April 10, 2024 • 26 mins
TJ Bruce is the Associate Head Coach of the Texas Christian University baseball program, where he helped lead the Horned Frogs to the Big 12 tournament championship and a trip to the College World Series last season. Prior to joining TCU, Bruce served as the head baseball coach at the University of Nevada, where he helped guide the program to two Western Athletic Conference regular season titles and was voted Mountain West Coach of the Year in both of those seasons. A former collegiate baseball player, Bruce’s coaching career includes stops at Cerritos College, Long Beach State, and UCLA. TJ joins Nick to discuss changes in the college coaching landscape, living by a code, and the importance of prioritizing values over performance to foster lifelong success.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
What you're trying to do with all of them is
just give them these skills so they can operate outside
of the athletic world, and then this will all translate
to the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Athletic world, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Because winning, in my opinion and the lifestyle, it's not
just on the field.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring
healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sport through
education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Bonacor from the
Reform Sports Podcast. My guest today is TJ. Bruce, associate
head baseball coach for the TCU Horned Frogs. Coach Bruce
joined TCU in twenty twenty three after seven seasons as
(00:44):
a head coach at the University of Nevada. In just
one season with TCU, he made an immediate impact, helping
guide the squad to a Big twelve Tournament championship, its
second nca Road Regional victory, and a berth in the
College World Series. TJ and I discussed changes in the
college coaching landscape, living by a code, and the importance
of prioritizing values over performance to foster lifelong relationships.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Again, man, I'm really excited.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I have a dude that had on way back in
the early days when I first started just kind of
getting out there and interviewing folks and getting feedback from
people that are in the fight. And he's made some
transitions in his professional life and and I'm really excited
to have him the current associate head coach in one
of the top baseball programs in America, the TCU Hornfrog.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
TJ. Bruce coach Man, Thanks so much for hopping on, brother.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
No, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's always always good to be on and touch shop
and always good to catch up.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Last time I talked to you, I vividly remember that
we were in that we were in the thicke of
COVID and you were building like a motorcross park in
your front yard for your sons to be or like
a BMX thing. You were like, yeah, I'm putting ramps on,
and you know they're doing this, that and the other.
But this is when you were still I believe in
because you were the head coach in Nevada, what's going
(02:03):
on with the motorcrossing? Were able to move that with
you to Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I wish I wish. Yeah, it was pretty neat.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Man.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It's uh, you know, COVID obviously destroyed a lot of things,
and you know, hurt a lot of people, and and
we had close family or friends passed away because of it.
But it also brought different joys to two different people too,
and and one of them for me was to kind
of get reacclimated to my family. To be honest, I
was kind of running this coaching circuit and being a
(02:31):
newly head coach. I guess at that time, I was
four years in and got back in the end of
the daily life with my family. And then we built
that that BMX track, and what we did was we
did the national circuit for BMX for almost the whole year.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So it was really cool.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
We were loading up the BMX bikes and driving you know, Sacramento,
which is two hours from us as the number one
BMX track in the country, and so we were going
there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night racing. Then we were driving
to Utah, driving to Arizona, doing all these different circuits,
running the national scene.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So it was a pretty neat deal. Taught my kids, I'll.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Tell you what. It taught my kids so much than
just the daily grind of the team aspect, you know,
because BMX is such an individualized sport, so it just
taught them so many different lessons and how to work
differently and all that.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It was incredible, dude, I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
And you you know now going from head coach to
associate head coach, and I know you were an assistant,
you know when you first got into the game, and
of course you were a high level player as well.
You hear so much and currently we have March Madness
going on and a lot of the talk on you know,
talk radio and such. You often here is a lot
of these, a lot of coaches that have been around
for a long time, right, I'll use you know, my
(03:45):
old coach who I talk about a lot, Mike Fox.
I'm sure you know. He was at Carolina for a
long time. He retired a few years ago. Scott Forbes,
who was his longtime assistant, took over the program. And
I'm really close with Coach Fox. And he said, man,
it's just talking about the culture and today and recruiting
lands gape nil And He's like, man, it's just different.
He actually said to me, like the guys who were younger,
(04:05):
who have kind of come up in it are more acclimate,
they're used to it. You know, someone like him, he's like,
it's a new world. What does that mean? Because you
started your you know, coaching career as an assistant, I
believe you were around the same age and our mitt
and close to our mid forties, so.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You saw you've seen the change.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
How much has has the coaching at the college level
changed since you know the transfer portal? And I l
I guess just give your background pros and cons because
so people can understand.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, it's you know, I feel
like I'm in that right right in the middle. But
I wouldn't change how I was raised in the game
and by the people I was raised by, because I
feel like my foundation is solid, better than solid in
terms of what the game was and then where it's
transforming into. And you know, my foundation goes all the
(04:54):
way back to Cereals College and Wallykincaid. You know, I
didn't play for Wally, but he's basically he is the
West Coast godfather of baseball, and a lot of guys
learned that Mike Gillespie's one of them. George Horton is
one of them, Dave Snow, Mike Weathers, all these guys,
these great coaches have learned on them. And as much
(05:15):
as the games evolve into different, you know, the computer
based stuff, it's still you have to throw strikes.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You got to put the ball in play, and you
got to play catch.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
And I think nothing needs to be the foundation on
the athletics side. Now now where it's gone in the
transfer portal and the nil era is just a whole
different ballgame in terms of you know, when we were playing,
you were allowed to transfer. In fact, I was a transfer.
