BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED

Why Top High School Coaches Are Walking Away

• Ken Carpenter • Season 4 • Episode 8

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Twenty-two coaching vacancies in one county—without scandal, without losing streaks—just a wave of veteran leaders saying, “Enough.” We sit down with Mansfield News Journal sports reporter Jake Furr to unpack the forces driving high school coaches out: parents bypassing the chain of command, school boards overruling athletic directors, and an expectations spiral fueled by travel ball spending and the D1-or-bust myth.

Jake walks us through the stories behind his three-part series on Richland County, Ohio, where seasoned coaches with championships on their résumés stepped away after years of late-night emails, social media outrage, and meetings where reason lost to volume. We talk about the real cost of that erosion—fractured team culture, confused athletes, and a revolving door of new coaches tasked with rebuilding from scratch. Along the way, we dig into what meaningful administrative support looks like: a clear chain of command, scheduled conversations about playing time, consistent policies, and school boards that hire competent ADs then let them lead.

We also face the sidelines. From irrational crowd behavior to direct confrontations with officials, the officiating shortage is accelerating. Jake shares practical solutions communities are testing—officiating classes for students, firm ejection policies with real consequences, and incentives for positive parent conduct. For coaches, we share templates for transparent standards: how roles are earned, what development pathways look like, and why merit-based playing time is non-negotiable. For parents and athletes, we offer a healthier scorecard: being coachable, owning your role, celebrating team success, and seeing sports as preparation for life, not just a scholarship chase.

If you care about youth sports—coach, parent, player, or administrator—this conversation gives you language, policy ideas, and perspective to start fixing the environment today. Listen, share with your athletic community, and tell us: what accountability step will your program adopt first? Subscribe, rate, and leave a review to help more programs find this conversation.

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SPEAKER_02:

Today on Baseball Coaches Unplugged, picture this more than twenty high school coaching positions vacant in a single county. Not because of scandal, not because of poor records, but because parents went around coaches straight to ADs and even board members demanding more playing time for their kids. In Richland County, Ohio sports reporter Jake Fur documented what he's called a coaching mass exodus. Legendary coaches with decades of experience in championship rings walking away from programs they built, their tired-than-me emails, the complaints, and fighting battles that they can't control. Today we're diving into why some of America's best high school coaches are saying enough is enough and what it means for the future of youth sports.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the Ultimate High School Baseball Coaching Podcast, Baseball Coaches Unplugged, your go-to podcast for baseball coaching tips, drills, and player development strategies. From travel to high school and college, unlock expert coaching advice grounded in real success stories, data-backed training methods, and mental performance tools to elevate your team. Tune in for bite-sized coaching wisdom, situational drills, team culture building, great stories and proven strategies that turn good players into great athletes. The only podcast that showcases the best coaches from across the country. With your host, Coach Ken Carpenter.

SPEAKER_02:

