What if you could peek behind the curtain of a high school baseball team on the brink of victory, guided by a young, first year head coach? Join your host on the Athlete One Podcast for an insider look at the world of high school baseball, as we chat with Cody Paterniti, the first-year head coach at Licking Heights High School. Discover his unique approach to building trust, his penchant for blurring the line between coach and friend, and his ability to harness the power of senior players' input to secure a conference championship.
Our journey doesn't stop there. We navigate the intricacies of being a young coach, exploring the advantages and challenges alike. We're joined by a guest who shares his journey and how his age helped him resonate with his players. With the wisdom of his experiences under coaches like Jim Clark--from his time at Notre Dame Cathedral Latin and Ohio Dominican University--he brings a different perspective to the team and game, one that emphasizes trust and teamwork.
As we wrap up, we delve into the impact of baseball on our professional life, sharing how this sport teaches invaluable lessons about teamwork and relationships. We explore the successful strategies in high school baseball and the role of understanding the 'why' behind them, inspired by the legendary Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. From discussing potential changes in college football playoffs to acknowledging the role of technology in sports training, we cover it all. So, tune in for a riveting conversation that promises to provide a fresh perspective on high school baseball and beyond.
What if you could peek behind the curtain of a high school baseball team on the brink of victory, guided by a young, first year head coach? Join your host on the Athlete One Podcast for an insider look at the world of high school baseball, as we chat with Cody Paterniti, the first-year head coach at Licking Heights High School. Discover his unique approach to building trust, his penchant for blurring the line between coach and friend, and his ability to harness the power of senior players' input to secure a conference championship.
Our journey doesn't stop there. We navigate the intricacies of being a young coach, exploring the advantages and challenges alike. We're joined by a guest who shares his journey and how his age helped him resonate with his players. With the wisdom of his experiences under coaches like Jim Clark--from his time at Notre Dame Cathedral Latin and Ohio Dominican University--he brings a different perspective to the team and game, one that emphasizes trust and teamwork.
As we wrap up, we delve into the impact of baseball on our professional life, sharing how this sport teaches invaluable lessons about teamwork and relationships. We explore the successful strategies in high school baseball and the role of understanding the 'why' behind them, inspired by the legendary Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. From discussing potential changes in college football playoffs to acknowledging the role of technology in sports training, we cover it all. So, tune in for a riveting conversation that promises to provide a fresh perspective on high school baseball and beyond.
Taking your game to the next level. Athlete One a podcast tailored for athletes and coaches. Cody Padternetti. Next on the Athlete One podcast.
Speaker 2:For me personally, it was just getting the kids to trust me being a younger coach. You don't see the old guy who's yelling and barking orders. I'm a younger coach, Okay. So who is this kid? Where is his experience? How does he know what he's doing? Establishing that you know, I was fortunate enough to play at Hotomake University. I had a lot of success there, Played under some great coaches and stuff like that, and being able to explain that to them and having that personal relationship. It builds that trust between player and coach. I think that's the most important thing. Every kid is different. Every ball player is different. It's important to connect with them on a personal level and get them to understand like, hey, I can trust you as my coach and I think that was the biggest thing. So my biggest hurdle was establishing that trust that first year.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the athlete one podcast. Veteran high school baseball coach, ken Carpenter takes you into life's classroom as experienced through sports. Go behind the scenes with athletes and coaches as they share great stories, life lessons and ways to impact others.
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Speaker 1:Now to my interview with Cody Paternetti, head baseball coach at Licking Heights High School. Hello and welcome to the athlete one podcast. I'm your host, ken Carpenter, and joining me today is the head coach, ken Carpenter, and joining me today is the head coach at Licking Heights High School in central Ohio, cody Paternetti. Coach, thanks for taking the time to be on the show. Yeah, I really appreciate you having me. Thank you, the last time we talked, you were preparing for the central district baseball tournament and, looking back, how do you think your first year as a head coach went.
