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TABLE TALK: The College Baseball Offseason With A.J. Miller, Head Coach At Lafayette College · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's going on everybody. I wanted to let you know.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: We recorded this Table Talk interview show on Thursday December twelfth,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, so by the time you hear this,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: some things may have changed here or there, but we
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table Talk here
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, eleven and
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a half years strung. We got a great discussion coming
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: your way this week here on Table Talk. As we
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: do every week, we're gonna be diving into some college
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: athletics this week, specifically college baseball. What happens during the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: college baseball off season. We have got a great guest
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: coming to us, the head coach of a college base
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: ball team. Let's get right to that conversation right now,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: joining us this week. I can't wait to talk to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: him again. It's gonna be a great, great discussion from
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Lafayette College, their head coach of their collegiate baseball program.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: We've got AJ Miller. How you doing, Aj, I'm good.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: How are you?
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: I'm doing all right?
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Man?
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: Holiday season is upon us here. But for you, my friend,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: you are in the midst of your off season. Correct.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, this is I like to call it daddy
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: daycare season.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, there you go.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: When I'm home a little bit more December January. Get
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: to build some dad equity with my kids.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I'm excited for equally he's excited for the season.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I see a pushing the stroller over now and then
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: with the kid with the girls in it. I mean
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: to pull back the curtain, folks. AJ is my next
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: door neighbor. He walked across the lawn. Now he's down
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: here in the studio area. You're doing the show with me.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: But Aj, you know, I really want to talk about
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: this past season. Of course, like I said, get into
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the off season with you. The twenty twenty four Lafia
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: baseball team, there was a record. I don't know if
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: you I want to be respectful when I when I
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: say this share record was fourteen and thirty five. That
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: was the overall record, eight and sixteen in the conference.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: So I mean I'm wondering. I mean, it wasn't a
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: winning record. But in all honesty, do the regular season
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: records really matter to you? And I know that's a
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: terrible question. Of course they matter. Wins and losses matter
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: of course. But I'm wondering, like, is there another aspect
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: of the season that's really the driving force for you
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: as a head coach, maybe even aside from the records itself.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean obviously, like you said, the record matters, right,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you want to win every game you're out on the field.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: You know, that's just the competitive nature and all of us. Uh.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: You know, our record last year I don't think indicated
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: necessarily like who we were and where we're building to currently.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm heading into year three as the head
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: coach here. You know, there's a culture change going on.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: There's a roster change going on. You know, last year
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: was our recruiting class on campus. Now we have two.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: So the change is happening. You know, as I share
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: with the team, change is inevitable. It's just a part
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: of life, and how you adapt to it really determines
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: who you are as a person or as a team.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: And so like last year, we had our ups and downs,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: and you know, part of it was making sure we
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: got young guys into play young guys, uh, you know,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: experienced enough for the years to come. So you know,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: if we played a number of freshmen by the time
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: there were sophomores, they were really upperclassmen, right, Okay, And
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: what we learned from that is, you know, this year
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: I named captains. We have a sophomore and a junior
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: that we named as captains. You know, both underclassmen per se,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: and I've never named captains before, but it's two guys
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: that kind of stepped forward and you know, led the
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: charge through those ups and downs.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Okay, So it's just not all about the numbers. It's
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: not all about the wins and losses at the end
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: of the day. I mean, it's important, but like it's
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: not one of what's now.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: But like when you get in a conference play yes, right, Like, yeah,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: you want to make the playoffs, you want to make
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: a run. You know, obviously we fell short of that
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: last year and there's certainly games that we should have won.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: And you know, those are moments that I look at
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: as a coach and like what could I have done
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: differently to better prepare the team and you know, to
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: win in those moments and that's how we build going
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: into this year. But again, like you got to look
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: at whether it's a good or bad outcome or you know,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: anything you do, like what can you learn from it?
