Latest / Chasing Baseball Dreams / Episode #6: Long Beach State Head Coach TJ Bruce

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Episode #6: Long Beach State Head Coach TJ Bruce · Chasing Baseball Dreams

• Bobby Minor: Welcome to Chasing Baseball Dreams. And today I'm really excited. I'm always excited. I know I always say that, but I'm really excited about yeah, about our our interview today. And I am joined by the head baseball coach at Long Beach State, the dirtbags, Mr. TJ Bruce. And real quick, TJ, I don't w I know I can't do your bio justice, but I know you you've been you you played for Long Beach State, finished up in 04, and then you've coached at at several places. I mean either served in different roles, but I know you coached coach back at Long Beach State after TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: you finished playing, UCLA, you coached at Ajuco, you're the head coach at Nevada, you're I believe Mountain West coach of the year, one of those years you coached at TCU, which is right down the street from where I live. And then now you're back at at Long Beach State in the LBC as the head coach. So first of all, just thank you. I really thank you so much for for making the time to to join me. on my podcast, I'm excited about what we're gonna jump into. TJ: No, thank you for having me. so thrilled to get on. I'm I'm obviously a huge fan of yours and the content you put out and and just the truth, right? The truth of that's all we're searching for as we navigate. You've navigated kids through this this whole journey and I'm right in the thick of it, navigating my own. and it's a challenge day to day. But really appreciate you taking the time to and super honored to have you have me on. Bobby Minor: Man, you're you would I think you I know if you're making me bless or not, but I'm very I'm very humbled. It's TJ: Ha ha ha. Bobby Minor: it this is it's crazy. My wife had been telling me for five years to do something like this. And Chasing Baseball Dreams started as an idea for a blog. So that kind of tells you when it was, and then an idea for a book, which the book is still gonna get written. And then, you know, last November I started posting content, just I had no expectations. And it's been very, very humbling the just to see how how it's grown and I would say how God has used it and Just the people that follow me and have reached out and I'm just like, wow. it's I know 'cause I've never coached college baseball. I've never played professionally. My college playing career got cut very short because of an injury. But, you know, I've been around the game for a long time and and seen it from multiple angles. So I'm really, really excited. So before we start talking about the college side of it, let's talk about the dad side of it. So your son's twelve TJ: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: and you're playing I you said you're playing little league and select or travel. I don't know what what they call it out in California, but what's that what's this whole what's that whole journey like? 'Cause I it's probably harder harder for you know, a couple of weeks ago when when I interviewed coach Early from A and like his son is playing as well. And it's gotta be hard for for the players just kind of because your dad's a D one coach. TJ: Yeah, I think I think on the player side, you know, you you you touched on faith for man and I think the one thing about as we know from being a servant and being believers, our job is to get down in the weeds and go meet people where they're at. And I think that's really hard sometimes, but as a dad, I don't think it really hit me until probably the whole the last calendar year. You know, there was always these expectations on Jackson. I got two boys, you know, I got one that's twelve and one that's eleven. very different athletes. but our twelve year old is specifically is who I'm talking about. he's a good player and he he knows the game and he has some instincts. there's a lot to like about him. But I never really thought about the pressure that he feels every day. And it wasn't really until about six months ago we're driving home and You know, he hears a lot. He's grown up in the dugout. My other one hasn't really grown up in the dugout per se. Jackson has. And so he hears the hitting side, the fielding side, the pitching side, the cat I mean, all of it, right? And and we're trying to translate to eighteen, nineteen, twenty year olds. He's trying to then translate in his own brain what that means for him. And we're driving home and he's super upset about practice or what whatever was going on. And I said, Buddy, what's happening? And he goes, Dad, I just I feel a lot of pressure. And I'm like, what do you what do you mean pressure? You know, then not that dad takes over the coach. It's like, well, then you're not prepared, then you're not working hard. Like there's all these hats. You know, I'm wearing that hat. And he goes, No, I don't think you understand. And then his eyes well up. And he goes, You're a coach. You're a division one college baseball head coach. You've went to the College World Series. You've won a national championship. All these things that All our guys talk about at my level, how cool is would it to be on TV and do this and coach these players? He goes, I feel that pressure every day I step on the field. And man, that hit me like a ton of bricks. And it was like, whoa. And it not necessarily is anything we are doing or not doing per se, but it's just to get you into his brain on what they're feeling. And I'm sure I mean I've talked to Michael extensively over the time. And I'm sure all kids in some way, shape, or form feel a certain way about navigating this journey for them because there are eyes on them a little bit different. You know, if they don't go first to third when they should, the coach looks at them different. Well, why what do you mean you didn't go first to third? Your dad's a coach. How do you not know that? You know, you don't go ball in the dirt. All the instinctual things that make up at the end that make up the difference in my opinion of winning and losing, backing up bases. Going first or third, running the ball out, ball in the dirt, all these things. The our kids get looked at very differently from the profile. It's either why aren't you doing that? Your dad's a coach, and or the only reason they're good is because their dad's a coach. So both sides are very, very unfair, in my opinion. And these 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds, four whatever age group they're calling them, we're grading them out like We're graying out a seventeen year old prospect, a nineteen year old kid, and it's I think that th the life of the son of a coach is very challenging to navigate in its own right, let alone just navigating the wreck ball, the travel ball, whatever else ball there is out there. Bobby Minor: No, that's good. I think a lot because I talk a lot about, you the car ride home and the pressure that parents put. And I think a lot of parents, and this has nothing to do with being like soft. You know what I mean? Because I've had people call me like, you know, that's just soft or whatever. I think a lot of parents have great intentions and they don't realize, you know, the pressure that they're putting on their kids. And it it can be a lot. And it's because I, you know, I I would venture to say that, you know, 12 year olds today look way different than when I was 12. Just from their ability, TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: their movements and everything, the level of training and coaching that they get. And you see a kid, you know, a 12 year old that performs at a very high level for his age. And it's easy to forget that mentally, emotionally, he's still a twelve year old kid, you know? And it's a lot. And then parents, unfortunately, I think a lot of parents feel that their their kids on field of performance is is a direct correlation to them as parents. And so, you know, it's like, Every pitch, every at bat, every game, every tournament means everything to them when in reality it doesn't. let me ask you this. This is something I talk a lot about. Okay, your