Speaker 2:Looking back, I think it was a very successful year. I came in first year I wanted to start off right, so I really think a part of being a great coach is at least for me is listening to your players and letting them have some accountability and sharing the power a little bit when it comes to that. So when I started off with electing a senior leadership council, so I sat down with all my assistant coaches and we picked out after tryouts in the few first weeks of practices who we think are going to be our senior leaders here. So we actually included all the seniors in that, since we only had eight a little bigger of a group. But everyone has in their opinion and everyone has a good way of saying things and want to give their input and a respectful way, of course. So having those seniors have that accountability is very important to us. So we wanted to start off by letting them elect the leaders of each class. So they elected the leader for the junior class, they elected the leader for the sophomore and freshman. So bringing that whole group together towards that's the first couple weeks of practices and having them talk and establishing goals for the program for the upcoming year. We're approaching our first scrimmage and stuff like that, getting them to talk. So it's not hey, I'm the coach, I'm going to tell you what your goals are and this is what we're going to accomplish this year, but letting them have that accountability, so it's what they want to do.
Speaker 2:Like I said, every year is a new program, every year is a new team. Different guys have different mentalities, different quirks. Everyone works differently. Right, having them all in one room together, having multiple chats, not just once a week, once twice a week when something comes up being able to sit down and have that personal relationship player to coach is really important. And letting them set their standards, letting them set what they want to accomplish. So it puts the ball in their court. Okay, this is what we want to establish. Coach is going to help us get there. We have to be self-accountable and try to get there.
Speaker 1:So, when you set those goals for this first season that you had with them, what was a primary goal that you guys had?
Speaker 2:So when we sat down with them, they established we had two main goals that they wanted to do. Their first main goal was to win a playoff game. Licking Heights has had a couple of rough years. They haven't won a playoff game in five years and they haven't had they haven't won a home playoff game in almost 10 years. So that was really important to them. They wanted to win a playoff game. They wanted to get to that next step in that tournament, which was their main goal. Their second goal that they came up with was they wanted to win a conference championship. So they wanted to do that.
Speaker 2:So we have some big schools in our conference Watkins Memorial stuff, grandville, some really good high school baseball programs. Out. There were some really top-notch coaches. Coach Shown has shown leadership and he's shown success through the years and coaching at Watkins. Watkins is Licking Heights' arrival but honestly, I looked at his coaching style and I used to talk to him in between games because I've been at Licking Heights for the past four years and when I was coaching first base I was always in his ear talking hey, what works, how's this work? He might have thought I was annoying, but trying to get those success tips it's important. You can get them anytime you can Plus. It helped distract him a little bit.
Speaker 1:Well, I've had Coach Shown on the podcast and you can't find a nicer guy and I guarantee that he's an open book and he'll really help you with everything, even though he's having to compete against you, and you just couldn't find a better guy. And it's funny that you mentioned you haven't had a home playoff win in 10 or so years. If I remember correctly, when I was at the end of my career at Buckeye Valley, we had to go to Licking Heights for a tournament game and we lost an extra innings on a walk-off Grand Slam. So it may have been against me so there we go.
Speaker 1:That's cool Small world yeah, it was funny because when the kid swung the bat I didn't even look see where it went. I just started walking toward home play because I knew it was gone. It was awesome, yeah, but what were some challenges you faced as a new head coach that maybe you didn't really expect as your first season as a head coach.
Speaker 2:I think the biggest thing for me was being the head coach. Just as simple as that. I'm younger. Licking Heights is a big division one school in central Ohio we're doing one school with good enrollment, multiple teams. For me personally, it was just getting the kids to trust me. I think in younger coach you don't see the old guy who's yelling and barking orders. I'm a younger coach. Okay. So who is this kid? Where's his experience? How does he know what he's doing?
Speaker 2:Establishing that I was fortunate enough to play at Hot and Make University. I had a lot of success there, played under some great coaches and stuff like that. And being able to explain that to him and having that personal relationship. It builds that trust between player and coach. I think that's the most important thing. Every kid is different. Every ball player is different. It's important to connect with them on a personal level and get them to understand like, hey, I can trust you as my coach and I think that was the biggest thing. So my biggest hurdle was establishing that trust that first year. Once I got that trust established, they dove in and went with my coaching style and we could play off each other and it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Well, I can attest that I haven't had an opportunity to see you, coach, but I can attest from watching you play at Ohio Dominican that you were legit. You did everything the right way. I mean, you hustled, you played the game hard and you were successful and you were part of one of probably the greatest teams ever at Ohio Dominican. I believe it was the 2015 year maybe you're 14, where you guys were two runs away from being in the college world series.
Speaker 2:That was my senior year, say 2018, actually a few years after that.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it was just phenomenal team that you got, that you were a part of there. But you know, like you said, you're a young head coach with a tremendous baseball background. Is there an advantage to being able to be not necessarily the old coach in his 40s and 50s and being somewhat it's maybe a little bit closer to their age?
