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Ever wonder what it takes to transition from a baseball player to high school baseball coach to successful Division 1 college coach? Join us as we unpack the journey with our esteemed guest, Ray Noe, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Ray shares his fascinating life story, detailing his experiences at VMI, the intensity of Hell Week, and his steady climb up the coaching ranks.
What sets a winning team apart? Ray lets us in on the secret sauce - finding the right players with character and the right mindset, the role of travel organizations, and the value of honest conversations with players. He delves into the balancing act of military, school, and baseball, and how to manage the pressure that comes with each. As a bonus, he spills the beans on his unique plays that gave him an edge on the field.
But it's not all about the game. Ray also shares a crucial aspect often overlooked - the significant role of parents at the college level. He sheds light on how parents and coaches can guide players through failure and the importance of taking time away from the game. He even discusses why multi-sport athletes can stay fresh and productive. And to top it all off, he makes a bold prediction for the World Series. Tune in for an episode packed with insights and strategies from a seasoned college coach.
@CoachRayNoe
Today on the Athlete One podcast, ray Noe recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Virginia Military Institute.
Speaker 2:Everyone can evaluate a swing or see the tools or the measurables, but then tangibles of how they carry themselves exactly like you said, like when they do fail I think is invaluable to the type of kid and the type of family you're going to get in order to be successful at this level. I mean, that's exactly what we're looking for.
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:Hello and welcome to the Athlete One podcast. I'm your host, Ken Carpenter, and joining me today is the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Military Institute, Ray Noe coach, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me, Ken.
Speaker 1:Well, we talked earlier and we needed to push back to today because you were in the middle of Hell Week for the freshman. Not many D1 schools have that, I guess. What is that like there at VMI?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So all the freshmen have to do it, athletes and non-athletes. It's a week of essentially physical training. You're going to have to learn all the military stuff how to march, how to hold your rifle, just kind of the ins and outs of VMI. It's definitely going to challenge you physically and probably more mentally than anything. But for our process with our recruits, try to be super upfront about it and let them know kind of what they're getting themselves into. We think there's benefits of it. No one's going to challenge them from the jump. And then obviously, once that week is done which now we're past that week, which is great we started full-go practice here on Monday. So now we're kind of rolling the freshman back into the swing of things, as well as upper classmen, and we're looking forward to a good year.
Speaker 1:Well, you're a bit of a risk-taker. Explain how you went from a high school player to college player to you became a really good high school head coach here in central Ohio. But you said that wasn't quite enough and that wasn't quite your dream, and talk a little bit about how you decided to walk away from a great situation to take a chance on yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm from Dublin. I went to Dublin Jerome High School that's where I graduated from. I played under Chris Hughes, who I know you know him very well and then had some opportunities potentially Bowling Green as a preferred walk on, but I decided to go to Wittenberg. I knew I wanted to be a teacher and a special education teacher and have a chance to play. So I went up there to Springfield, ohio, and had a great time, a lot of memories, a lot of friends, had a good playing career up there under coach Jay Lewis and then kind of went right into coaching as you alluded to. I worked at Bloom Carroll under Brian Thacker initially and then I got a teaching job at Thomas Warrington and I was the JV head coach there, springboarded that to Bexley head coach for my first head coaching job and then I went from there to Pickerington Central where I kind of really made a stamp, I guess, if you will, in the Central District. I was there for, I think, three years and had some really good teams. But you know I got my masters at Ohio State and you know when you're kind of going through the program it was sports coaching was the major or the master's program and you do a lot of self reflection on what you want in your life. I think I was like 30 years old at the time and you know I just decided I kind of wanted more. You know, I never got a chance to play Division 1 baseball, but I always thought I could coach at this level, and you know. So I went down to IMG Academy in Florida on a little paid internship, lived in a 40 foot trailer with my dog, making you know a couple hundred bucks a week or whatever, just to kind of pay rent, and then I was able to springboard that to a full time, which was awesome. Being down there in that facility, in that environment, I mean, there's second to none in the country and then got a chance to come up to VMI as the volunteer in 2019, right before COVID hit, and been here ever since.
