the past two years with our alums coming and talking about doing great things for our nation, strapping into jets, going to different bases and seeing what we do. The only thing I'm pissed off about when our kids decide to leave this institution, I don't, I don't get a replacement. But it's not about me getting a replacement. It's about our country didn't get a replacement. So that's the only thing that really irks me when kids decide to leave our school if they only want to come here for baseball. I make it perfectly clear over the recruiting process, don't come. I don't want a baseball player. I want a man. And you got to be willing to do everything and anything possible to ensure that you are going to become the best you possibly can be. Because if you're not, you only want to play baseball, go to another school. So this won't work for you. No. I think you guys get me fired up over this stuff.
• 21:01
  Speaker C: I love it. But I think it's important to highlight the fact that like, it's not what, it's not the perception that a lot of people do think comes with military academies, that it's like you're going to, you're just doing military stuff while potentially taking some classes and, and whatever. Like, no, these are super high end academic kids that have to hold the line from an academic standpoint while also being able to do really well on the field while also having to do all the military stuff that's being asked of them too, which takes, it takes what you were going to do as a student athlete to a whole other level. Because yes, like you, we both play, Andy and I Both played Division 1 baseball. There's a certain level of discipline that you have to be able to compete at those levels. But there's a whole other level you got to get to, to do all the other things. And I, I don't think it's a reach and I could be wrong. But like in talking to Chris for as long as I've known Chris and, and listening to you talk like it's not that big of a reach for people when they actually see what it is, like, oh, I could do that. And like those are guys that I would want. Like, okay, yeah, let's, let's See what we can do. And I, but I, I, I think that like that perception of like, oh shit, like it's like going to boot camp. Like you're gonna go to boot camp and take some classes. Like no, this is like you were a college student athlete while also training to be in the military. It's a completely different atmosphere and I think it's important to highlight for the service academies because you like a lot of people don't. It's not the first that that that perception is becomes their reality because they don't want to go further down the rabbit hole to investigate it it more than they probably should. And at the end of the day, maybe it isn't for you, but you might find out a couple things and be like, damn man. Like this is actually something that I'm really interested in want to do and that changes the trajectory of what you're doing with your life.
• 22:54
  Speaker D: Well, and you hit a word. Keith, you said student athlete. That's a weird concept. So especially when we start talking college athletics right now that student athlete's gone and you get recruited somewhere, you become an athlete student. And as a parent, my responsibility is ensure not just my own children, but every person on the baseball team, every person at this institution that we are trying to create leaders and leaders of character. They're going to go once again serve and fight for our country. Yes, academically, the athletic side, the military side, the character growth side. It all matters. I'm just trying to raise great American citizens at this institution. So you know, this is a, it's a college. And I want people to understand that it's a college. Our kids go to class. Yes. They have military training time from 6:30 to, you know, 8 in the morning. Then we start school. Then after lunch we practice baseball. So everyone's like, how much time do you guys practice? Like 25 minutes. I'm like, no, we have the allotted NCAA time. That's what we're supposed to do. It might be a little more limited than most other Division 1 programs out there, but we, we, we actually believe in integrity. It's kind of a weird word too in college sports. So the integrity piece is huge to follow rules. And then along with that, you know, once our kids are at the field, you are working, it's work time. It's not just hang out for 10 hours down there, it is work and you get your ass back up, you go eat, you go study, wash, rinse, repeat, we do it all over again. So, you know, I love the opportunity to be around These young men again and these women, because of what they're willing to go do for my country. And, you know, I had the opportunity to serve for 20 years. I wish I was still in the military. I will tell you right now, being a retiree, I'll never take the uniform off, even though I don't get to wear it anymore, you know, because I. I love America. And that's just what I'm going to keep preaching these kids day in, day out, you know, the success on the field, off the field, the losing on the field, off the field. It's awesome because that's when leadership proposes that the biggest piece of it. And the kids here, we don't conform to a lower level level. We don't go, hey, come down in the ditch with me. Hell, our kids are all climbing the freaking ladder. And the kids are at the highest rung. Say, come up here. Come join me up this way. Yes, our kids have military obligations from a summer perspective. They're doing boot camp. You know, it's the basic training. They're shooting guns, they're doing assault courses, option courses, leadership reaction courses. They're getting the kicked out of them for six weeks. But