Speaker 2:I think it's important that we don't establish that because I mean, in my world, I mean experience is huge, right, experience, experience, experience. And I think it's okay to say that you can have a lot of experience even if you're young. You go through things like college. You know we were two runs away from the college world series. You know being in that, playing that and also being vigilant, like seeing how our coaches coach, you know, not just questioning, you know bind orders, but like really reading into that and looking at what what these coaches are doing. I would say on a personal level, yeah, I mean, you know kids today, you know they're, they're in the social media, they're in all that kind of stuff. It is a little easier because I am in the younger generation, so I understand where they're coming from and some things that do, but I can also help them and warn them some about some about some things and differences like that. But connecting with them I'd say it's a little bit easier. But also there's a fine line there. So I one of the struggles I had is that, okay, I'm your coach, I can be your friend, but there's a fine line between you know, buddy, and your head coach. You know, we had some instances and stuff like that where they said, you know, they said some things and I'm like you know, I am your head coach. You know I want you to make the best decisions that you can, but I can also be here as your friend, but listen, I'm still your head coach, you know. We can't be doing this, we can't be doing that. It's important that we establish that fine line. We did and we had a lot of success with it, you know, and it really, like I said, it all brings it back to trust and they really trust me a little bit more. You know, even some guys that were a little, you know, stubborn, they'd want to listen or like okay, you know, you're young, how do you know what you're talking about?
Speaker 2:I showed them my stats. I showed them the success of the teams that I played for. I showed them the coaches that I played for. Not only did I play for, you know. You know coach Antonio is doing a great job of how Dominican I play for coach Page. Multiple World Series appearances and stuff like that are how Dominican and also I played for coach Clark. You know, I don't know if you know about him, but he's up in Northeast Ohio, notre Dame, with usual Latin multiple state championship winning coach. I had coaches saying that's up in Cleveland.
Speaker 2:You know using their techniques. You know picking from what I like picking. You know making sure I stay away from stuff that I didn't like and kind of molding myself into a coach that I want to be. I think is important. There's nothing worse than when your players question you and they don't think you know what you're doing. I think it's important to have confidence in yourself as a coach and showing that to your players that hey, I trust myself, I know what I'm doing, but hey, let's work together on this. You know getting the players to buy in is the biggest thing for that.
Speaker 1:Well, talk about why it's important to you know, I did some of my research. I read a story where you talked about developing that brotherhood and playing for each other. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So you know when we actually we were coming into that playoff win. You know the first one in almost 10 years. You know first home, first playoff win in five years, home playoff game in 10. I talked about you know we were coming off a win off of Brighton Granville. Actually it was extra innings we won at Granville and you know what works. What works, it's it's, it's.
Speaker 2:They're not playing for me, they're playing for the name on their shirt Licky Heights baseball. They're playing for each other and that's what success is. It's not playing for yourself, it's not playing for a coach. Sure, a lot of kids like me, a lot of kids maybe don't like me, that's okay, but don't play for me, play for your, play for your brothers, your teammates that you're in there, you're in the, you're in the I'm looking for the word You're in the trenches with. You know, play for them.
Speaker 2:I think that's the most important part is establishing that you have to trust the next guy up. You got to trust the guy next to you that he's going to do his job. I always laugh because everyone says, oh, baseball is a team sport. Baseball is a team sport. I agree to an extent, but you know if you drop a five ball and your team loses the game, it's kind of on you a little bit right there. I mean, it's a little different mentality than most coaches preach. But I'll be honest, you dropped that five ball. You had one job you know your play your. Your brother's have to be able to trust you that you're going to get that job done. You know, and buying into that trust and playing for each other, I think it's important.
Speaker 1:Now you mentioned, you played for Jim Clark at Notre Dame Cathedral Latin and you guys made it to the final four and you also played, like you said, at Ohio Dominican University. What do you lean on that experience? As far as you know, thinking back to the two coaches that you played for, or actually three, and you know, like, are you like saying, alright, I like these drills, I like that kind of coach player relationship style? Is that something that you work, you know thought about when you went into coaching?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I. So I still talk to coach Clark quite a bit. He's obviously wasn't just only my coach, but I look at him as a mentor, you know I actually he's the head coach at St Ed's now they're actually coming down to scrimmage us this spring, which is pretty exciting. So my guys, over the taste of you know some big D1 baseball players. I do lean on that, you know. I do look at what they did. I talked to him frequently.
