Thanks guys and a little background might be helpful. I've been a HS coach for almost 30 years. I was a HC in Kentucky for 9 years then moved to NC to be an assistant. I was an AC for 4 years then became athletic director and stepped away from baseball for about 5 years. The past 5 years I've been AD and head baseball coach. Doing both was tough when it came to time management then throw in the fact we had to get through COVID. The two years before COVID (my first two as HC at my current school) we were pretty good. Second in conference both years and lost in 2nd round of playoffs. COVID year we played 3 or 4 games. The past two years we have been terrible. There's many reasons why I gave up being AD and the two biggest are I want to spend more time with my family. I'm tired of the 50 to 60 hour weeks, leaving the house at 7:30 in the morning and not getting home until 10 or 11 after my wife and daughter have went to bed got super old. The breaking point was when my 7 year old daughter asked if I was going to be at a school play and I said I couldn't because I had to work (we had a home event that night) and the look on her face broke my heart. I finished out the school year but I started preparing to transition to my assistant who wanted the job.
Because fall sports are a beast for AD's I've never had any type of fall workout because didn't have the time. When I took over we were really weak because the previous HC wouldn't let the guys lift. I've been preaching get in our weight lifting classes but honestly we are still really far behind where we need be. It's starting to change because more guys are starting to take it serious but not enough. I wonder if my prior commitments to AD have helped keep this from taking off.
I don't like the culture of my team. It's not a negative culture in that kids don't care but they don't think there is a chance to advance to the next level. I think that belief is in the back of their head holding them back even if they don't realize it. I want to try and change the mindset that yes you can go play at the next level. So how do I do that?
My guys have heard of these categories but haven't been exposed to them where they get evaluated. So we have no baseline for where we are ability wise. My belief is if I know what an overall ballpark HS baseball player average is I can start painting a big picture of getting to the next level is out of the realm of possibility. If I can generate numbers of where they are now and compare it to where it is with an average we can focus our work in practice to close that gap. So if in September they are X points away from average then we re-evaluate in January and they have closed the gap by X number of points I'm hoping it now becomes the dangling carrot to incentivize working harder. While I'm doing this for everyone I want my biggest impact to be with my freshmen. We can show a growing 4 year trend of improvement and hopefully they can now generate some college interest (along with the myriad of other things needed to get to the next level).
Honestly, I don't see this helping me determine who plays what position or batting order or anything like that. That's what me and my coaches get paid for to make those decisions. As for making cuts what I saw as AD the past few years is parents wanting to know why their kid was cut and the general answers of they are weak in whatever area(s) doesn't seem to be enough anymore. So if a parent has an issue then I can show them where they are. I'm not saying you must reach a certain number to make the team. It's part of the process that hasn't changed in evaluating talent. It's a tool to show here is definitive measurable proof why a guy isn't good enough to be on the team. It won't stop all parents but why not give it a shot?
Maybe this won't work but I need to try something different. I am not happy with where my team is and that is 100% my fault. Things need to change and right now this is my current plan........but I'm definitely open to other ideas LOL