we want to know, can you handle it or can you not? Because if you can't, please leave. You know, the door is wide open. We don't want you here. You know, go ring the damn bell and get the hell out of here. But once you're here, man, we don't want to let you go. You know, we don't waterboard the kids or, you know, put a heat lamp under them, but, you know, that's an asset to our nation that we try to convey that message, to keep them here and to understand the big purpose. And probably 95% of the. The baseball kids that we get have zero military background. Maybe they have a grandpa that served, but we're taking just normal high school kids and we bring them in, and over that culmination of four years, we teach them about the military and what they're doing and the brotherhood and the bond and locking arms with one another. So it's hard to leave once you get in, you know, so, you know, we want the right fit, the right kids, and, you know, America wants it. So, you know, that's a big deal for us. It's not once again winning conference championships and putting a trophy up, you know, you know, the true definition of. I mean, here's a question for you guys, you know, you know, Annie and Keith, how the heck do you define winning? How do you define success. You know, that's huge. I'll tell you right now, when I was coaching 22 to 25 with Paul Minary, to me I was just young and dumb. I didn't experience war. I wasn't in combat yet. I wasn't bringing back caskets with our men in them. To me all it meant was a stamp scoreboard that defined winning. Then getting married, having children, doing these military things I got to do. My whole scope has changed. On the definition of winning, on the definition of success. I have high expectations for our kids. Do we want to go to the College World Series? Damn right we do. We want to win the conference championship? Damn right we do. Was that the overriding goal of who we are and what we do here? Hell no. Not even close. You know, we're trying to make men. That's it. I'm sorry, I'm not making men. I'm making damn war fighters for our country. And these kids better be ready when they leave here. They're ready to go do those things. So that's what gets me fired up, boys. And you know, yeah, baseball is great. Love it. Because you once again, you learn so much about who you are as a man. That next person in that foxhole on your wing, whatever analogy you want to use, but those that gets me truly fired up is that taking a 16 year old kid that knows nothing about the military, any of our academies, and then they make that choice and you see them day two, when they get here, right after day one, they're out on our parade field. The parade happens and they raise their hand and they take the oath of office to serve, fight and protect. And that serve, fight and protect may mean even giving their life for the defense of our nation. That's huge. That's a big freaking deal. So, you know, I want teams that when we play other teams, I want, I want to go, I talk to other teams all the time. You know, some of the coaches maybe are a little more distant, but I want them to understand you're not just playing another college baseball game. You're playing against men, war fighters that are going to serve and protect you, to give you the freedom to do what we're doing currently. And that's kind of a little misunderstood at times. Hopefully we get back to truly understanding what we do, who we are as a nation and we embrace it. So that's why the national anthem means the world to me. That's why the American flag means the world to me. That's why every person that puts on our Damn Uniform means the world to me.
• 29:07
  Speaker C: I think the. What winning is when you're a younger coach, to win, life experiences happen, start to form how you define your success and then what you ultimately want to do as a coach with your players. And I. It's. It. It morphs, right? Like, when I was young, I was. Yeah, man, the scoreboard was the only thing that mattered. And then you become a head coach, you get married, you become a kid, father, like, things happen. You, like, you start to define that a little bit. Like, winning still matters, but there you find small success. Like, you find other things become more meaningful. Now, we'll talk about this a little bit when we finish the show. It's not something I actually want to talk about on the podcast, but like, when I've said this one on the podcast before, where, like, my. One of the best things that ever happened to me. We had a kid who struggled. Like, he. I should have thrown him off the team 15 times. I threatened to do it, but I didn't want to because I was afraid that if I did, and I knew he could get through rpi, but if I did, he was like, what was he going to do? I could get, like, if he. If I could get this kid through college, we could change the trajectory of what he was doing. And his fifth year, it's Covid 20, 21, we finish up. His mom pulled me aside and she was like, listen, listen. If you told me five years ago that he was going to graduate with a degree in business and an MBA in five years out of this place, like, I would have laughed in your face. I. There's no shot I ever thought that this was going to happen, but you made this happen. And I am forever grateful for. And I know he is, and the kid has echoed that a billion times. But, like, those things start meaning a hell of a lot more than you know, because you forget the wins and losses at the end of the day. Like, those things mean more when you have that impact on your. On the kids that you coach.
• 30:50
  Speaker B: Coach.
• 30:50
  Speaker C: Like, that's. I. I feel that. And we'll talk about some stuff after the show, but I agree.