Baseball Coaches Unplugged is proud to be partnered with the Netting Professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. Coaches are helping to get one more season out of your batting cages and all screens. Tired of broken ball buckets and windscreens flapping on the outfield fence? It's time to take your facility to the next level. Will Minor and his team at the Netting Professionals specialize in the design, fabrication, and installation of custom name for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, BP turtles, BP screens, and ballparts. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, and cubbies. They also work with football, soccer, lace, golf courses, and now pickleball. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707 or visit them online at www.nettingpros.com. Check out Netting Pros on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for all the latest products and projects. Please be sure to tune in every Wednesday where I sit down with some of the best baseball coaches from across the country. Today's guest is Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal sports reporter. He's located in North Central Ohio and he is going to share some information that if you're a coach, I'm sure you can relate to some of the things he says today and have your own stories. If you're a parent, think about what he has to say today and do your best to let your son or daughter experience the sport they're playing without interfering with them. If you're an athlete, know that 99% of the coaches involved in high school athletics are there for the right reasons. It's to make you a better person and help you prepare you for later on in life. And yes, winning is great, but know that they are there for the right reasons. And yes, there are some coaches who make mistakes, some who even make big mistakes. I'm not going to make an excuse for all of them. But the ones that are coaching today or that are leaving, it's becoming more and more difficult for them to do something that they love. Next is Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal sports reporter on the mass exodus of coaches from his small county in Ohio. Jake, thanks for taking time being on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, man, not a problem. I'm glad you asked me.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, this is a first on the podcast. I've had somebody that's written a book and uh but I've never had an actual reporter on it. So you just recently did a feature, a three-part series on something that uh is you know, I think it's just crazy some of the stuff that's going on in the coaching world in high school sports. And you know, just for context here, you're in Richland County, which is a I guess say north central Ohio um area of the state, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. We're we're kind of right right in the heart of it, right in the like we're directly in between um, you know, Toledo and and Cleveland and almost like Columbus area. So it's like everything kind of funnels to us a little bit. But I have uh I have 12 schools in my coverage area. Um we have nine football playing schools, 12, you know, with everything else. Um and yeah, just just kind of seeing some crazy things in the in the coaching industry over here in the coaching business. And um I decided to to do a three-part series just kind of looking at looking at everything from you know why coaches got to get into it, what's getting them out, and what we can do to kind of change things. Um, you know, in in Richland County alone, we went into this this upcoming this season, you know, the 2024-25 athletic season, we have 22 new coaches across all of our sports. And um that just kind of blew my mind. Um so I reached out to some of my most veteran coaches and uh just kind of picked their brains a little bit. And man, the the things I've I've heard, the things they tell me is is kind of mind-blowing a little bit and kind of scary, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I I always have wanted to bring someone on it because every coach has a story, and probably every coach could write a book of all the stories that they've had had over their coaching careers. But like you said, 22 coaches going into the 25-26 season. And was there like a moment or a conversation that that made you realize this wasn't just normal turnover, but something bigger and worth investigating?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, there was, you know, there's you're always as a reporter, you're always like, you know, you look for the the new hire stories, like introducing new coaches, and then you look for the stories of coaches stepping down and and you know, talking to them about it and why they stepped down and everything. And you know, people were asking, you know, hey, why aren't you doing these stories? And I'm like, if I did a store on every single coach that stepped down, it would take me months to to complete everything. It was it was literally there was there was a day where I think I broke the news of like maybe six coaches stepping down in one single day. Um, and I'm just like, you know, there's I'll just put a Facebook post up and that's that's what's gonna have to do for this thing because it it was just it was kind of becoming overwhelming with how many coaches were stepping down and and kind of getting out of the business. Um there was uh there was one coach in particular, uh one of my schools that was non-renewed by the school board. Um after he, you know, he was there for two years, I believe. He followed a guy that was there for uh you know almost four decades. So, you know, he's the guy after the guy.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, you know, and he had a bad season the the first year, but he improved the next year. They they kind of knew they were gonna have a little bit of a lull. And then there was, you know, he there was a bunch of people that told me just some shady things that were going behind the behind the scenes. Like parents weren't even going to like athletic directors or to coaches to talk, they were just going straight to their friends on the school board. And you know, those those people on the school board didn't let the people they hired to do their job and just kind of went over top of everybody and non-renewed the guy when he had no, there was no reason why he he should have been non-renewed. Um and that prompted me to to write an open letter to parents. Um and you know, I kind of kind of laid into him. I laid into quite a few people, laid into school board people and and parents and and just anybody that has anything to do with why coaches are getting out of the business, um, I I really didn't hold back. It kind of kind of took off. It caught some fire and um you know, reached reached around the United States and stuff. I had a lot of people reach out to me, you know, thanking me for writing that, but um, you know, it it didn't really change anything. Um, you know, three, four years later, it that's still a huge, huge problem.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, do you think that uh it was difficult to get current or even former coaches to open up about a topic as sensitive as this?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so what I what I did, I I sent out an email to you know, I I looked at all my most veteran coaches. So most of the people I talked to have been coaching for over 20, 30 years. Um, I just sent an email to them like, hey, this is an idea. Um, you know, if you're not willing to talk, that's that's completely fine. Um, so I and I just kind of laid out some questions. I said, if you want to, if you want to put your thoughts down in an email, or if you want to call, you want to talk, um, you know, I I would love to to talk to you about it. And I just made sure, like, hey, whatever you say is is fair game. It's on the record, it's going to be used. And um, you know, I had I think I had about five coaches reach out and say, Yeah, yeah, let's let's do it. It's a huge problem. Um, and that, you know, they're willing to talk about it. There was actually a coach who was, you know, had dealing with some parental issues who who reached out to me and um you know they they were they were pretty open about it. I think I think they're kind of sick of it too. Um, honestly, I think they've gotten to the point where they're they're tired of this, they're tired of you know facing all kinds of backlash when they really don't deserve it. And um, you know, I I think it's it's getting to that tipping point. It's kind of crazy to to think about, you know, high school sports really are in trouble.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, without a doubt. But you in part two, you wrote that the reasons to step away from coaching far outnumber the reasons to stay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Talk about the controllable factors versus those that are completely out of the control of the coach.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean, the you know, coaches are, you know, first off, coaches do it because they love it, they're not doing it because they get rich off of it, they're not doing it for the individual glory, they're doing it because they they love to impact kids, uh, make difference in lives, you know, help help a village raise uh a really good member of society. So, I mean, those those are the top reasons to get in it. But you know, the when when it gets to a point where you're not getting administrative support, you're getting just parental harassment on a daily, nightly basis through text messages and emails on social media, just when when you're getting that and you're the the kids are actually becoming influenced by the parents just by dinner table talk. You know, whatever is set, whatever is set inside the house, you know, that kid is going to absorb that and and just kind of develop an attitude without even giving it a shot. Um, so yeah, just the reasons to to leave the profession is really far outweighing the reasons to stay. And um it's it's a very sad thing because we have some in high school sports all over the place, but in Richland County, I I know personally we have some really, really great coaches, some really great people who love what they do and love making an impact on kids, and and uh you know, they're just kind of tired of it all. Um, you know, if you get if they get parental complaints, there's a lot of places where the administrative support just isn't there. Um, you know, the administrators are are kind of siding with parents, so they just kind of keep the peace with that, and then um, and then a lot of times those administrative administrations are being you know kind of going above that people are just going straight to the their school board friends, um, and and that's just that's just not the route to go. Um school boards hire athletic directors and stuff for a specific reason, and uh it's it's just not happening.

