My Mount Rushmore of Coaches: Key Things I Learned From Them
Every coach has a handful of mentors and coaches that have shaped them into the person they are now. My father is one of those mentors who had a huge influence on me and how I coach today (you can read an article on his impact here). However, I want to highlight four other coaches that have been instrumental in my coaching career and what I learned from them. The four coaches are Doug Cole, Jim Latorre, Dave Stengl, and Bob Kittle. Now, some of these names might not be familiar to anyone and that is probably because none of them have coached at a big time NCAA school. But see, as a coach you don’t need to be the most winningest coach in high school, college or MLB history to be someone’s “Rushmore” Coach. Before you continue reading, check where you are right now in the lives of your players, ALL your players, not just current roster players. How are you impacting their lives? Now think about all your coaches you have ever had. The ones that bring back vivid memories (these memories probably aren’t dog piles), they’re moments that changed the trajectory of your mindset, thought process, and emotion of who you are as an individual. They could be the exact reason why you coach today!
Doug Cole: Getting Coached Hard
All throughout my little league career there was always one other team that was tough to beat other than my dad’s team. That team was run by Doug Cole. His son was my age and was a great player. Being that he was my age we were always playing against each other — pretty much in every sport. In little league Doug was known as a “yeller,” he coached his teams very hard and if you were watching his practices from afar you would think this guy is always mad at his players. I use think to myself “I am so glad, I don’t play for him.” Well when I was 9-years old, my team got second place, and Doug’s team got first. Due to a kid dropping out from his team, he ask my dad if he could pick me up for the TOCs (tournament of champions). I have never been so excited and scared in my life at an offer. I remember sitting in the living room with my dad discussing how much Doug yelled. My dad took the expected approach and said “this would be a great opportunity to be coached by a great coach and to be coached by someone other than me.”
I remember showing up to the first practice scared out of my mind, and of course scared to get yelled at. That night I remember my mom saying “just listen to what he says not how he says it.” That changed everything, the next practices Doug yelled but I remember listening to what he was saying, and everything he was saying was right! He just used a little more passion and tone than I was use to. Over the course of the next month we ended up going undefeated and winning the TOCs. I remember after that single month of Doug coaching super hard, that I felt loved by him. It changed how I was able to take criticism from coaches the rest of my career. I am 32 years old now, I was nine then, I remember that month of baseball like it was yesterday.
Jim Latorre: Bringing Fun and Joy into the Game of Baseball
If Doug Cole is scary than Jim Latorre was the exact opposite. Jim always wore shorts and sandals, it didn’t matter the weather. He had an incredible knack at relating to little leaguers. He would shake your hand and move your knuckles (I went to fist bumps quickly). In the first team meeting Jim gave each player their own brand new baseball with their name on it. I remember how excited I was for this little gesture. I felt like it gave me a sense of ownership. When you played for Jim, you couldn’t wait for practice, and you played hard for him. I played my whole season at buck short, that is right, I played right behind second base or shallow centerfield — with bigger kids, he would tell me to back up to the centerfield position. The season was an absolute blast! There even some games we did imaginary ball pre-game. He literally did the entire in and out with an imaginary ball. I was 10 years old and thought it was crazy; but had the most fun I have ever had in a baseball game (well before a game)! I remember that entire year, and I remember being sad and disappointed that I only was able to play for Jim one year.
Dave Stengl: Understanding my Role and Constant Communication
I tried to respect all my coaches throughout my entire career, but there was no one easier to respect other than Dave Stengl. Coach Stengl was my junior varsity basketball coach. He was quiet, mild mannered, I would run through a wall for him. I was not the best basketball player on the court…ever, probably not even in the top 8–10 on a court. I was fast and could play good defense (probably the only reason why I made the team). The night before our first game, I remember Coach Stengl pulling me aside and telling me “Chase, I am not going to start you, but you will be the first one off the bench, I don’t need you to score points, I need you to stop their best player from scoring points every time you get in the game.” A clear defined role, I can definitely get behind that! The first couple of games I averaged probably ten minutes, but for me those ten minutes turned into MY GAME. I didn’t worry about the score, or how many minutes I was playing compared to the other guards. I knew my job (my game) was to stop their best player — GAME ON! As the season went on, I would guard our best player in practice, and I earned more minutes. Pretty soon I was the 6th man, and playing a ton of minutes (with the same goal in mind). After another practice later in the season, Coach Stengl pulled me aside again “Chase, you have worked hard and I want to start you next game.” I remember feeling proud of my hard work, but I told Coach Stengl, “I shouldn’t start over x-player, and I like coming off the bench and I think that other players and coaches aren’t expecting my defense when I come off the bench.” Coach Stengl was excellent about communicating to his players on what he was thinking. This allowed us players to open up about what we thought. He allowed high school players to collaborate, be heard and have an opinion. He created that environment and that experience which continues to help me grow as a coach.
Bob Kittle: Practice Organization and Delegation
Bob Kittle gave me my first opportunity to coach college baseball. I had played against Kittle’s teams in high school and they were always so good and so well prepared. He’s a pretty intimidating individual if your only encounter is on the diamond. I sat in his office for my “interview” and the first thing that was asked was, “where do you want to go with coaching? what do you want to coach?” before I could really answer he followed up with, “you can coach as much or as little as you want.” I sat there in silence, completely shocked by this opportunity, there was no way I could turn this down. Going into the fall I thought I wouldn’t learn much and that I was ready to run my own team if given the opportunity. I had wanted to be a coach my whole life and I THOUGHT I was ready. But quickly into the first week when I saw how Kittle ran his practices, I remember thinking “I know nothing.” His practices were run extremely efficient, organized and with a ton of tempo. I remember practices would seem like they were 30 minutes long and I was exhausted at the end of them… and I was coaching! Kittle let me coach, he never micromanged me and if I had an idea, he made sure I explained it and had reason behind it before we implemented it. This simple process helped me learn how to really look into knew ideas and how to listen to coaches and even players. Get the REASON behind a suggestion. Now as a coach before I suggest anything I always have a reason behind it. I learned this from my time on Kittle’s staff. Kittle also taught me how to delegate. He was never afraid to hand off things to his coaches. If he handed things off to you, that meant he trusted you and that he knew you were going to work extremely hard. He had high expectations for his coaches just like he had high expectations for his players. I was blessed to coach with Kittle for two years and I consider those two years a valuable and key component to my coaching foundation.
There are so many great coaches that I have come in contact with and have been able to learn from. These four coaches brought key components to how I coach today. The experiences I had with them have taught me different aspects of coaching but have also grown me as a coach exponentially. It is always good to look back at the coaches that have had great influences in your life. It will keep you grounded and also appreciative of the opportunity you are currently in!