I ended up being a senior transfer from Texas Tech
to longbea state back to my hometown, and that was okay,
(05:49):
I got to play right away. Then they went into
you can only have a one time transfer, and then
now you can have a one time transfer and.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Not set out.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But now you're just you're paying players and you're you know,
I'm not so much opposed to the nil EELD, but
I guess I guess I am a little bothered as
to where it's going in terms of now you're just
you've made amateur baseball professional sport by just paying these guys,
and now a lot of these parents and families and
(06:18):
kids are searching for the highest payday and then that's
where they're going to play, and not necessarily the best
developing place, the best place with the right leaders, the
best head coach with a servant heart, you know, all
the things that we value that. I think when you
get to be an adult and you start raising your
own kids, you're going to go back to those value
(06:39):
servant hearts, servant leadership. So why not why not start
now in your amateur sport or your amateur years. And
I'm so thankful that I work for Kirk Sarlos, who
is all that and more and he does it right,
and he's a servant leader and has a heart of gold,
(06:59):
and we do things right.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But there again, he was raised his dad.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Played for Walikin Kaid, Kirk played at cal State Fullerton.
So we have I don't want to say old school values,
so I don't want to sound that old, but we
kind of have a really good foundation of how he
wants to do it. And my job now is to
serve him in his program in the best possible way.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It seems like it's happened so quickly, like ten years,
it's completely completely changed. And you mentioned the amateurism of
college sports to now I agree with you, it's you know,
more or less professional sports. How do you juggle because
you got to win, you know, especially at the Power
five look like TCU. I would imagine, you know, Texas Christian.
You guys are going to Omaha, you know, trying to
(07:40):
win national titles. Like if you don't win, you know,
how do you balance the quote unquote old school mentality,
you know, and implementing the values and life lessons and
things and try to develop great people while at the
same time realizing, like you know, you mentioned the pay
or the professionalism like it is borderline transactional. How do
you balance the transformational and transactional so that you not
(08:02):
only can sleep a night, but also sleep at night
knowing that you're still going to be employed, right, I
mean that's that's the reality.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, And I think it's a good question.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But I think the foundational skills on what you value,
that's where it comes back to. And I think, you know,
I've always believed that people have a.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Code and they live by code.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And your family if you didn't know it, now, your
family lives by a code. You just may not know
what it is or you just may not, you know,
categorize it as that. But we all live by something
and stand by something, and I think that's the same way.
I think you've got to be able to stand by
and live by the code that you want to live by,
(08:42):
and then you've got to marry that to your program,
not the other way around. I've seen too many coaches
live the other way, where it's like I'm going to
set my program's values, but I'm not going to live it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Off the field.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And that's that's what I think is number one.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And then number two.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
As much as we are chasing went into a degree
or chasing people, you're trying to chase this this servant heart,
like I said earlier, and you're trying to be a
servant leader of these kids and you're trying to help
them get to where they.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Got to get to.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And if you do it that way and you chase
people instead of winning, I feel I feel like organically
you will evolve into this growth mindset because you're just
not about the winning. And I'll give you example. You know,
the winning in terms of well, hey you have to
do it this way, you can't win. Well, that's all good,
And I'm not saying that it can't be that way,
(09:30):
but I also know there's a lot of different ways
to win, as you know, And I'll just use those
guys you mentioned at UNC, who are great right Forbes
and Foxy and Scott Jackson right there, all they go UNC. Well,
they all run different programs now, and they all may
do it a little bit different. But I feel like
the good ones are chasing people and that will lead
(09:53):
to growth mindset, which will then create the love and
learning and the resilience that is essential or this bigger
accomplishment in winning that we all are chasing in a way.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Also, I love your point about the code because you know,
I think most people would agree that a lot of
the values and such that you know are instilled in
our kids start in the house, you know, whatever your
house dynamic looks like. So how do you and your father,
for I believe, two boys, two girls. You mentioned your
daughter's getting ready to go into high school here next year,
So how do you utilize in this ever changing environment.
(10:27):
I mean, you're in the You're in the midst of it,
You're in you're in the thick of the landscape of
college athletics, and it's how you make your living. How
do you juggle you know, trying to extract the core
values of the lessons of sports that will serve our
kids or your kids throughout their life versus the performance
and knowing what you know, Like let's say one of
your kids or all of them, you know, want to
(10:49):
be collegiate athletes like they want to, you know, get
on social media market themselves and you know that that
opportunity is there. How do you juggle that as a
sports parent and a college coach.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, I think the values, like I said, the values
are ever you're forever teaching every single day. I got
a daughter that's going into high school next year, and
she actually just made varsity dance and she's not even
in high school yet, and so they had their tryouts
and she's a good dancer, and I think she's gonna
dance collegiately just by watching. You know. It's not so
(11:20):
much her athleticism or the way she dances, it's more
everything else.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
It's more of the values that she has.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
She's super loyal, she's respectful, she's yes ma'am, yes, sir,
shows up on time. She is a worker, she's always working.
So I mean, I just named you multiple things that
we're just trying to instill every day. And whether or
not they can dance, or whether or not they can
swing about, or whether or not they can throw.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A football, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
But if you got those five things, or I know
there's more things to it, but if you got those
things that you're pounding in them every single day, the
athletic performance is gonna take care of it so well.
And I think what we don't do a great jobs
as parents, and trust me, I'm speaking to myself here too,
is as raising young kids. And we're in the travel
(12:10):
ball circuit too. We're in the football circuit, lego community football. Man,
if you haven't heard of it, I mean it's it's
a huge deal. My son had a Super Bowl at
ten years old. There's a thousand people there night.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
You're in Friday night light country, right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Oh yeah, big time.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And so I think what you're trying to do with
him or with all of them, is just give them
these skills so they can operate outside of the athletic world,
and then this will all translate to the athletic world,
if you know what I mean, Because winning, in my opinion,
is a lifestyle. It's not just on the field. And
(12:45):
I think that's just kind of how we look at it.
