I’m starting to get back into my Audible routine and I just finished “The Culture System” by J.P. Nerbun. This was one of my favorite listens in a long time and I put it on the same level as Daniel Coyle’s “The Culture Code”. As we are close to getting all of our guys back onto campus, I wanted to freshen up on some principles of building a great culture. J.P. does a fantastic job covering all of the bases when it comes to this book. He gives helpful templates that give you an avenue to turn the information you just obtained into actionable ideas. The questions that I answered below were asked by J.P. in what he calls the Leadership Manifesto Template. I hope you enjoy a look into how I approach my role with Florida Tech Baseball. 

Why do I coach? 

I already had the inspiration to write about this back on May 22, 2022. I wrote down 7 reasons as to why I coach and here they are listed below. Also here is that blog, Why I Coach. 

1. My love of baseball
2. Being Outside 
3. Traveling to new places 
4. New family each year
5. Time to take care of my body
6. Having something on the line 
7. Campus life 

Today is August 16th, 2023 and things have changed since then. I went from Maryville College to Florida Tech. There are some differences in the two programs that have changed my perspective on why I coach. Reasons 1 through 3 are close to the same so I’ll start with reason 4. Defining words is important to culture. I have found that family is a tough word to use because it means something different to everyone. The word family is very polarizing to me because of how complicated my family history is. This is different for every one of your athletes. I like using the word “Tribe” now because of the lack of usage in our society. I can define what our Tribe is with less bias than family. This also has to do with a couple of great books that I have read, “Tribe” by Sebastian Junger and “Tribal Leadership” by Dave Loan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright. So reason number 4 for me is now, Creating a new Tribe each year. Reasons 5+7 are a little redundant and they can be easily described by reasons 2 and 4. Reason number 6 is not a value of mine anymore. I have truly bought into loving the process and not the outcome. Here’s the list of my new reasons.

1. My love of baseball
2. Being Outside 
3. Traveling to new places 
4. New tribe each year

What is my greatest aspiration for the team?

Florida Tech becoming a regional contender. 

In college baseball there are many layers as to what makes a great college experience. Winning is a part of a great college experience because it creates life lasting bonds through the process of winning. Many stories are created in the process of winning. I want Florida Tech baseball players to meet up with each other 10 years from now and have unlimited stories to recall. The Sunshine State Conference is one of, if not the best conference for Division II baseball. If we can create an environment where it is expected that Florida Tech makes regionals, it gives ample opportunity to create long lasting memories through the process and competitive games. 

What do I want it to feel like being a part of the team?

My definition of this would be a Tribe. I talked about this a little above but here’s a graphic about the book “Tribal Leadership” that I love:

The beginning of the year we start at stage 3 and hopefully build up to stage 4 by the end of fall. I think that stage 5 is a very tall task when it comes to college baseball. Getting a team to “We’re Great” is a fantastic goal to have. Stage 4 perfectly describes what I would like it to feel to be a part of our team. 

What do I want people to remember from the experience? 

I have been pretty clear that I think the core memories come from the process and not just the winning. I will give an example of what a core memory looks like for me in my time at Catawba. I would hit after hours pretty often with two of my teammates my senior year, Will Alberston and Dylan Richardson. One day we brought the shopping cart out onto the field and were just hitting for hours. A shopping cart holds hundreds of baseballs and we hit every single last one in the cart. We start to pick up the baseballs and a notification goes off on my phone. I had tutoring in 5 minutes. I felt like the biggest a-hole but I had to get to that tutoring session. I heard about this for the rest of the season and I bet I would hear about it if I saw them today, which I deserve. These simple and stupid memories are some of what makes the college experience so special. In that little moment I learned about friendship, time management and priorities. I learned that the friends that I want in my life are those that hold me accountable. They did that through humor and boy did these two make me laugh. I learned that not being accountable for my time affected not only me but the people around me. Lastly, I could have easily just said screw my tutoring session but I didn’t because I knew I needed to prioritize school so I could continue playing baseball. You never know what little moment will impact you going forward. 

What do I want people to become from being a member of the team?

The best version of themselves. That’s all you can ask of when you are given the privilege to lead a young group of athletes. I don’t think this answer will ever change for me. I had no idea who I was in college. You have to let people go through experiences to figure out who it is that they are. One college experience that is overlooked is the life situations that you face on your own for the first time. One experience of mine was the transition from UNCG to GTCC. I went from a full planned out schedule to a mess of a schedule. At UNCG I was busy from sun up to sun down. At GTCC my day was “Done” at 2:00pm. I was lucky enough to still have the obsession of baseball so I kept my routine that was set at UNCG. Looking back, I see how many different things could have gone wrong. I was lucky enough to have the people in my life support me in finding my next spot for college baseball. Pushing me every day, showing me there was a bigger picture. This led me to finding the transformational program of Catawba Baseball. I had a coaching staff that showed me the definition of “Be you, aligned with us.”

My Core 4 Values

Side note, is that I call the 4 most important people in my life “The Core 4” 

My Grandparents, Mom and Wife. Instead of listing the personal principles for each, I am just going to give a little insight as to why for each. 

1. Love- My Core 4 have done nothing but show me the best possible definition of love my entire life. I hope they can see how grateful I am for this.

2. Obsession- This word often has a negative connotation. I think that it can be very positive. My obsession with the game of baseball has shown me how the principles of being obsessed with the game can translate to life principles. Still not convinced that obsession can be seen in a positive light? Here is one of my favorite movie scenes from one of my favorite actors.  

Obsession- Adam Sandler

3. Loyalty- My relationship to my wife is everything to me. It has been constant work over 12 years and it’s the most rewarding work I could ever ask for. She is the one who is responsible for creating my last value, accountability. 

4. Accountability- I held myself accountable when it came to training for playing baseball. I hold myself accountable to being the best husband and coach possible. I hold myself to high standards so that I can help others create their own standards. 

Personal Disciplines

Keep- Growth Mindset

Stop- Poor Diet

Start- Daily Movement 

I have Covid to thank for my Growth Mindset. I started my love of listening to audible books and it opened my mind to the world outside of baseball. Much that I have learned in the game of baseball has been linked to something that can help in my life down the road. I need to stop my poor diet because it is something that has challenged me my entire life. I went to nutrition therapy when I was in elementary school because of the lack of foods that I would eat. It was pretty much strictly chicken nuggets, fries and PB sandwiches. I have come a long way since but it is still something I need to start so I can live life to the fullest. Lastly, I just need to find the exercise routine that works for me. The discipline to find that routine has eluded me and I need to focus on this for the same reason as nutrition, so I can live life to the fullest. 

For those that made it this far, thank you! Thank you J.P. Nerbun for the inspiration for this blog. I want anyone who is apart of the Florida Tech program to know who I am and what my vision is. I feel this was a perfect way to accomplish both. This blog was a pleasure to write for my personal growth and I hope you enjoyed it as well!