son's playing on a 12U team. So you have a recruiting board in your office with all the twelve year old kids on your recruiting board? TJ: Absolutely not. That is, you know, I'm I'm super passionate about this, and I agree to your earlier statement. It we the identity for most parents are tied into their kids. I mean, they can say what they want about well, I just want what's best for my kid. If you want what's best for your kid, then you would allow him to be 11, 12, and 13 sometimes. and trust me, I'm just as default. as anybody else too. I I do the same thing. so I think us as parents, we gotta do a better job looking inside out than outside in and figuring out what does our actual son and or daughter need. But going to your next point, the recruiting board at twelve, I could care less what you're doing at twelve to be honest with you. I actually hope you're throwing a rock here and there. I hope you're playing, you know, multiple sports. That's number two. and I hope you're not playing baseball twelve months a year. I don't know, I don't know if that's gonna translate, and I don't know, it may translate, it may not, but the twelve year old that's super mature right now doesn't do anything for me. I got a funny story for you. So I was coaching I was coaching first base for my son's travel game one just one time, right? We we had a coach down and I was just sitting there and I'm like, hey, I'll I'll go over there and coach first base. I don't want to do anything else. I don't want to call pitches. I don't want to coach third. I don't want to do nothing. Bobby Minor: Right. TJ: And the opposing team hit a home run. And so the coach goes, Hey, I know you're a college baseball coach. You gotta start recruiting that kid. And I said, Which kid? And he goes, the kid that just hit home hit a home run. I said, I don't want good twelve year olds, I want good eighteen year olds. And he he thought that was the most obscene, acidine comment. that he's ever heard in his life. And I'm just st sitting there thinking, why do I care about this twelve year old that just hit a home run? Good for him. I hope he's happy and I hope he goes get a ice cream afterwards. You know, Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: I I just I think there's a lot of pressure that's going into this stuff with these kids and making these PG things and making these this this all American game and this thing. And I just walked into my son's room and There again, he's a two-sport guy. He's a football, baseball guy. So right now in today's world, we're not playing baseball. We'll play a little bit here and there, you know, but we've done a really good job not playing baseball through the fall. We will increase that activity a little bit more this fall. He's gonna be 13. There are some things that I just didn't want to go stale per se. But he has all these things written down. And one of them I asked him was like, I want to make this select. something and I asked him I go I don't what is that? well this is what all the kids are doing and I go we're we're walking this journey way different and we're gonna be better for it one way or the other. If he makes it or if he doesn't make it we're gonna be better for Bobby Minor: Right. TJ: it at 20 years old. Bobby Minor: That's so good. So so obviously so like where you live, and I know I know a lot of this depends on where you live, because in some areas, especially in California, there's a still a lot of really good little league programs and rec programs. It's not the same everywhere. But if given the option where you have, you know, you have a a decent little league or rec league, when do you for the player that his dream is to play baseball in college, when do you, in your opinion, do you feel like, okay, you need to be playing travel ball by this? Age, but up until then, if you as long as you're getting good reps, you're you're learning the game, you're having fun, that's the most important thing. TJ: Yeah, I don't know if there's an a specific age. You know, I I remember so we we were in Reno, right, for a few seven years. I mean, my kids spent most Bobby Minor: Right. TJ: of their young life in Reno. And so we did play little league there, and we were just tapping into the select or travel ball circuit, kind of. There was some former major league players that lived in Reno and they opened this facility and it was And I wouldn't even say it was full-blown travel ball. I think it was just facility to work out in and this and that. We were just scratching the surface just to work out in. But we went to and then we went to Fort Worth for two years. And the only reason we played travel ball there, to be honest with you, was because we moved and we missed all the deadlines for anything, and we just signed up to play fall baseball in Rec Ball. So Alito, I think it's Alito Little League or Alito something. And we Bobby Minor: Lido Youth Association, I think the Lido Youth. TJ: Yeah, it's not little league, but yeah, there it is. So we signed up to play through the youth baseball league and that team ended up migrating into what they call a travel ball for the spring. And that's the only reason we did it. And then we put the baton ball away, come the summer because as you know, living in Texas, football there's two things in football. You are a believer or in Texas, you are a believer and there's football. I mean, those are two things that you do and I I don't know if there's a good age, but I do think that you have to walk this journey yourself based on where you think your son or daughter is at. I do believe in that. I necessarily can see some pressures building in my 12 year old. and I'm sure there's others out there. And we just have to do a good job as as as mom and dad in our house at walking what's best for Jackson at this time. And at this particular time, I think it's right that he still he keeps playing football and I'm gonna keep feeding that dream and that passion for him as as long as he wants it until he comes with me and says I w I wanna play baseball full time. But you know, you made a comment interesting earlier. You talked about you know a twelve year old wanting to play in college. I don't think when we grew up, I don't know if that was a whole thing for us. Like I I think it maybe was you know, a pipe dream. I think that was our pipe dream kind of deal. But our deal was just to play in high school. I I I grew up in Long Beach and I lived on the backside of Lakewood High School. And I I still remember when I'm when I was old enough to remember the players, I remember the Lakewood High School team in 1995. I was in middle school. I remember all those players and I still to this day think those players are really, really good. Some of them made it to Pro Bowl, some of them played at JC. But I I would rather be short-sighted on short-term goals here. Jackson, you're in the seventh grade. Let's we have to make the freshman baseball team. That's what we have to do. And then after that we have to make this step and this step. I just think playing in college, I I don't know. I maybe I'm looking at it completely wrong. But I think if you go too far outside, you're gonna lose sight of what's important now and where your feet are at at this particular time and what your son or daughter needs right now. Bobby Minor: No, and that's really good. I agree with you a hundred percent. I think that's the thing. It it's it starts so early now because they're being sold all this early exposure and that it matters and everything and like they forget, like you're saying, like, you know, to me you're like one of your first big transitions is, you know To 13 to 14, you when you actually get on the big field and you're swinging a drop three. And then, yes, you have to make your high school team. And then, you know, you want to make varsity. And then, you know what I mean? Like when I was, it's it's just different because like when I was a kid, gosh, growing up way back when, like I remember I when I was 12, one of my greatest experiences, I went to the TCU baseball camp. Willie Maxwell used to be the head coach of TCU back on their old field. You never saw it. It had left field was this, it was this angled