SPEAKER_02:

Well you you know, going back to the open letter that you wrote to the parents, um how much of the exodus is directly tied to parental behavior and what are some of the most disturbing trends that you witnessed or or heard about?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I'm I think there's a lot. Um I I I do. I think there's uh that's a lot to do with why coaches are leaving. Um, but we're also kind of in an era where you know the coaches who who've been in their spot for a long time are are retiring and kind of cycling out of their teaching profession and all that stuff. So we are kind of at that that point where the you know kind of the older generation is getting out of coaching, just just aging out, kind of. Um uh and then you know, I I think that has a lot to do with it, partially because you know they're they're kind of tired of dealing with it all too. Um but you some of the most disturbing things um you know I I've seen there was there was a place over here that had um a school board president was uh his his job was directly his regular job was directly tied with um a parent of a of a player. Um and it there was a a better business arrangement if this this uh this school board member voted to get rid of said coach. Um and and that was kind of the it was kind of a backdoor deal kind of thing. Um yeah, just and you know parents complaining about foul language and and um just you know normal things that probably you and I grew up dealing with as a coach, like in our coaches, um and then and then the parents would just go back home and use that same foul language. So um, you know, they just it there was a lot of lot of people on high horses that need help down. Um and it was it it was just kind of a you know, just an eye-opening thing that how many people would release their their stories to me and say, hey, this is what I dealt with. Um it's just it's sad, man. Nobody really has to, nobody deserves to go through that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I totally agree with you. I you know, I a couple things that jumped out to me. I recently attended a high school football game, you know, and what you hear in a crowd is just mind-blowing. Yeah, you know, luckily for the football coaches, they have headsets on and don't get to hear it, but you know, that the officials were just taking the brunt of it. But you know, even in another story, I remember attending a regional uh baseball tournament game, and a close call is made, and you know, it was a tough call, and you know, I believe the umpire got the call right, but there were a section of people sitting near me that were yelling for the game to for the play to be reviewed. And I'm like, no TV or radio. I'm like it's like the it's to that point where people just get out of hand with it, and yeah, you know, you're someone that's been covering high school sports, and what do you see just sitting out in the crowd or or you're just being among the people when you know there's a heated game, you know, and you know, I'm a baseball guy and this is a baseball podcast, but I'm sure you've seen it all for high school sports.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I usually, you know, I'm I'm sitting, I'm standing on the sidelines for football games, for soccer games, and I'm kind of sitting front row for basketball and and volleyball and that sort of thing. And um it's just it it doesn't feel like I don't know if common sense is the word, but just people aren't rational anymore. Um they they are just so irrational. Uh, if a call goes against their team, it's it's the wrong call. And and you know, we it's that's kind of how it's been forever. Um, yeah, you know, the officials are the most hated and most loved people on the court, usually. Um, and it just depends on which way the call goes. Um, but this lately has been just kind of tenfold um of the reaction of people coming out of the stands and coming onto the court and trying to confront uh an official or a coach in the middle of a game and just screaming obscenities and just the the language they use is unbelievable. And you know, and it's I don't I don't think it's things they would necessarily say to a to a person, you know, face to face. If they if they ever saw them, they wouldn't just they wouldn't say that they like to stand behind the the crowd and and just kind of yell whatever they want. But yeah, it has it has gotten the the verbal abuse has gotten gotten way out of hand. Um and I don't the only way to fix it is is to just hold hold them accountable. Like administrators need to recognize, oh, that person said this. I don't care if they got kicked out of the game or not, ban them for a few games. Don't let them in. Don't I mean there's there's just no accountability. And if they do get ejected from a game, I I think I wrote in in my open letter, if you got ejected from a game, you need to take some anger management before you can even come back. Like there is just there's no reason to get that angry about a sporting event to the point where you're saying something, doing something so bad that you're no longer allowed to attend the game. Like you should there that there's just anger management needs to be a regular part of their lives, then um, and you know, until we see that, I think we're just gonna see the problem continue to grow.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that leads into my next question. In part three, you mentioned administrator support as the first solution to this problem. And can you explain what meaningful administrative support looks like from a coach's perspective?

