Interview: University of Akron Head Coach Craig Nicholson

Welcome to the Ohio Storm Coaches Corner podcast, dedicated to fast-pitch softball. Our mission is to share authentic stories from coaches, players, and parents to inspire and illuminate the journey through the competitive softball landscape. This episode is brought to you by Ohio Storm and Crew Sports.

In this episode, we are thrilled to have the University of Akron's head coach, Craig Nicholson, join us. With over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience and a remarkable career, Craig shares his insights into the world of college softball. 

Craig discusses the challenges of transitioning from high school to college softball, the importance of making the right college choice, and the evolving landscape of collegiate sports, including the impact of the transfer portal. He also shares valuable advice for players and parents navigating the recruiting process.

Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed in college softball and how to make informed decisions that can shape a player's future both on and off the field.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Ohio Storm Coaches Corner podcast. This podcast is dedicated
to fast-pitch softball where we are committed to sharing authentic and unique
stories from coaches, players, and parents.
We hope these stories encourage you and shine light on how people from all stages
have dealt with the ups and downs of the competitive softball landscape.
This podcast is brought to you by Ohio Storm, a premier travel organization

(00:23):
for Northeast Ohio, and Crew Sports, a company dedicated to helping student-athletes
navigate the recruiting process.
For more information on Ohio Storm, visit ohiostormfastpitch.com.
For more information on Crew Sports, visit crewsports.net.
Thanks again for joining. We really appreciate it. Now on to the podcast.

(00:45):
Hey, thanks for joining the Ohio Coach's Corner podcast today.
We set this podcast up really to help shed light on what collegiate softball
is really actually like to help people get an authentic look at what it's like
to play softball at all levels.
We do that on this podcast by talking to people that have been there,
people that are there, and asking them to share their thoughts and their stories with us.

(01:10):
And this episode, you are in for a treat because we are lucky enough to have
the University of Akron head coach, Craig Nicholson, join us.
Craig, we know you're busy, and we are really thankful you agreed to spend some
time with us today. Absolutely. Looking forward to it.
Well, to say, I mean, let me get into this a little bit. To say your career
has been successful is a huge understatement.

(01:33):
Let me just give the listeners a quick overview. Over 25 years of experience
at the collegiate level,
75% winning percentage over those years, won over 1,200 games,
Come to Akron from the Texas A&M, Kingsville, which is my home state of Texas,
winningest coach in program history,
first coach to lead the program to consecutive NCAA tournament appearances,

(01:56):
the Arizona State stint, back-to-back postseason bursts there,
Ball State, three MAAC regular season championships,
NCAA tournament appearance,
Central Arizona, four national championships there.
I just listed a few, but to say that your amazing journey is really an understatement.
So first, congrats on really an amazing career so far.

(02:19):
Thank you. I appreciate that. It's been a crazy ride, but excited to be at Akron
now and looking forward to building this program. Awesome.
Yeah, let's get into it. How did you get into college softball and what do those early days look like?
What are those beginning days of becoming a coach at that level?
What did that look like for you?
Yeah, so I actually was very fortunate with my first job.

(02:44):
So I, out of grad school, I was looking for a baseball internship to tell you
the truth and, or a volunteer spot or something where I could just kind of learn from somebody.
And what I came to find out is baseball coaches don't like outsiders.
So if you didn't play for them or they don't know some, you didn't play for

(03:05):
somebody that they know very well, it's really hard to get into that world.
And so for me, my opportunity to kind of do an internship, for lack of a better
word, came – a guy I went to grad school with was the trainer at Central Arizona College.
And so just – he became a good friend, and just talking through things with
him of what I wanted to do, he ended up hooking me up with Clint Myers,

(03:29):
who was the coach at Central Arizona at the time.
And I went out there and spent a year with Clint coaching softball.
We actually won a national championship that year.
And then Clint decided he was going to take the baseball job at the same school.
So our AD at the time asked me, cause it was kind of late, asked me,

(03:50):
you know, would you be interested in, in coaching this, this team for a year as an interim?
So my first year as an the interim, barely made enough money to survive, but I did.
And then we finished second in the country that year. And that next summer I'd
finished my degree, everything else.
And so they interviewed me for the full-time job.

(04:11):
And so the first 10 years of my career at Central Arizona, I was teaching and
coaching softball there.
And that's kind of how it started. Like I said, It was luck.
I was 25 years old coaching, you know, girls that were only,
what, four or five years younger than me.
In fact, we had a player there at the time, I think, that was older than me.
But that's kind of where it started and it went on from there.

(04:35):
And yeah, that's a great start to a great story.
If you think about all those coaching stops, you've got a lot of success over the years.
And we could probably spend hours just talking through each stop and what they meant to you.
What are maybe one or two of some of the best memories you've had coaching at the collegiate level?
Well, I think probably I would say at Ball State, the first MAAC championship that we won.

(05:01):
So when I first got to Ball State, and I've told people this recently,
this program at Akron is in better shape than the program was at Ball State
when I took over there. You know, my first year we had 12 players.
Somehow we managed to win 20 games, which is amazing still to me to this day.
But that first recruiting class we brought in, we were much better in year two.

(05:21):
And then in year three we won a MAC championship
and probably did it a little
bit ahead of schedule but and and we actually got
beat in the MAC tournament that year and then the next year we came back and
won the regular season championship again and won the tournament championship
and went to the went to the NCAA tournament so I've been in the NCAA tournament
a lot but that was my first time in the NCAA tournament and taking a program

(05:45):
in three years that was probably pretty close to
rock bottom and getting into the,
you know, winning two championships and eventually getting into the,
to the NCAA tournament, I thought that was a, that was a big deal.
And we, you know, we had some great kids back then.
And in fact, I was just down at junior college nationals for the last three days.

(06:06):
And my assistant for the first six years at ball state was there recruiting as well.
So it was great to kind of catch up with her and we stay in touch obviously,
but I hadn't seen it in a while so so yeah
but that's probably probably one of the one of the best
memories and then the second one my my second
year at kingsville when we played for a national championship we played in

(06:27):
the national championship series my first year there we were a 500 ball club
you know just hit it right with a great recruiting class and in year two we
we played for a national championship so we got beat two games to one in the
championship series but that run was unbelievable.
And just for a bunch of kids that had never really had success at the college

(06:50):
level, and then a bunch of freshmen, that was a pretty special environment.
A special group of people.
And we just got on a crazy run and ran it all the way to the last game of the year.
What amazing stories. Well, I guess my side question would be,
do you miss the Texas and Arizona heat, for that matter, at those stops?

(07:12):
I know the weather is a lot different down there than it is up here.
Yeah, not particularly. I really don't. You know, if you ask me that question
when we're playing in 34 degrees, I might have a different answer.
But now that it's May and it's, you know, beautiful here and 100 degrees already
in Texas and in South Texas and in Arizona.