concrete. purple wall in left field. So you I mean players would hit the ball off of it and everything. But like my dad would take me to the games back in the days of the old Southwest conference and I would watch Texas play. So that was kind of my dream when I was a kid. I always wanted to be a longhorn. But it wasn't anything that that ever influenced any decisions that we made. It was just kind of my thing that I you know that I wanted to do back then. But it's different now. Like everybody thinks that they're starting with the end goal in mind and they're thinking that things that they're doing at eight, nine and ten matter. When it comes to that. That's why, like, one of my probably my most controversial statements I've ever made is when I say nothing at 12 matters. I don't mean literally nothing, TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: because like I mean, you know, like yes, you gotta have fun, you gotta be learning the game, you gotta be getting good reps. Those things do matter. But what I'm saying is nothing that happens at 12 regarding whether your kid is the biggest, strongest, best 12-U player on the best 12U majors team, or your son is the smallest bottom of the roster player on a 12-U double A team. None of those things matter. when it comes to who they are when they're 17 and 18, when it does matter. And so let me, let me, let let's just kinda let me let me jump into this. So let's just start with the question that probably every parent once answered. So when TJ: Hmm. Bobby Minor: you see a high school player for the first time, but what makes you TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: say, I need to keep watching this kid, and what makes you say I need to move on? TJ: Well, I I would lie and say if sometimes it's not the right the b I think the body right away sticks out, right? They always do. You know, and that can be controversial too. Right? There there's a lot of there's I mean, I'm five I'm I mean I'm not five ten. My wife's five ten and I'm six two and Jackson i my daughters are five ten already at s sev sixteen and fifteen, both of Well, Jackson's on the smaller side right right now. So I think the first thing's always the physical appearance because I just don't think you can't help but see that. Right. But that necessarily doesn't equate to a perfor a good performance either. I think you know that's when you have to dive into the baseball player, right? And I think the one thing that we try to look for is like body movements. You know, I'm I'm always paying attention, my girls are dancers. my boys play sports. So I I'm even always I I'm pretty critical on my daughters about their body movements in terms of how they flow within the dance because there's a flow state. If with any sport, anything you do, there is a flow and a rhythm to what you're doing. And I know nothing about dance. I I couldn't tell you what what's what, but I can tell you what the body looks like and how the body's supposed to move. So I think it's it's obviously physical appearance. Now If they don't have the physical appearance there again, I think it's how do they play the game? How do they play the game of baseball? How easy does their body move? You know, do they have what what what is their physical features? Long arms, short arms, long legs, high waisted, like you those are the particulars right away because then that will help you see what's long term. Right. And in our game, we are trying to do that. And now that's that's a Careful statement two. That's how I was brought up in the game to build programs. Well, now in the college level, we are not building programs. You are building teams. So you are looking for actually, I mean, I I just took you through a little bit of you know, you get the freshman at 17 and then you you see him all the way through at 20. That's not happening anymore. Right. So now the the the the small sample size that you're seeing kids nowadays, I mean you you now you're paying attention to stuff. Now you're paying attention to batspeed. You're paying attention to what can they do versus so much of what they can't do. You know, and I I always think that too and I get myself into trouble as well as you walk away telling everybody what they can't do. Well yeah, everybody can't do something, but what can they do? And then what can you help bring to light? You know, there's there's always the seventy thirty deal, right? And from an offensive standpoint, we spend so much time working on the thirty percent that we can't fix or that we can't don't do well, we forget about what we do do well. As hitting is really hard, you know. So let's focus on what can they do and then how can we maybe I I guess you would call it low hanging fruit, what can you fix in the time frame that you do have with all our restrictions. At the college level. and then you get into this other the the you know I call it the winning baseball, right? The other the instinctual asp aspects of the game, you know, how well how well do they take their leads, right? That tells me some sort of the mental aspect. Do they go first or third? Do they go second to home? How well do they communicate? Right? Because now if you have a let's just use a if you have a 5'10, 5'11 shortstop, runs well, body moves easy. plays the game the right way, there's a place for him on the team. He just may not look like the 6'2 like everybody else wants, but at the end of the day, you're trying to look for winning baseball players. And that is why I am such a big believer in rec baseball. That right there takes me to those kids. They're having fun, they're playing to win, they're playing for something. They will always have that championship for the rest of their life. I don't care if it's rec baseball, if it's 8U, if it's Pop Warner, it doesn't matter. And here's what my always my comparison and I'm kind of going off on a tangent on winning baseball. I always use it this way. Everybody remembers this August, here pretty soon, who was in William Sport. Every baseball fan will remember and they will always remember who won Williamsport a year or two ago. Nobody remembers who won the perfect game tournament The state finals this past weekend in Huntington Beach Sports Complex. Nobody remembers and nobody cares. You know, so there is something to be said for all this stuff putting in a blender, mix it all up and see what comes out of it. And then you get into families, right? And I think that that's when you do the deep the deep digging. You know, we I learned this long ago at UCLA from Coach Savage, a huge mentor of mine. We want good families. As much as it's about the kid, we want really good families. Because this is co-parenting. This is co-parenting at its finest. Because here's what needs to happen. When I tell Johnny that he needs to go home or he's not doing this or he's not I'm holding him accountable. I don't need him to pick up the phone and call mom and dad and say, Well, I can't believe coaches, you know, he he's holding me accountable for being late to practice and they're on the other side of the phone saying, Well, I can't believe he's doing that either. You're the best player. I don't need that. The program doesn't need that. Vice versa though. When Johnny comes in, he's having a bad day because mom and dad just got on him for spending too much money, not returning their phone call. They don't want me to say, I can't believe your parents do that. I wouldn't parent that way. You know, and I think that's why co-parenting at this level is is something that we have lost sight of. Bobby Minor: So the that there's so much there and I hope it whoever's watching this is listening. I'm I'm gonna ask you a two-part TJ: a lot. Bobby Minor: question, but I'm gonna go back to something you were talking about, like like William Sport versus a PG tournament. I had somebody reach out to me the other day, one of me to do do a video on this player from California from a couple years ago. And it I'm not gonna I I'm not because it's just it doesn't make sense for me. But anyway, but it a kid who he literally bailed on his Little League World Series team that were they were one game away from going to Williamsport. He bailed on them