SPEAKER_00:

I I think it's all about kind of the chain of command um in and making sure people follow that chain of command. If you have a problem with the playing with playing time, then you come come talk to the coach, set up a meeting with the coach, don't just barge into a practice or try and talk to him after a game about playing time, like set up a meeting um and and you know, do it in a professional way instead of kind of going above and beyond of just irrational behavior. Um, and if if that doesn't satisfy it, then you know get athletic directors involved and get principles. Like it kind of has to go that route. And all the all those administrators have to back you up as a coach. I mean, there's there's just you you're hired to make those coaching decisions. Athletic directors are hired to to make those coaching hires, let people do their jobs instead of just going over to your you know school board friends and and trying to make changes that way. Um, but it's you know that's also a slippery slope because you have administrators with with kids in sports too, and and sometimes they don't understand. Like I was I was told a story of um a principal at a school um setting up a meeting with the athletic director and and a coach, and the coach was like, okay, you know, this is kind of normal, let's see what this is about. And it was the principal actually complaining about playing time of of their kid. Um, and and the the principal was a you know, former coach knows the coaching business, knows what it takes to get playing time, and and that's kind of where we are with it too. Um, you know, it but as soon as a coach can kind of get that that support and parents know kids, even the kids know the the stipulations and know how to get playing time, what they have to do, um, then then I think we can turn this thing around. But it it's it's pretty good at most of my schools. Um, I'll say that there's there is a lot of administrative support, but there's also a lot of rogue school boards that you know administrators are afraid of because that's who determines if they have a job this the next time around. So um, you know, I think it it really does start with with the school board letting the people they hire do their jobs, trusting them to do their jobs, don't over not overstepping, um, and and then letting the making sure that coaches make everybody aware of you know, these are the stipulations, this is what the program is built on, get with it or get out of it, and don't worry about what anybody else has to say. If you if you get out, then you're out.

SPEAKER_02:

So well I had a a friend of mine who's a former athletic director, and he said that the mentality of athletic directors and administrators, I guess you could say, is that it's easier to move on from a coach who's on a one-year contract than it is to deal with that mob mentality of parents that are either going to come to you, and if they're not happy, they're going, like you said, to a board member, to the superintendent, whoever it may be. And there's even some instances where people get sued. And an athletic director, I think if you're at a school where the AD has your back, you're golden. I don't care what your talent of players rolling in or whatever it may be, but if you got an AD that's gonna back you and support you the whole way and not back down to things, you're gonna be in a great situation. But ADs are in a situation where they they want to keep their job that they they're making pretty good money, and they have to you know, this guy's on a one-year contract. Right. Let's just non-renew him, and then you know, tell the coach, say, hey, just say you're getting out for parent read uh for for for some reason, spend time with your family, and that's really not what the coach wants to do.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Yeah, and I mean I you know, I I can see it over here too. Um, you know, if you know, athletic directors, uh they they're in a tough spot, and what parents don't understand is if you kind of go above anybody to to get a coach fired or get them now renewed or what have you, you're just you're not doing anything good for your your kid. Like you're gonna have another coach come in trying to implement new philosophies, new everything. Everything's gonna be completely different, and it's not gonna turn around overnight. So you're just putting you know your child back into a bad situation, and then they're gonna lose, you're gonna be unhappy, you're gonna blame the coach, you're gonna want the coach to get rid be getting rid of. They get rid of the coach, you bring in another one, and it's just a vicious cycle. And by by the time you know it, your coach has four your kid has four different coaches in four years and hadn't won more than five games a season, and and you're just you're unhappy, and gonna have yourself to blame for it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Well, what are some systemic culture shifts in today's uh society that need to happen beyond the athletic department level?