(07:33):
No, I don't necessarily miss that part.
Yeah, it's definitely. The time of year you ask the question, I think, is probably.
That's fair. Yeah, so over the years of all these various stops and experiences,
what are some of the larger changes you've seen on the collegiate landscape?
I think it's hard for, as we've talked to people, even the last few years,

(07:56):
There's been big changes that have changed things and caused how coaches approach their programs.
But if you can take a step back, what are some of those monumental changes or
large changes you've seen that have impacted how collegiate softball works?
Well, I think, I mean, obviously the elephant in the room right now is the transfer portal.

(08:16):
And especially with it being so fresh in everybody's mind with it just opening, what, four days ago.
That's totally to me that's totally changed the
game and i think one of the things that one of
the things that we see a lot i mean it
used to be at one point you kind of stayed where you were you worked your way

(08:37):
through it's not that people never transfer people did transfer i just think
that somehow we've managed to glorify the process of transferring And I don't
think that was the intent of the transfer portal.
I don't necessarily, you know, sometimes the unintended consequences of what we decide to do.

(08:59):
You know but we've we've made it
two things that have happened because of that one you
almost have to re-recruit your own players every year which may
which might be a good thing in some ways so you could
make that argument but the thing that really gets
me is i feel like we've made like i
look back 25 years ago and the relationships

(09:21):
you with you had you had with your players were genuine and
you know some great
some good some not so good at sometimes but
we've made everything a
transaction now and i just i
hate the fact that every relationship now has become so transactional like i

(09:43):
got to treat you with kid gloves so you don't transfer or you know those kind
of things and and it it's really changed the way you have to coach your teams
and not necessarily in a good I just think that,
you know, you have to sometimes sometimes they don't get what they need from
you as a coach because what they really need is for you to for you to be honest

(10:06):
and sometimes for you to get after them a little bit.
And I think nowadays it's harder and harder for coaches to do that because,
oh, my God, if I yell at somebody one time, they might transfer at the end of the year.
So I think that's one of the biggest changes in terms of the game and how it's coached.

(10:27):
And I think sometimes the players are always looking for a way out at some places,
and I don't know if that's the best way to look at it.
I think sometimes you're better off to try to be where you are and build something
special than to always think you're going to look on the outside and find something special.

(10:48):
Yeah. Yeah. We talked about before about the idea that the grass is greener. That's a thing.
And corporate America is certainly a thing in college softball as well.
And I think have you seen people do that and then they regret the decision?
So there's some that do it. it and sure it's a good story and
it makes sense and go you know go chase your dreams but i

(11:09):
would assume there's a lot of people that do this and then
they they regret it they they it was attracted to
them but they transfer and end up wishing they would
have come back yeah i think and sometimes they
you know they're i know that there's been
some research done but the number of the number of people that that enter the

(11:29):
portal is not the same number as the number of people that find opportunity
out of the transfer portal so I mean like the numbers right now are astronomical
and there I haven't looked since Monday but on Monday it was eleven hundred,
student athletes in just in softball and it was i think it was over 40 000 all sports,

(11:52):
so how many people had an opportunity had a scholarship had you know whatever the case might be,
gave it up thinking they were gonna find something else and then never found
something else and now Now their their career is over, basically.
So I just you know, and that's not true of everybody that goes in there,

(12:16):
obviously, but it definitely happens.
So sometimes I think you will be a little careful what you wish for in terms of that.
If you don't mind, I want to kind of peel off of that just a second.
So you kind of have a way of how you feel you have to coach these kids when
they're on your team. Do you have to change the way you recruit them and who

(12:39):
you look for as well? Has that changed for you?
No, not for me. I definitely think there are programs that want to save money,
save scholarships to go in the portal and see what they can find in there and that kind of stuff.
For me, I don't believe that's how you build a successful program.

(13:00):
I just, I think if you're a turnstile and every year you have 10 kids leaving
and 10 new kids coming in, you know, every, every single year.
I mean, we had that last year with freshmen coming in, 10 freshmen coming in.
But if you try to do that every single year, it's really hard to build culture.
And I think culture now is if you can get your team to buy into what you're

(13:21):
trying to do and you have the right culture, I think it's so important in what you're doing.
And I think when you're a turnstile basically i mean
people in and out in and out in and out i just
to in my mind if you need people
that are there for four years that are 100 committed to what they're doing if

(13:43):
you're going to have success now that doesn't mean if you have a roster of 24
girls that doesn't mean all 24 have to have been there for four years but you
better have a core i believe and this is It's just my opinion,
but you better have a core that's been there, that trusts in what's going on,
that has built relationships with each other and a coaching staff.
And to me, that's how you build a program.

(14:07):
You can have a great team from the transfer portal for one year,
but if you want to build a program that's going to have,
you know, that's going to be able to last and be successful over the long haul,
I think you have to have girls that come in, you know, you need to to have four
or five freshmen come in every year and you need to be able to keep that.

(14:27):
Moving going forward and have people stay in your program and build.
Sometimes it's really hard to get,
athletes in general nowadays but softball players
to buy into the fact that sometimes i
have to really work while i wait for my opportunity and if
you're you can get your girls to buy into work while

(14:48):
you wait then when then they stay they get better and you're and now every year
you're you're likely running out of lineup that has a bunch of upperclassmen
in it and has a bunch of of experience and kids that have really gotten better over the years,
maybe a couple of years as a backup,
but they've grown, they've matured,

(15:10):
they've gotten better, and now they're ready for their opportunity.
So I think that's important, but no, it hasn't really changed the way we recruit for us, at least.
Sure, man. That's great information. Yeah. I appreciate that.
Yeah. Yeah. It makes me want to see, like, maybe it's like a different angle.
So maybe not you're saving scholarships or saving space for it,
but does it change So the recruiting process itself,

(15:33):
when you're talking to potential recruits, are there things you're trying to
understand or things you're looking for to try to help them?
Bring girls in that are buying into a culture, are willing to build a culture
versus maybe, you know, looking just for a spot and they have higher, higher aspirations.
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you one of the things that we look at,

(15:55):
and I don't know how many coaches look at this or don't look this or care about this.
I know there's times in somebody's club ball
career where they need to change teams because maybe they're
the youngest on a team and the team's moving up and they want to
stay at the younger age group or you know
there's a lot maybe a team doesn't have enough players

(16:15):
and two have to go over here and two have to go over here and whatever the case
is but the girls that play for six different club teams in four years they make
me nervous because what are they doing they're always looking for a better or
newer or a different opportunity.
Well, that's already in their mind.