because he got selected for the for the perfect game eleven U Select Fest. And it was just a big mess. And they ended up losing in the the they ended up losing in the championship to the team that went to Williamsport. But, you know, he was a key part of that team. But his, you know, I guess his parents thought it was more important for him to do the eleven U PG Select Fest, which he didn't make twelve U or thirteen U, you know, instead of being with his team that he had been with all year. But it's just funny because when you said that, that made me think of that. All right, so so l two part question. What's one thing that you see in a player that will absolutely get them crossed off your list? And have you ever not recruited a player because of his parents? TJ: I'll answer the first one first the second one first. Yes, we have not recruited players because of you didn't want to dive into there was just a lot to be unpacked there and A, you may not have had enough time, but B it just may not have fit the culture because that I think that's a big deal too. I think there are fits. There is no doubt there's fits, and there's a lot of fits for a lot of different families. I think it just determines this whole co-parenting idea. We need We need parents out there that are gonna support our mission because we are actually here for the best interest of your child, no matter what. Right. We we are trying to help him grow as a man, as a person, and as a player. We just have to do a better job. not better job, we just have to do a good job, right? Really holding him accountable because as we know, when the the the cleats get hung up, the game's gonna retire us at some point. We don't want them to sit there with their hands up and be like, my gosh, now what do I do? We want them to rely back on the lessons that we've all been taught, just like I do. You know, I always go back to what I've been taught. and the other question, right? The the other question was what do we l what's can you repeat it? Sorry. Bobby Minor: What's one what's one thing that'll get a get a player crossed off your list faster than anything? TJ: Yeah, I think I would probably say I would probably say there's I think it's how you treat your teammates and how you treat your parents. That's that's that's one thing that we pay attention to quite a bit. and I'm doing it a lot. I'm a lot I'm around a lot of youth sports. I'm involved. I'm the offensive coordinator for my son, right? So that's a that's an interesting dynamic too. Your kid's the quarterback, you're the OC, and he yells at me more times than I yell at him. I know that much for sure. But I'm seeing this stuff and I'm I think it starts there. I think it's how you treat your teammates. always, right? I I think how are you getting them better? Are you being, you know, i I know it's pretty cliche, but are you being the energy giver, the energy sucker? I think there's something to be said for that. Right? And I think it's how how do you treat your parents? It's like, hey, mom, dad, can you give me a Gatorade? I need a Gatorade now. It's like that's just not how you treat people. If you're willing to treat your mom and dad that, then what are you gonna willing to treat a coach? And I'm not even saying a coach, let's just say, as we all know, all of our staffs have auxiliary staffs. And everybody's important in the organization. But that means how are you going to treat the manager that's doing your laundry? Are you just going to throw this the the laundry loop at him or you going to put it actually in the bag to make his life a little easier? So those are one thing. And I think the hustle factor for me is such a big deal. I think because I think what that shows, I think it shows love for the game. You have a passion for the game. And you're willing to do the things that won't show up in the scorebook to help your team win. And I know that sounds a little far fetched, and I I I'm sure somebody's gonna come back at me or the the podcast and say, hey, that's not true. But if you're willing to hustle on and off, you're willing to do the things that you can control, that means you can be present. That means for the most part you can be coachable. And I think that is such a huge, huge thing i in life, because w It doesn't matter if you're a coach, a pastor, a mental game coach, you are a coach. My wife does not work, but she is coaching our family and our kids through different things. She we are in all some way, shape, or form coaches. And so those are some things that just I don't know if I can get past some of those things. Bobby Minor: No, that's good stuff. How much does trust play into? See, let's say have two players. One may have more, more upside, more potential, you know, whatever. The other player, you you just you trust this player, you know he's gonna be able to execute. He can he knows how to run the bases. He may not have all the flash of this other player. How much how much does trust factor into sometimes deciding who gets innings and who gets A B's? TJ: Well, I think you always right I think at our our level, you know, preparation is such a big deal and you always trust you always trust the people that are doing the things right. whether it be going it could be for us, it could be going to class. As simple as going to class. Right. I think what I think and and I don't know if this is right or wrong, and I actually would welcome some feedback on s this sometimes is I always think about not necessarily how I'm gonna win the game. I always think about sometimes how who are we gonna lose the game with? And if we lose the game this way, are we okay with that? Because there's something to be said that the guys that put in the work, that are there on time, that are staying, getting early, staying late, cleaning the clubhouse, they're you're you're building equity in them as people. And so at that point when they have the most equity, you end up trusting and believing in them because you know they are prepared. And at some point, puberty at w whenever it hits, from a performance standpoint, will hit and catch up with them and they will perform at some point versus the other person that may have all the skills. And I I do I I think in the right place you probably have a combination for all kinds. Right. But I do know I don't know if you can win with the guy that's super talented. that doesn't do a a whole lot of things right. I don't think the longevity and the sustainability for success will get your program and elevate it to the next level in any organization. Bobby Minor: Okay. That's good. this kind of I don't know, a broad question. What percentage of high school players out there do you that want to play Division I baseball do you think would be better served going the JUCO route? How percentage of players do you think they should be looking at JUCO's that first smoke? I asked that because, like my son, I mean, you know, he played at Pascal, the largest 6A school in Fort Worth. He went the JUCO route. I mean, in here in Texas, like with Region 5, you know, he played for two schools in Region 5, and he was one of those was Richary year, and then he played last year in California. California has their own JUCO system, but there's a lot of really, really good baseball players I know in Region 5, and there's a lot of really good baseball players in California. So I know sometimes parents think, like JUCO is on the bottom. run of the you know of the level ladder when it that's such a fallacy. But but what percentage if you were just to throw a number out there, and we don't have to spend much time on this, but if you were just to throw number out there, what percentage of high school players would you say, you know what, they'd probably be much better served going the JUCO route? TJ: I would say in today's game, probably the way the landscape is, I I would say 60 to 70 percent of them because I think I I I mean I'm a JUCO product myself. I love JC baseball, Coach Horton, who's a Hall of Fame coach, right? Cal State Fullerton, JUCO product, Mike Weathers, Long Beach State, my mentor, Dave Snow, the founder of the Dirtbags, JUCO. I mean, there's a lot of people that are JUCO products. Bill Mosiello. Right. Obviously