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: How can you grow? Right? That's how the best leaders
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: in any profession grow absolutely come better. So you know
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: that's what we did and preparing for you know this
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: upcoming year.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Well, you also want your team not only to be
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: in front of conference opponents, but other opponents as well
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: throughout the country too. I mean to again pull back
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: the curtain. We were talking a little bit before we
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: hit the record button. You're gonna be uh, you know,
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: you're gonna be going to Kentucky, You're gonna be going
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: to Mississippi. Right now, you are actually looking at that
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: schedule for twenty twenty seven at this point, can you
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that and the challenges that
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: may come with it.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, like you know, I try to find
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: the right combination of let's challenge ourselves as a program,
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: like let's match up against the best just to kind
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: of see where we stand or we're recruiting the right players,
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: are we heading in the right direction? And that's what
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: we did last year. We know, we played three conference
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: champions teams that went on to the regionals and super regionals,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: and it was tough. Right at one point last year
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: we had the twenty first hardest schedule in the country. Okay,
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: and you know that obviously impacts the record as well.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: But you know this year we're heading to Southern Mists
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: open up the season Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Then we're heading to
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Western Kentucky. Again, different programs that certainly recruit differently, you know,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: their top thirty programs in the country. It'll be a
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: good test for us, right and in preparing us for
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: conference play when you know we really need to turn
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: it on. But yeah, I try to do something different.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Part of it is the challenge, but you know, selfishly
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: as a coach, like I'm gonna go cool new places.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: In twenty twenty six, we're playing Miamiah, We're playing NC State,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: and you know, just continuing to try to do different
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: things that you know, bring a different light to the
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: program and enhance the experience for the kids.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. All right, Well, again, you're in the offseason at
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: this point, and as the head coach of a college
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: baseball program, AJ you know, what, what are some of
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: the methods of reflecting on a season as you try
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: to prepare for the coming season, Like how do you
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: go about making those reflective assessments, whether it's with the
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: program from an overall standpoint, with the roster, with some
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: of the talent players and the kids on the team,
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: yourself as a coach, like, what is that reflective aspect
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: of this offseason?
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: What does that look like for you? It's a really
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: good question. I've say a lot of components there. You know, initially,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: you know, when the season ends, we kind of as
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: a staff look at, you know, what did we do well?
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: What then we do well? There's so many metrics and
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: technology services out there that assess what you do in
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: every aspect of the game. You know, we analyze that
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: compared to the rest of our competition. Where do we stand,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: where'd we fall, where'd we do great? What can we
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: build on? And that kind of dictates what we plan
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: to do in the fall right and right what we
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: need to really work on. But also keeping in mind
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: we have a crop of new guys coming in, right
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: and do they are they better at those things that
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: we need to work on? Do they need to learn
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: more of what we did really well? That kind of
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: paints the picture of what we're going to do. But
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: everything that we do day in and day out, is measured,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: it's recorded, right, whether it's you know, an offensive side,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: whether it's just you know, we record swing decision percentage
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: quality at bats. Obviously your your normal metrics, but then
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: also there's technology that we use that measure you know,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: swing metrics, and like how that correlates to potential success
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: kind of pitching side's the same thing. You know, we're throwing.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: It's not just throwing balls and strikes. Like I've said,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: it's a big component of it when you when you
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: narrow it down, but uh, it's you know what the
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: profile of this pitch, How does that play best in
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: the zone when comparing to this like who matches up best?
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: And the same thing for defense, Like, yes, like you
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: look at how many error somebody made, but like is
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: it an era of a mission or is it an
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: error of aggression?