• 30:56
  Speaker D: At the end, at the end of it, as coaches, what's our job? We're not. We're not a baseball coach. Let's be a life coach for these kids. I got three letters scribbled under all my hats. It's mad. And I'm not mad. It's about making a difference, and that's important now. And if I ever hear a coach say this is going to be war today. I probably won't play that coach again because if they really want to know what war is, just ask me, because it's not. We're just playing a damn game. But once again, you learn so many great leadership, you know, attributes and values from it. So, you know, that another area that just gets me fired up, that I just want to be a life coach with these kids. I had a great story. A kid in 2018 graduated. He sent me a text the other day and had a little bit of a link to it that we killed some ISIS bad guys. And he puts on the bottom, ffwk. Fly, fight, win, kill. That was it. I got it. I got the message. He did it. You know, he's part of the kill chain there. So it was awesome. You know, one of our guys and, you know, I. I got two bad stories for you, too. I've lost two baseball guys in playing crashes. And we start talking about recruiting these young men from, you know, the moms and dads, and they come to come to our school and they end up passing. You know, those are my sons, too. And I feel, you know, I will say responsible, you know, things of that nature, which I'm, you know, it is what it is and unfortunate, but those kids resonate with me and that's. They're always part of our program. So, you know, it's a big honor to be wearing number 20. That's a big honor to wear number 25. And that represents Travis Wilkie and it represents Nick Durand. They're no longer on God's green earth, but I feel like I talk to them all the time. So, you know, that's the hard part about this job here, is that, yes, this is a potentially a very dangerous profession. These young men, these women that attend this institution are willing to accept. That's why I have the ultimate unbelievable thankfulness. And I'm so appreciative. And people always ask, how do you thank someone in the military? It's really easy. You stick your hand out, you shake their hand. That's it. You know, buy them a cup of coffee at Starbucks and say thank you. I've been deployed. I've missed birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, special events. But it was a job. That's what we needed for our nation. And I answered the call and let's do it, and I'll do it again. So I'm just once again proud of all of them, all the folks that serve in our military. And hopefully we're going to see an Uptick with. With the new administration, I believe.
• 33:37
  Speaker B: I actually read an article today that December 2024 and January, this past January are the two highest enlistment rates that we've had in roughly a decade. Which, you know, maybe it's just coincidence you brought that up. But we have college coaches that listen to this. We have high school coaches that listen to this. And what you're driving at with the wins, like what is a winning. It changed for me, just like it changed for Keith. The. The more you do it, the more you realize that what really matters at the end of the day.
• 34:13
  Speaker D: Right.
• 34:13
  Speaker B: And I understand there's a ton of pressure to win at different levels in college baseball. And you're talking about people's livelihood and all that kind of stuff. I'm not neglecting that. But at the end of the day, did that kid enter your program? And when he left it, is he better for it?
• 34:27
  Speaker D: It.
• 34:28
  Speaker B: And I think that it took me a while to understand that, but I think you coach differently, and I think you coach better because you're coaching from a slightly different place. And it's not about swing mechanics or pitch mechanics. It's about commitment to figuring out how good you can be. It's about being a part of something that's bigger than yourself. And obviously those words hang incredibly true for everything that you do and everything that that happens at the Airport Force. But it's not a lot different for within that team structure at the college level that if you're a high school coach or a college coach listening to this, and that's not the attitude you have towards what you do in your profession, I think it's worth really, maybe even hit and rewind on what you said. In digesting the emotion that you spoke about when you're talking about impacting the lives of young men. And that's what the core of this is as a coach. And I'm glad that you were able to. To articulate that, because I think it's an important message for anybody who's involved in college baseball or anybody who's involved in athletics in general. It has to be about making the person that you're coaching better on the back end of it.
• 35:39
  Speaker D: Well, it's real simple. Guys care, love, and not just swing mechanics and getting the W on the scoreboard. I mean, that's not. It's going to last until the season's over. Are you actually forging a relationship that's going to last forever? And I hope I have a hell of a funeral. I hope I have a lot of guys that come back, we have a big ass party. You know, hopefully I've made a difference. And I tell our kids all the time, your responsibility right now is live your life with no regrets. You know that, you know, two of the, you know, that's one of the chest to, you know, you know, whatever. I'm sorry, it's two of the chest, one of the head. Right, you know, that's, that's what we're looking for here. Empty the clip. And that's kind of the whole goal is to let it go. Just. Guys, I'm a big, I don't know if you guys ever heard the term yolo. You only live once. You know, this is a gift. I got a gift today to be on God's reign earth. I want to do everything that I possibly can to be the best I possibly can in every aspect, every form, whomever I'm around, I want to be a very positive, uplifting person because I don't want to hang with negative people. I could. There's constructive criticism, sure. But you know what? I want to, I want to enjoy life. I want to have fun. I probably tell the boys on my team, I love them more than I tell my wife. Maybe not as much as I tell my dog. But you know what? I want them to know I truly love them and I care about them. And this is not just because they're an athlete. This is because they're what they're going to do for our nation. And you know, at this, at all the academies, 1,000 of the 4,000 students are Division 1 athletes. We place a huge emphasis on sport because that's where you truly learn once again about, you know, the adversity, the pressure, the stress. And that's what you want when you're in combat, that you've been there before, you've done that. We have a 1997 grad, David Lyons, he was the first guy back in Desert Storm. Two F16 pilot. He was a starting pitcher for us, started 60 games. He's at alias Lem Airbag, alias Lee Maribo Air Base, F16. He's dripping me. He's got bombs, he's loaded, he's ready, engines are running. Go Cole, you're going back in. He's going downtown Baghdad. And he got it and he goes, holy, here I go. He. And you know, he started, he could feel the adrenaline rushing and he stopped for a second. He said, I've been here before. This is the same feeling I got when I'm starting of the game. Let's freaking go. You know, he's dodging freaking telephone pole missiles coming at him. You know, Winchester's out all his bombs comes back home, you know, mission success. And that's why sports is so important. And that's why, you know, at the end of the day here, once again, it is about building war Fighters, pilots, special forces, great kids are willing to do great things for our country, whether it's saving lives or taking lives.