(16:39):
If I don't get what I want, I just go over here to this next place,
over here to this next place.
So we really like girls that have kind of stayed in the same organization.
And again, I know that's rare, and I'm not saying that if you ever change teams,
we wouldn't recruit you, but it's more the ones that are jumping around,
you know a whole bunch that sometimes

(17:01):
kind of make us nervous and and that we
try to really kind of keep it on because we we start tracking
a lot of these girls when they're in you know eighth grade ninth grade
we can't talk to them yet or whatever but that doesn't
mean we're not watching them play and kind of following what their
what their club career looks like and and those kind
of things so we know when when they're you know

(17:21):
we know if they're the generally generally speaking somebody
that's been pretty loyal to an organization or if there's somebody
that's kind of you know jumped around looking for the next best opportunity
so yeah super insightful and i i'm wondering what what are those i mean there's
got to be some other attributes you guys are looking for so talk about that
a little bit characteristics attributes and you've mentioned mentioned the one

(17:42):
about a lot of a lot of team movement but anything else you know specific that.
That you're looking for maybe outside the field and
obviously on the field there's a level player or whatever but
maybe the other other stuff that you're looking at sure and
i think yeah it all starts with your talent like that's
the that's the the launching point i think for any coach being interested in

(18:05):
you in any sport is what is your level of talent but then when you start looking
at deeper things that we want to kind of check some boxes after that so for
us one of the boxes that we want to check is like,
I want girls that are going to be good teammates.
You know, I, again, you go back to what does your culture look like in your
program, or if you're, if you're bringing in people that are going to be good

(18:29):
teammates have been, you know, you know, you talk to their club coach or their
high school coach or, you know, those kinds of things, you know,
what does that look like?
Are they, are they going to come in and be a good teammate or do at least I
have the belief that they're going to come in and be a good teammate.
So I think that's a piece of it and the other thing we look at
to be honest so I've had
some girls in the past that were not great students okay but

(18:52):
and I'm fine with recruiting the talented
person that's not the best student in the world that's fine but
I what I really want in terms of of a
player is kind of that that softball IQ and
the easiest translation either you're going to see
it in their play or you assume that look this is an intelligent kid she's a

(19:14):
4.0 student she's going to be able to gather some softball iq along the way
because what we're trying to do is always build from one day to the next i don't
want to always go backwards and reteach stuff that we,
talked about two weeks ago we should know so i think a level of intelligence
that lets them them continue to add on and build in terms of their softball IQ is super important.

(19:40):
And then one other thing that we want is people that are going to be good in the community.
Right? Like, we don't, I want a program that no administrator,
no person in our community, no professor is going to go, man,
why are you bringing in these kids that are not good kids?
Right? So I want people that are going to reflect in the community the values

(20:03):
that we have in our program and are going to be good stewards of that,
I think is the best way to put it.
And when they're out, when they're in class, when they're, you know,
walking around campus, when they're doing some kind of community service,
that they're going to, people are going to go, wow, you know,
we want more softball players to come and do that because those girls were great.

(20:24):
And typically that's what, that's the feedback that we get.
But I think that all starts, you know, with the recruiting process that you
have, that you're bringing in the right people.
Yeah, that's the holistic view is I think so interesting because it really builds
around some of the common misconceptions that I've heard around the recruiting process.
Parents thinking that this is how it works or every girl is based,

(20:47):
they're assessed on these four things or whatever.
We tend to put this whole recruiting thing in a box and say,
all right, this is how it works.
And if you do these four things and you'll get a for whatever.
But there's so much more too. I'd love to hear from you,
like any common misconceptions that you know are out there that you wish,
you know, players or frankly, their parents knew about the recruiting process

(21:11):
that would help set them straight kind of earlier in the process.
Yeah, I think one of the things that I tell people all the time is,
look, there is an element of luck involved in recruiting.
And that means luck for us as a program, me as a coach.
Coach that also means luck for you know the for a student athlete and what i

(21:32):
mean by that is and i tell this story all the time it was early early in my
career maybe maybe in my second year,
I just happened to – I was walking by a field to go to another field to go see
somebody that I needed to go see. And I just happened to see this girl.
And something about just the way she was kind of moving around and carrying herself.

(21:56):
And I said, man, that kid looks like a – just looks like a player.
So I'm going to stay and watch a little bit and see.
And she ended up being an All-American at Central Arizona, went on and played
at New Mexico State after.
Her i mean five five one five two not
a not the kind of not the kind of body there where you
go oh my gosh let's see what this kid could do because sometimes there is

(22:17):
that draw oh this girl's six one let's see what she can do but just the way
she carried herself it was it's almost hard to explain i've told the story before
it's almost hard to explain but it was almost the way she even just held her
glove the way she was moving around she was a center fielder and i just happened
and to look over there and be like, man,
I need to see that kid play because there's something about her that,

(22:41):
you know, for me was a draw in terms of seeing her – seeing some at-bats,
seeing her make some plays and that kind of stuff.
But back to the original point.
Sometimes it's luck and timing, right? So I think the thing that sometimes is
a misconception is like there's some great science behind recruiting and we

(23:06):
all have these formulas and blah, blah, blah.
Yeah, there's some of that. That's true.
I mean, I don't think that we do stuff different than like a pro baseball scout does, right?
In terms of I'm going to evaluate arm strength and ability to hit for average
and ability to hit for power and what kind of defender are they going to be and how do they run?
And all those things are relevant and are important, but sometimes it's just

(23:30):
the right coach seeing the right person at the right time and going,
man, that's something I want to see more of because whatever she just did impressed me.
And I think the big thing for the parents and the girls to just keep in mind
is you just never know when that's going to happen and who's going to be watching.
You never know when somebody that I happen to know just happens to be at the

(23:55):
ballpark and sees somebody do something and sends me a text and says,
hey, coach, have you ever seen Susie play?
Because she's a really good player and you should check her out.
And so I think the point being, the more times you're in front of just anybody
doing things, I think the recruiting process is ongoing for always.

(24:22):
And when your opportunity comes
to catch somebody's eye, you just never know when that's going to be.
So just playing the game at the highest level you can and doing everything at
the best level you can do it, I think is super important in it because it is very much an art.
There is limited science into what goes on in recruiting.

(24:42):
So, you know, and like I said, sometimes it is absolute dumb luck that just
puts you in the right place and a certain player in the right place.
And, you know, it goes from there. Yeah, we talked to –.
Actually, a former Akron player from a few years back, and she was telling us
how she got on Akron's radar. That is what you're talking about.