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's the first thing is parents need to understand that Division I scholarships are not like the end goal here. Like every single parent is uh not every single parent. There are a ton of parents out there that is just they're just obsessed with their kid getting a division one scholarship. And there's only two less than two percent of of high school players in Ohio, even in the entire country, get division one scholarships. Let's let's just have fun with sports again. Like whatever happened to you know, being a great teammate, like winning championships are you know, I I was I was on the very first district championship basketball team at my school. I didn't go on to play college. I mean, I was absolutely thrilled with with the time I had in in basketball, time I had in baseball. Um, you know, and it has set me up for for life. Like I'm I I believe I'm a hard worker. Um, you know, my time management skills are pretty good, and that's all things that I've learned playing high school sports. Um, and and something that I think carried me on further in life than if I would have gotten a Division I scholarship. Um so yeah, I just I think we just need to get over this idea of you know, you're not successful unless you get a Division I scholarship and you're playing in college. Um or and we need to change the instant gratification. Um kids, parents, like the the only thing they want is just to be so satisfied right away. Um they want their kid to score 20 points a game, and you know, and half the time they don't care if they win or lose as long as they get their points. And we need to get get rid of that whole thing. That whole mentality is is so toxic um and and just unbelievably terrible for the future of of their kids, for the future of you know humans in general. We we just we need to be happy with being part of a team, doing our part, and and you know, seeing success, because that's that's what's gonna lead you to to further things down the road. Um and you know, be happy with with the position that you're in. There's there's a lot of kids that don't get to play sports, um, even at the high school level, and you know, you're you're one of the lucky ones.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, and and do you think I I'm convinced that parents get so caught up in the the travel experience at the younger ages, and they've invested all this money and time into it, then they get to the high school level, and they might only be a sophomore, but there's kids that are 18, and they're like, My kids thought getting to play, they get upset, and they're like, I put a ton of money into this. Yeah, it's time for things to happen, and it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I think that's that's probably the number one frustration among parents is they have spent all this money on travel, you know, travel teams, they spent money on private coaches, um, and they're you know, they're blowing money left and right on this stuff and playing AAU tournaments every weekend and spending all this money on hotels, and when it when it doesn't come to their you know, their freshman year and they're not starting varsity, then you know, they're they're saying, Well, I'm paying this guy and he's telling me this thing, but I'm not seeing it from a high school coach that I'm not paying. So um, you know, money, money kind of talks. I'll I'll say whatever you want me to say if you want to give me some money for it. But um, but yeah, just um I I think that is that is a huge motivation why kind of parents are a little bit out of control. Um, you know, if if they're blowing a bunch of money on, you know, a$600 bat and they're they're not getting uh they're not getting uh you know they're pinch hitting every other game, then there's there's there's gonna be uh you know an issue. But at the same time, you gotta you gotta get better. You gotta be you gotta be a good player to be on the field. And you know, coaches aren't just gonna play, they're not not playing a kid just out of spite. They want to win just as bad as anybody else, maybe even more than you know, the kids and the parents. That's their job is to win sporting events, and they're not gonna you know put themselves in a position to lose just because they want to prove a point.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. I actually recall attending a state baseball clinic one time and and asking one of the bat reps, I believe it was Louisville Slugger maybe. I said, What's the difference between this$99 bet and this$399 bet? And he looked at me and goes, You want to know the truth? I go, Yeah, he was the kid swinging it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

You know, and that's the part that the parents don't get because the you know personal trainers, hitting coaches, whatever it may be. There's a lot of great ones out there, but there are some that, you know, they're getting paid, so they're gonna tell the parent, you know, what the parent might want to hear. Yeah. And you know, they don't want to lose that that money coming into them. So it it it's a tough situation to be in, you know, and then you combine all of that with the way officials are being treated. I mean, the the two people you need to have for a sporting event event are coaches and officials, and they are walking away in droves. And is there an answer?