• 38:41
  Speaker B: Do you view your program as another tool in the Air Force's tool belt for development? When you're talking about the leadership piece, is that, is that a lens that you view your program through is another piece of that leadership puzzle?
• 38:56
  Speaker D: This is what we're doing here. This is everything. I mean I, this is not about baseball. That's just through that sport that when our. We have a pretty darn good reputation of the baseball officers that graduate from here, that, that we're well known that when they leave this program, they're going to be pretty damn successful in our Air Force. And that, that really fires me up more than anything because that's doing the job, the real job. My job, once again, is not about making a damn baseball player. It's about pumping these kids through our program slash the academy, their leaders of character ready to go once again, serve and fight. And you know, we're doing a pretty darn good job at it. And people always ask, we've had success the last couple years. And people go, wow, you know, you've had so much success last year. I mean, what are you guys talking about? We've for 14 years we've had great success, winning success. Because when these kids walk across that stage once again, they're ready. And that's what we're basing this all off of. I mean, if you could tell me your stats back in 2003, you know, you're probably sitting on a darn bar stool and you've been divorced. You know, that's not what we're doing here. You know. Oh, what was your record? You asked me what was our record last year. I don't know. I don't care. You know, if you could, you know, once again, hey, why hit for something? But seriously, I don't care. You know, close the yearbooks. It's over. What did that, how did that propel you into being a great person? So so many get. People get caught up in the records and what happened in the past. Yes, you use the history of how to make you better, but nobody gives a about your win loss record. Nobody cares about how many conference championships you have? You know, how about. Are you a good person? Were you a great role model, mentor, facilitator, teacher, instructor? Are you a great friend of these kids? Now, if you're not, hell, give up coaching. You know, don't even get into it. Because if you're only in it for the scoreboard, you know, I don't want my kid playing for you. Yes, I agree. Winning is important. The scoreboard is important too. I'm not going to disregard that because we want to win. Winning is really a lot of fun. But you know what also is fun? Losing. That's when you truly know about what type of person you are. When the poop's hitting the fan, you know, what type of leader are you? When. When it's going wrong, it's easy to win. And one thing we take a lot of pride in out here is failing. That's a hard thing to say. All these kids are once again great. Act SAT scores done. Tremendous. They've. Everything's been easy for them their entire lives. Now you got 4, 000 kids that are here that are all great, and something's got to give. These kids have never gotten a. Probably a C before in their lives. And now they're going into, you know, calc 3, and they. They get an F, how they going to respond? And the cool part is you got 3,999 other kids have also failed while they've been here saying, let's go, buddy. Get your ass back in the fight. Get your ass off the mat. Get back in there. Because how do you grow your leadership skills if you never. Failure is great. You know, that's the true meaning of leadership. Coaching, understanding who your people are, how to get them to fight when they don't want to, how to get them back in it when the chips are down. Yeah. I'm gonna read you guys a quote my wife sent me today, and I liked it. Let me see if I get to it. Phone's locked up. We'll come back to it, though. Yeah, I.
• 42:39
  Speaker C: It. It's. It's funny you brought this up because I. I had this exact conversation. I shouldn't say exact. Very similar conversation with my wife this morning. My wife had. She's the head women's lacrosse coach at Brockport, so that's why I repping Brockport lacrosse tonight. But we were talking to me, she was like, you know, we were talking about how like she practice hasn't been, you know, as good as I want it to be. You know, I have Some girls that continually keep messing up. And I, like, I asked a couple questions and I was like, listen, this is verbatim the conversation I had my wife this morning. I told Andy. I was like, you know, one of the things that I had to learn when I became a head coach. My wife's been a head coach longer than me, but I was like, I. I was putting some undue pressure on guys because I had such a high expectation. And it became something where they were trying to not mess up and actually not play. And then, of course, when you're not trying to mess up, you are going to mess up, and usually in a worse way. And I was like, I learned to, like, hold my reins back and just be like, yo, you're good enough. The reason I'm on you is because I know that you're capable, capable of doing it. I just need you to go be an athlete. And then I had to teach myself to just shut the hell up and like, yo, go play.