That's what has been passed down to me, and we've
stood firm on it, and I think a lot of
parents what I was gonna say earlier is they lose
their identity and their kids' sports. They lose their identity
and the travel ball, they lose the identity in the dance.
And it's super easy to do because trust me, I've
done the same thing. At times, I get in the
car and I'm like, Jackson, why did you swing.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
At that pitch?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Hey, that's the last thing he needs to hear from
his dad. He wants me to be as dad, not
as coach. And so that's something that I think if
we can take a step back as parents and start
building our kids up in a different way, chasing the
growth mindset, chasing the person instead of the winning and
the success, I think it all just goes hand in
(13:29):
hand at some point and it's all going to marry
and do each other.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
When we return, TJ and I dive further into youth
sports and the rise of baseball analytics before we had
to break here's a message from industry leader Team Snap
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Speaker 2 (13:52):
Great?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But where do you start and how do you get
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Speaker 4 (14:05):
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Speaker 3 (14:07):
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Speaker 4 (14:22):
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Speaker 3 (14:24):
Com to learn more and sign up for the webinar.
On April sixteenth, where we left off, TJ and I
were about to discuss the role and limitations of baseball analytics.
I want to shift gears a little bit because not
(14:45):
really shift gears, but like we've talked about nil and
things have changed in the overall landscape, but I want
to talk about the specific changes that we're seeing in
the landscape of the game of baseball.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
And you mentioned the math of the science and the data.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And this is not just exclusive to the baseball I mean
watching you know, collegiate basketball right now in the midst
of March madness. You're talking about analytics and football and
it doesn't matter the sport, right data, you know, you
have an abundance of data. You can kind of figure
out algorithms or whatever strategies that could increase the odds
of performance of success. But man, I have a love
hate relationship with baseball Twitter. I have a love hate
(15:20):
relationship because I love looking at this stuff and being
like this is a lot of It's hilarious to me,
like grown adults arguing like swing like this and this
is what works and this is all this and no,
do this, do that.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And I'm like, holy cow, like how do you have
so much energy to do this? But are you at TCU?
Are you guys?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And I know you work specifically with hitters, I believe
in the offense. Are you legit like breaking down swings
like coaching to quote unquote you know certain launch angles
and doing all that I don't. I might not even
be using their terminology properly. But are you how much
is the data really used on a day to day
basis in the TCU program when it comes to hitting
(15:59):
specific you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Know from I think it just varies on the person.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But I, like I told you earlier, I was raised in
the game, right, So my foundation or what I believe
is right.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But my foundation isn't from the background of.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Analytics and the background of launch angle and swing planes
and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
It wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
We were taught to evaluate based on setup, evaluate based
on hand position, evaluate based on so many other factors
that I believe now as we're getting into the analytics world,
I think it's helped me rather than just the guy
that's like I feel like the guy that's just getting
into the coaching ranks and he is just behind the
(16:43):
computer the whole time. I don't think he's as well
versed because the experience a isn't there and he's just
seen things through a computer screen. We use them, but
we're not living off them, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
And I think you have to be able to speak
the language to the.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Kids, and you have to be able to show them
because that's all they're coming up in now. So you
have to be able to show them certain things, but
you also have to be able to adapt. They have
to be able to adapt to you and understand that
if you set up this way, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Xyz, or if you do this, or if you stride.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Here, it doesn't really matter what you're trying to do.
I think there is a way to marry both of them.
And I think there again, that's where the coach, like myself,
has to have a growth mindset. We keep asking kids
to have a growth mindset. Well, the coach is going
to have a growth mindset too, So you have to
know it. You have to talk the language. I just
(17:39):
I would I'd choose rather not to live off of it.
I think now, if you have the foundational if you
use let's just talk hitting from it, if you use
the ground, and you know how to use the ground correctly,
then I think you can get into other things.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
If you don't use the ground, which is.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
A pretty foundational thing here.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
For us it's TCU, then.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The computer is not going to help you.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
You know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
It's just it would be like on a pitching side,
I believe if you can't throw strikes the computer is
not going to help you. Now, if you can throw strikes,
the computer may help you manipulate or change a grip
on a ball, or get your fingers over the ball
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Because you're on the side of the ball, whatever it
may be.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
But there are foundational pieces you have to do in
order for this stuff, this other stuff to help you.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
There's a great quote that Mike Reinold, who works with
the Red Sox, he has a you know, he does
a lot of rehabilitation, works with a ton of big leaders,
particularly in the Red Sox organization, and he told me, Nick,
you first bake the cake, then you add the frosting.
And I think that that's a great way to describe
kind of what you're saying when it comes to let's say,
all right, so you're at the college level. Your kids
(18:44):
want to play for a travel organization, you know, a
select team or whatever. How important is it for you
for your ten, eleven, twelve year old to know that
the coach or the organization you're working with utilizes data
and analytics. Is that something to think about or is
that just a marketing thing?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Because that's it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
It's the culture and people think, hey, you know, I
hear I met my son's nine new games now talking
about launching all all this stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
I'm like, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
In fact, my son doesn't hear that a whole lot,
and he doesn't bring it up a whole lot, and
our travel ball organization does not talk about it at all,
which is really good. Now, I am a coach, and
I will always back the coach, so you know, when
it gets to that, him and I will have some
discussions on the growth and what it does. But I
(19:31):
think it's good for him to value it. But I
also think right now, at ten years old, he doesn't
need to be worried about a radar gun pitching. He
just needs to worry about throwing strikes, you know, And
he needs to worry about making contact and putting the
ball play and understanding the value of doing all that
and playing catch and throwing strikes and putting the ball
(19:52):
play rather than just getting hits. Because right now we're
in the stage at ten where everybody is growing rapidly.