Speaker 1:Well, talk a little bit about how you show up at to play college baseball and what did you do that made you have the ability to be a four year starter, because the reality in recruiting in college baseball you're always looking for that next guy and you were able to hold your spot for four years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just think mindset wise and this kind of goes into recruiting a little bit just seeing guys who know how to play the game the right way, stay even keeled, have a good mindset, process based approach with what they do. You know I have it. You know I've always been just kind of raised maybe this way for my mom and dad and I wasn't really given anything so you got to go earn it. So I kind of got that in my blood a little bit. So you know, just putting in the hard work and not being satisfied with success early and just continuing to push not only yourself but your teammates, I think that's probably one of the better traits of me as a person and also now as a coach, which I try to instill in our players. But yeah, I mean it takes work. I know that if you just show up and think you're gonna do it, I think you're in for a surprise. So you just gotta keep pushing and you'll have setbacks, you'll have bad games, you'll have good games, but at the end of the day it's kind of like the stock market right, like just play the course. Dollar costs, average and if you get a decent return at the end, that's what you're looking for.
Speaker 1:Well, if you could talk a little bit about why some players, when they get to that college level, they were great high school players and they're able to continue on with that and succeed when others they wash out or they don't get the playing time and they walk away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, college is way different than high school. I mean you talk about all the freedoms that you have in the time management piece I think is big. You're able to go out and hang out with your friends whenever you want. It doesn't have to be after school, it doesn't have to be on the weekend. You're gonna have to kind of weigh the pros and cons of the social life on top of the academics and on top of athletics. So usually the people I think that maybe fizzle out or don't reach their full potential are probably the guys that maybe struggle with that piece a little bit. But I also think you have to be internally motivated. Playing at the college level, especially division one level, I mean it's a lot. I mean you're talking about practicing every day, small groups, early work groups and on top of that you still gotta get some swings and some work in on your own outside of what we have you do as coaches. So there's a lot on their plate. And then you come into school like VMI. You're talking about the academic rigour on top of that and the military stuff, especially when the freshmen during this rat line phase for the first six months. I mean it's a lot but we try not to make it be their job hopefully one day but when they're here, we want them to compete for us and for each other and for their teammates, and not make it feel like, oh, I have to come down to the field. We want it to be well, I can't wait to get down to the field.
Speaker 1:Well, what is a week like for a player at VMI? I know it's a lot of time and everything that goes into it, but how much do you think a player devotes to just baseball at the college level, with the division one level per day?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we have something called formation in the morning. Essentially it's just like a roll call. It's all accountability based, you could call it attendance, whatever what you want to call it and then they'll go to class. So class could be they could have three classes a day, they could have four classes, they could have one, so just typical collegiate block scheduling. And then really after that, the moment they're out of class, they're getting down to the field and they may do some stuff on their own. Maybe they'll take ground balls on the field or swinging the cage or whatever, and then we'll plan. Obviously the NCAA limits us a little bit with time constraints at times, so we have like an eight hour window a week and then we have a 20 when we're fully in season in the fall. So that obviously dictates a lot of it. But our guys are working five to six days a week, every week, and we want them to take time off. I think that's important. We want them to be a college student I think that's important. But at the end of the day, I think the fall is where the development really happens, cause when you get into the spring I mean it's a marathon but it also feels like a sprint, you got 55 games that you got to play, and it's three on the weekend, plus maybe a double midweek or maybe a single midweek. So it's a lot once February starts getting here.