(25:05):
There was a foul ball somewhere that was hit. She was playing in the field.
She took a dead sprint for it, laid out, got it or whatever.
And that one extra effort, the grittiness to go take off after it was what got,
hey, we want to stick around and see this girl a little bit longer.
And it worked out for her. So, yeah, those moments that are just,

(25:27):
hey, they happen to see the right play at the right time to be interested, which is amazing.
And the thing for the players to remember is you never know when that time is going to be.
Right. And you never know that. I mean, sometimes club teams go and play in
tournaments where we're not even allowed to be out yet.
But that doesn't mean that somebody that's there because they have a daughter

(25:49):
playing or whatever doesn't go, oh, wow, that was impressive.
And just send a text or pick up the phone or whatever and say,
hey, make sure you check this girl out.
So that happened all the time. It happens way more than probably people know or think it happens.
Yeah, because there's just so much. There's so much unknown.
And yeah, we try to make it so structured, but it's really just,

(26:12):
there's so much more to it. So many more moving parts.
And a lot of it is, yeah, do all that you can do, work hard,
and then the doors will open as they're supposed to. You can't control that.
I'm curious about... I do think there's a little bit...
If you have schools that you're definitely interested in, I mean,

(26:34):
you want to put yourself in front of those, like you want to go to their camp
and you want to do those kind of things.
So there's pieces that you can do to help facilitate that, give yourself more
opportunities to be seen in those environments.
But then at the end of the day, you still, you just, you just never know when
it's going to, when it's going to be the right time. So, right.
Yeah. And I was, I was about to ask you about camps. So talk about camps a little

(26:56):
bit and, and what advice you would give girls and maybe again,
their parents, I don't know that just how to approach camps,
you know, how to stand out, how they should sort of carry themselves.
What, what does that, what does it look like for you? Well, I think the big piece is, again.
If you have – I mean, a lot of girls by the time they're 15 years old-ish,

(27:17):
they kind of have an idea of maybe what area of the country they'd like to go
to school in or kind of the schools that they have some interest in maybe that'll
fit their academic needs down the road,
those kind of things. things, get to those people's camps.
And I'm not saying you got to go to 50 camps a year.
I mean, I think sometimes people overdo it, but you know, if you have five schools

(27:43):
that, you know, that you're interested in and you know, that you,
or you believe that, that you have the ability to play at those schools,
the, you know, get, get to their camp and, you know, let them,
you know, let them see you, let them know who they are, who you are.
And, but I think, I think one
of the big things for me with kids at camp like i
know sometimes you're at camp on a

(28:06):
tuesday after you just played 10 games on a weekend or whatever you'd maybe
rather be sitting by a pool and maybe so would i but we're here and i think
just make sure that just make sure that you're engaged in what you're doing
when you're you know when you're at camp i mean i've i've had some girls in the
past at camp before that I thought were pretty good players,

(28:28):
but I felt like they didn't really want to be at camp. Like mom and dad made them go to camp.
And just when you're there, I just think, hey, for most of us,
our camps are four to four, five, six hours, whatever.
When you're there, like just bring the energy and just go get after it and show

(28:48):
whoever's camp you're at kind of what you can do and what you're capable of.
Because at the end of the day, and I've said this to people before,
and I've said it way more lately than I used to say it.
I want to coach kids that I like. And that might be me getting towards at least
the back half of my career, whatever the case might be.
But I want to coach kids that are fun to be around and that I like.

(29:12):
And so when you're at a camp, be that player that's fun to be around.
And how do you show that? I mean, everybody's going to do it in different ways
because everybody's personalities are different.
But don't be the one that looks like you'd rather be 100 other places than where
you're at right now. Now, I think, you know, I've heard people say before,

(29:32):
you know, live in the present or be where your feet are or those kind of things.
And heck, you're doing this. You're spending the money to do it.
Go go get after it and just show us the best side of you.
And you may not you'd be surprised. There's times where girls have had camps
that I wouldn't say they were the best player at camp or I wouldn't say that,

(29:54):
you know, that they even had the greatest day.
But there's something about them that you go, man, I want to,
I want to go see her play in, in a, in a couple of games in the next few weeks
because I want to see what she's like in her environment with, you know, with her team.
So I think, you know, even if you don't, even if you feel like you didn't show
great and you maybe made a couple of mistakes or bobbled a couple of balls or

(30:18):
whatever the case might be, I think there's more to it than that.
And I think for a lot of coaches, if, if we feel like, Hey, hey,
that's the personality that I want on my team that we'll go back and we'll check again.
And maybe it works and maybe it doesn't, but we're going to come back and we're
going to see, like, let me go see her play a couple games where she's maybe
a little bit more relaxed and not trying so hard, over-trying,

(30:41):
and let me see what she looks like in that environment.
So I think there's ways other than just your softball ability to kind of catch
some people's attention. mentioned.
Yeah. You, you mentioned a couple of times, I think we'll, we'll get into it
here in a minute about what, what college softball life is really like,
but these are, these are people that you're going to spend time with each other

(31:03):
like every day and hours every day for four, for four years.
So super, yeah, completely understand that it has to be a person that you can
see yourself on both sides of the equation, spending, just spending that time.
That's really important. important let's let's talk about picking that right
school so so you mentioned picking you know being smart with camps you go to

(31:24):
you know maybe list down or whatever i think we've talked before about this like this the.
The making the right decision up front or the right school, the right fit,
and that just being so pivotal to making this transition better,
to making the likelihood of staying there and mitigating some of the transfer
portal stuff, just making that right choice up front.

(31:47):
And I know as I talk to families, that's what they're trying to figure out.
It's like, I don't even, you know, I know everybody has these aspirations,
but I don't know what's right for my kid. And so what what guidance would you
give on, hey, this is how you really should think about whether the school is
the right place for your daughter?
Yeah, I think and first and foremost, I will say I'm a big believer that there's

(32:09):
more than one right school for everybody.
Right. Like it's not necessarily finding the right school.
It's finding a place where you feel like everything kind of fits into what you're
looking for and you will be able to have success.
And for a lot of girls, that could be 20 different schools, you know,
but it doesn't mean all 20 of them are, you know, actively recruiting you or

(32:32):
whatever the case might be.
It's just like sometimes I think we have this mindset of the one perfect school.
And in fact, there could be 10 perfect schools, 20 perfect schools for a lot of people.
But obviously, a big piece of it is, you know, knowing and looking and does

(32:54):
the school that I'm thinking about have my major? major because at the end of
the day, what are we trying to do?
We're trying to not just get a degree.
Obviously that's the starting point of it, but get a degree in something that
I feel like benefits me for what I want to do with my future.
Right? So obviously that's kind of the place to start. Does the school have my major?

(33:15):
And don't try, and I would say don't, unless it gets down to the last minute
and it's, this is the only choice I have. Don't try to make it work.
Find find a school that has your major. So I think that, and that,
that's a piece sometimes that gets, gets a little bit, you know,
a little bit overlooked because we get so caught up in the, oh my gosh,
this school wants me and this and that.

(33:38):
Well, but they don't have your major. Oh, I'll study something else.
Well, and that's not to say people never do change their major.
That obviously happens a lot with a lot of kids, but you at least want a starting
off point where the school has what, you know, what you're interested in studying
and what you're interested in doing down the road as a career. So that's a piece of it.

