Behind The Diamond

“The Head Coach’s Cross to Bear: Culture, Accountability, and the Cost of Doing Things Right”

Coaching baseball, especially at the club or high school level, should be about teaching the game, developing athletes, and building a winning culture. Read More

“Changing the Culture: Building a Winning Baseball Program”

In baseball, as in life, culture defines success. Talent alone doesn’t win championships. It’s the mindset, attitude, and collective belief that create a truly successful program. Changing a team’s culture is one of the hardest and most rewarding challenges a coach can face. It requires vision, persistence, communication, and above all, trust. Read More

“Parents, Chill Out! Why Club Baseball Isn’t the Big Leagues”

Youth baseball has changed a lot over the past few decades. What was once a seasonal sport played for fun with neighborhood friends has transformed into a high stakes, year round commitment, especially in the world of club baseball. Read More

“Overcoming the System: Standing Tall When It Breaks Its Own Rules”

In every generation, there is a story of people rising against a powerful force. Not always with weapons or war, but with truth, integrity, and courage. Read More

“Dear Karen, Your Son Is Not a Victim. He Is a Product of Your Delusion”

There is a moment in every coach’s career when the game is no longer the hardest part. The athletes are not the real challenge. The drills, the strategy, the long hours are all manageable. What becomes exhausting is the parent. Read More

“Inside a Coach’s Mind: The Road to the Championship”

The final week of the season hits differently. The calendar says it is just another week, but your gut tells you otherwise. Every second feels like an hour. Every drill feels like a statement. Every decision feels permanent. You are not just preparing for another game. You are preparing for the game. The one that has lived in your head since the first practice. Since the first team meeting. Since the off-season. This is the game that defines everything. Read More

“The System is a Joke and Everyone Knows It”

Why does it treat every case the same, like we are just names on paper instead of people who have given everything to this game? Why does it hide behind rules it does not even understand while ruining lives and careers in the process? Read More

“The Night Before the Big Game: Inside the Mind of a Baseball Coach”

It is two in the morning and I am wide awake. The house is quiet but my mind is loud. I have already flipped the pillow a few times and kicked off the covers then pulled them back up. Read More

“How Champions Are Made: The Discipline of Doing Everything Right”

Everyone wants to be a champion when the lights are on. When the stadium is packed. When the stakes are high and the trophies are polished and the eyes of the world are watching. Read More

“Club Ball is Broken: Win At All Costs is Killing Youth Baseball”

Let’s just say it plainly, too many club baseball coaches care more about wins and losses than they do about kids. Read More

“The Power of Bunting: How the Most Underrated Play in Baseball Wins Games”

There is a weapon in baseball so disruptive, so overlooked, and so rarely respected that it borders on invisible. Coaches talk about it. Analysts scoff at it. Players often avoid it. Read More

“The Era of Entitlement in Youth Baseball”

There is something deeply broken in today’s youth baseball culture. Somewhere along the way, we stopped developing ballplayers and started raising entitled participants. Read More

“From Cleats to the Real World: A Coach’s Goodbye”

Every four years, a new wave of players walks into your program. Some come wide-eyed, some come hardened, and some come somewhere in between. Read More

“Why Are You Showcasing When You Have Nothing to Show?”

Let me say this as clearly as I can. I am not against showcases. I am not against travel teams. I am not against summer ball. Each of those things has its place in a player’s development when used at the right time and for the right reasons. Read More

“Strike Three, You’re Out: When Umpires Fail the Game”

There is a growing problem in youth baseball that not enough people are willing to talk about directly. I am going to say it plainly. The quality of umpiring in youth sports is often terrible. Read More

“Parents, Your Child’s Commitment Matters More Than You Realize”

As a coach, I have spent years watching young athletes grow and sometimes stall, not because of a lack of talent, but because of a lack of true commitment. Read More

“Smoke and Mirrors: The False Gurus of Youth Baseball”

The state of youth baseball is being poisoned by smoke and mirrors. What used to be a grassroots game built on mentorship, development, and a love for the grind is now being flooded by a wave of false prophets. Read More

“The Summer Dilemma: League Games or Development Grind?”

Let me be blunt with you, because someone needs to be. Every summer I see it play out the same way, parents loading up the car five nights a week, players logging innings in empty stadiums, chasing the illusion that more games mean more exposure, more development, more opportunity. Read More

“The Club Ball Tryout Season: What Are We Really Looking For?”

It is that time of year again. Club ball tryout season. Every field is packed. Every Instagram story is flashing the latest age group flyer. Every team is suddenly “building something special.” Read More

“Private Lessons or Private Illusions?”