Speaker 1:Well, if you could, could you compare your experience from being a high school coach to now being a college coach, and what are the both the positives and negatives of those two?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's similar in a lot, of, a lot of places. I mean you're playing for you know, obviously, the school you represent. You know so in high school, whether it's Dublin or Pickerton where I coach, you know you're playing for that city, for that town, for your family, you know you're also playing for your teammates. You know at this level you know it's different a little bit. You're still playing for your school, you know. But you're also hopefully developing yourself into a professional prospect. We also get to recruit the players that we want. That's probably the biggest difference. You know, in high school you're just getting the hand or dealt based on the district that the kids live in. You know we weren't able to get move-ins or, you know, recruit in Pickerton or anything like that. But here you know, if we have a specific mold that we want to try to get into our program, you know we're able to go out and find those players and hopefully land them, and so that's probably the biggest difference. But the coaching aspect I mean everyone wants to be coached. You know we have Casey Dykes is the New York Yankees assistant hitting coach and him and our head coach are really good friends and we've developed a relationship over the years and you know even him, man like he's working with Aaron, judge and all these guys on a regular basis and you know I talked with him last year and you know when Judge had his career year and you know he even said how much those guys want to be coached and they're getting paid to do it. So I think if you take that mindset and not get, you know, kind of lost in the lure of coaching at the highest level you know, whether it's in the pro ranks or in the division one college level and just push the kids to get better, I mean that's where I think you really find growth.
Speaker 1:I agree with you on that. But what are some of the biggest challenges that you've seen with incoming freshmen at the college level? When they show up on campus and it's like, like you talked about earlier. You said they have all that freedom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think for our group in particular, it's definitely the managing the military side with the school side and the baseball side. I think it's a culture shock when they get here, regardless of how transparent and upfront you are with them throughout the recruiting process, you know, and then you also kind of deal with just you know, not that I think high school coaches, especially in central Ohio, which I know you and I are both familiar with, I mean I think those guys do it better than anyone in the country in terms of work and out there players and developing them. But it is another level, even greater than that, when you get here and so you know, kids are typically kind of wired just to follow the practice plan and do what coach asks. But you know we got to have them do more than that and that's probably the biggest thing that we just expressed to them is making sure that you know, like I said earlier, just being internally motivated. Not doing it because I'm telling you you have to come to practice, you know, but doing it because you want to get better on a daily basis.
Speaker 1:When you're out on the road with your recruiting talk about. There are a lot of great travel organizations out there, and that's when, typically, college coaches get a chance to get out and see some of these guys. What are some of the things that you see that you really love that, what travel coaches are doing and what are some things that you're like, wow, these coaches could get on these guys and make sure they're you know, like a simple thing is how they go out and just get loose and throw before a game.
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, summer baseball, I mean there's really good and then I think there's really bad. You know the organizations that we typically recruit from, whether it's, you know, and you're in Ohio, ohio, leap Bo, Jackson, you know those guys like that. And then Richmond Braves, keynes, dirtbags, those organizations here in the state, like those coaches, do it the right way. You'll see it just in how the players carry themselves when they're on their field, when they're in the dugout after the games. But I think the ones that struggle are usually the ones that you know it's supposed to be fun, the game's fun, but at the same time you know they got to be able to. That's right, that's right. But at the same time you got to be able to. You know, make sure that. You know again those kids that are playing in front of college coaches on a regular basis. You know they, they, they should be promoting them in a proper way and not pushing an agenda or doing anything like that, but also letting the kids showcase themselves. I mean, if the kid doesn't run hard from home to first, like that's just an immediate no go for a lot of people. You got to play the game the right way because a lot of people don't think that you can teach it. You either have it or you don't. So that's probably the biggest thing I would say.
Speaker 1:As an assistant coach. What are some of the things that when you're having a tough conversation with a player and maybe they're just they're just not getting it done, how do you go about that with with a player? Is it more you pull them off to the side conversation?
Speaker 2:Yeah, good question. So I think Sam Roberts, our head coach, who took over last year, has done a really good job of kind of just instilling to the players and then to us as a staff that you know we're going to be able to communicate with these kids every single day so they know what their role is, where they stand, how they can get better. I think that's something that people miss Like. Just telling someone where they stand is great, but then giving them something to work towards, I think is really important. So when we have these tough conversations or when players want to meet, whether it's about their role or where we see them down the road or in the future, you know we're dishonest with them. We usually will do it behind closed doors, just because just to protect the privacy of the player. You know, because not every kid wants you know his teammates, knowing that he came in to ask you know why he's not in the lineup or whatever. But we're also realistic with the kids and we're not necessarily going to hear. You know, tell them what they want to hear. We're going to tell them the truth. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn't, but you know, I think if you, if the kid trusts you and and understands that you're doing what's best for them and their development and they see that, then I think those are the ones that you hopefully will retain in your program and that can, you know, be a big contributors down the road.