• 43:51
  Speaker A: You're.
• 43:51
  Speaker C: You're gonna be just fine. And like, we talked about it. She's like, thank you. And like, she changed her practice plan after practice. I was like, how was it? She was like, a lot better than I thought. Like, these are things, like. And I told her. I was like. One of my things that I always told my guys was like, you gotta fail forward. Like, you're going to fail this. Like, especially in baseball, all this is a game of failure. Like, you have to be able to deal with it. But if, like, you're never going to hit a thousand, you're never going to go undefeated. Like, you're going to take Ls at some point, you got to figure out how to handle that and fix it moving forward. And if, like, in practice, if we're not. If I wasn't presenting a place where people could fail and learn from it, like, we're never going to actually make that step to the net. Like, we're never going to make that jump because we're just going to stay stuck. Like, you have to actually learn how to fail and fail forward so that we can actually begin to fix these things and get better at them. And I think that that's something that a lot of. A lot of coaches don't understand and maybe figure out later as they get going. But I think it's. It's important for kids going through the recruiting process or even if you're in college, like, it's okay to fail you. You have to figure out how to get yourself back in the fight. So that you like, you can get better at it and limit those mistakes as you get going. And those are the things that I think a lot of kids struggle with going through this because it's like, you know what? I wanted to throw really well, and I didn't throw well. Well, how was your body language? How did you respond? Where you. Did you droop your shoulders and drop your head? Did you show up your teammates? Because that's going to get you crossed off lists. You can go and not have a great outing when a college coach is there, but still pound the zone, still be tough, still pick up teammates and not have poor body language. That's going to show a lot of coaches a hell of a lot more about you and who you are as a person than the other one, because the other one's getting crossed off and no one's going to recruit them and they're like. There's a distinct difference in those things that I think a lot of kids, like we've talked about before, but I think that it's something that we like. It's important for people to hear and understand that it's, it's all relevant in, in whatever it is that you're going to do, especially when you leave work or leave baseball. Like, like your job's not always going to be great. What are you going to do? Just pack it in? Come on, man. No, you have to do something to figure out how you can get better. You ain't going to get promoted. Like, look in the mirror. Probably not doing something you need to be doing.
• 46:10
  Speaker D: I'll talk to you about my marriage. My marriage isn't roses every day. I don't know how you guys feel, but, hell, you got to work. This is called life. And these are life lessons you learn through sport. And that's, that's the fun part. And I, I take a lot of pride in having the servant leadership perspective, because I'm just a man. You're just a man. We're just men. And yes, we get to coach, but we're just, we're coaching other men. All we have over them is experience. We don't know everything. I think there's so much over coaching going on right now, it's sickening. You know, I, I, as a parent, it just really frustrates me that you see all these kids are going in the transfer portal. You see all this. I mean, hell, I tell parents all the time, be careful. You know, if you go somewhere else, the kid's gonna become a athlete student. Don't buy too Many sweatshirts because God knows, you know, your. The kid might be released next year. And I feel bad for coaches because they don't want this, this amount that's happening in our, in our programs. Because most coaches are good people that want to watch kids grow, mature and develop and transform into great men. And it's unfortunate that we put so much onus with money and throwing stuff at them where it is a business. You know, the Dabo Sweeney's out there in the academies. We're it. We're the only four schools that don't take transfers, you know, so that's kind of fun, you know. So I am a huge fan of Dabo Sweeney because of that fact and the academies that we don't get transfer portal kids. So I got four years to be around these kids. We don't get red shirts, we don't get fifth years, we don't get grad transfers. Hell, we got. I got 29 underclassmen, freshmen, sophomores on my team. I only have 10 upperclassmen. I got like seven guys that can drink a beer. You don't win a lot of baseball games that way. Especially now where you got the juco kids, you got the fifth year. Hell, we got 25 year olds that are playing still. I'm like, what are we doing with this? What are we doing at the ncaa? I mean, this is a big struggle. But I'm proud of the fact that I get four years to once again take a boy, make him into a man. Take a man and make him in a damn war fighter. So my wife sent me this quote. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily, necessarily want to go, but ought to be. And I like that because the thought about leadership, once again, it's easy when you're winning. It's easy when you're really good. But to watch that kid, you, you take that lump of clay and you mold it and you watch that develop. And hopefully coaches out there aren't just developing a baseball player. Hopefully, they're developing a man. And that's what we all should be aspiring to do. And you know what? You take the ups, you take the downs. I don't have to mf our kids anymore. I just played disappointed dad if we don't play well. But I'll tell you one thing, we're gonna play the game hard. We're gonna play the game right. We're gonna play the game with energy. We're gonna have great an attitude about us. That's all it is. It's just a damn game. Oh hell, I want to shake hands after every game. We're just men playing baseball or just boys. That's all it is. Game's over. You shake their hands. So, yeah, my post game speech is pretty, pretty quick. You know, I don't need to, you know, belittle the kids for three hours after a damn game after watching one for three hours. So you know what, we're gonna do it again tomorrow, boys. You know, there's a lot more to it. So, you know, it's, it's, at the end of the day, it's really about once again, you know, making great people. So that's what really makes me exciting about the job I get to be at and, and taking these young kids out of high school and hopefully transforming their lives to be better. So it's pretty cool.
