As my players and most of my friends and family already know, I recently accepted a position as assistant coach at Hillsdale College. For me, it is an opportunity to get back to full-time coaching, something that I have not done for the past ten years. Even better than that though, is the opportunity to coach with and work for my son, Eric.
I will fondly remember the nine wonderful years at Adrian College. I had the privilege of being able to be a part of a program that played in eight NCAA Regional Tournaments in nine seasons, has won five consecutive MIAA Conference Championships, and appeared in a DIII World Series (finishing 4th in 2008). More importantly, as any coach will tell you, I had the opportunity to develop and nurture relationships with so many fantastic young men who I can call my friends and who will be my friends for a lifetime.
One of the beauties of coaching is that we teach, we push, we nurture, we care, we compete for and with, and we love the student-athletes we get to be able to spend time with during their college years. We see them grow from kids into men, we see them work through their own personal struggles, we support them and they support us, we benefit because they allow us to share in their glories. And no matter how much we sometimes think we are doing to help them live their dreams on and off the field, they are doing so much to fill our lives with pride and joy. Our players ultimately give us so much more than we ever really give to them.
To my players at Adrian College.....the ones who have gone on and graduated and those of you who are still wearing your Bulldog uniforms in the next year or three, you have provided me with a lifetime of memories and a heart full of gratefulness. Your willingness to accept me as a part of your college years and your lives has been such a huge part of my daily life. You have helped me to remember that coaching isn't just something that I do, but it is what I am. You have given me an opportunity to improve myself as a coach and as a man. As much as any coach could ever be a part of a student-athlete becoming a man, you have all been the most important part in me evolving in the same ways.
I am also grateful for having the chance to work with my fellow coaching brothers Nate Sarkissian, Aaron Klotz, Luke Harrigan, Xander Younce, Phil Lawrence, Rob Heumann, Curtis Fischer, and of course Craig Rainey, the guy leading the ship to the promised land who first asked me on board nine years ago. In addition, I enjoyed working with and learning from each of the Athletic Trainers who helped keep our players healthy enough to compete at high levels.
For people who have not had the privilege of coaching hundreds of players, the relationships that can be developed can come close to parenting and being a part of a family. We aren't exactly fathers, and don't necessarily bounce the next generations of the guys' families on our knees during holiday gatherings, but nonetheless the ties that bind us together never really break.......they go on and on in various shapes and forms. Twenty-five years of coaching college baseball players (at both Adrian College and Siena Heights University) have given me enough fabulous experiences for a lifetime!
And now I get to coach with my own son, who is a new head coach and now my boss. I can't really adequately explain how amazing that is yet, and of course, how thankful I am to be able to do so. It isn't necessarily the beginning of a new story; just the next page!
I will fondly remember the nine wonderful years at Adrian College. I had the privilege of being able to be a part of a program that played in eight NCAA Regional Tournaments in nine seasons, has won five consecutive MIAA Conference Championships, and appeared in a DIII World Series (finishing 4th in 2008). More importantly, as any coach will tell you, I had the opportunity to develop and nurture relationships with so many fantastic young men who I can call my friends and who will be my friends for a lifetime.
One of the beauties of coaching is that we teach, we push, we nurture, we care, we compete for and with, and we love the student-athletes we get to be able to spend time with during their college years. We see them grow from kids into men, we see them work through their own personal struggles, we support them and they support us, we benefit because they allow us to share in their glories. And no matter how much we sometimes think we are doing to help them live their dreams on and off the field, they are doing so much to fill our lives with pride and joy. Our players ultimately give us so much more than we ever really give to them.
To my players at Adrian College.....the ones who have gone on and graduated and those of you who are still wearing your Bulldog uniforms in the next year or three, you have provided me with a lifetime of memories and a heart full of gratefulness. Your willingness to accept me as a part of your college years and your lives has been such a huge part of my daily life. You have helped me to remember that coaching isn't just something that I do, but it is what I am. You have given me an opportunity to improve myself as a coach and as a man. As much as any coach could ever be a part of a student-athlete becoming a man, you have all been the most important part in me evolving in the same ways.
I am also grateful for having the chance to work with my fellow coaching brothers Nate Sarkissian, Aaron Klotz, Luke Harrigan, Xander Younce, Phil Lawrence, Rob Heumann, Curtis Fischer, and of course Craig Rainey, the guy leading the ship to the promised land who first asked me on board nine years ago. In addition, I enjoyed working with and learning from each of the Athletic Trainers who helped keep our players healthy enough to compete at high levels.
For people who have not had the privilege of coaching hundreds of players, the relationships that can be developed can come close to parenting and being a part of a family. We aren't exactly fathers, and don't necessarily bounce the next generations of the guys' families on our knees during holiday gatherings, but nonetheless the ties that bind us together never really break.......they go on and on in various shapes and forms. Twenty-five years of coaching college baseball players (at both Adrian College and Siena Heights University) have given me enough fabulous experiences for a lifetime!
And now I get to coach with my own son, who is a new head coach and now my boss. I can't really adequately explain how amazing that is yet, and of course, how thankful I am to be able to do so. It isn't necessarily the beginning of a new story; just the next page!