My son has built a lot. Guy was very thin, bone,
very skinny. He has friends now just getting into the
home run stage, and.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
He wants to hit home runs.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Well, he's not going to ever really do that yet.
He needs to be Like I tell him, you better
be a good hitter before you start getting into power.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know, I would rather.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Hit three thirty than hit two thirty with fifteen. I
would rather hit three thirty and five or three thirty
and three and be on base. And that creates, in
my opinion, multi dimensional baseball player. Just like you're trying
to recruit multi dimensional athletes and multiple sport athletes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It all goes the same.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
So we don't really get into it in my house
a whole lot, and thank god our organization doesn't.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
So that is something that I mean, I talk about
this a lot, but this is something you're passionate about
as well.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
We share this.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
You love recruiting, Like is it really still something you
look for? Like like you go out and see kids
that may have played different sports in high school.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Oh, we love it.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I mean our head coach, coach Sarlos, played three sports
in high school just like I did.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
He was a quarterback. We actually played all the same sports.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
He was a quarterback football, he was a soccer player, midfielder,
and then baseball player and I was the same. So
we did all. We did all three. He did three
longer than I did. I did two, and then it
transitioned to one. I think when I would turn seventeen.
But I'm a firm believer in it. My kids do
the same thing. My kids have no reason to play basketball,
(21:31):
to be honest with you, but I put him in basketball.
And we went from tackle football, which is a whole
other thing.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's like, well, why would you let your kid?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, football is safer now than ever, So yes, I'm
gonna allow that, and he's gonna be tougher for it
and better for it.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So then we went from football to basketball right away,
right in the gym, and he's.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Asking me how to shoot, and I have no idea
how to shoot. I'm not a basketball player, but I
think it's just so good to be coached in those lessons.
And then he went we didn't pick up a bat
from August first to uh February first. I didn't allow
him to pick up a back, and he was behind
it was it was, it's okay. But guess what. Now
we're two months into it and he's fine, it's okay.
(22:12):
It's it all work out. That's where the identity of
a parent gets caught up in the kid.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
It's a good point two months. Yeah, we're a little
behind that kid who may have been swinging in the
cages all winter long or whatever. But you know, give
an athlete a little bit of give them a couple
of weeks, we're going to be just fine.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I mean, I just they're kids, and I think I
think the multiple sport athlete is just I think they're
at a higher advantage in a lot of ways because
I just think their overall motor and athletic development will
increase their playing years.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's what I think.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
That's what I believe, and that's that's not for everybody.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
That's what I believe, and I think it.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I think also doing that, it's an increased ability to
transfer skills.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
To other sports. Why not learn how to ride BMX?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That was one of the greatest things for our kids
at the they were doing them, which was five and
seven I think, or four and six and whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And they line up on the gate.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And they're international and they have rankings and all this stuff,
and they're at one of the nationals and if they
slip a pedal, they only get one left. They slip
a pedal or they don't start good. It's not like
you have a motor and you're catching up. You're done,
you're out, you finished last. And I think the accountability
part for them on the training aspect of if I
(23:30):
don't train, it's my fault. And I think that is
such a huge deal for them because, as you know,
if you don't train in a team sport, you may
let your team down in some ways and it's going
to show up, but you can mask that with eight
other guys in baseball, they may not show up right away.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And so I just I value everything. I value every.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Sport they can play. I value playing wood football in
the front yard. I value shooting hoops. We ride dirt bikes.
The only thing are girls, don't they? They dance full time.
They but my oldest daughter played club soccer until she
was thirteen and then they kind of became we had
to pick one or the other just where it was going,
and we chose dance or she chose dance.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
So at the end of the day, coach, I love
following you, you know, I love what you You occasionally
get out there and really put some good, you know,
some good intel out there for the parents. Ca Fiut
where are the best places to find you? I know
you're on ex Twitter, Where where else can people find
if they want to connect? And also on the recruiting piece,
you know, you might hear someone that wants to play TCU,
they want to get looks. How can they maybe get
(24:33):
some film and maybe get on your radar?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, I mean Twitter is always good. I'm not sometimes
I can go on a rent here and there on Twitter.
I actually enjoy Instagram a lot more because I think
we're also in a time where people on Instagram stories
they don't want the Instagram posts. I don't. Just think
that's kind of where we're at in life, and that's
okay and that's good. So I like Instagram a lot
(24:58):
because I have a chance to post a lot of videos,
a lot of content on my stories. My family is
heavily into faith, so a lot of it's good Friday
and a lot of it is it's kind of well rounded.
It's a lot of it it's about faith. A lot
of it's about speaking to kids. A lot of it's
about speaking to my girls because my girls are on Instagram,
so they get to go through my feed and it's like, oh,
(25:21):
Daddy is really talking about this or he's posting this.
