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During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Cliff Godwin, Head Baseball Coach East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Coach Godwin’s coaching experience spans across many collegiate programs in the assistant coach capacity including University of Notre Dame, Louisiana State University, University of Central Florida, and Ole Miss. Learn about practice design, hitting routines, advice for assistant coaches, and how he molds a positive, family-orientated team culture. 

Episode Highlights: 

How did Cliff Godwin get involved in baseball?   

How much have mentors benefited Cliff Godwin?

What were some of Cliff’s first steps as a coach? 

What does Cliff Godwin’s fall training season look like?  

How did he execute his vision?

What do the conversations about striving for excellence about look like? 

What are his players doing for competition? 

What advice does Cliff Godwin have assistant coaches?  

How does Coach Godwin implement efficiency and practice design for spring training?

What does his BP drills look like? 

What does his interview process look like?  

What is the latest thing that he has learned that he is excited about? 

What is something that he does in practice that his players love? 

What is something that Cliff Godwin believes that other coaches may disagree with? 

What are three things that would stand out during Cliff Godwin’s baseball practices?  

What are some of Cliff’s favorite books and resources that he has learned the most from? 

3 Key Points:

Always give your best because someone who can help you later could be watching you. 

If you aren’t falling short of your goals than you aren’t setting your goals high enough. 

The P.I.R.A.T.E.S acronym is: Purpose, Integrity, Responsible, Attitude, Toughness, Excellence, Self-less.

Tweetable Quotes:

“You never know who is watching. We all as coaches tell our players that.” – Cliff Godwin (06:38)

“My vision was very ambitious. I don’t think that you can set goals too high.” – Cliff Godwin (08:43)

“We have not had below a 3.4 team GPA in the past two years. How about that?” – Cliff Godwin (11:11)

“You can get your players to do anything, you just can’t get them to do everything.” – Cliff Godwin (11:23)

“First of all, in the fall, we compete at something every day, whether it be in the weight room or skill instruction.” – Cliff Godwin (26:41)

“Accept all the players. Tell them that they are your players, and go with it.” – Cliff Godwin (29:46)

“I think that it is important just to have your assistants feel like this is a family atmosphere.” – Cliff Godwin (34:24)

“I am very lucky now that in this stage in my career that there are a bunch of guys in the profession that I really trust.” – Cliff Godwin (44:56)

Resources Mentioned: 

Ahead of the Curve Podcast

Twitter: @AOTC_podcast

Cliff Godwin: Linkedin  Instagram  Twitter