• 50:12
  Speaker C: I think you touched on something important that a handful of people have and we've talked about it, but it, we should talk about it a little bit more because I think it's relevant, especially in the service academies. Like, I am on board with you. Like, what are we doing when we have 26 year olds still playing college baseball but like the under what should continue to happen, like, and what used to happen. The four year window is such a finite moment in time for these kids to play college baseball. And there's so much that I think from a leadership standpoint and everything it is that you try to do as a coach, you're trying to get so much in, in those four years. And I think sometimes it gets lost on us as coaches. Like, we get to do this for as many years as we want. Like I coach college baseball for 16 years. I can't play college baseball for 16 years, but I coached it for 16 years. Like I knew every year, like, yeah, man, I'm going to come back and coach again next season. Like, that's not the case by and large for all these kids who have that finite four year, four year window and be like, it's going to get back to that in the very near future where like, you're only going to have four years with these guys to develop them into baseball players, into men, into productive members of society when they graduate your program. And I think that that's where like going back to the, you know what, how do you define winning and what does that success look like? I hope that we get to the point where like there is more success defined on what you are doing from a graduation standpoint and who you're graduating from your program because I think for me at the Division 3 level, it didn't. I didn't have to worry about the transfer portal. Like, guys went to RPI because it's one of the best engineering schools in the world, and they were going to leave there and have phenomenal jobs and do what they wanted to do. Like, they were there for four years, and that's what I had. Four years to make sure that when they left there, like Andrew said, they were in a better spot than they were when they left or when they got there. And that was part of my recruiting pitch. Like, I want your kid to be able to leave here and be a better human being and produce, you know, fathers, husbands, everybody who's a productive member of our society. And I think, like, we've lost that a little bit. But I think it's important for people listening, especially with the rule changes and everything that's going to come down the pike again. Like, you're only going to get four years. Like, you want to make sure that you're making the right decision once and going to a school where, you know, the right fit, you know, everyone throws around the right fit, and we do too, in our business, but it's. It encompasses way more than just baseball. It encompasses, like, what are you getting out of that coaching staff? What is that school going to provide for you? Because if you're not happy on campus, you're not going to be happy playing baseball. Like, what? Like, you still have to be a student. Like, you still have to interact with other students on campus. And if you don't like it, it's not, it's not going to end well for you. So I think, you know, under the new rules of being able to talk later and all that stuff, like, you have to do your due diligence on the front end and understand, like, I got four years to become what I want to do what I want to do and become the person I want to be. Like, I better make sure that I do what I need to do to make that decision on the front end correct the first time so that I don't find myself in the transfer portal with God only knows how many other kids nowadays.
• 53:34
  Speaker D: Well, to be honest, I mean, I tell this the parents all the time and the kids, go somewhere you're going to be celebrated and not tolerated. And it might not be the highest level, you know, go somewhere where the academics actually are going to be what you'd want. And I know kids probably don't really understand that early on. But hell, there's programs right now, they'll tell you, oh, you can't be in the engineering program, oh you can't be in the pre med program. And if that's what you want to do, that's probably not the right school. If somebody's going to deny you the education that you're looking for by going to college, parents, wake up, be smart and don't put, don't send your kid there. And I tell this to kids all the time, you're one pitch away, you are one swing away, you're one injury away of never playing baseball again. Would you stay at that school if the answer is no, it doesn't make sense. Are you going there, play baseball? I'm going there because I'm getting this amount of money. It's not the right decision. It's not about the money, it's not about the, the, the team. It's not about playing in this league. It's about getting an education. You're going to college. And I, it just irritates me that we've lost sight of that. And parents have lost sight of that, coaches have lost sight of that. The kids have lost sight of it. And right now coaches and players are mercenaries. Where are they going to make the most money? And guess what? You got to win because you're going to be at a certain level to be able to get nil money and all that stuff. You better win, you better put that product on the field. But you know, unfortunately I think the kids, you know, what education are they actually getting? And I don't think there's much, you know, are they going to be a productive citizen once they leave? If they ever graduate? I don't know how kid can bounce to five different schools now. If we give them five years eligibility, they could transfer mid season or mid semester. That doesn't make sense. What are we doing? What, what, where's the education that they're receiving? Are they going doing gen ed classes? What