Speaker 1:Are parents ever an issue at the college level?
Speaker 2:Not for us. I mean we've. We have really good families, really good parents. You know, in high school I think there's probably more of a say from them. But you know, honestly, at this level, you know they got to let their kids grow up and be young men and young adults and so we don't get a whole lot. You know, I, our parent group, is fantastic. The support we get, the support they give to the players, I mean they're kicking out for our guys every Saturday home games. They're coming for tailgating, for football weekends here, just to get the freshman, you know, kind of out of barracks and just be able to hang out. So we don't have those issues here, thankfully. You know, and I can't speak for every program, but I would assume at this level hopefully you're kind of navigating away from that.
Speaker 1:Well, family failure is a big part of the process of playing the game of baseball and you learn a lot from it. But how have you learned from failure? And To get players know? I understand it's, it's part of that process, but not to compound that issue. And if you strike out at the plate, maybe you get a bad call and then all sudden you take it out onto the field and then you it turns into a defensive mistake.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, we have tons of conversations, at least as an offensive group, but I would say as a whole, just about a process-based mindset. We know the kids don't want to strike out or give up a home run or make an error in the field. You know, we're all aware of that. So I think it's more about being able to you know, flush it, move on to that next play, that next pitch. But also, you know, I think Sam has done an unbelievable job of just allowing our guys the freedom to fail. That's kind of like what he probably that's probably what he prides himself on the most is allowing guys to fail, knowing that you know you're not gonna get chewed out, we're not gonna blow you up if you think you can steal the bag and you end up getting thrown out, but we'll talk about what he saw or you know what would hit. Reed was in that situation and things like that. But giving guys that freedom to fail, I Personally think allows our guys to play free, to play fast and to play fun, which you know. When you look at the numbers from last year, I mean that's what it would show you. I mean we were fifth in the country and batting average and first in the country and stolen bases and the guys ran All the time. It was non-traditional but they enjoyed it and you know obviously there's a process to it, but we can. When you can go out and play like you know you're the last runner In a T-ball game when you're like five and everyone scores like that's a pretty fun way to play.
Speaker 1:Yep, well, you know you mentioned the failure piece there and I would imagine, as a recruiting coordinator, when you're out looking at players, I would think that you probably want to see how they react to when they do fail in games.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. That's one of the big things I mean. You can everyone can evaluate a swing or see the tools or the measureables, but you know, then, tangibles of how they carry themselves. You know, exactly like you said, like when they do fail, you know I think is invaluable to the type of kid and the type of probably family You're gonna get in order to be successful at this level, and that's exactly what we're looking for. If I see a guy that strikes out in a big situation and slams his bat down or throws his helmet or, you know, does whatever, which is very common, unfortunately it's just probably not a guy for us. You know we we love the passion for the game. You know we don't want to take away that, but at the same time, you just got to stay true to the process and no one, you know that guy probably might get another at bat or have to make a big playing the field, like you said earlier, and you know you got to just be able to to move past it.