So Instagram is probably my favorite. So I think if
you just search TJ Bruce. In fact, I think it's
TJ Bruce zero two or something like that. That's my handle,
and it'd be great to connect or have people follow
(25:42):
and I can help in any way.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Possibly you're the man coach.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I'm hoping we will see you guys in a super
regional and ultimately in Omaha.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I can't thank enough for coming on and sharing, bro,
but it's always a pleasure, and I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Awesome body. I appreciate you having it.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
That's TJ.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Bruce, associate head baseball coach for the TCU Hornfrogs. Thanks
for listening to the Reform Sports Podcast. If you've enjoyed
this episode, we would appreciate it if you took a
moment to rate and review our podcast. As we work
to grow our community of supporters and advocates for more
reform sports content, please subscribe to our newsletter and blog
at Reformsports Project dot com. You can also follow us
(26:21):
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
What you're trying to do with all of them is
just give them these skills so they can operate outside
of the athletic world, and then this will all translate
to the.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Athletic world, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Because winning, in my opinion and the lifestyle, it's not
just on the field.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
This is the Reform Sports Project, a podcast about restoring
healthy balance and perspective in all areas of sport through
education and advocacy. Hi, this is Nick Bonacor from the
Reform Sports Podcast. My guest today is TJ. Bruce, associate
head baseball coach for the TCU Horned Frogs. Coach Bruce
joined TCU in twenty twenty three after seven seasons as
(00:44):
a head coach at the University of Nevada. In just
one season with TCU, he made an immediate impact, helping
guide the squad to a Big twelve Tournament championship, its
second nca Road Regional victory, and a berth in the
College World Series. TJ and I discussed changes in the
college coaching landscape, living by a code, and the importance
of prioritizing values over performance to foster lifelong relationships.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Again, man, I'm really excited.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I have a dude that had on way back in
the early days when I first started just kind of
getting out there and interviewing folks and getting feedback from
people that are in the fight. And he's made some
transitions in his professional life and and I'm really excited
to have him the current associate head coach in one
of the top baseball programs in America, the TCU Hornfrog.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
TJ. Bruce coach Man, Thanks so much for hopping on, brother.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
No, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's always always good to be on and touch shop
and always good to catch up.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Last time I talked to you, I vividly remember that
we were in that we were in the thicke of
COVID and you were building like a motorcross park in
your front yard for your sons to be or like
a BMX thing. You were like, yeah, I'm putting ramps on,
and you know they're doing this, that and the other.
But this is when you were still I believe in
because you were the head coach in Nevada, what's going
(02:03):
on with the motorcrossing? Were able to move that with
you to Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I wish I wish. Yeah, it was pretty neat.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Man.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It's uh, you know, COVID obviously destroyed a lot of things,
and you know, hurt a lot of people, and and
we had close family or friends passed away because of it.
But it also brought different joys to two different people too,
and and one of them for me was to kind
of get reacclimated to my family. To be honest, I
was kind of running this coaching circuit and being a
(02:31):
newly head coach. I guess at that time, I was
four years in and got back in the end of
the daily life with my family. And then we built
that that BMX track, and what we did was we
did the national circuit for BMX for almost the whole year.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So it was really cool.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
We were loading up the BMX bikes and driving you know, Sacramento,
which is two hours from us as the number one
BMX track in the country, and so we were going
there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night racing. Then we were driving
to Utah, driving to Arizona, doing all these different circuits,
running the national scene.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So it was a pretty neat deal. Taught my kids, I'll.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Tell you what. It taught my kids so much than
just the daily grind of the team aspect, you know,
because BMX is such an individualized sport, so it just
taught them so many different lessons and how to work
differently and all that.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It was incredible, dude, I love it.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
And you you know now going from head coach to
associate head coach, and I know you were an assistant,
you know when you first got into the game, and
of course you were a high level player as well.
You hear so much and currently we have March Madness
going on and a lot of the talk on you know,
talk radio and such. You often here is a lot
of these, a lot of coaches that have been around
for a long time, right, I'll use you know, my
(03:45):
old coach who I talk about a lot, Mike Fox.
I'm sure you know. He was at Carolina for a
long time. He retired a few years ago. Scott Forbes,
who was his longtime assistant, took over the program. And
I'm really close with Coach Fox. And he said, man,
it's just talking about the culture and today and recruiting
lands gape nil And He's like, man, it's just different.
He actually said to me, like the guys who were younger,
(04:05):
who have kind of come up in it are more acclimate,
they're used to it. You know, someone like him, he's like,
it's a new world. What does that mean? Because you
started your you know, coaching career as an assistant, I
believe you were around the same age and our mitt
and close to our mid forties, so.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
You saw you've seen the change.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
How much has has the coaching at the college level
changed since you know the transfer portal? And I l
I guess just give your background pros and cons because
so people can understand.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, it's you know, I feel
like I'm in that right right in the middle. But
I wouldn't change how I was raised in the game
and by the people I was raised by, because I
feel like my foundation is solid, better than solid in
terms of what the game was and then where it's
transforming into. And you know, my foundation goes all the
(04:54):
way back to Cereals College and Wallykincaid. You know, I
didn't play for Wally, but he's basically he is the
West Coast godfather of baseball, and a lot of guys
learned that Mike Gillespie's one of them. George Horton is
one of them, Dave Snow, Mike Weathers, all these guys,
these great coaches have learned on them. And as much
(05:15):
as the games evolve into different, you know, the computer
based stuff, it's still you have to throw strikes.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You got to put the ball in play, and you
got to play catch.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
And I think nothing needs to be the foundation on
the athletics side. Now now where it's gone in the
transfer portal and the nil era is just a whole
different ballgame in terms of you know, when we were playing,
you were allowed to transfer. In fact, I was a transfer.
I ended up being a senior transfer from Texas Tech
to longbea state back to my hometown, and that was okay,
(05:49):
I got to play right away. Then they went into
you can only have a one time transfer, and then
now you can have a one time transfer and.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Not set out.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But now you're just you're paying players and you're you know,
I'm not so much opposed to the nil EELD, but
I guess I guess I am a little bothered as
to where it's going in terms of now you're just
you've made amateur baseball professional sport by just paying these guys,
and now a lot of these parents and families and
(06:18):
kids are searching for the highest payday and then that's
where they're going to play, and not necessarily the best
developing place, the best place with the right leaders, the
best head coach with a servant heart, you know, all
the things that we value that. I think when you
get to be an adult and you start raising your
own kids, you're going to go back to those value
(06:39):
servant hearts, servant leadership. So why not why not start
now in your amateur sport or your amateur years. And
I'm so thankful that I work for Kirk Sarlos, who
is all that and more and he does it right,
and he's a servant leader and has a heart of gold,
(06:59):
and we do things right.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But there again, he was raised his dad.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Played for Walikin Kaid, Kirk played at cal State Fullerton.