Speaker 2:I still talk to coach Antonides, coach Holland or how to Dominican, and bounce ideas off them and stuff like that. Because I think it's important that you know we is a younger coach. You have to lean on coaches who have been established. I mean I called you a few times a year for some advice and stuff like that, because who better than the guy who talks to coaches on a weekly basis and, you know, gets opinions and stuff like that and advice and it's awesome. You know, at the end of the day, like I'm a very different coach, you have those coaches who like to coach on an island.
Speaker 2:What I say goes I know what's best. I can do this by myself. But that's not who I am. I was always trained and I was always taught you know, brotherhood, brotherhood, play for your guys, play for everyone else. It's kind of that community aspect that creates a baseball team greats, the most successful teams in the world. And you look at all these successful teams, whatever they do, and they were playing for each other and they were building each other up. That healthy competition is what's important.
Speaker 2:So, being established and being a younger coach, you know, leaning on those coaches, you know I always this is one of my sayings I always go by is you can always learn something from somebody, whether it's good or it's bad, you can always learn something. So, being able to talk and get advice and there's no, there's nothing wrong with reaching out and talking now, at the end of the day, the decision comes back to you as the head coach, but you have it's always important to have that well-rounded decision, with multiple things going on, educating yourself to become a better coach. I think it's important.
Speaker 1:So well, you were a teammate of my sons at Ohio Dominican, and you know I had an opportunity to watch you guys play and you know it seemed like you guys were a pretty tight-knit group as a as a team and I really believe that had to play a factor in you guys making the run that you guys did yeah, I think was huge.
Speaker 2:I mean, I mean I can't explain the guys I played with a lot, of, a lot of great guys, including your son, jake. I love the death. He's an awesome kid, awesome player, even better man. And then that's the biggest thing is, you know, like I said, I keep coming to that brotherhood but that's, I feel like, pushes a team. You know further, when it comes to those tough situations, you can depend on the guy next to you know what's going on specifically in those situations.
Speaker 2:You know how, dominican, we face some tough challenges. You know guys going down. You know other guys having to step up. You know we end up losing our first game of the regional bracket and we had to play out of the losers bracket to make it all the way to the final. We had no guys who could pitch. You know we had a guy who was a closer. He ended. You know Brad Wilson.
Speaker 2:He got drafted to the Blue Jays. He came in and started. You know he hasn't thrown more than 20, 30 pitches all year and he came in through, I think, almost 100 pitches. You know, because he wasn't just playing for himself, he was playing for the guys next to him, because he wanted us all to have that experience and you know that's where you were buying into. But yeah, I mean long-winded question, answer that question. But yeah, playing for the guy next to you know we had a lot of team bonding experiences. You know, one of the best things that we did at how Dominican was in the fall. After you know fall ball is over, you know if your finals are coming up, we did a little little games week. We played kickball to the Frisbee, we did an obstacle course stuff like that. We were splitting the teams and it's just having that team bonding thing. So I kind of brought that to you.
Speaker 2:Licky Heights, after tryouts are done, we have our teams set. We do a day where it's a Saturday. They come in early, it's eight, it's about four hours long and we just we played games, we played dodgeball, we do tug of war, we do everything you can think of obstacle course stuff like that. We do an egg toss, but it's, the guys are having fun. They're realizing that there's more to baseball than just a baseball. It's about having fun and enjoying and buying in and being enjoying the company that you're with and the guys that you're with. Every single day you come to baseball. That's. That's what I think it's important. When you get to those tough moments, you can depend on that.
Speaker 1:Yes, what advice would you give someone that has that has jumping into the situation that you had to jump into going from the assistant to the head coach? What advice would you give someone that's a young coach like yourself?
Speaker 2:I think it's important. You know I'll talk about my background a little bit. I have my masters in data analytics and I work as a financial financial consultant for nationwide insurance. I think it's important. I rely on data. So one of the biggest coaches that I actually I looked into I don't know if the story is true or not, but I believe it is Mike Tomlin of Pittsburgh Steelers. And here we are. I'm a Browns fan.