(33:59):
Then the other piece, and you will hear people tell you the exact opposite,
but I'll try to put it in the best way that I can.
People say, you know, choose the school for the school, not the coach.
You guys have probably heard that before. I think that's about the worst advice you can ever have.
Because for girls that care about playing softball, so if you're going to play

(34:21):
at the D1 level, at the high D2 level,
you know, those kind of things, those girls that get to that point,
they care about softball like they didn't get to where they're at because softball
was a side hobby they got to where they're at because they care about it they
work at it they've spent hours.
Developing their skills and getting to that point so it is an important part

(34:42):
of their life and the person on the campus that you are literally going to spend
the most time with other than your teammates is the the coach or the coaching
staff you need to make sure that that you feel like that's a good fit.
If you're a sophomore and your coach leaves,

(35:03):
well, that doesn't have quite the same impact anymore that it had in the recruiting
process because you've developed relationships with 20 teammates that are as
important or more important than your relationship with the coaching staff.
But for the first semester, at least,
how you perceive your

(35:24):
relationship with the coaching staff is the most
important thing and if you are not
happy with what goes on on the softball field then guess
what happens to to girls that are 18 years old they
start to yeah who really cares about school softball is not fun anymore well
i'm not too worried about my social life i'm not having any fun on a softball

(35:46):
field i'm not or i'm not enjoying softball right if if they want to if they
want to play at the highest level in in in softball is a super important piece of what they do.
If they're happy with what's going on on the softball field,
then everything else will kind of fall into place.
And again, that's just my opinion. And other people will tell you the exact opposite of that.

(36:07):
But I do think that you have to be in a spot where you can see yourself being
with that person every day,
learning from that person, and being happy with the kind of relationship that
you have with that person.
I think those things are super important to an athlete's happiness.

(36:30):
Makes so much sense to me. And definitely heard that, the opposite side of that and feel...
Like you said, I've heard plenty of stories where it feels like,
yeah, you've got to be focused on, is this the right coach for me?
And like you said, the degree and all the other components, picking a coach,
though, is a huge piece of it. So I appreciate you sharing that.

(36:52):
I'll tell you one other thing real quick. It just popped in my head because
I had a conversation with a coach this week about it.
Go watch a game. game go watch what
somebody does how they how they coach
their kids how they interact with different
people and see if that's you feel like that's the right fit for you i think

(37:13):
i think that's so important i was talking to another coach and he was telling
me you know yeah this kid decided she didn't want to go to this program because
she went and watched the game and saw the coach kind of not,
I mean, just hold somebody's face mask while they were talking to her.
And she thought, well, I don't, I don't really like that.
And some kids would have the exact opposite reaction.

(37:36):
Like, yeah, I like that. You know, that fires me up. And some girls,
and some girls would say, I don't want to play for somebody that,
that, you know, that coaches like that.
Go watch a game and watch how the coach that you're thinking about and the coaching
staff that you're thinking about playing for, what are their interactions like with their players?
In a game situation or even a practice or whatever the case might be and does

(38:00):
that fit what you're looking for because it may or may not and what...
One girl would look at it and go, oh, I don't like that. Another girl would
go, oh, yeah, that's great. I love that.
So what fits for you as the student athlete? I was actually talking to somebody
about this this week too because softball is so interesting when you go watch

(38:21):
a game like you're talking about.
In most places that I've been, not only do you get a good look at what's happening
on the field, when the game is over oftentimes, you're able to see the coach,
the players come off the field.
Sometimes during the you know even in the common areas talking
to parents or whatever before they go inside it's not like football where
they run in a tunnel and they're gone and you don't see them anymore like after the

(38:42):
game you can even watch some of the interactions that are playing out you know
how how the players are acting towards each other how the coach is handling
some of that like there's there's a lot of visibility i feel like in softball
maybe other sports aren't like that but i i've noticed you can get real close
to understanding what what what things might be like.
Yeah, I totally agree with you. And you can get a pretty good feel for what goes on.

(39:07):
And I would even argue if you're kind of picking between a couple schools and
you're down to the end, watch a couple games.
Because what you really might like to see, and you might not get to see this,
but what you really might like to see is what does that look like after they
win and what does that look like after they lose? You know, is it is it the same?

(39:30):
Is it totally different? You know, or how different is it?
As I think sometimes it's, you know, it's just, you know, it's a different environment.
I mean, obviously, it's highly competitive, but how are you reacting?
Like, every team in America is going to lose some games.
How are they responding to that? What does that look like?
Anything else around the recruiting piece you feel like people should know before

(39:54):
we pivot to how things are in the college softball world once you're there?
Any other piece of advice or thinking about people this summer,
their recruiting is going to heat up.
Maybe they're approaching that age where it's about to heat up.
Any other advice or guidance you would give parents or players?
I think the one thing is kind of for the players, Just be you and play and don't

(40:17):
kind of worry about who's in the stands.
I think sometimes the girls on the field, they focus on that.
I know that's easier said than done.
I know that summer between your sophomore and junior year or even the summer
between your freshman and sophomore year, you kind of want to,

(40:37):
like, who's watching me?
Who's doing that? And I think, you know, you're probably not helping yourself
in that because you probably chances are for a lot of people,
you're going to play a little bit tighter.
You're not going to just play the game the way you normally do.
Just, I think, just be you and let the coaches worry about like,
is you, is this be bad English, but is you good enough, right?

(41:01):
Is you somebody that we want to keep exploring and keep looking at in terms of our program.
I don't think don't try to go out there and be somebody different because it works both ways.
Like I said earlier, the players need to know what are they getting into from
a coaching staff perspective.
But also we want to know what are we getting in terms of a player and how they

(41:25):
play the game and how they go about things and that kind of stuff.
So just I think the big thing for the players is just be you just do your thing
and it's going to be chances are for a lot of these girls that play at,
you know, at a good level club ball.
It's going to be it's going to be good enough for somebody.

(41:45):
Right. And I think that at the end of the day, you don't need 100 schools to
think you're a good player and they want you in your program.
You need one really but you'd like
to have five or six i get it but but just
just be you so that we know what we're getting and and
you know because everybody's looking for something a little bit different and

(42:09):
when you're just being yourself it's going to appeal to somebody it may not
appeal to everybody but you don't need everybody you just need a few people
to to take an interest we've talked about with a few a few people that are yeah
that are looking and hoping to go on that journey,
just we forget that playing college ball at any level is a success.

(42:30):
Like it's a huge thing. No matter what level it is, that is a huge,
huge, huge accomplishment. We've got to quit.
Part of the problem is, yeah, we get our sights set on one school or a couple
programs we really want to go to, and it's like back to the conversation earlier,
is it the right fit? Is it the right program?
But at the end of the day, it's an accomplishment.