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Right, if they're passive, like is that a guy that
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: a pitching our pitcher can trust behind him? But if
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: he's aggressive and sometimes he's making an you know, an
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: aer and throw or you know, booting a ball, like
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: he might be the right fit. We just need to
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: fine tune some actions.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: It's like it's constant assessment, it's constant conversation for us
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: as a program. You know, we have pillars, we have
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: core values that we believe in. You know, the number
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: one thing is communication, and it starts at the top
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: with me. I need to communicate effectively to my staff,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: to our players in order to have them believe in
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: that as well. Right, So, like we communicate every day
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: about who we are, what we're doing, where we need
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: to go, where we can get better. Right, And from
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: that you get trust and honesty. And that's pillar two
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: and pillar three. Right. If you're communicating effectively, those other
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: two things are built. And if you have all three
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: of those, a winning mentality or a winning culture starts
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: to form.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: It feels like there's not even an off season for you.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: No, it doesn't. It really doesn't like season. Yeah, Like
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: it's it's constant. Yeah, you know, I'm fortunate that you know,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: I married a woman that understands that. And she gets it.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and said, yeah, we're grateful for the wives in
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: terms of our what we do for our lives.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: Yes, very much so. But uh, she gets it. And
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: it's cool, like she you know, each year, each day
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: that goes by, like she understands it more and more,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: and like she's like a coach on staff. She really is.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, so we're moving along with a
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: conversation here, AJ. You know, I'm interested in hearing about
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: how you look at the upcoming year's roster because you know,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: you have student athletes who are returning to the team,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: and I imagine you also have new students that are
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: going to be coming onto the team as well. So
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: from a pure talent perspective, what is it like knowing
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: that you're going to have a new team in front
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of you as a result varying dynamics at play in
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: terms of player development as well, And how does that
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: shape the expectation game year to year if that makes sense.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Now it does, and like again, it's part of that
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: kind of helps answer the last question, right, Yeah, there's
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: twenty new guys that came in this fall, twenty new.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: We brought in fourteen high schoolers, and with everything going
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: on in the recruiting world, right, like, we needed to
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: fill other voids after the season end, whether you know,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: guys left on their own, gave up baseball, moved on.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: You know, that's just the landscape of it, right, So
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: we brought in six transfers as well to fill those gaps,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: and you know when you bring in twenty guys that
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: that's half your roster, right, right, So it's different, right,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: and again, like you have to evaluate very quickly who
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: they are, what they are, what they can do in
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: the environment that you're working in, and cater that development
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: to that.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: In terms of expectations, you know, you always go in
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: being hopeful and wishful that you know it's gonna be great,
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: it's gonna be better. Yeah, yeah, you know, we all
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: certainly believe that. But until we get on the field
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: and play, like, we don't know. But how do we
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: project and evaluate like where we truly think we'll be,
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Like we play as much as we can against each other, right,
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: And we did a lot of that this fall, which
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: is great. You know, the weather was super cooperative. You know,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: I think yesterday was the first time we had like
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: actual rain in like one hundred days, yep, So that helped.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: And it was warm for a long time right like
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: through November, so benefit to us. Hopefully that continues, you
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: know for the spring, because you know, when we open
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: up in February, it's pretty cold.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: What kind of what kind of cell do you have
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: to embark on for transfers or if it's if it's
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: even it's somebody coming in as a freshman, you know,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: is the cell And it obviously depends on the student.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: It depends on the student situation. It depends on the
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: program situation. I would imagine as well, what what is
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the cell kind of like, you know, come to Lafayette.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: You know we're going to be able to help enhance
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: your baseball skills, your development, you know, you know, the
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: goal is for us to have winning seasons, for you
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: to be a part of a team and a culture
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: that's positive. Like what is that sell? Like do you
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: mind getting into that a little bit here?
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's it's different for everybody, right, Like
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: what we do as a staff as we try to
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: find out very early on, like what is that family?
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: What is that particular player value? What do they look for?