Speaker 2:I'm talking about the Steelers coach him in that interview. You know he was in the coaching staff and he actually went into the interview as a head coach and he slapped a binder down in front of all the GM, the owner and stuff like that, and in that binder was a statistic on every single player. How can they can get better? It's everything to think of all those analytics that played into that. So I think it's important that you have to discover your way. You have to have a plan. You know he knew exactly what he was doing when he, when he created that binder, he created all those stats on all those players. How can you make a successful program? It's why he's one of the most successful coaches in the NFL. It's because he relies on that. I think it's important because he always has a plan, no matter what happens.
Speaker 2:So when I came in, my biggest thing was okay, how do I establish my number one thing was GPA. I want to establish at least above a 3.0 GPA for my players. Well, how are you going to enforce that? I do trade checks. You know part of being in the technology world that we do. Once a week my players come in, they show me their grades. If they have any missing assignments they sit. It's a tough life, but it's also. Baseball is not everything. I want them to establish, you know, and to establish their life for further on. And I also want them to establish that you know when you have a higher GPA, more college coaches can play with that a little bit more, and they can. They're more interested when you have a better student. They're not, you're not just a baseball player. So establishing grade trucks, establishing, you know, practice plans All like all practice plans, game plans, who your, who your players are, you know, get to know them. It's okay. This, this guy works with this, he's quirky with that.
Speaker 2:And then also I mean have bringing in a good supporting staff. I think it's important is I was, I was blessed to have, you know, six other coaches that joined me on my staff or the two teams I had. But leaning on, you know, really valuing their opinion, I really believe To be a successful head coach is you need to have assistant coaches that are willing to challenge you in a respectful manner hey, you're an idiot, no, not stuff like that. But like, hey, have you thought about this way? But challenge but don't give up. You know, really speak, you really speak their mind and really try to. You know, go back and forth and a healthy way to establish that I think you're only as good as your assistant coaches and you can't coach on an island, because it is. You only have two eyes, you know, you can only see so much. So it's important to have those assistant coaches that come in with opinions and you value them. So, bringing in assistant coaches that you trust, guys who understand the game and you have proven themselves, I think it's important.
Speaker 2:So, putting that all together in a plan and kind of just typing it out, you know I actually came up with a program development plan. A lot of the stuff I spoke about is in it actually, but a lot of it was just me writing. I just wrote down what I want to do, how I want to establish it. You know it wasn't the truth, it wasn't line-for-line exactly what I was gonna do. It's. It's changed and it's in, you know, with the world and not the world. But it's changed with how the program. I got in. I got in. I'm at these kids, you know I and I got these coaches. I just practice started going. It changes a little bit but I had that, that outline first that I was following and I think it really helped a lot.
Speaker 2:So, really establish a plan and know where you're going and know where you want to go. Set yourself goals Is, I think it's important. We talk about students program goals, stuff like this what about our head coach? You know we're human too. I think it's important for us to have goals. You know it's. I mean individually. You know, like you know what do you want to establish? What are your personal goals as a head coach? You want to do that year or in you know, next three to five years and stuff like that is really going through that.
Speaker 1:So Well, you played in the high school final four in 2014, just just nine years ago. What are changes in high school baseball and players that jump out to you and it? I asked this type of question to people that have been coaching for 10, 20, 30 years and you know there's like, well, back in the day, this, it was this way. Have you noticed any changes just in the style of player or or the game itself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think there's some. There's two major changes. I think the biggest change is with the younger generation coming up. They want to know and they want to know why.
Speaker 2:Now, when I played, I Didn't ask why, I was told what to do and I followed right. I think it's important that you know. I think it's healthy to understand the why. I Am as long as they go about it in a respectful manner, and that's that again comes with building that trust between player and coach, which I'm huge on is it's okay to understand why, it's okay to ask those questions. It's not, you know, do it this way because I said so, do it this way because of this x, y and z, you know, but establishing that respect and that trust is important when it comes to that.
Speaker 2:So, once you establish that, I think that's the biggest thing is they just want to know why. They want to know why, why, why, you know, why do we do this, why are we doing that, why are we doing this? And I think, as a coach, you can't take it personal. They're not questioning you or you know your experience or what. You know what you're talking about. I think they're just inquisitive in nature and that's that's. That's totally normal.
Speaker 2:You know, with everything that's going on you think about the younger generations, access to social media you want to know what's going on or why something's happening. They have access right at their fingertips. You know Google, you know generative at AI, you know, with the chat, gpt stuff, they there's more answers to the why versus just that's the way it is and I think as a coach, you have to roll with that. You know there's nothing wrong. They're not questioning you, they're questioning.