(42:51):
Wherever you get the opportunity, it's an accomplishment. I agree.
And if you look at the number of girls that play high school softball in a given
year and the number of girls that enter college as a freshman at any level.
You know, to play at the next level, you know, that number, that percentage is very small.
So you're right. If you play anywhere in college, if you play any sport in college,

(43:16):
and have the opportunity to do that, you are definitely in the minority in terms
of the number of people that played that sport, you know, at the high school level.
Let's flip to college softball a little bit. Out of the recruiting now, you've been recruited,
you're making that transition into into collegiate athletics i know that that
that transition can be challenging to talk about some of the challenges just

(43:39):
going from high school maybe travel ball and then you you know they have that
summer after senior year show up in august and it's like it's go time.
What is that what makes that transition challenging well i think there's i think
there's a lot of things i'd probably start with the fact that it's the first
time for every one of these well,
not everyone, but 99.8% of these girls that they've really had to do things on their own, right?

(44:07):
They've always had mom and dad or at least our parent, grandparent,
whatever it might have been.
Everybody's situation is different, but they've had somebody tell them,
hey, curfew's at this time, right?
They've also, many of them have had somebody to do their laundry,
cook their meals help them with their homework

(44:30):
you can go on down the list right and
now all of a sudden takes off before you
even get to the softball side of it for most of
these girls this is the first time living independently
of of their family somebody in their family and
having to do a lot of the things that some of them probably take for granted

(44:52):
heck i take some things for granted because my wife is doing stuff for me right
but some of them take for granted the things that all of a sudden now they have
to do on their own so i think that's you know that's the.
First piece of the adjustment. I think sometimes they have to be careful because

(45:13):
sometimes the newfound freedom of being in college for the first semester,
you know, depending maybe how strict your parents were or whatever the case
was, sometimes you got to make sure that you kind of manage that piece of it
too, that you are still doing, you're still doing the right thing.
So I think those things kind of supersede the softball side.

(45:37):
But then on the softball side, the thing that the biggest thing that I would
say that freshmen coming in to college are not ready for is that for many of them,
everybody around them is just as good a player as they are.
And they're not used to that right like most

(45:59):
girls that play at least that play at say at the division one level
if you're if you're somebody that plays at at a mid-major high level division
one chances are you were the best player on your high school team or one of
the best two you know chances are you were you and you might have played on
a great club team and maybe you aren't the best player on your club team but

(46:20):
you were a starter on your club team.
And I think that the biggest adjustment is, is getting in and going,
wow, these girls are all really good.
And I think sometimes, so one of two things typically happens.
I'm going to raise my level to, you know, compete with them, right?

(46:40):
Is the response that the coaches hope we get.
Or two it's oh my gosh i i
don't know how i can you know i don't know how i can
compete with these girls around me and i think so you
have to be ready for the fact that it will
be the most competitive environment that you've probably been in in your life

(47:02):
for most of them and i don't necessarily i don't that's not a bad thing i mean
for a lot of girls that's a great thing because they will raise the level of
their game up to the competitive environment they're in.
And that doesn't mean that we're not a team. That doesn't mean that we're not
all trying to help each other out, whatever.

(47:24):
You just have to understand. And your typical freshman class that's going to
have five or six freshmen maybe and you're going to have 16,
17 returners, Well, those returners have all already gone through the fact of
I got to raise my level if I'm going to compete at this level.
And sometimes for the freshmen, they don't you know, it just takes a little

(47:48):
bit to kind of kind of process that piece.
Right. So I think that's that's probably to me the hugest the huge adjustment is that.
It is a ultra competitive environment like every person in that environment
is at was at one time in their life kind of the the alpha right and now there's

(48:10):
20 of them or whatever the number is.
So how do you sort your way through that piece makes so
much sense and yeah you're right that's a that's a component that they would not have
not have necessarily experienced before and huge transition
i know i know another big piece of it is just the
day-to-day schedule uh adjustment talk a little
bit about the day day in the life of a

(48:31):
collegiate sample player i know the fall versus spring might be a
little bit different but you know some of the things that these girls
can expect when they show up at that level what the days
will be like yeah well and everybody kind of does it different so like for us
in our program i'm not i'm not a big believer in the you know the 6 a.m weight
room thing some coaches swear by it right like well it makes us tougher if we're

(48:56):
if If we're in the weight room at 6 a.m.
And I can see that side of it, you know, for us, we lift after practice.
So but I think that's one.
The reason I bring it up is because one place where their environment is going
to be totally different than probably anything that they've experienced before
is a college weight room.
Right and they're just the the

(49:18):
some of them have have been had a
personal trainer or or you know done crossfit or
they work out on a regular basis those kind of things it's not the same as what
it looks like in a college weight room you're going to be pushed you know because
again our goal is to get them stronger and you know for most most at least again

(49:38):
division one softball programs They're going to have a strength coach that's,
you know, dedicated to or,
you know, maybe has three or four sports, but that handles softball.
And that person is going to be somebody that's, you know, outside of the coaching staff.
And some of them have different personalities. And, you know,

(50:00):
you're going to be challenged in there, right?
So I think, but anyway, back to what you asked, everybody's days are so different
because of what their class schedule looks like. So for us, I mean,
we practice like 1 to 3.30, 3.45, and then we go to the weight room right after.
So our softball days at Akron, they are 1 to 4.45, 5 o'clock, somewhere in there.

(50:25):
We girls, we have obviously most of our girls will have class before practice.
Some of our girls have class after practice, especially in the fall where they
have, you know, they're having to take a night classes, whatever the case might be.
And the other thing is, it may be a situation where, you know,
your Mondays and Wednesdays are
pretty chock full and you don't have time to really do a heck of a lot.

(50:47):
But on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, your schedule is a little bit lighter and
you have a little bit more free time.
And I think the thing that most of our upperclassmen have figured this out,
but sometimes for the freshmen coming in, it takes them a while to figure out
is, one, where can I get my rest?

(51:09):
Because I think you got to be able to have rest, right? You can't function at
a high level as an athlete if you're not getting enough sleep.
So, okay. If I know I got to stay up till one o'clock doing homework on Monday
night, but I don't have class till 10 on Tuesday, then okay.
I can still get seven or eight hours of sleep and I can, I can make that work.
But literally laying out for them, laying out, here's when I have time to do

(51:36):
this. Here's when I have time to do that.
I think the more that they can manage their time, the better situation they
put themselves in to succeed.
And it's going to be different for everybody because everybody's schedules are
going to be a little bit different.
But once you kind of get used to, okay, here's my class schedule,
here's practice schedule. All right, now I need to make sure I have enough time to sleep.

(51:57):
I need to make sure I have enough time to eat.
And then I need to make sure I have time to study. Then once I've got those
three things is mastered, then the whatever's left, then I have time to,
you know, do whatever else I want, you know, have a social life.
And I think it's important for them to have a little bit of a social life.
They just have to make sure they take care of the priorities first.