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: And first and foremost does it align with us? You know,
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: very early on when I started recruiting, all I cared
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: about was recruit the best players possible. That's it. I
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: don't care if they have the same values as me,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: if they have the same beliefs, like I just want
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: good baseball players. Those are some of the worst teams
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: ever coached. Yeah, it's just it's like no one, right,
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: and so you know, you know when I got into coaching,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: you know, my wife would say, like I'd come home
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: and if I was complaining about a player, like I
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: can't stand this kid, AJ's driving me nuts. She wouldn't
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: be mad about the player. She'd be more mad at
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: me because I made the decision to bring him on
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: board and spend more time with him than I am
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: my own family. That's the reality of it. I spend
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: more time with my team, right, And so first and
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: foremost for us, like we find out like if that
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: family and I say family because like the parents are
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: part of it.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: We talked about that on our first interview when you
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: were on.
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so like that is number one, and then like
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: does it align with us? And if there's stuff that does,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: like that's our selling point. If it's the value of
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: the degree, if it's the network that comes with being
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: a part of La Fayette Baseball, if it's distance from home,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: if it's the ability to potentially play right away, like
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: all of those things matter because not every individual is
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the same, right, Like, that's just the reality of it.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: So we have to do our homework on the front end.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Figure that out and then that's our cell.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Right, Okay, very good. Well, obviously, you know students want
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: to play right away, you know, they want to get
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: out there on the field, they want to get in
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: the batter's box. But of course some have to wait.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: My niece, she plays softball on a scholarship your college. Awesome, Yeah, yeah,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: it was. It was our first year this year as
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: a freshman. She had she had some waiting to do
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: before she was able to get on the field. That
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: it was maybe last few games you know she was
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: able to get in. I'm wondering, how do you assess
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: when a player's ready to take that next step and
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: become more of a contributor, say during their first year
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: on the team. You know, how do you assess that? Again, individually,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: you have to assess it. You're not just going to say, okay,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: now on this date, you know, you five new guys
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: are going to be able to play. Sure, it's individual base,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: but like, how do you go about that assessment?
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: Goes back to what I said before, Like we play
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: a lot in the fall right against each other, Like
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: it's you know, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, you know, for basically
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: like a two month period to play as many innings
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: as we can. That's a time when you know you
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: can assess if a young guy or a new guy
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: is ready. And then it's also like how we recruit,
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: like based off of what we're losing. That's what we
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: try to bring in. You know, if it's a big
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: void like a you know, a major position, I mean
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: they're all important, but like a shortstop, center field or catcher,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: you know how much value or resources will be putting
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: into that person that we're bringing in. So like we
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: have an idea and when guys come in, like we
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: expect them to play X, y Z number of years.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, the best nine
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: play the best arms pitch because like we all talk
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: about and say, we care about winning. So that's what
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: it comes down to, right. You know, if you have
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: a bad at bad a bad game, that doesn't mean
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: you're going to be written off, right, But like we
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: need to see consistency.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and even Bryce Harper's of the world.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Have like swamps happen, right, And I think it's funny
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: you mentioned that, Like I had a conversation with one
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: of my players about that, Like that's what's a little
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: bit harder about college, right, Like Bryce Harpick could go
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: in a slump for thirty games. Yeah right, that's more
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: than half of a college season. Yeah, you can't afford
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: to have somebody in a slump. Yeah, but that's why
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: you have depth, right, That's why we have forty people
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: MLB as twenty five right, twenty five man roster. So
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: like there's the difference there, but the best play, Yeah,
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: that's it. That's what it comes down to. That's why
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: we measure so much of what we do because it's
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: a numbers game, right, So when we make decisions, like
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: it's on our board, it's in my office. Like you
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: walk in, you want to talk about it, have questions,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: it's right there. Yeah, like we start there.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: That's great, And I would imagine you carry that over
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: into the off season here as well. I'm sure that
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: once the season's done, you're not just cutting off communication
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: with your players. You know, you're still communicating with them.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I'm sure some reach out to you. I'm sure you're
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: seen as a very much a mentor figure with some
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: of the players on the team as well. How how
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: does that impact your off season as well? The communication
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: still with players who you know, may may need a
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: little direction, they want to continue developing their skill during
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: the off season. How does that work for you?