Speaker 1:Well, I'd like to get your thoughts on taking time away from the game for the players. Obviously, I think every coach would love to have multi sport athletes, but for those that aren't a multi sport athlete, do you recommend it? Hey, get away from the game and just just go out and be, just be a kid, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so a lot of times our conversations with our players, especially our older players. We have a pretty old lineup this year and I was talking to guys actually earlier this week Just about trying to manage their workloads a little bit better this year so we can be a little bit more productive on the back half of the year Rather than early, you know, because we want to win in May. That's when it matters. You obviously have to win in February, march and April to get there, but you got to be able to win when it matters most in the conference tournament and in conference play. So, yeah, I think there's a ton of value of and just taking some time off left your body recuperate. Nowadays these kids are playing shoot, I mean, all fall, all summer, all spring, and there really is no downtime. You know, and I think especially position players, you know you can take a week or two off and you're probably fine. You know, I think arms, especially though, those are the guys that probably need to take time off more than anyone, just because you do see such a regression. You know, in the summer, especially on the back end, if they've been throwing, you know, 50 plus innings in high school and then they're going out in summer and doing the same thing. I mean that's a lot of wear and tear on your arm.
Speaker 1:Yes, I came across a something on Twitter the other day and it was and this probably relates to all sports at the college level the Stetson Bennett, who was the quarterback for Georgia. He Is the same age as a player that's been playing in the NFL for six years. Okay, and so and so to the player or the parent out there that their son wants to go on to play college sports, especially college baseball.
Speaker 2:you're going up against grown men for the most part 100%, especially with this transfer portal stuff now, and then the COVID years that the players have. I mean, you know, when we bring in, we had a class of nine freshmen this year and you know these kids are 18 years old, maybe one or two or 19, but I doubt it. I mean we have kids in our lineup that are 23 years old. So you're talking about a five-age-year difference and you know kids that have, you know, five to 600 at bats underneath their belt compared to zero. I mean it's a huge difference and it's nice, though. I will say this you know, when you do have an older lineup, like we do, or an older group of physician players, I think it really benefits the younger. You know whether it's the freshmen or the sophomores, because now you have someone that you can kind of see how they go about going through their processes and what systems they're doing to be successful, whether it's the routine in the cage, what they do. You know rehab-wise or prehab-wise in the training room, which people never talk enough about, because it is a grind, and if you've got to play 55 games or 56 games, I mean you've got to make sure your body's healthy throughout the whole season.
Speaker 1:Now are there drills or specific things that you'd like to do with your players and you're like, wow, this is my go-to drill.
Speaker 2:Not, I would say, not drill, but more like setting. So like for us, we try to create a really challenging environment for our guys Anytime we're hitting in the cage or on the field. You know, I just I'm a huge believer in trying to make the game harder in practice. So when the kids are able to go play, you know for real, when it matters, that it seems easy. You know we, for example, we opened with LSU this year at their place, alex Box Stadium. I mean it's going to be madness, right. So how can I create an environment, whether it's, you know, something silly like playing stadium music through the speakers during inner-squads, or ramping up our machine work to something that maybe is unrealistic in terms of you know, a 4,000 spin rate slider that maybe they'll never see, but you know, hopefully it gets them prepared. You know when it actually matters. So I would say the environment, I think, is probably my favorite thing that you create, and I think that goes with approach too. We talked a lot about approach. You know more than obviously anything. I think approach wins. You know you can be the greatest hitter with the best mechanics, but if you have no approach, I just don't think you can win at this level. So those would probably be my two biggest things just the environment being challenging, and then you know, an approach-based mindset.
Speaker 1:What is a story or memory from either your playing days, high school or college, or coaching high school or college that you look back on and you laugh every time?
Speaker 2:Geez, well, you know Coach Eusman pretty well, I think, probably my favorite one, and this is probably a league I don't even know if I should say this on here but he had a play he wanted to run one time where I think it was either first third or he knew the guy was stealing or something right. But he, I played. I was in left field at the time and so my job was to sprint in like the base runner or like the hitter had hit the ball, shortstop's, going to go back and going to kind of like, call me off, so it's creating mad chaos. Well, at the same time the catcher has the baseball, so he's. You know, we're somehow going to create this chaotic event where the base runner has no idea what's going on, but then in the day the catcher's just going to throw the ball to the first baseman because in theory the runner would go back, you know, to first base if he was stealing or moving on that pitch. And I think we maybe ran it and it worked and it was like the craziest thing ever. But that's just one thing I remember and that's just classic Coach Eusman. He always found a way to be creative just to get an advantage and you know, that's something that I'll take with me forever.