So we have I don't want to say old school values,
so I don't want to sound that old, but we
kind of have a really good foundation of how he
wants to do it. And my job now is to
serve him in his program in the best possible way.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
It seems like it's happened so quickly, like ten years,
it's completely completely changed. And you mentioned the amateurism of
college sports to now I agree with you, it's you know,
more or less professional sports. How do you juggle because
you got to win, you know, especially at the Power
five look like TCU. I would imagine, you know, Texas Christian.
You guys are going to Omaha, you know, trying to
(07:40):
win national titles. Like if you don't win, you know,
how do you balance the quote unquote old school mentality,
you know, and implementing the values and life lessons and
things and try to develop great people while at the
same time realizing, like you know, you mentioned the pay
or the professionalism like it is borderline transactional. How do
you balance the transformational and transactional so that you not
(08:02):
only can sleep a night, but also sleep at night
knowing that you're still going to be employed, right, I
mean that's that's the reality.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yeah, And I think it's a good question.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
But I think the foundational skills on what you value,
that's where it comes back to. And I think, you know,
I've always believed that people have a.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Code and they live by code.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And your family if you didn't know it, now, your
family lives by a code. You just may not know
what it is or you just may not, you know,
categorize it as that. But we all live by something
and stand by something, and I think that's the same way.
I think you've got to be able to stand by
and live by the code that you want to live by,
(08:42):
and then you've got to marry that to your program,
not the other way around. I've seen too many coaches
live the other way, where it's like I'm going to
set my program's values, but I'm not going to live it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Off the field.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
And that's that's what I think is number one.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
And then number two.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
As much as we are chasing went into a degree
or chasing people, you're trying to chase this this servant heart,
like I said earlier, and you're trying to be a
servant leader of these kids and you're trying to help
them get to where they.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Got to get to.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
And if you do it that way and you chase
people instead of winning, I feel I feel like organically
you will evolve into this growth mindset because you're just
not about the winning. And I'll give you example. You know,
the winning in terms of well, hey you have to
do it this way, you can't win. Well, that's all good,
And I'm not saying that it can't be that way,
(09:30):
but I also know there's a lot of different ways
to win, as you know, And I'll just use those
guys you mentioned at UNC, who are great right Forbes
and Foxy and Scott Jackson right there, all they go UNC. Well,
they all run different programs now, and they all may
do it a little bit different. But I feel like
the good ones are chasing people and that will lead
(09:53):
to growth mindset, which will then create the love and
learning and the resilience that is essential or this bigger
accomplishment in winning that we all are chasing in a way.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Also, I love your point about the code because you know,
I think most people would agree that a lot of
the values and such that you know are instilled in
our kids start in the house, you know, whatever your
house dynamic looks like. So how do you and your father,
for I believe, two boys, two girls. You mentioned your
daughter's getting ready to go into high school here next year,
So how do you utilize in this ever changing environment.
(10:27):
I mean, you're in the You're in the midst of it,
You're in you're in the thick of the landscape of
college athletics, and it's how you make your living. How
do you juggle you know, trying to extract the core
values of the lessons of sports that will serve our
kids or your kids throughout their life versus the performance
and knowing what you know, Like let's say one of
your kids or all of them, you know, want to
(10:49):
be collegiate athletes like they want to, you know, get
on social media market themselves and you know that that
opportunity is there. How do you juggle that as a
sports parent and a college coach.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Well, I think the values, like I said, the values
are ever you're forever teaching every single day. I got
a daughter that's going into high school next year, and
she actually just made varsity dance and she's not even
in high school yet, and so they had their tryouts
and she's a good dancer, and I think she's gonna
dance collegiately just by watching. You know. It's not so
(11:20):
much her athleticism or the way she dances, it's more
everything else.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
It's more of the values that she has.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
She's super loyal, she's respectful, she's yes ma'am, yes, sir,
shows up on time. She is a worker, she's always working.
So I mean, I just named you multiple things that
we're just trying to instill every day. And whether or
not they can dance, or whether or not they can
swing about, or whether or not they can throw.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
A football, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
But if you got those five things, or I know
there's more things to it, but if you got those
things that you're pounding in them every single day, the
athletic performance is gonna take care of it so well.
And I think what we don't do a great jobs
as parents, and trust me, I'm speaking to myself here too,
is as raising young kids. And we're in the travel
(12:10):
ball circuit too. We're in the football circuit, lego community football. Man,
if you haven't heard of it, I mean it's it's
a huge deal. My son had a Super Bowl at
ten years old. There's a thousand people there night.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
You're in Friday night light country, right.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Oh yeah, big time.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And so I think what you're trying to do with
him or with all of them, is just give them
these skills so they can operate outside of the athletic world,
and then this will all translate to the athletic world,
if you know what I mean, Because winning, in my opinion,
is a lifestyle. It's not just on the field. And
(12:45):
I think that's just kind of how we look at it.
That's what has been passed down to me, and we've
stood firm on it, and I think a lot of
parents what I was gonna say earlier is they lose
their identity and their kids' sports. They lose their identity
and the travel ball, they lose the identity in the dance.