transfers? What doesn't transfer? You know, are you truly banking your livelihood on playing baseball? It's probably not going to work. People have to understand that. So, you know, mid majors, you know, hopefully we're not just a plucking ground of, you know, the new juco. You know, hopefully that's not the case. Hopefully people are smart enough to understand that there's really good baseball and the likelihood of your kid being a professional baseball player. It's not going to happen that he's actually. We want them to get an education. We want them to Be supported. We want them to be loved. We want them to be honored of where, where they're at and why they're doing it. So that just irritates me that kids just bounce and jump and move on to the next school. It's like playing damn club ball. Now I'm gonna take my ball and go to this one. Daddy wants me to go to this club because I wasn't playing at this club. Hell, learn from it. Take that failure and fight for it. I wish we'd go back to the old goal. Hell, you gotta sit out a year, you want to transfer. That's never going to happen. I get it. I'm old school because there's way too much money involved now. So I get that part. But we've lost sight of what college is actually for
• 56:59
  Speaker B: the other piece of it too, that. That's hit me pretty hard recently, having gone back and seen some guys that I played with and seeing, you know, our old head coach is that the people you surround yourself with, they make a huge impact on you, right? And making sure that you get that piece of the puzzle, right. Like, are you entering a program that has a culture established that's going to help you become a better person? Are you going to be with a coaching staff who doesn't see you as a means to an end to try to get wins and losses, but they see you as an individual that's need that can grow within their program and they can make an impact on you. And I had, you know, I had four different coaches in four years in college. But I can honestly say that every single one of those coaches in some way, shape or form impacted me some incredibly positively. Other guys probably learn more about what not to do. But there were some coaches that I've been around, coaches that I've coached for that I look back and it's not the wins and losses, it's not the X's and O's, it's the conversation on the bus. It's the conversation in the locker room after a loss, after a big win. And you take those moments away and they start to fill in pieces of you and you start to learn from people. You start to rub off on people, People start to rub off on you, but it can be positive and it can be negative. So doing your homework on the front end and you're sitting down with the head coach or you're sitting down with a recruiting coordinator, you need to be, as a high school player, you need to feel incredibly comfortable that that person is going to get the Most out of you. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but you feel like if I go play for this guy and I'm in this program, I'm going to be better off when I get done with this, I might have to earn it. I might not play right away, but I'm going to be better in four years. I think it's something that every parent and every high school athlete needs to really strongly consider. Because at the end of the day, I think that's where some of the biggest impact you have during those four years. It's the people that you're around.
• 59:03
  Speaker D: Well, any I got, I'm gonna disagree just a little bit because where we're going right now, you might not have two or three years. You might not have a year to grow, unfortunately, because that's where we're at. Because now it's like, well, I got this transfer portal kid we're gonna bring in. Sorry, Andy, we're going to cut you loose. You're a great kid and all, but I just don't see if you're going to fit into the program. And that that's the crappy part. Do I agree with you? Thousand percent. Is it happening? No. And that, that just rubs me wrong is that we got out of the coat, we got out of the business of actually coaching kids and developing kids. Hell, we let, you know, somebody develop, somebody play well. Hell, they've got to bounce the next one and it just sucks. And man, that's just the world we're going to be living in. And right now, that's why I am so happy to be in an academy, because I get the kids for four years and I get to watch it all take place. And it's awesome that we don't deal with the transfer portal. I'm thankful I don't have to deal with it. I'm thankful I don't have to deal with nil because these are my guys and I love my kids and I'm not just going to discard them because they didn't have a good first year. So. But, you know, at our school, we cut kids, we let them go. Hell, my son, he played his freshman year. He's now on the parachuting team. He's probably saw the writing on the wall that him, maybe he wasn't good enough. And he found something else. He's still at our school. He's getting ready to graduate. He's going to go serve in our military. Cut other kids in the past, they're still important to me, because they made a commitment to this institution. I made a commitment to them, and I'm still part of their lives. It's not just let them go. I'll tell. Be honest. Even the kids that have gone on the portal, I still talk to them. They're important. You know, they came in to be here, and I still want to see them through in their lives to be great people. So it's just, you know, make a difference. You know, we're going to go back to that piece. But it is so important as we become older, more mature, and for those younger coaches out there, please get into this business because you want to change lives in a positive way and not just how many championships can I win, how much money can I make? That's wrong. That's wrong about being in our business.