he was a huge offensive minded great great coach, JUCO product. I mean, there's a lot of great coaches that are JC products and I just think there's something built a little bit different, right? They necessarily are going to play for the love of the game because they want to grind through nothing's flashy about JC baseball, but they're there to grind through it and learn, versus going there to for all the bells and whistles and I I do. I I think J C baseball, I am a a fan of it. I think it's one of the purest forms of baseball that we have left. Bobby Minor: No, I love it. I love it. Parents, I hope you're listening out there. all right, so so parents spend a lot of money trying to get their son exposure. I'll say it like that. I mean, you know, big name org, showcases, camps, social media. From your side of the recruiting process, what actually gets a player on your radar and what are parents spending money on that matters a lot less than they think? TJ: Well I always think it starts right. I always I always think it's sometimes it's not necessarily how many swings and ground balls you take. I always think it starts in the you know, away from that in the in the weight room or in the agility room, you know, doing mobility, agility, 'cause obviously if you're mobile, your body will move better. You know, I think those are some of the investments that we as parents overlook. Right? 'Cause it's not sexy and and it's not open to the public. It's not cool to show your son doing ladder drills in the backyard, but it's really cool when your son bat flips in Cooperstown. Right, trust me, Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: I just went had to go through through it with my s with my son. But I just think those are some of the things that people don't look don't look enough into. And I also think right now that the the next level of that is the nutrition aspect of this thing. Now they're twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Should they be eating Cheetos? and mowing down candy, yeah, probably because they're twelve, thirteen, fourteen. They're gonna they're going to, you know, burn that off pretty quickly. Yet but I also think there's some things you gotta do in moderation and there's some things that you can kind of teach, right, about them, about what a winning lifestyle is. I think at the end of the day that's what you're trying to teach your family. And say I'm not saying we sit here and cook steak every night and I mean I have an 11-year-old that I just found I don't know where it's at. I just found a bag of candy hidden in this office at my house, a bag of Skittles, right? I'm not saying that we don't have that stuff, because we do. And I probably get into that more than anybody, but I also think there's some other aspects that don't show up, but they will show up long term and there are building there, you're actually im implementing discipline and consistency within their lifestyle. Which will then hopefully translate onto the field because I do believe what happens off the field happens on the field. It shows up in some way, shape, or form. And that that's a huge deal. And I think the third thing, here's the third thing, and I'm a huge proponent of this. And we do it a little bit with we did it a lot with our girls coming up, the metal game. I think that it's so important and so valuable for our kids to they are dealing with so much. And I'm not sure as parents, we're so much equipped for this lifestyle that our kids are dealing with because part of parenting, as you know, is trial and error. There's no manual for it. Right. But we also will rely a lot back on how we were raised, which is sometimes it's right, sometimes it's wrong, right? It just kind of depends. Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: But I I I also think teaching these young kids how to what a breath is. Right. A breath can bring clarity. A breath brings presence. Like what is that? And not necessarily maybe going into the weeds about it, but how do you do that? How do you how do you separate your bad day at school? I have a high functioning ADHD 11 year old. Right. So that's been something we've had to really talk to our 11-year-old about. But how do you do that? Because here's what's happening. The comparison game is stealing the joy of from any of our kids. So you have to teach them that is it it's about them, it's about being present where you're at, good or bad, just be present where you're at. But those are some things that just don't ever show up in a box score that people aren't doing consistently. And as you know, as a dad. you probably use the mental game way more now in your adult life than you ever did growing up playing. And I know I I am I am too. I mean I'm constantly reaching out to different people and and we have a really good we have some people that are really close to our program. You know, we work with a guy at a Reno for a team building stuff and then we you know Danielle Martin who's really big on on the social media platform who works with a lot of snipers and a lot of different people has really been super instrumental in helping do some different things. And I think the more you can get into that stuff, the better off and the better chance for success you do have when adversity hits. Long-winded answer, but I just believe in those three aspects. Bobby Minor: No, that's good. And mental game you know, it's funny, a really good friend of mine, I'm gonna give him I'll give him a plug, Lanny Basham. He wrote a book called With Winning in Mind. He has this whole mental management system. He's worked with FBI agents, professional golfers, professional athletes, snipers. He he he won the silver medal and I wanna say the seventy two Olympics in rifle and spent the next two years studying gold medal winners and what made them different and then he won gold in seventy six. but he has a great Man, I learned so much from him. But it's funny, you ask parents how how important is the middle game? And I would I would venture to guess most of them are gonna say anywhere from 50% to 100%. But you asked them how much time do you spend working on the middle game? It's almost zero percent. And I if anybody watching, so I I wrote, I I actually co-wrote an ebook with Herman Duran. He played at TCU. his freshman year back in the day and then transferred to Weatherford and then got drafted by the Rangers. But we wrote it's on mindset and approach from a hitter's perspective. And if you comment mindset, you I'll send it to you automat I mean, I'll just send it to you, my gift to you. You don't have to give me your email or anything. I probably had two thousand people so far comment and and download it. But yeah, it's just because mindset and approach is like so important. It's you know just in everything. So All right, I'm gonna ask this qu I ask this question to every college coach that I interview, and it's never designed, I'm not trying to disparage any organization or anything. but as a division one baseball coach, how much do rankings factor into you recruiting? Do you ever start on on the perfect game website and scroll down? Okay, you've already answered. You're not you mean you're not going to their list and saying, Okay, this kid's number fifteen, we're gonna go recruit him. TJ: No. No. I mean there's there's I've you know I think there was the only time I've really got into it was, you know, back in the day and there wasn't not that there wasn't rules, we had rules, but you would you would get a sense of what's out there. I think you always have to be really aware of the landscape, whatever that is. You have to be of the rec leagues. I mean, I remember watching Hagen Danner, okay. So there's there's a story. Huntington Beach high school kid who Huntington Beach has a great high school program. Hagen Danner was pitching in the Little League World Series. Guess who we committed two years later? Hagen Danner. Right. So that was the first part of us actually getting to know Hagen Danner. It wasn't on the perfect game website, it wasn't at the PG Fest, it wasn't at this and that. I think at the end of the day you have to find what's right and fits your program and I think they are I