Speaker 1:And players like that. Because I was like that as a coach. I did a simple thing. I just called it the fall down play. First and third, I'd have the runner take his on the pitch. He would fall down, take the pitch and just see what the catcher's going to do with the ball, and it always seemed to work and the players really love being a part of something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, being a kind of an outside the box thinker or forward thinker, I think that's huge. I mean, especially with our we do it with our guys. I mean we have all these rules now with the pitch clock and the resets and stuff like that. So I think there's ways you can be creative. You know I'm not going to give away all my tricks of the trade, but I think there's ways you can hopefully take advantage of situations when they are presented. But yeah, it definitely. I think the players love it when they know when it's time and it's ready to go and the plays on there like, oh boy, here we go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now, in all your time of coaching, have you ever seen a trick play run that you're like, wow, they pulled that off, that was perfect.
Speaker 2:Probably I mean against us. Let's just say that I mean we stole so many bases. So obviously people were pretty aware. But you know, this past year, I think, we had a first third play and we were going to run like a stop play, essentially and try to score the run on the backside but the catcher just threw a seed, you know, right at the pitcher's head and it was like a last second catch it. And then we got in a run down and third, I was like, yeah, I don't know if that's a trick play, I think it's just a pretty smart coaching move, but it took us out of the inning and you know, it was obviously something we learned from. But I've never seen like a hidden ball trick or anything like that in my time. Hopefully, you know, hopefully at one point I think it'll be cool to experience, but nothing too crazy.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, I always found a way as a coach every year to try to add something that just because I knew the players loved it and I mean we would try it and if it worked, it worked. If it didn't, you know you just kind of shook it off. You know you didn't want to make that part of your game plan every time you went out.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I do remember one time at Jerome, with Huey, first third, he like led us Lead off in the back of the infield, I think it was. And you know, the big thing was you just you're creating a new baseline, so you had to have to make, you know, a direct line to second base. But I mean, the first time we did it People were like what in the world is going on? The base runner at first base is literally in the outfield grass. But we were trying to get the pitcher to run at us and, you know, come that way so we could score on the you know from third. And I think it might have worked once or twice, but that was another creative way that we tried to win. So, whatever, it takes, man.
Speaker 1:Yes to me. I always thought the most important stat in baseball was Run scored. So no doubt, yeah, no doubt. So well, I like to do some like quick hitter type stuff here. I don't know, I call it rapid fire, I guess. Would you be in favor of moving the college baseball season back a couple weeks? Just give the northern teams a break when it comes to dealing with the cold weather.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's pretty hot topic. I don't see a reason why not. You know, I think for us, where you get lucky, our weather's decent here in Virginia. But you know, I'd love to go play, like bigam 10, who always comes down to us. They got a 60 or 80 million dollar facility up there now just for our guys to be able to see it. Or, you know, maybe play some of the Mac schools, you know, because we're never really able to play them because it's colder up there to start. But yeah, I don't see a reason for it honestly.
Speaker 1:Well, you're managing an MLB team and you get three players on your team. Would you rather have group a Mike trout, aaron judge and Mookie bets or group B Shohei Otani, freddy Freeman or Jose Ramirez?
Speaker 2:Who. I'm a Guardians guy so I'm gonna stick with With group B. I also think show you a ton is. I know he got her, but he's a, he's a special, he's a unicorn man. Not a lot of people can do what he does. You know, two-way thing is just incredible and hopefully you know, pan out for him. But I'll take group two. Who wins the World Series I share? Not the Guardians. I don't think I'm gonna go. My my heart Tells me, or I guess my mind tells me I think the Braves or the Dodgers will win it. But my wife is a massive Orioles fan, so I'm gonna say that the O's are gonna win it. An Adley, rushman and gunner and all those young guys are gonna get there first.