Speaker 2:You know what's going on and why are we going in this direction, but leading them in a positive way and say, hey, this is not a bad thing. You know, come together, we were and again, I keep coming back on respect because it's important you will have those players that'll be like you know they don't respect you and stuff like that. But that's a challenge you got to, you know overcome as a coach. But I think it's important that the majority of kids, they're all good and they want to learn, but they want to know why and that's okay. So, and then the second hurdle I think is oh, go ahead.
Speaker 1:No, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I was gonna ask the, but the second one was I think that second hurdle is, you know, access to you know, to training and facilities. And everybody is a pitching coach, everybody's a hitting coach now. So I think a big, a big change in that is, you know, not many kids had pitching coaches, not many kids had hitting coaches back even when I was playing. Also, the summer teams, you know, travel ball used to be the top of the line and now do you have these premier teams? You have this. There's all Ohio. It's just crazy with how much it goes and the biggest thing that they face is, at the end of the day it's like okay, coach, I have a chance to play on this team. They're not as good, but I'll probably sit the bench and majority on this team. We'll play with the team. That's a little not as good, because the difference is you're getting those reps. You're playing live reps, whether you're playing the top of the line talent once a week, if you can play five, six games or whatever it is, and you're playing in every single game, you're getting way more experience than you are sitting on the bench and watching. And again, I really try to leave my players. You know, with the, with the great good coaches. I think it's a hard because everyone wants to make a quick buck in today's world and that's okay. You know everyone's got to have a side hustle and provide for their family.
Speaker 2:But I think it's important that, as a head coach, I think the biggest thing for me is helping guide my student, my student athletes, into the right way Understanding the right coaches pitching coaches that'll help them, not hurt them. Hitting coaches that know what they're talking about, not just a guy looking to make a buck. There's access everywhere about that now. So giving them some contacts and stuff like that within central Ohio, I think it's important. And giving them that access because you know, you know it used to be just by oh, when we do in fall training, or you know when we.
Speaker 2:You know I play baseball when the spring season comes, or you know I just play on my summer team. So really having access to those hitting and pitching coaches, I think it's huge. It's really changed the game. You know you got kids, you know driveline baseball, all these different things that are coming in, and I think it's great. But I think we need more coaches that understand it and can help guide these students in the right way, because anything can hurt you. You have to know how to use it the right way and if you have a coach who understands baseball and understands how to learn something, you can learn it, and I think it's important that you know we don't just coach these kids in our season, but we coach them throughout the year and help guide them in the right direction so they can be better as a player.
Speaker 1:Well, you've had a chance to play the game at a high level and you've had some great coaches. Is there a particular drill that you're using now? That is, you're like, wow, that was my favorite drill as a player and I'm using that now as a coach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think about that. Hmm, let's see here. Favorite drill I mean, obviously I'm a hitting guy, I'm an outfielder in college, so I personally like the outfitting drills a little bit more. But one of my favorite drills we do and it's a lot of fun is it's a bucket drill, so you have them, take no glove, you just throw a baseball up in the air and they have to try to set the bucket down before the ball hits the ground. It's really training those eyes and the depth perception and that timing as well. It's a little fun game. You know you guys like it and you know they run around with the bucket and they try to set it down as soon as the ball is coming down and you can kind of make a game out of it. So that's definitely one of my favorite outfilling drills. It just really shows it's a small bucket and a ball and you throw it way up in the air. It really shows you know your timing and your you know controlling your body. You're not just running around with the glove, you're running around with the bucket, so you have to understand where you're going and hitting wise.
Speaker 2:I got it, I think, my favorite drill and I may have hated it in college. I may have hated it, but hand drills you know the top hand on top of the base with a bat, with a shorter bat, and coming through the zone and then switching and coming back the opposite way, going down in a year standing, you know, taking their hips out of it. I think hand drills are huge. You know hands through the zone is important Understanding how to catch up with the baseball. I hated those drills as a player because they were hard for me, but my players struggle with them all. But as soon as they start getting good at it you can really see the results on the field.
Speaker 1:Well, I like to do a little rapid fire here and throw some questions at you and see what you think here, see what you have to say. You can sit down and have dinner with three baseball coaches or players from throughout history. Who would those three be and why?