And it's super easy to do because trust me, I've
done the same thing. At times, I get in the
car and I'm like, Jackson, why did you swing.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
At that pitch?
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Hey, that's the last thing he needs to hear from
his dad. He wants me to be as dad, not
as coach. And so that's something that I think if
we can take a step back as parents and start
building our kids up in a different way, chasing the
growth mindset, chasing the person instead of the winning and
the success, I think it all just goes hand in
(13:29):
hand at some point and it's all going to marry
and do each other.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
When we return, TJ and I dive further into youth
sports and the rise of baseball analytics before we had
to break here's a message from industry leader Team Snap
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Speaker 2 (13:52):
Great?
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But where do you start and how do you get
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Speaker 4 (14:05):
During this webinar, we'll share.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Tips, best practices, and tools to help you attract leading
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Speaker 4 (14:22):
Go to teamstap dot.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Com to learn more and sign up for the webinar.
On April sixteenth, where we left off, TJ and I
were about to discuss the role and limitations of baseball analytics.
I want to shift gears a little bit because not
(14:45):
really shift gears, but like we've talked about nil and
things have changed in the overall landscape, but I want
to talk about the specific changes that we're seeing in
the landscape of the game of baseball.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
And you mentioned the math of the science and the data.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
And this is not just exclusive to the baseball I mean
watching you know, collegiate basketball right now in the midst
of March madness. You're talking about analytics and football and
it doesn't matter the sport, right data, you know, you
have an abundance of data. You can kind of figure
out algorithms or whatever strategies that could increase the odds
of performance of success. But man, I have a love
hate relationship with baseball Twitter. I have a love hate
(15:20):
relationship because I love looking at this stuff and being
like this is a lot of It's hilarious to me,
like grown adults arguing like swing like this and this
is what works and this is all this and no,
do this, do that.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And I'm like, holy cow, like how do you have
so much energy to do this? But are you at TCU?
Are you guys?
Speaker 3 (15:38):
And I know you work specifically with hitters, I believe
in the offense. Are you legit like breaking down swings
like coaching to quote unquote you know certain launch angles
and doing all that I don't. I might not even
be using their terminology properly. But are you how much
is the data really used on a day to day
basis in the TCU program when it comes to hitting
(15:59):
specific you.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Know from I think it just varies on the person.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
But I, like I told you earlier, I was raised in
the game, right, So my foundation or what I believe
is right.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But my foundation isn't from the background of.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Analytics and the background of launch angle and swing planes
and all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
It wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
We were taught to evaluate based on setup, evaluate based
on hand position, evaluate based on so many other factors
that I believe now as we're getting into the analytics world,
I think it's helped me rather than just the guy
that's like I feel like the guy that's just getting
into the coaching ranks and he is just behind the
(16:43):
computer the whole time. I don't think he's as well
versed because the experience a isn't there and he's just
seen things through a computer screen. We use them, but
we're not living off them, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
And I think you have to be able to speak
the language to the.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Kids, and you have to be able to show them
because that's all they're coming up in now. So you
have to be able to show them certain things, but
you also have to be able to adapt. They have
to be able to adapt to you and understand that
if you set up this way, it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Xyz, or if you do this, or if you stride.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Here, it doesn't really matter what you're trying to do.
I think there is a way to marry both of them.
And I think there again, that's where the coach, like myself,
has to have a growth mindset. We keep asking kids
to have a growth mindset. Well, the coach is going
to have a growth mindset too, So you have to
know it. You have to talk the language. I just
(17:39):
I would I'd choose rather not to live off of it.
I think now, if you have the foundational if you
use let's just talk hitting from it, if you use
the ground, and you know how to use the ground correctly,
then I think you can get into other things.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
If you don't use the ground, which is.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
A pretty foundational thing here.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
For us it's TCU, then.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
The computer is not going to help you.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
You know, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
It's just it would be like on a pitching side,
I believe if you can't throw strikes the computer is
not going to help you. Now, if you can throw strikes,
the computer may help you manipulate or change a grip
on a ball, or get your fingers over the ball
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Because you're on the side of the ball, whatever it
may be.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
But there are foundational pieces you have to do in
order for this stuff, this other stuff to help you.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
There's a great quote that Mike Reinold, who works with
the Red Sox, he has a you know, he does
a lot of rehabilitation, works with a ton of big leaders,
particularly in the Red Sox organization, and he told me, Nick,
you first bake the cake, then you add the frosting.
And I think that that's a great way to describe
kind of what you're saying when it comes to let's say,
all right, so you're at the college level. Your kids
(18:44):
want to play for a travel organization, you know, a
select team or whatever. How important is it for you
for your ten, eleven, twelve year old to know that
the coach or the organization you're working with utilizes data
and analytics. Is that something to think about or is
that just a marketing thing?
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Because that's it.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
It's the culture and people think, hey, you know, I
hear I met my son's nine new games now talking
about launching all all this stuff.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
I'm like, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
In fact, my son doesn't hear that a whole lot,
and he doesn't bring it up a whole lot, and
our travel ball organization does not talk about it at all,
which is really good. Now, I am a coach, and
I will always back the coach, so you know, when
it gets to that, him and I will have some
discussions on the growth and what it does. But I
(19:31):
think it's good for him to value it. But I
also think right now, at ten years old, he doesn't
need to be worried about a radar gun pitching. He
just needs to worry about throwing strikes, you know, And
he needs to worry about making contact and putting the
ball play and understanding the value of doing all that
and playing catch and throwing strikes and putting the ball
(19:52):
play rather than just getting hits. Because right now we're
in the stage at ten where everybody is growing rapidly.