SPEAKER_00:

I I really don't know. Um, you know, I I know there's there's some schools around here that are actually offering officiating classes uh as part of like a you know extracurricular or you know, one of those breadth classes and stuff. And um, so I think I think we're we have some solutions working. Um we're getting some younger kids into into officiating, but you know, as soon as they start feeling that abuse, like I I mean I wouldn't I wouldn't do it. I I wouldn't do it for any min amount of money in the world. It's just not worth it to me. I get enough in my emails. Um stories are right. So um, you know, it's but I I just it's it starts with accountability. I really do think that any solution is gonna be starting with accountability. And you know, if if you're gonna act a certain way, if you're gonna, you know, however you're gonna, whatever you however you're gonna carry yourself, you're gonna have to face consequences for how you do it. Um I'm gonna if you if you're a you know a productive parent in a in a program, you know, I think that deserves some reward too. So um, but yeah, for as far as coaches, um, man, I I just I I it all starts with support. It all starts with parental support, administrative support, and uh, you know, and and it it just starts with making sure everybody knows the requirements and knows how you're gonna run your program. So that when there are questions brought up later, you could say, hey, I I told you so. I I told you this is how we're gonna do things. I'm playing the best players no matter what. I don't care if they're freshmen, I don't care if they're seniors, I I don't care if if a senior played all four years, if there's somebody better, that person is gonna play. And if you want to know why that person's better, I can I can lay it out for you. Um and and it's it's obvious. You you can you can tell the better players from from the not so better players, but there's there's roles for everybody. Um and if if everybody can accept their role, then you could put together a pretty good product on the field and and have some success and build some memories. And hopefully the parents can kind of understand that and and tell those kids that, hey, you know what, you could you could be a really good piece of the of this puzzle and and lead these teams to you know championships and stuff, and that's okay. It's okay to not be the the best player on the team. Um it's okay to be that that pinch runner and and go steal a base when your team really needs it and score from second base because you're fast. You may not be able to hit very well, but you're fast and you can run the bases smart. And you know what? That's the difference in wins and losses right there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, and you know, when I when I see parents get upset, you know, I've had experiences where I've looked at the particular player on my team when the parents being a little bit too loud. And you know, I always think back to the movie Hoosiers when Dennis Hopper comes out of the stands and you know, I think he was drinking and he's yelling, and you and you they put the camera on the son, the player, and you just saw how that kid felt. And a lot of times parents just don't don't get it, you know. And yeah, it's tough, but let me ask you this since publishing this series, what's the overall response been like? And do you think it's gonna become a positive change or the attitude toward coaches to continue?

SPEAKER_00:

Um I it's so far it's been very positive. I mean, I've I've had a lot of coaches reach out and say, you know, thank you for writing that. I mean, you reached out and said, hey, let's let's talk about this thing a little bit more and get it out there. So um, you know, from from coaches, it's been very, very positive. Haven't really gotten a whole lot of feedback from from parents. Um you know, it's been shared a few times on social media, and you know, people that are you know in support of it or are expressing that. Um, but so far I haven't really had any negative um reactions from it. But um, I just I just hope it opens people's eyes. Like, you know, this is why coaches are are coaching. They're they're trying to make a positive impact on your child. Like anybody who can be a positive influence for your kid outside of you know you is a good thing. Um so I hope parents kind of see that. I hope athletes see, you know, hey, just because my parents doesn't don't like my coach doesn't mean I don't have to. You know, I can I can still like my coach and and you know uh do what they asked me to do and um and and still have a very positive athletic experience. So I'm I'm hoping it really does open some people's eyes. We'll see. I think it did I think when I wrote the open letter, I think it did make a little bit of an impact uh at the very beginning, and then we kind of just got right back into some old habits. But um you know that that's kind of my goal. If I can change one one athlete's opinion of their coach and kind of open their eyes about you know what what they do on a daily basis and how much time they put into them, um it I'll consider that a success.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, as someone who's coached and like every other coach out there, you know, I gotta thank you for taking the time to to write that. And it whether it reaches enough people or not, it's it's important that that word gets out there. And every coach out there, I'm sure, in that uh Richland County, they they appreciated what you did there. And you know, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to be on baseball coaches unplugged with me.

SPEAKER_00:

Not a problem, man. Anytime.

SPEAKER_02:

Anytime you want to chat, hit me up. All right, sounds good. What's Jake Fur, Mansfield News Journal, Sports Reporter? Thanks again for being on Baseball Coaches Unplugged. Thank you. Special thanks to Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal Sports Reporter. Today's episode of Baseball Coaches Unplugged was powered by the Netting Professionals Improving Programs One Fasoli at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707 or visit them online at www.nettingpros.com. As always, I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter. Thanks for listening to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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