Speaker 2:I think Terry Franco number one, because I'm a huge Indians fan. You know he's been successful and stuff like that. I know he just retired this year. I would love to sit down and just pick his brain. Yeah, I got to go my old fan, my childhood idol, here. I got to go with Grady Sizemore. I idolized him as a kid. I know I'm sitting here all Indians baseball, but you know center fielder, you know fast guy, you know really hit with power and stuff like that. I'd love just to sit down and talk with him. And then, boy, third one I got to say I got to say Erwin Meyer, you know to be successful as he was in the college coaching environment. I'd love to sit down and have a conversation with him. I think that'd be really cool. Obviously it's a different sport, but there's a lot of really cool things and quirks that he learned about coaching and his success at Ohio State. I'm a huge Buckeye fan too as well, so I got to go with him.
Speaker 1:If you could make one change to improve high school baseball, what would it be?
Speaker 2:No more wristbands not calling out numbers. Let's go back to the old school signs. Please Speed up the game a little bit.
Speaker 1:What's the story from your time as a player, either high school or college, high school or college, or it could be a funny story which those tend to go well too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's got to be you know how Dominican. So playing under coach Paige here, I think it was my sophomore year. We were coming back from a road trip and you know, we're all in the van, you know, and we used to take vans to the games and stuff like that, and I always sat myself in the very back with all the baseball bags. I make myself a little cocoon back there and I always sleep Well, you know, we played well. So coach Paige is like all right, we'll go to Swensen's for dinner and get you guys some burgers and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So all great Coach Paige came whipping into the parking lot and he absolutely annihilated a curb and my head went through the ceiling and everybody in the bus as well. We all, all our heads hit the ceiling. It was just. It was. It was just one of those funny moments. I'm surprised he didn't blow a tire, but you know, we're getting out of the van, we're all laughing. Coach Paige is like oh, it's fine, it's not a big deal. We turn around and we look at the curb. He actually broke the cement curb off and he went back and kicked it back into place. We all just laughed and so hard it was. Oh my God, I can't it was. It was just one of those moments. It's like you know it's you're all in the bus after a win, you're all excited and then you know coach drills a curb and your heads in the ceiling. It was. It's a funny experience. Yeah, yeah, switching sports.
Speaker 1:Now you've talked about being a big fan of the Browns and the Buckeyes. What's your take on the college football playoffs?
Speaker 2:Oh boy, you know I don't necessarily agree with 12. I think it'd be tough, like you know, liberty University making it in. I think that'd be a very tough game for them. I think it should be eight. You know, I really think it should be a cut down. Some of those games. Get away from those buys, let the guys play.
Speaker 2:I think it's tough with FSU, but I mean everyone's saying you know, today you don't have to pass the eye test. It's like no, they should. If you look at it, they're a different team without their quarterback and I feel for them, you know, to go undefeated in a Power Five conference. But if you look at the wins of Texas and Alabama and just how their team looks, it just you know you don't want to repeat of TCU Georgia. That was a terrible national championship game and you know it's just tough, you know. That's why I think I think expanding it to eight is good. I think 12 is too many. But you know we'll see how it turns out. I'm excited for this playoff. It should be fun, go over all tied.
Speaker 1:So last question how is your experience of playing high school and college baseball helped you in your professional life?
Speaker 2:I've learned some lessons through baseball. You know, in my career and just in life with my family, my friends, it's taught me so much. I mean, the biggest reason I got into coaching is I want to get back to the game. I wanted to give back because it gave me so much in my life, so many experiences, so many great memories and stuff like that and so many life lessons. You know baseball is one of the toughest games out there. You know you get a 30% on your test. You fail. You get a 30% on baseball. You're a Hall of Famer. It's 300 average, right. So I think it's important Really give them back to the game. It's a lost but trans out there. Baseball has given me more than it. I mean, I played soccer, I've played football, I played baseball.
Speaker 2:But you know just the memories and the camaraderie that I've made through the relationships in baseball, helping me on professional life, you know, working with a whole team versus yourself, you get into the work environment. You're working with multiple people, you're working on different teams All taught me that everybody has a different quirk. Some guys are more successful when they do it one way. Some guys are more successful when they do it another way. It translates right to work. You have some co-workers that work different ways and you have to understand and learn from that so that you all can accomplish that same goal, same within life and family. You know Everybody acts differently, everybody has their quirks and the same concept is understanding those relationships and helping each other, you know, go towards success or whatever that may be.
Speaker 1:Well, it's Cody Paternetti, Licking Heights High School Baseball Head Coach. Cody, thanks again for taking the time to be on the Athlete One Podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me it was a great time.
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