Top Coach Podcast

We’ve got another coach that came from what appears to be the cradle of big time college baseball coaches, Northwestern State. That was just one stop along the way for Mitch Gaspard, who now helms [...]

We've got another coach that came from what appears to be the cradle of big time college baseball coaches, Northwestern State. That was just one stop along the way for Mitch Gaspard, who now helms the program at the University of Alabama. Speaking of cradles, Gaspard got his start as a collegiate player at LSU under Skip Bertman. Like many young men growing up in Texas, Gaspard played both football and baseball in high school. After a year at LSU, he headed back home, finishing up his college playing career at the University of Houston.

In this episode, Coach Gaspard talks a lot about staff development, building relationships with payers, and being willing to change with the times and circumstances.

Follow Mitch Gaspard on Twitter.

Follow Alabama Baseball on Twitter.

Follow Top Coach on Twitter at @TopCoachPodcast.

Check out Rich Prado and Play In School on Twitter at @PlayInSchool

Jack Warren is available to speak to your team or coaches' meeting. Find out more by clicking the SPEAKING tab at JackWWarren.com. While you're there, find out about the coaching and consulting does for sports-minded entrepreneurs and athletic coaches.

photo credit: Alabama Athletics

Intro Music: Matt's Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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If there ever was a reason for excuses, it would surely come at the College of the Holy Cross and head coach Greg DiCenzo. Not only does he have the normal concerns — weather, funding, [...]

If there ever was a reason for excuses, it would surely come at the College of the Holy Cross and head coach Greg DiCenzo. Not only does he have the normal concerns -- weather, funding, travel, etc. -- he's got exactly ZERO scholarships. Yep, that's right. Zero. But that doesn't stop Coach DiCenzo and his Crusaders from taking on some of the big boys of college baseball when spring time rolls around each year. In this episode we spend almost no time talking about the obstacles these guys face, but rather opportunity.

Coach DiCenzo talks in this episode about how coaching football and baseball at the same time -- while teaching high school AND taking graduate classes -- taught him some valuable lessons about time management (perhaps some sleep deprivation too?). He also talks about how his four seasons coaching in the legendary Cape Cod League helped him lay the foundation for what he's doing today at Holy Cross. Coach DiCenzo played three sports while a student at St. Lawrence where, coincidentally, former guest Steve Owens also played multiple sports.

Follow Holy Cross Baseball on Twitter.

Follow Top Coach on Twitter at @TopCoachPodcast.

Check out Rich Prado and Play In School on Twitter at @PlayInSchool

Jack Warren is available to speak to your team or coaches' meeting. Find out more by clicking the SPEAKING tab at JackWWarren.com. While you're there, find out about the coaching and consulting does for sports-minded entrepreneurs and athletic coaches.

photo credit: Holy Cross Athletics

Intro Music: Matt's Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

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Listen via Stitcher Radio!

Here's the feed if you use another podcast app: http://topcoachpodcast.com/?feed=podcast

Tom Meusborn is a legend in Southern California high school coaching, having racked up many championships and guiding his team to such lofty heights that they were named by at least one source as the [...]

Tom Meusborn is a legend in Southern California high school coaching, having racked up many championships and guiding his team to such lofty heights that they were named by at least one source as the best high school baseball program of the first decade of the 21st century. At one point, Meusborn's Chatsworth High School squad won 54 straight games.

We're always interested in the route that our top coaches have taken to get where they're at. Coach Meusborn is one of the rare guys who didn't play four year college ball. He did, however, realize early on that coaching would be the path that he wanted to pursue. And he has done so with excellence. He's done it so well, in fact, that he's been asked on more than one occasion to head up a team for USA Baseball.

Follow Tom Meusborn on Twitter.

Follow Chatsworth Baseball on Twitter.

Follow Top Coach on Twitter at @TopCoachPodcast.

Check out Rich Prado and Play In School on Twitter at @PlayInSchool

Jack Warren is available to speak to your team or coaches' meeting. Find out more by clicking the SPEAKING tab at JackWWarren.com. While you're there, find out about the coaching and consulting does for sports-minded entrepreneurs and athletic coaches.

photo credit: LA Times

Intro Music: Matt's Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes.

Listen via Stitcher Radio!

Here's the feed if you use another podcast app: http://topcoachpodcast.com/?feed=podcast

His father was a high school coach and his grandfather was a high school coach — both with four state championship trophies to show for their efforts. Even though Jim Penders took a brief foray [...]

His father was a high school coach and his grandfather was a high school coach -- both with four state championship trophies to show for their efforts. Even though Jim Penders took a brief foray over to the Dark Side (briefly dabbling in politics), he appeared to be destined to return to coaching. And coaching he is -- very successfully, I might add.

Coach Penders is another of the Northeast guys who making quite a name for himself in an environment that's as unfriendly to spring baseball as they come at UConn. After leaving his cleats behind in the Fenway Park dugout after completing his collegiate playing career, Coach Penders has set about the business of coaching. In this episode he talks about the new stadium in the works, competing in the American Athletic Conference, conference realignments, the Graduate Assistant position, and staffing -- noting that one of his assistants, Chris Podeszwa, is a long time volunteer and a high school teacher who demonstrates what you can do with creative staffing.

Follow UConn Baseball on Twitter.

Follow Top Coach on Twitter at @TopCoachPodcast.

Check out Rich Prado and Play In School on Twitter at @PlayInSchool

Jack Warren is available to speak to your team or coaches' meeting. Find out more by clicking the SPEAKING tab at JackWWarren.com. While you're there, find out about the coaching and consulting does for sports-minded entrepreneurs and athletic coaches.

photo credit: UConn Athletics

Intro Music: Matt's Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes.

Listen via Stitcher Radio!

Here's the feed if you use another podcast app: http://topcoachpodcast.com/?feed=podcast

Typically, it’s part resume, part travelogue, but Dave Barnett has been at Flagler College now for 28 years. That’s quite an accomplishment, especially for a guy who’s early years included barnstorming the country with The [...]

Typically, it's part resume, part travelogue, but Dave Barnett has been at Flagler College now for 28 years. That's quite an accomplishment, especially for a guy who's early years included barnstorming the country with The King and His Court.

With over 800 wins, Barnett has set his name in granite at Flagler and still appears to be going strong. Coach Barnett's focus is on recruiting solid young men and producing a quality product, on and off the field. One of his assistant coaches is former Top Coach guest and University of North Florida legend, Dusty Rhodes.

Follow Flagler Baseball on Twitter.

Follow Top Coach on Twitter at @TopCoachPodcast.

Check out Rich Prado and Play In School on Twitter at @PlayInSchool

Jack Warren is available to speak to your team or coaches' meeting. Find out more by clicking the SPEAKING tab at JackWWarren.com. While you're there, find out about the coaching and consulting does for sports-minded entrepreneurs and athletic coaches.

photo credit: Flagler College Athletics

Intro Music: Matt's Blues, Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Subscribe to this podcast in iTunes.

Listen via Stitcher Radio!

Here's the feed if you use another podcast app: http://topcoachpodcast.com/?feed=podcast