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we as coaches joke, like this six week,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: six week period we're embarking on right now is like
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: the scariest six weeks. Yeah, because like they're home, like
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: we don't like we're not hands on coaching them, right,
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: you're down the stairs, and like we don't know what
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: they're doing, right, and like you try to keep that
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: line of communication open so that you know what they're doing. Again,
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: technology helps us in monitoring that for sure, but like
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: it's also weird when you don't hear for them again,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: Like I'm with these guys every single day. Yeah, then
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: they go home and it's like, you know, like you know,
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: I guess you could say you miss them a little bit. Yeah,
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: that's like your family. Like we we throw that word
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: around a lot, but like we truly are right, like
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: we love each other. So like it's cool to you know,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: have the text conversation, get the phone call, and it's
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: not always just baseball, like sometimes it's life, Yeph, And
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: it's cool, like you said, like to be in a
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: mentor ish type role. Yeah, it's I enjoy it. Yeah,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: that's like one of the things I love most about
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: the job. Yeah.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, before I let you go, I wanted
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: to close out by talking about the recruiting process. I
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: know we talked about it the last time that you
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: were on the podcast a J. But you know, right now,
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, you know what, what does the schedule generally
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: look like for you, like during during the this off
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: season process, the recruiting process itself. I know you talked
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: about it before. You know, you're doing a decent amount
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: of traveling. You know your wife, I see her with
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: the stroller every now and again. I'm wondering, you know what,
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: what is it that you're specifically looking for when it
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: comes to that next crop of talent for Lafayette's baseball
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: team and program. What does that look like right now
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: during the off season. So right now, we're not like
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: there's recruiting rules right in timelines. When I first got
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: into it, there really wasn't any You could recruit whenever
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: you want. I'd be recruiting on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: Year's Day, like there was no rule. And I think
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: for the better they change that to create a quality
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: of life for some coaches. Yeah, are you sleeping over
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: at people's houses?
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Like so like now like they like they let the
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: off season be the off season. So there's you know,
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: monitoring of recruits right now. You know, we're not we
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: can't go anywhere and evaluate. You know, we have some
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: on campus workouts and camps you know that we offer
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: in smaller settings. But it's it's a little bit laid
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: back right now, which I think is good. You know,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: trying to kind of recharge the batteries, get ready for
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: the grind of the season we're about to hit. And
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: then come March first, that's when recruiting really opens up
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: for us, and we hit the ground running from March
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: first till you know, basically middle of the fall. We're
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: recruiting right and we're trying to fill our needs.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And but you've got your eyes on certain guys.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: I'm oh, yeah, right there, yeah, right now, Like we're
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: monitoring how guys are developing. And there's certain guys that
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: you know, we tell them like you know, once a week,
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: send us video of you hitting pitching, just to see
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: how you're growing and ultimately to see if you're a
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: fit and if they are. You know, we make that
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: decision when we think when they're ready.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: All right, Very good again, folks. AJ Miller, head coach
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: of Lafayette College's baseball program. And buddy, you do. You
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: do a great job.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: And I know I'm biased because you're my next door here.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: But folks, but if you are in the eastern Pennsylvania area,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: head to a Lafayette College baseball game at some point
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: down the road, check out, check out what they're doing.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Then do you have anything to promo? I always let
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: our guest promo something, whether it's websites or whether it's whatever.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: Nah, you know, I love I love being in the valley.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: I'm happy to be back. I'm happy to be, you know,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: kind of where it all started. Lafayete's a special place
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: to me, my family. Yeah, I'm very fortunate to be
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: in the role that I am and I'm excited to
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: see this place grow.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: AJ Miller, Folks from Lafayete College's baseball program, head coach,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: I'd love to talk to you again at some point
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: down the road, my friend.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm right next door.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on table Talk
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans
• 21:15
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• 21:19
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• 21:22
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• 21:26
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• 21:29
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• 21:33
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• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Take care and we'll catch you next time.