(52:19):
And then, okay, now here's my extra time to be able to have a little bit of social life.
So really, everybody's schedule is going to be going to be super different outside
of what softball time looks like.
But, you know, obviously our team practices together and lifts together.
Everything else they do is they're doing it on their own because everybody's in different majors.

(52:41):
Yeah, and in season, I can't even imagine the rigorous playing schedule,
multiple games a week, but the travel piece too.
I know there's a lot of support that comes with that and things that the university
tries to do to help the girls, But the travel component, too,
just makes you tired and more time away from studies and stuff like that.

(53:03):
I know that's got to be challenging as well.
For sure. And I tell our girls, and so this past year, half our team was freshmen.
And you can talk about it all you want. And we try to prep them as best we can.
You know, we're going to be on the road five weekends in a row and leaving Thursday
morning, getting back late Sunday night.

(53:25):
You got three days to take care of school and then
we're back on the road again because that's being a northern school
that's what you have to do if you want to play games and
we talk about it and we try we do everything we can to
prep them for it but i still feel like going through it for the first time they
don't quite understand the grind and for a lot of our freshmen like when we

(53:47):
did exit meetings at the end of the year this year you know they're like now
i finally get what you're talking about in terms of just what a grind the season can be.
And I think, and it's probably even more a mental grind than a physical grind
because there's other factors that kind of play into that too.
But yes, the travel piece of it is, is huge.

(54:07):
If you're, if you're a Southern school and you can host two or three tournaments
and stay at home every other weekend.
That's a whole different deal than what we have to do in the North,
you know, because of the timing of our season and, and, and wanting to obviously
get games in before we start conference play.
So it absolutely is a mental grind.

(54:27):
And by the time you get to the end of the season, you're running on fumes in a lot of ways.
What are some of the – if you think about some of the most successful college
players that you've been around, however you want to measure success,
you know, stats or just played all four years and, you know,
had a great experience or whatever that looks like, Like, what are some of the
attributes that you think set apart a girl,

(54:50):
a young lady who is really successful at this level versus maybe those that
don't see as much success?
No, that's fair. I think, I mean, just kind of piggybacking off what we just
talked about, I think time management, ability to manage their time is a huge
piece of it, but it goes deeper than that.
But I think that sets them up for success.

(55:11):
You know, I'm not at practice worrying about the paper I got to write at the
last minute it tonight because I put it off for two weeks.
You know, that kind of, those kind of things, I think, play a role.
But one of the big things that, you know, that I'm a big believer in is like.
If you if you want more and whether whatever that more is more playing time

(55:35):
more success more more winning more more whatever if you want more you have
to find ways to become more right so,
if if if i'm not if i'm not getting the playing time that i want well how do
i change that i become better i become more and i think the girls that i've
seen have success two different things

(55:57):
that I would probably say are pretty common threads,
they always wanted to become more.
And whether that was, you know, can I get just a little bit better today at
practice? Can I feel a little bit better about what I'm doing?
Or whether that was, you know what, I got four months in the summer,
I'm going to get stronger and I'm going to clean up some things defensively,

(56:19):
or I'm going to clean up my swing a little bit, or I'm going to, you know, as a pitcher,
I'm going to work on, you know maybe a
new pitch what you know which is actually that's kind of rare
but it could be yeah but constantly like
the constant need for to
get better i think is the is probably the biggest common thread that i would

(56:42):
that i would put with the players that i've been around that were really great
players some of them i would say there's probably two or three that i can think
of right right off the top of my head that they just had such,
they were just so naturally gifted that, uh,
They could get away a little bit with maybe not working as hard as some other people.

(57:03):
And there are those athletes out there that they can get away with that.
But the ones that I seen kind of be the very best had that natural gift,
but were never satisfied with the natural gift.
Like they always wanted to keep working, keep getting better,
keep growing, get stronger, learn more, be a smarter player to go along with

(57:25):
being a better player, if you will, in terms of skills.
So I think, you know, that's kind of the common thread that I've seen.
I can answer the other side of that, too.
The ones that don't have success, typically for me, the ones that should have
but did not have success.
A lot of times there. So we talk in our program about three things that we have to stay away from.

(57:48):
One is blame. Right. Because we all want to, when something doesn't go right,
it's human nature to want to blame somebody else other than ourselves.
So that's one.
Complain. If we can stay away from complaining, we're going to put ourselves
in a way better situation to have success.

(58:10):
And the last one is make excuses.
We always want to, and again, human nature. This is not just an athlete thing.
This is a human nature thing.
But we always want to make an excuse. And sometimes I've seen athletes in the past.
They had the excuse ready before things even went bad.

(58:30):
Does that make sense? Right. Before the game even started, man,
I had a terrible morning this morning. This, this, this and this.
OK, so what? It's game time. Let's go.
But I think you can stay away from from those things.
If you can stay away from blaming other people for your failures, if
you can stay away from complaining about whatever
and if you can stay away from making excuses you

(58:53):
just set yourself up to be to have success and the the people that i've seen
not live up to their ability at least were really good at one of those three
things and you know and it's a shame but i think i think it's a real thing too
yeah that's so it's so good i feel like
Like, well, I was just sitting here thinking even my I feel like I probably do that myself.

(59:17):
Wake up in the morning and already
set myself up with all these excuses of why today is going to be bad.
Didn't sleep right. My back hurts, you know, whatever.
And I'm already I'm already out of the gate with with the list of excuses.
That's that's really good. I like that. Yeah, the crazy thing is,
if we want it for most of us, if we want to find the reason why something didn't
work out the way we wanted it to work out for most of us, the answer is in the mirror.

(59:41):
And that includes you know you and me and everybody else and and every athlete
out there if it doesn't work the way you think it should have worked the if
you don't look in the mirror at least first before you look for other reasons
then you're cheating yourself so.
I got a couple more questions for you. Let's pivot to parents,

(01:00:01):
and then I want to talk a little bit about Akron here at the end.
But just any other advice you would give parents as they're going through this
and supporting their daughters?
And I'm sure you've seen, let's say, parents, grandparents, whoever is caring
for and championing a girl's journey here.
What advice would you give them to support them? What are some things you've

(01:00:23):
seen parents do that were really beneficial?
Official just how do we how do we help parents get better
through this as well yeah i think i mean
i think i think one thing that you kind
of see with with parents in general is the
the first thing i would say is just remember this is your daughter's
journey not your journey and i think that you

(01:00:45):
know i know and i mean i have three daughters myself so
i absolutely understand school but their journey
let them let them take
the journey let them let them make mistakes
let them ask the wrong question let
them not that there's ever any bad questions but yeah you know i i sometimes

(01:01:06):
we have people on visits and i feel like i'm recruiting you know mom and dad
and i don't want to be recruiting mom and dad yes i want mom and dad absolutely
to be a part of our program But I want your daughter to be the one that is engaged in conversation,
is asking questions and, you know, doing those kind of things.
And I think sometimes her parents prep your daughter before you go on a visit

(01:01:28):
or before a phone call or whatever that, you know, maybe give her some good
questions to ask and those kind of things.
If that's not a strength of hers, because everybody's got different strengths.
But let her kind of let her speak for herself.
For when we have people on visits, we also we want to get to know the player.