think players and families now today are basing their identity on a number that they paid for at some way, shape, or form d by how many events they attended. My kid doesn't Bobby Minor: No. TJ: play in the perfect game a whole lot and I don't know if he does any good or not. I don't know I don't even know what any I mean he plays in some of but I don't know if it's good or bad. but I do know that that do that will not determine his fate is if there's a number attached to the left side of his name versus no number. Bobby Minor: It's no, it's so good. So good. I mean that's that's gold right there that parents need to hear. I don't think a lot of parents realize, like, look, if you're top one hundred, top two hundred in your grad year in the country, you're gonna be ranked high by everybody. You're gonna get invites to everything. But those don't happen. It's not because you're not getting all these invites and recognition because of your ranking or anything. It's a byproduct of this kid's a dude. It's like Grady Emerson. I interviewed his parents, la I think last week, you know, and he was I mean, number one, number two ranked player with by PG. Well, yeah, that didn't that's not what opened all of these doors for him. He didn't get drafted two overall because of his ranking. And it's just people don't they don't really I don't think they really understand that a l most of that stuff doesn't matter. so yeah. TJ: Well, two things there. I sorry I interrupt you. Two things there. I I recruited Grady to TCU. If you remember that. He was he was Bobby Minor: yeah, okay. Yeah. Yeah. TJ: committed to us at TCU. Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: so you know, I saw his mom was on your podcast and great people, incredible Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: family. Grady was just A plus. I mean, to this day I can text Grady. I texted him when he got drafted and he got right back to me and that was three or four years ago we commit he we committed him. Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: but that wasn't that I remember I was sitting in Hawaii and on a Zoom with him and his family, and that wasn't what got him committed to TCU at all. And the fact of the matter was I went to go see Grady play high school baseball. I didn't go see Grady go play in a travel ball game. Now there's a world we need both worlds, there's no doubt about that. Yet I wanted to see a a different a di through a different lens. on that end, but I I think I think that is so key, like you're saying to these parents, is that that number attached to them doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna you're a guy at the next level. Because here's the other part of that. I had a conversation. We host the Area Codes, as you know, every Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: year. It's the biggest, it's the biggest event in amateur baseball is the Area Code games. You want to make a big event, you want to be good. And you want to be seen, make the Area Code underclass and or the Area Code team. Right. That's the biggest event in amateur baseball. And or I think the East Coast still has East Coast Pro, right? So there's two things. But I'm having this conversation with a vice president of a major league team. We're sitting in my office and we're talking, and he goes, and I asked him about some different things and how is he doing it nowadays versus how he's doing it 30 years ago. He goes, I've given out in my career, I've given out over a billion dollars to players. Not one time did I give any money because of how they were ranked. Bobby Minor: There there you go. I would drop this mic, but it's attached to the to the boom arm. So I don't want TJ: Ha ha. Bobby Minor: to mess with the setup. So all right. No, that's good. I again, parents, listen, that the reason why I do what I do is because I want parents to understand what actually matters at each age. They know what questions to ask, and then they can make the best decisions for their son when it matters most. I don't have I don't, you know, I'm not I'm not against anybody. I'm not, it's just I want parents to understand because You know, some parents that they have a lot of disposable income. Okay, I get it. A lot of parents don't, but yet they sacrifice on things that they think matter. And so you're hearing it right now from a division one coach. He's b been around for a while. He's played at the at you know at the D one level. He's you know, he's coached at multiple division one schools, he's recruited, played with and recruited tons of of I mean, the highest level players, and you're hearing it directly from him right now. Man, I had a question. I had a question. so really quickly, just you know, this can just be a couple minutes. Explain to parents listening what like at the division one level, because I tell people like division one and division two, there are obviously rules in place that regulate when a coach can actually initiate conversation with the player. NAIA, D3, and JUCO, they can talk, they can reach out to a player in the eighth grade if they wanted to. but at the division one level, Explain the difference between just like a verbal commitment and what that means and an actual commitment. TJ: So you have s so in our game, you know, the good part about our game, I think for the most part, it's getting a little murky here and there. The verbal commitment means something in our game. And I think our coaches have done a really good job at that. Now, with that being said, I I think it's getting it's trending towards the way football does things and this and that. So the verbal commitment's non binding. Right. That that ends up becoming a something within you and the family and the and the school that you're that you're committed to. If I commit to X school, I'm committed to them, but there's nothing binding from me leaving. There's no process for me decommitting from them. Right. And I think I think that's you know, it it's happening more and more as we know, I think on both sides, way more, right? I I wanna make that clear. I'm not blaming Families and I'm not blaming schools. I think it happens more and more on both sides. But the but the so when you sign a letter of intent, you are now binded to the university. So if I sign a letter of intent, I am now legally binded to that university to attend the university, and I cannot go sign another letter of intent to another another university. It's like getting married twice, right? Without a divorce. So you have to be able There's a whole process that goes through that. If you want to decommit, once you are legally binded to a school, you have to go through compliance, you gotta go through, you know, a few different you gotta jump through a few different hoops before you can get out of that commitment. So, and there again, I think there's two sides, right? I think the way this has become more transactional, it's becoming more of a business, and I think on both sides you're seeing it and you just saw more recently with the news of this potential 2022 class and then this five for five, you're seeing kids, I mean, it's August 14th. We start school in ten days and you're still seeing kids get dropped one way or the other from from their legally binding commitment, right? Because they're saying they're not gonna play. Right. That's that's the deal there. and or their verbal commands, you're just seeing it kind of from all over. there again, I'm not blaming anybody. I think I probably more now understand both sides nowadays because unfortunately we've turned this thing into a business and you're seeing a lot of people profit from it. all the way from the top level all the way down through the tenute level. You're seeing a lot of people profit from it. Bobby Minor: That's good. Thank you for explaining that. I and I think it's crazy. I had a mom reach out to me today, tell me about a player at I guess at the the USA trials or whatever, but there's a 14 year old player on a team whose mom was saying that her son didn't play well because his agent was there watching him. And I'm like, Well, really and so really it's not an agent per se, you it's his his vi his advisor, but even TJ: