Entry #8 - 10/24/03

It has been a while and I apologize for not getting my thoughts down on paper for the last couple of weeks. This is definitely the busiest time of the year for me. We are deeply rooted into our strength/conditioning program and individual instruction, and we are heavily involved in recruiting. Although there does not seem to be enough minutes in the day, this is my favorite time of the year because this is when our players make their most improvement. Due to NCAA limitations it makes the days very long, because we are only allowed to instruct 4 players at a time. We have twenty hitters, (5 groups of 4) so if they all have 45 minute sessions, then that means it takes 3 hours and 45 minutes to give them their instruction, (if they all hit on the same day). If you add that to defensive work for infielders, outfielders, catchers and pitchers getting their throwing work completed, it makes for long days for the coaches. Believe me, putting together a two hour practice schedule with 25 players on the field at one time and keeping them all busy and moving is alot easier.

I am always amused when I talk to friends and other peers outside of the coaching profession when they ask what my job consists of. They have the conception that basically my job is putting on my coaching shoes, throwing a whistle around my neck, grabbing a clipboard and going to the park for a couple of hours, then I go home and do the same thing the next day. I wish it was that simple. Having the responsibility of twenty five 18-22 year old boys and trying to make sure they are making good decisions off and on the field can be very complicated. Being able to do this successfully is even more difficult when the NCAA limits the time coaches can actually spend with their players. During the season we are allowed 20 hours a week with his players and during the off-season only 8 hours a week.

For us older folks out there we can look back to the time when we were 18-22 years of age and boy what a great time that was. Being away from home for the first time and basically having the power and responsibility to make all of our own decisions was very exciting. If I only knew back then what I know now, I really could have had some fun. Remember those times and think about all those choices we had...now multiply that by about fifty and that is the number of choices today's young people have to make on a daily basis. A good example is television. Remember when there was only three television stations. How did we survive? Now there are hundreds of choices. I remember if you wanted to see the highlights of that weekends pro football games, you had to wait for Howard Cosell's halftime highlights on Monday Night Football. My wife finds it puzzling how I can watch the same Sports Center over and over and over. I'm not sure why I can either, but I assume it is because growing up I never had the luxury to watch highlights of sporting events on a daily or hourly basis. Last Friday evening I was trying to get my four year old to get to bed. I said, "Tilo, you have to hurry up and get to sleep because when you wake up it will be Saturday morning and cartoons will be on television." He replied, "Dad, cartoons are on television everyday, not just on Saturday." He made his point.

This time of year is by far the busiest as far as recruiting for college baseball. On November 12, high school seniors and junior college sophomores will have the opportunity to sign a National Letter of Intent at a four year university. You bust your tail seeing kids play all year long and then when the fall arrives you try to get them to visit your campus and give them a good feel of how things are done in your program. It is really the toughest part of our business. Great coaches and great programs are successful because they have great players. It is as simple as that. Any coach that won't agree with that statement has too much ego and is lying to himself. The toughest and most frustrating part is when you spend alot of time, money and investment in recruiting a young man only to have him commit to another university. Inside you feel like there is a great fit. You know this young man would be successful and have a great opportunity in your program, but you still don't get him. It is very tough to understand, but just like any other setback in life, you simply have to shake it off and move on. Our business is so competitive. Players are verbally committing to universities earlier and earlier every year. If your recruiting coordinator is not out on the road all the time you feel like you will be left behind.

The luxury we currently have at ETSU right now is we have phenomenal kids in our program. Kids who are good people, from good families, who love baseball, love to compete, love to work hard and want to win championships. We are very specific and particular with who we recruit. We hold our players to a very high standard and we only go after those young men who we know would be a good fit. This is a very exciting time to be a baseball player at ETSU. Five years ago our program was on life support and now it is growing stronger than ever before. The support from our administration is at an all time high. The players can feel it and so can the coaches. So as we try to put the remaining pieces of the puzzle together as the final days of recruiting wind down, we wait with great anticipation as these young men make the most important decision of their lives to date. As excited as we become, the players in our program are equally excited to know who will be joining their baseball family. November 12 will be here before you know it. I will be glad when it arrives and I have a feeling, my wife will also be happy. Until next time...

Coach Skole