(01:01:50):
That's probably the most face to face time we have with them until they get
to school to start their freshman year.
You know, not that we see him at the ballpark or whatever. We talk to him for a couple of minutes.
But when they're on a visit, you know, you're spending three,
four hours with somebody on an unofficial visit. or you're spending a couple
of days with somebody on an official visit.

(01:02:12):
So I think that like that's a piece. Just remember, it's it's your daughter's journey.
And even when it comes down to making decisions, I think the best thing I've
ever heard any parent do.
And they told me that they did this and it was actually a girl that we did not get.
But anyway, they literally put the four schools that were recruiting her on

(01:02:34):
a board and listed all the strengths of everything.
You know that in terms of program in
terms of the school all those kind of things and
then they listed their concerns at the bottom here's my concern with this school
here's my concern with this school here's and i thought that was genius like
and they never told her what to you know they just helped write it on the board

(01:02:58):
they never told her what to pick they in fact.
Didn't really give a lot of input.
They let her tell them, here's what I think about these programs.
Here's what I think about school at these places. Here's what I'm worried about at these places.
And then she made a decision in terms of what she wanted to do,
you know, but so that's great guidance from parents, but still letting the daughter,

(01:03:25):
you know, in the end, make the decision of what she wanted to do and where she
wanted to continue her journey.
And i think so the big thing is always support always
support them give them feedback but be
careful about too much of your thoughts versus
listening to their thoughts yeah you know because again they're the one that's

(01:03:48):
going to want to live it and i would guess of the 1100 or probably now 1500
girls in the transfer portal for
some of them not every single one by any means but for For some of them,
the parents were over-involved in them picking a school, maybe because the scholarship
was a little bit bigger at a certain school, maybe because of a litany of different

(01:04:11):
things, instead of letting them make the decision.
I feel like a lot of times if you let them make the decision,
then they feel good about their decision.
Things maybe don't go great. They don't get the playing time they want,
but they still feel good that they made the right decision and they're going
to stick it out and they're going to go.
That's one of the things for us that we do. When we make offers.

(01:04:33):
We like, are there times where we need, we go, look, we need to know in a couple
of weeks what you're going to do.
Yes, there are those times where that happens. But for us, for the most part,
we want to give them whatever time they need because at the end of the day,
I want them to feel like they made the right decision.
They weren't pressured into the decision they had

(01:04:54):
time to think about different things and that
way when they get here if things don't go perfect they're
not looking for the first door out of here they're they want
to be here they you know they're willing to
work through some some rough times which almost every freshman
even sophomore is going

(01:05:14):
to have some rough patches right sometimes times
where they're a little homesick they're this they're that if
if they feel good i i generally think
if they feel good about their decision they
feel like they're in the right place for them they're gonna
work their way through whatever problems might arise and you know kind of stick

(01:05:37):
it out and and get through so yeah i was actually talking to a dad who's a head
of the journey from me and he's been a great, great resource,
but that was one of the big insights he gave me.
And as the lines, exactly what you're saying is he let, he said,
I just realized at some point I want to make sure that I'm their dad and her
dad and not, you know, not the person who's trying to convince her that a certain

(01:06:01):
school works or a certain one doesn't give her the tools, give her the feedback.
But I'm more concerned about being her dad right now that I am about,
you know, about all this other stuff.
And, and ironically, Ironically, when his daughter committed,
the coach changed right before, you know, right as senior year was wrapping up.
And that could have been devastating, could have been, you know,

(01:06:22):
a really hard situation.
But because they had practiced this, yeah, letting her make the decision,
let her work through the thoughts, let her work through the pros and cons.
With that coach change, she just went right through the same process.
Like, all right, this is one of the things I liked. These are things I didn't.
Does that still hold true? I'm good. I'm going to stick with the program and go forward.
You know and she's done amazing so that that lines up

(01:06:44):
exactly with what what you're talking about but your last
last topic or question let me just turn it over to you about about akron you
well you know what the season's wrapped up and of course there's there's uh
there's plenty of work to do this offseason for for coaches but as you guys
are thinking ahead yeah what excites you about the program and what are you
guys looking forward to anything you'd like the the people to to know about Akron?

(01:07:06):
Yeah, I think, I mean, well, let's start with this. So we probably this year
did not have the season that we had hoped to have.
But I think the future and where we're heading with this program is pretty bright.
I mean, we we there were a lot of days that we started eight freshmen and sophomores.

(01:07:26):
We're going to keep getting better. We're going to gain some more experience.
And, you know, there were times
this year when my 18 year olds playing against a bunch of 23 year olds.
We were there were times where we were a little bit overmatched,
but we will we will get better. We will grow.
Like I said, we have a bunch of really talented kids in our program.

(01:07:47):
They just have to grow up. And I don't mean that. That's not a negative.
I mean, grow up in the game of playing in the college softball game.
And, you know, they learned a lot this year.
They you know we got better as i felt like we
got better or showed flashes of being better as the
season went on so we're excited about what the

(01:08:07):
future holds in terms of that in terms of the people that we have in the program
right now we feel like we have a good recruiting class coming in that's going
to add to that in the next two classes actually so so we're we're looking forward
to continuing to grow and build but i think so one of the things one of the best things about
akron i mean we have great facilities our indoor and our outdoor facilities

(01:08:32):
we got great places for our kids to train and work out and do those kind of things.
To me the campus is beautiful and i know sometimes like the rap on akron i've
heard it before you know inner city campus those kind of things we'll just say
that kind of stuff it is and And it's not only safe,

(01:08:53):
but it's beautiful. It's well-maintained.
I think we have an administration that's super supportive and,
you know, allow us to continue to build and grow.
And I think this program is heading in the right direction.
It's one of those things where it takes time to get to that point.
And we're taking our dues right now for what I believe is going to come out.

(01:09:17):
Yeah, that's great. Great to hear. Yeah, you have great facilities,
great campus vibe over there.
Games that I've watched were – it's a really great feel and a great place out
there that you guys have. So I could not agree more.
Hey, well, I think it's your time today, Craig. I know you've got a lot going
on, and I just appreciate you taking time to chat with us and enlighten us on this whole world.

(01:09:40):
I'm sure we'll be back with more questions later, but we appreciate you and
wish you all the best this summer, safe travels and recruiting,
Rudy, and we just appreciate you.
And thanks for having the time to come on with us.
Thanks for listening to the Ohio Storm Coach's Corner. We hope this episode
encourages you as you go through your own softball journey.

(01:10:00):
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