Private lessons in baseball have exploded in popularity. Drive through any town on a weeknight and you will find cages packed with kids working with instructors – hitting, pitching, fielding, catching, you name it. Read More

“Your Move, Coach: Building Winners This Fall”

Fall baseball is the most overlooked season in the game. For players, it often feels like “bonus” time. For parents, it’s sometimes seen as an extra bill. For coaches, it should be the most important stretch of the year, the reset button. Read More

”Embrace the Grind in Today’s Game”

Baseball has always been called a game of failure, a game that humbles even the best athletes who lace up their cleats and step between the lines. Yet it is also a game of opportunity, of growth, and of constant pursuit of getting better. Read More

“Get to Work” Series

• Part One: “The Modern Athlete’s Advantage“

Baseball players today have more tools at their fingertips than any generation before them. Technology, facilities, private instruction, video breakdowns, and data analysis have changed how young athletes can develop. Read More

• Part Two: “The Purpose Behind the Work“

Most players say they want to get better. That is easy to say. But wanting to improve and working with purpose are two very different things. Read More

• Part Three: “The Missing Ingredient: Consistency“

Every athlete can find motivation for a day. Some can find it for a week. The ones who become great are the ones who find it every single day, even when it’s boring, cold, or inconvenient. Read More

• Part Four: “Distractions, Comfort and the Lost Art of Focus“

Many players believe they can do both, be fully locked in at practice while living half online. The truth is, focus is a muscle. It grows when it’s trained and weakens when it’s constantly interrupted. Every time a player trades a quiet moment of work for a quick scroll, that muscle loses strength. Read More

• Part Five: “Work Ethic: The Edge That Still Matters“

Talent will take you only so far. Natural ability might get you noticed early, but it is work ethic that decides how far you go. The players who rise are not always the ones with the strongest arms or the fastest bat. Read More

• Part Six: “Simple, Effective Daily Work”

Improvement does not require fancy gyms, expensive equipment, or elite facilities. It requires intention, creativity, and the willingness to do the work every day. The players who dominate are rarely the ones with the flashiest tools. They are the ones who make the most out of what they have. Read More

• Part Seven: “The Moment of Realization”

Every athlete, no matter how talented, will eventually face a moment that humbles them. It could happen in Little League when a teammate suddenly hits harder or runs faster. It might happen in high school when opponents seem bigger, stronger, and more skilled. It could happen in college, club ball, or even the pros. Read More

• Part Eight: “What Embracing the Grind Really Means”

The word grind gets thrown around a lot, but too often it is misunderstood. Embracing the grind is not about punishment, endless repetition, or pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion. It is about commitment, focus, and ownership over your own growth. Read More

• Part Nine: “Balance and Discipline”

Commitment to baseball does not mean neglecting balance. True discipline is not simply working harder than everyone else; it is working smarter, knowing when to push and when to rest, and maintaining a rhythm that allows improvement to last. Read More

• Part Ten: “The Coach’s Perspective” 

As a coach, I see it every day. I see players who have talent, players who have access to every resource, and players who have the potential to be great. What separates the ones who reach that potential from those who do not is simple, ownership. The drive must come from the athlete. I cannot want it more than they do. Read More

“The Non-Negotiable Standard: Why High School Baseball Requires Parents to Step Back”

The moment a freshman walks into a high school baseball program, everything changes. The field is bigger, the expectations are higher, and the consequences are real. The jersey actually means something now. You represent your school, your community, your teammates, and the players who came before you. Read More

“The Price of Greatness: A Coach’s Story of Culture, Standards and Turning a Program Around”

When people look at the banners on the outfield wall, the trophies in the case, or the records in the book, they see the success. They see the two state championships. They see the final product. Read More

“The Head Coach’s Cross to Bear” The Series

• Part 1: “Building a Culture Is Not for the Weak“

Building a championship culture in a high school baseball program is one of the most misunderstood responsibilities a coach can take on. Outsiders see the wins, the celebrations, the banners, and the success stories. They do not see the battles that happen behind the scenes. Read More

• Part 2: “Parents and the Entitlement Epidemic”

The entitlement epidemic in youth and high school baseball has become one of the most disruptive forces in the development of athletes. It affects team culture, coaching authority, competitive integrity, and the emotional maturity of young players. Read More

• Part 3: “The Dirty Side of Recruiting Wars”

There is a side of baseball that most people never see, a side that lives behind phone calls, quiet conversations, side deals, and whispered promises. It is the recruiting underworld that exists beneath the surface of youth, club, and high school baseball. Read More

• Part 4: “When Outsiders Chase Attention, Not Truth”

Every successful program eventually attracts noise from people who were never part of it. They were not in the dugout. They were not at practice. They were not present for the standards, the expectations, or the daily grind. Yet they feel entitled to an opinion, a platform, and sometimes even influence. Read more