But yeah. Bobby Minor: even you're even seeing that where parents don't understand like If if your son shows any any potential at all, especially NIL potential, an advisor loses absolutely nothing other than, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, an hour a month communicating with you to roll the dice and say, Hey, I want to be his advisor, because then when your son does start making big money, he stands to benefit greatly. But What at what age and I know again, I don't this is not you know, I'm I'm speaking to the eighty percent in the middle, not the ten percent TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: elite, not the ten percent on the bottom, but the eighty percent in middle. At what age do things really start to matter? And I know it's kind of a vague question, but I mean just it, you know, like TJ: Yeah, that's a good question. I don't know if I have a particular age. There again, it's like where is your son or daughter at at this particular stage in their life? And you know, do you need an agent at 15? I don't know. I mean, I don't I don't know that I wasn't good enough to be in that situation, right? So I don't really know that. Is there are you adding more expectations? Probably. Right, because you're losing sight of him being fifteen and going, you know, as I I mean, there again, I'm living it with my girls, but my daughter's going night swimming, right? We live down the street from the beach and they're going night swimming. Like we're losing sight of that part and that fifteen, sixteen year old mentality. I would say probably as things start getting you'll know, you know, as things get serious, probably getting into their junior year, I would say. You know, there are some things that start coming with that, right? And I I use the Airy Code underclass. I mean, if you if you are involved in the Aerie Code Underclass, which is a great event and run awesome, I there's probably there's some there's a future financially for you here down the road pretty fast. Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: Right. And and and faster than you think. It seems like it's two years out, but you think and that's probably when I would start kind of Entertaining the potential of hey, do I need somebody? Do I not? Do I just need an advisor versus hiring an agent? Do I want to commit to this guy? but there again, I I don't know. I think it's also to what the family needs, right? Because you get a lot of families that potentially don't know much about it. Right. So they may need something more. You know, I hope to God that my son is good enough to do all that. we probably won't need one. right very early. Right. Because I can help walk him through a lot of these steps. up until a point. Right. Up until a point. you know, I bring up Tulo, right, whose son's the same age as mine and and we played together and he's 12 and he's really good. Right. He's he's a good player. I I'm not so sure Tulo's gonna need an agent for his son. He's walked it. Right. He's walked the walk and and there again I think each family's different. I think it's just it's just what they need at that time from a family perspective and a player perspective. Bobby Minor: That's good. I think for parents out there, I think like I tell parents, like because I've had parents ask me, like, you know, somebody's telling us we need an advisor, we know this. I said, look, if your son is a draftable player in high school, then yeah, you probably need it. So you you TJ: Mm. Bobby Minor: at some point you need to realize like who you get advice from. So if somebody if somebody benefits financially from telling you that your son is you know draftable player or division one prospect or whatever you might want to get a second opinion just to make sure that's that's the difference in which agents and advisors will benefit financially but if somebody has no skin in the game you know and it doesn't matter to them what decision you make you probably want to listen to them because you know that it's not motivated by money or anything. So coach I feel like you're one of those guys I could probably I could talk to for hours and hours and hours. There's a lot more. Hopefully there'll be a part two, but I want to jump into what I call in and out. It's just my little, you know, TJ: Okay. Bobby Minor: quick in and out. It's gonna be four questions, rapid fire, 15 to 20 second answers, hopefully. but let's let's jump into it. So it's time for a little in and out with Coach TJ Bruce. So, all right, coach, first question. Showcase or college camp. TJ: I'm gonna go I'm gonna stay neutral on this one. I think there's benefits of both. I think the college camp aspect, you need to pick ten schools and go to those schools that you really like. I think there's a lot of perks to the showcases because it brings talent and a lot of coaches, multiple coaches into one place versus the college camp brings you just into there's just one coach normally there, one school. Bobby Minor: Okay. And I'm by I I think Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. TJ: I'm staying neutral. So I'm not I'm never really neutral, but I'm staying neutral. Bobby Minor: what's the most overrated metric in recruiting? TJ: The ranking. Bobby Minor: Okay. third question. Well, yeah, TJ: I don't even know if that's a metric, but that's part of recruiting and Bobby Minor: no, I get what you're saying. I mean, what about what Okay. I don't want to mess up I don't want to mess up in and out. All right, third question. If a kid can do one thing at an elite level, what tool gives him the best chance of playing division one baseball? TJ: I would say run. Bobby Minor: wow. Yeah. TJ: You know, run, move, I I I would say there's I think you 'cause there you gotta start at the ground level and you gotta build from it. So I I would say the run tool and the athleticism and moving mobility is a big deal. Bobby Minor: Okay. And this is this is gonna be this the slow roller of the group. I kinda asked you a variation of this question earlier, but what's what's what's well I don't even want to ask the question now. I kind of screwed up my whole my whole in and out. I was gonna say what's one thing that gets a recruit crossed off your list fast. okay, I'm TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: gonna ask this question. So this is the slow roller. At what age do you start putting players on your recruiting board? TJ: I think nowadays you're probably gathering, you know, the two thous the two thousand twenty eights we can talk to now, but I still think you're gathering names. I think it's probably sophomore year. I would s I would say that's where but I also think it pertains to where you're at too. You know, when w I was at TCU, it was we had these rules in place. So you were gathering those names very early because you knew you were gonna go you were you were in the you know, you had a seat at the table. Right. I think when I was at UCLA, there was no rules on that. And we were committing Austin Hedges. We were committing Chase Strumped after his eighth grade year. We were committing Hagen Danner and Max Fried and Lucas G. Leto before they even pitched a varsity inning. You know, so I think it's changed, right? But I think it all pertains a little bit to to kind of where you're at and are you gonna go J C heavy, portal heavy, all the things. Bobby Minor: Okay. All right. So that's in and out with Coach TJ Bruce. All right, coach, a couple more questions and then and we'll we'll wrap everything up. and I just had a question. I literally just had a question that TJ: Yeah. Bobby Minor: that I said, you know what, I want to ask this is why I'm saying another qu man. I don't know, man. I here, so so we're gonna it we're gonna we'll wrap it up with this. So the parent out there of a twelve year old that, TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: you know, he he's he's a good ball player. What's one thing that what's one thing that you would say to that dad just about the journey? And the mom, but I mean, you know. TJ: B You know, I d yeah it's a good one. You know, I I don't get stumped very much, but I'm trying to make this as as good as of an answer as I can. I