Speaker 1:That's. That's probably not a bad pick there, but you know, I went and watched the Braves play Cleveland this summer and, wow, they got a lineup that's just they can really hit tough to compete with that group, that's for sure. Well, if I was traveling across country, or a Player that's traveling across country, to come and visit your campus for to check you guys out, what is the one place you would recommend they stop and eat while in Lexington Virginia?
Speaker 2:Oh, good question. Got a couple good places, probably my go-to, just cuz I think the the vibe is awesome. It's probably the Palms. It's like American VAR style. They have wings pizza burger, but you kind of get a really good idea of the Lexington locals, which those are my people man. I live in the city so or in the town, so that's probably the the go-to spot.
Speaker 1:The poem now is at VMI. You guys open up it, like you said earlier at at LSU. Yep, the you guys are putting together a really good things there at VMI. How are they when it comes to, how is their attitude when they know that, hey, we're starting off the season down in Louisiana?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you know we opened up Mississippi State this past year. So going down there and we actually took one on Saturday against them in front of you know 13, 14,000 every game and you know that's that's big boy baseball in the power five and especially in SEC. So just going down there, I think was not only an unbelievable experience but also, you know, just really good for our guys. Because now I think when we, when we do go to LSU, like you know, lsu is going to be different than the reigning national champions. You know there's there's going to be a different vibe there. But you know we kind of did it already, at least from the wow factor at Mississippi State. So I think the guys will be ready. But our guys are competitors too. You know they're not going to go there and just be wowed by the stadium or the players that LSU has or anything like that they're. They're going to go down there to try to compete and try to win. You know, and we'll see what happens, it's baseball. You never know what you're going to get on a given day and we're excited to get down there and see what it's all about.
Speaker 1:What do you miss most about coaching high school baseball?
Speaker 2:Man? That's a good question, I Think. Probably. You know I have so many friends in central Ohio Tom Margaret Orange, you know, ryan at Grove City, kirby's now at Jerome, like I just think competing them against those guys was really fun, you know. But also I think you know, when you have high school players, just being able to create that culture, create that vision. You know, we did some really cool things at Pickerington. We build a locker room right next to the dugout, something that you know I thought was really important for the players, you know. But I also think, like creating those memories, you know, high school, for whatever reason, seems to be what everyone always remembers. So you know, those are kind of the memories where you know you'll never forget them, whether you're a coach or a player.
Speaker 1:But you know, that's probably the biggest thing and usually a lot of those memories Not aren't necessarily the actual game itself. It's the the bus rides or Something that happened in the locker room and things like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, for sure. That's the yeah. I mean, you never know what you get on a bus At this level, or or at high school. But yeah, I agree, those memories They'll last forever. Well, hey, I.
Speaker 1:Gotta thank you a ton because you know I'm gonna be the first one to admit that, being a pod being in this podcasting world, I haven't perfected it by no means, and For the listeners out there, this is take number two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had that. We had a little issue, but I feel like my answers are better this time, so we're good. But also I wanted to just make sure your listeners knew too, can. Congratulations on the central district Hall of Fame Award nominee. This past what two weeks or so, I think it came out yes, but you've done a lot. Part of the reason why I was even able to probably be a head coach was the path that you made for Not only myself but the others and the people to come. So just wanted to say thank you for that and congratulations, because that is a heck of an honor.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you very much and, and like I said before, it's you don't get an honor like that unless you have great players in and great coaches that you work with and, on the other side of things, getting a chance, like you said, here in Central District, to compete against just phenomenal coaches, who, they're gonna make you better. If not, you're gonna go by the way.
Speaker 2:That is true, that is very true, especially now with the resources to that everyone has, I mean the fields and facilities that some of these places have, is, I mean, it's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Yes, without a doubt, it's Top-notch and that, and it isn't just here in central Ohio, it's everywhere. I'm sure you could probably attest to that, absolutely, absolutely Well, hey, ray Noe, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Virginia Military Institute, coach, thanks again, I really do appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Appreciate it, ken. Thank you.
Speaker 1:This episode of the athlete, one podcast, was powered by the netik professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707. Or visit them online at wwwnetikprosecom. And, as always, thanks for listening.