My son has built a lot. Guy was very thin, bone,
very skinny. He has friends now just getting into the
home run stage, and.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
He wants to hit home runs.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Well, he's not going to ever really do that yet.
He needs to be Like I tell him, you better
be a good hitter before you start getting into power.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
You know, I would rather.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Hit three thirty than hit two thirty with fifteen. I
would rather hit three thirty and five or three thirty
and three and be on base. And that creates, in
my opinion, multi dimensional baseball player. Just like you're trying
to recruit multi dimensional athletes and multiple sport athletes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It all goes the same.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
So we don't really get into it in my house
a whole lot, and thank god our organization doesn't.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
So that is something that I mean, I talk about
this a lot, but this is something you're passionate about
as well.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
We share this.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
You love recruiting, Like is it really still something you
look for? Like like you go out and see kids
that may have played different sports in high school.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Oh, we love it.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I mean our head coach, coach Sarlos, played three sports
in high school just like I did.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
He was a quarterback. We actually played all the same sports.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
He was a quarterback football, he was a soccer player, midfielder,
and then baseball player and I was the same. So
we did all. We did all three. He did three
longer than I did. I did two, and then it
transitioned to one. I think when I would turn seventeen.
But I'm a firm believer in it. My kids do
the same thing. My kids have no reason to play basketball,
(21:31):
to be honest with you, but I put him in basketball.
And we went from tackle football, which is a whole
other thing.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
It's like, well, why would you let your kid?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, football is safer now than ever, So yes, I'm
gonna allow that, and he's gonna be tougher for it
and better for it.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
So then we went from football to basketball right away,
right in the gym, and he's.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Asking me how to shoot, and I have no idea
how to shoot. I'm not a basketball player, but I
think it's just so good to be coached in those lessons.
And then he went we didn't pick up a bat
from August first to uh February first. I didn't allow
him to pick up a back, and he was behind
it was it was, it's okay. But guess what. Now
we're two months into it and he's fine, it's okay.
(22:12):
It's it all work out. That's where the identity of
a parent gets caught up in the kid.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
It's a good point two months. Yeah, we're a little
behind that kid who may have been swinging in the
cages all winter long or whatever. But you know, give
an athlete a little bit of give them a couple
of weeks, we're going to be just fine.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
I mean, I just they're kids, and I think I
think the multiple sport athlete is just I think they're
at a higher advantage in a lot of ways because
I just think their overall motor and athletic development will
increase their playing years.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
That's what I think.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
That's what I believe, and that's that's not for everybody.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
That's what I believe, and I think it.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I think also doing that, it's an increased ability to
transfer skills.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
To other sports. Why not learn how to ride BMX?
Speaker 1 (22:56):
That was one of the greatest things for our kids
at the they were doing them, which was five and
seven I think, or four and six and whatever.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And they line up on the gate.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
And they're international and they have rankings and all this stuff,
and they're at one of the nationals and if they
slip a pedal, they only get one left. They slip
a pedal or they don't start good. It's not like
you have a motor and you're catching up. You're done,
you're out, you finished last. And I think the accountability
part for them on the training aspect of if I
(23:30):
don't train, it's my fault. And I think that is
such a huge deal for them because, as you know,
if you don't train in a team sport, you may
let your team down in some ways and it's going
to show up, but you can mask that with eight
other guys in baseball, they may not show up right away.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
And so I just I value everything. I value every.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
Sport they can play. I value playing wood football in
the front yard. I value shooting hoops. We ride dirt bikes.
The only thing are girls, don't they? They dance full time.
They but my oldest daughter played club soccer until she
was thirteen and then they kind of became we had
to pick one or the other just where it was going,
and we chose dance or she chose dance.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
So at the end of the day, coach, I love
following you, you know, I love what you You occasionally
get out there and really put some good, you know,
some good intel out there for the parents. Ca Fiut
where are the best places to find you? I know
you're on ex Twitter, Where where else can people find
if they want to connect? And also on the recruiting piece,
you know, you might hear someone that wants to play TCU,
they want to get looks. How can they maybe get
(24:33):
some film and maybe get on your radar?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, I mean Twitter is always good. I'm not sometimes
I can go on a rent here and there on Twitter.
I actually enjoy Instagram a lot more because I think
we're also in a time where people on Instagram stories
they don't want the Instagram posts. I don't. Just think
that's kind of where we're at in life, and that's
okay and that's good. So I like Instagram a lot
(24:58):
because I have a chance to post a lot of videos,
a lot of content on my stories. My family is
heavily into faith, so a lot of it's good Friday
and a lot of it is it's kind of well rounded.
It's a lot of it it's about faith. A lot
of it's about speaking to kids. A lot of it's
about speaking to my girls because my girls are on Instagram,
so they get to go through my feed and it's like, oh,
(25:21):
Daddy is really talking about this or he's posting this.
So Instagram is probably my favorite. So I think if
you just search TJ Bruce. In fact, I think it's
TJ Bruce zero two or something like that. That's my handle,
and it'd be great to connect or have people follow
(25:42):
and I can help in any way.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
Possibly you're the man coach.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
I'm hoping we will see you guys in a super
regional and ultimately in Omaha.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I can't thank enough for coming on and sharing, bro,
but it's always a pleasure, and I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Awesome body. I appreciate you having it.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
That's TJ.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Bruce, associate head baseball coach for the TCU Hornfrogs. Thanks
for listening to the Reform Sports Podcast. If you've enjoyed
this episode, we would appreciate it if you took a
moment to rate and review our podcast. As we work
to grow our community of supporters and advocates for more
reform sports content, please subscribe to our newsletter and blog
at Reformsports Project dot com. You can also follow us
(26:21):
on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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