think be their biggest fan. I I think that's the one thing and I'm talking to myself too. You know, I think you gotta be their biggest fan and cheer on their successes as well as their failures. You know, and what I mean by cheering them on on their failures is it's is I I just told my kid the other day he better figure it out because he c he had a hard time. We we were in cover the defense was in cover one. They go into cover two, they show this and he he he for whatever reason was having a hard time and I told him he better figure it out. Right. And that was coach speak, that was dad speak. But it it's like I probably wasn't the best answer for him, right? That that was a little bit I wasn't being his biggest fan and cheering on his success his failures and Ken Revisa said this, the great Ken Revisa, mental game guy, failures positive feedback. So I think if we can look at it from those lenses and allow that to happen and don't forget to be mom and dad. You know, I think we forget that sometimes and I forget that too. And if I forget it and I'm in the industry and I know what's ahead, I know everybody else out there forgets it too. Don't just don't forget those things because you know, as much as the travel ball world and the high school world and rec ball world, we all have to coexist because there's some positives on all sides of things. We have to be able to understand that this thing's not life or death. You know, this making the twelve U select teams not it doesn't guarantee anything. You know, the only thing you're guaranteed, right? I mean, is the moment. Right at that point in time and what Bobby Minor: And you gotta pay the credit card bill. TJ: and you gotta pay the credit card bill, you gotta pay taxes at some point, right? Or they'll come and get ya. But that's that's what I would say. I a and I know that's probably not the answer parents wanna hear, but I think it's a I think it's a very good answer for people walking this walk. We forget and we we most of the time are the pressure that are putting on their kids because we feel it as parents, because we as parents play the comparison game with other dads and other moms and Johnny hit a home run, so we gotta do that. And that's something that I would say. Bobby Minor: Okay. That's really, really good. I'm gonna ask and this is kind of a piggyback to that then, because you know, the numbers are the numbers, and they say that seventy-five percent of all players quit by the age of fourteen. It doesn't mean that they quit when they're fourteen, you know, but players that start playing, you six, seven, eight, they quit by the time they're fourteen. What do you what do you think is probably the single biggest contributor to players quitting by the age of fourteen? TJ: I think burnout and I think not knowing how to handle the situation, the pressures, and I think mainly the parents not being able to handle the compare I think comparison is is obviously as we talk about as believers is the thief of joy, right? That's that's one of the things and I think that's what parents are playing and so from that standpoint it It comes to us, we feel it, we feel like we're not keeping up with the Joneses, we feel like this and that, we put it on our kids, and then all of a sudden they just can't handle it and or don't know how to deal with it. And that's why going back to my earlier question, if you're not talking to your kids about mental game, if you're not talking to your kids and not integrating that in your everyday life and everyday communication about being present, and I've learned how to do that a little bit more with a ADHD. son, right? He can't brush his teeth and think about cleaning his room at the same time. It's not even fathomable. That's actually a superpower that he has to be in the moment. And so that's what we talk about all the time. And that's what I think. That's that's there it is. That's so parents just be be good with being mom and dad and be good and be great with Johnny or Susie being who they are. Bobby Minor: That's good stuff. TJ: 'Cause their time's coming. Bobby Minor: yeah. No, that's that's really, really good. Okay, I remember the question I wanted to ask you 10 TJ: Yeah. Bobby Minor: minutes ago. So that's what this is what we're gonna end on. So obviously, Long Beach State, you're the dirt bags, okay? TJ: Mm-hmm. Bobby Minor: Not necessarily for Long Beach State, but what does it mean to be a dirtbag? TJ: That's a great question. I I I think the ultimate go the ultimate dirt bag knows how to handle adversity. I think that's the one thing Dave Snow, when he took over the program in 1988, I would say that's the one thing that can tie in all the dirtbags. And we've had a lot of great teams. Right? Dave Snow went to Omaha four times. you know, Coach Wellers, we had a lot of great teams that unfortunately didn't make it in Omaha. Buck had a lot of great teams. That's the one thing that can tie us all together. We knew how to handle adversity and that and adversity could be a death and how to overcome that. It could be practicing on the campus field with no dugout, no locker room. We had to change, you know, in my day we had to change and before us we had to change on the field. We just we just changed and we figured out how to do that and overcome that. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but just think about that in today's age. If you told a son or daughter they had to go change on the field and they just had to go play and perform at their best self, that was that's the one word. Overcoming adversity, not the one word. But adversity is the one word. Overcoming it would be what a dirtbag is. Bobby Minor: Good answer. Coach, I really appreciate it so much. Coach TJ Bruce, head coach at Long Beach State. Where can if parents want to follow along, like follow you on social media, like where can they follow you? TJ: I'm on Twitter and I am on Instagram. I do both. so I I can't tell you what my hand I I can tell you what my handles are here. Like give me a minute and I can probably pull it up, but I'm not very good at it. Twitter's TJ Bruce or TJ underscore Bruce. and then my Instagram. Let's just see if I can figure that out too. I think if you just search TJ Bruce, it should come up. I think it's T J Bruce Zero Two. That's my Instagram handle. but I'll if I can ever help or I'm super passionate about impacting our game and our student athletes and if I can ever help, please please reach out and I'll do what I can. Bobby Minor: All right. When you were at TCU Coach, what was your favorite restaurant to eat at in Fort Worth? TJ: Whoa man, I you know what I we really loved? we really love the stockyards. and I you I think you always gotta go Joe T's. I think that's one of the that's one of the one of our and I think it was really about the scene, right? It was about the scene, you're in the stockyards, you're outside in the patio. that was one place that we we went quite a bit. in Alito. Probably the Texas Roadhouse. That was probably our our spot. We Bobby Minor: No. TJ: just we went to Texas Roadhouse right there in Weatherford, a little bit Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: a little bit down down the way. my kids would eat a billion rolls and then never eat their dinner. But that was it. It's funny. We go to Cooperstown two weeks ago with Jackson and we we land in Albany and we gotta drive to Owenetta and the first place we saw, Texas Roadhouse. So what's the first place we Dad, Dad, can we go to Texas Roadhouse? So That's it. Bobby Minor: I man, I went to Saudi Arabia a year and a half ago to the mom. They had a Texas Roadhouse in Saudi Arabia. TJ: my god. They're everywhere. And I'm gonna tell you, they Bobby Minor: Yeah. TJ: do they does it taste different outside of Texas? I feel like ours did, but I don't know. I could be That could be me though. But I had a few Bobby Minor: Maybe, I don't know. Yeah. I didn't eat there. Yeah. I know I didn't eat there, but anyway. TJ: I had a few rolls myself, so Bobby Minor: Yeah. So all right, coach T J Bruce, really appreciate you jumping on and I'll absolutely wanna have you back on in the future. TJ: Awesome. Anytime. I appreciate it. And keep doing the good work.