• 1:01:34
  Speaker C: I think you. You hit on, like, they're kids. Like it or not. Like, we're still coaching kids. We get them at 17, 18 years old, and they're 21, 22 when they graduate. Like, they're still in that age in their life where you can make a huge impact and do things. And I think, like, you're 100% right. We've gotten away from it because it's become. It's become a huge business, and it's damn near bordering on professional baseball. And we've gotten away from the fact that, like, it's not at the higher levels at least. Like, I still believe that, you know, the Division Threes and the Division Twos, like, there's. There's less of that going on. Where most guys are probably staying for four years, but at the end of the day, like, like, they're still kids. And I think, like, you get. There's a point in your coaching career where, like, you forget that and then you have some life experiences and you're like, there's still kids. Like, Like, I used to always joke with my kids. I'm like, yo, I'm. I'm. I'm 31 years old. Like, I'm not that far removed. Like, I know what you're doing. Like, I. I'm not that old. Like, I'm not an idiot. Like, I know what college kids do. Like, you can't really pull the wool over my eyes, guys. Like, you know, but. And it's true. Like, it was. I got more out of it because it was like, okay. Like, yeah, like, he's not that old. He gets it. Like, he's. He understood. Like, I understood that they were kids and they were going to make mistakes. I wasn't going to crucify him for it, but like, hey, we got to move forward and learn from this. To not do this again is essentially what we had to do, you know, but we don't want to take up too much your time. So, you know, for our closing question, you know, what advice would you give families that are going through the process right now from a college baseball recruiting standpoint?
• 1:03:27
  Speaker B: All right,
• 1:03:31
  Speaker D: if you're going to go to a school, and I alluded to this earlier, assume your kid will not play professional sport. So go somewhere you're going to be celebrated, not tolerated. Go somewhere where the kid has an opportunity to play. You know, don't just shoot for the highest of high. Yes, I'm very biased that the greatest schools in the world are academies. Could we teach them more than just baseball? But it's a, it's a decision that hopefully it's going to be an everlasting one that's going to propel your son, your daughter, to be a productive citizen in life. And you're not just making the decision based upon athletics because God knows it's going to change. You had 7,500 kids in the transfer portal last year. So, you know, good luck. You know, that's the hard part. And I feel for high school kids right now getting recruited because it's the jucos the transfer portal. A lot of college coaches aren't even going into the high school depth right now because who wants a high school kid when they can grab a 1 2, 3 year old seasoned veteran? Played already college. They'd rather take someone with 500 at bats. So it's, it's difficult out there. Just be very cautious, ask a lot of questions. I'm come from the academic side. Ask what majors the kids have asked. If you can have that major, when can they if they are a pre med major. How many kids have you had in the past? Or you have engineering? How many kids are in engineering? You hear that one all the time. Yeah, we have engineering behind me. Kids on your team are engineers. None. Oh, so you really don't. Since you're not gonna. What? You know, we, there's programs that we play and there's senior day. Health science degree. What the hell is health science? Everybody's got a health science degree. I'm like, what the hell is that? And I got kids double major ops research, aeronautical engineering, astronautical engineering, military strategic studies. So data science. And I'm like, thank you. At least we got education covered because no one gives a rat's ass at the End of the day, what you hit, how many wins you had, how many conference championships you had, nobody cares. You know, life goes on. And hopefully you had a great experience and opportunity and you pushed yourself and you're able to look yourself in the mirror and say you did the best with what you. You did it. You left it out there. That's all you can do. And I will leave, though, with you guys. I got to go to dinner with my wife. I will just ask of this from a dad perspective. I know everyone out there probably doesn't know my son. You probably don't know my daughter, but they've raised their hand to serve and fight for you. And all I'll ask from this dad perspective, be a great American and be worthy of my kids, willing to be part of the 1 percenters. Our nation needs you to do that.
• 1:06:42
  Speaker B: Thank you, coach. Thank you.
• 1:06:44
  Speaker D: Thank you for having me, guys.
• 1:06:46
  Speaker B: Thank you for your service. Thank you for everything you do for the young men in your program. Thank you for building leaders for this country. Obviously, best of luck this year in the spring. I know you guys got bigger missions and all of that, but obviously the season's coming up and I hope you, you guys play well and you guys play hard, but really appreciate your time and I hope you have a wonderful dinner with your wife. All right.
• 1:07:10
  Speaker D: Thank you, Andy. Thank you, Keith.
• 1:07:11
  Speaker C: Thanks for having me, coach.
• 1:07:12
  Speaker B: Thanks, coach. Appreciate it. Thank you for listening this week. If you're watching on YouTube, go ahead ahead and hit that subscribe button and smash that like button for us. Check us out on Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts as well as Spotify. You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram MD Baseball. If you want to find out what me and Keith do to help families and players navigate the recruiting process, go ahead and check us out on emdbaseball.com take a few minutes to check out our new online academy. I promise you'll get some good information out of that. Thanks again for listening. Check in with you next week.