Recruiting as a D3 College Baseball Coach - Taylor Valentine

Taylor Valentine is currently an assistant coach at Centre College in Kentucky. He has coached at now a division three level. He has also coached NAIA, Division One College Baseball, and USA Baseball. In this episode, we talk about some of the similarities and differences between the various levels. He talks about what he is doing with his play from a development standpoint at Centre College and what he is looking for in recruiting. Taylor also shares about USA Baseball and how they run things at USA Baseball.

SHOW NOTES:

[2:00] What would you say the biggest difference is in terms of the type of player that

you're recruiting in NAIA and Division 3?

[3:21] Would you say that the power tool is usually the one that separates players more than anything else?

[3:50] What would you say that your guys philosophy is on the transfer portal?

[4:42] Are most of the guys in the transfer portal Division 1 players or do you also find a lot of D2 and D3 kids in there too?

[6:15] What's your time frame like for recruiting high school players?

[6:56] How many players are you looking to bring in per class?

[7:27] Would you mind sharing what velocity or ranges and positions for a pitcher that you’re looking for?

[12:11] how do you help them get ready for that from a development standpoint?

[12:33] Are you okay with players swinging at the breaking ball first pitch?

[13:01] I guess your coaching philosophy is more so just be aggressive, is that your guys hitting philosophy, or is it even more in-depth than that?

[14:19] How do you help them understand what part of the zone that they're really good at?

[16:57] Do the players understand those angles?

[18:35] What does game planning look like for you guys during the season?

[20:36] Are you coaching third base during the game?

[21:40] If you could go back and tell yourself one thing, what would you tell yourself like

the first game that you ever coached their base?

[22:22] Is it hard to be the hitting coach and coach third base?

[23:41] How do you guys go about communicating with the players on where they stand throughout this season?

[27:25] What are your thoughts on pinch-hitting?

[29:16] Do you give the guys who are pinch-hitting any specific advice?

[30:50] During the summertime, what are your guys normally doing? Do you all go play somewhere?

[33:54] Would you say that most of the players want to go play?

[34:48] What is your schedule during the summertime?

[36:36] What is it like being a part of USA Baseball?

[39:09] What does the plans for you like? Do they tell you where they would want you to be for the following year?

[40:15] Is there anything else you want to say to those listening or watching this?

Follow Taylor:

Twitter: tvalentine_18

LinkedIn: Taylor Valentine

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