Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar

Jason Thompson on practice plans, team drill concepts and getting ready for a playoff run.

Bio
Today we have on Jason Thompson, head baseball coach at Brennan HS. a few highlights, Jason has Over 250 Career Wins, Was the Texas 5A State Runner Up (2016), they Set Alamo Heights School Record for Wins in a Season (28 in 2015) and Reached the Texas Regional Semi-Finals
Part 2: We go over pre season through playoffs. Which includes practice plans, team D/O, and his process on getting his team ready to make a run through playoffs. Here's Jason Thompson!
Show Notes
01:00- Pre-Season Thoughts
08:00- Preparing an offense for games
10:30- Drills his players love
18:30- Priming a team for playoffs
22:00- Legacy Question
Contact
https://twitter.com/CoachJ_Thompson
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Shawn Stiffler on how he prepares his team from pre-season through post season play

Bio
https://vcuathletics.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/shawn-stiffler/551
Head Coach Shawn Stiffler enters his 10th season at the helm of VCU baseball for the 2021-2022 season. Over his tenure, the Rams have climbed back into national prominence. VCU stands as one of just eight programs in the country with 34-plus wins over the last seven full seasons.  Stiffler was named the the sixth head coach of the VCU Baseball  Stiffler was named the the sixth head coach of the VCU Baseball program in December 2012 following the passing of his mentor Paul Keyes. Stiffler was promoted after serving as the associate head coach for the first half of the 2012 campaign and serving as the interim head coach for the remainder of that season. Prior to being named head coach, he spent five seasons on Keyes' staff as the Rams' pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and was promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2012 season. 
Timestamps
01:00- Game Ready (pre-season)
10:00- Putting together a process that helps us win games
22:00- Getting ready for post season
Contact
https://twitter.com/ShawnStiffler29
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Dane Fujinaka- Head Baseball Coach, Hawaii Pacific University

Bio
Dane comes to HPU from coaching in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system since 2019, and spent the last season as manager of the Blue Jays Dominican Summer League team.  He was an assistant coach at Illinois State in 2019 where he helped the Redbirds to a Missouri Valley co-championship and an NCAA Tournament berth before joining the Blue Jays. He also coached at Sacramento State, William Jessup and Menlo.
As a player, the new Sharks skipper was an Academic All-WAC performer as a catcher at Sacramento State, where he started 135 of 152 games at catcher for the Hornets. He finished his collegiate playing career at Menlo where he started all 54 games and was second on the Oaks with a .280 batting average with four home runs, nine doubles and 22 RBIs. 
Time Stamps
01:00- First 100 days on the job
12:00- Building the culture
18:00- Fall Training
32:00- Defensive Sets
40:00- Staffing and what he has learned lately
48:00- Resources
Resources
Talent Code- Daniel Coyle
Culture Code- Daniel Coyle
Top Dog- Po Bronson 
How to win friends and influence people- Dale Carnegie
Contact
https://twitter.com/_danejah_
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Brian Green- Head Baseball Coach, Washington State University

Bio
Brian Green is in his third season leading the Cougars after being named the 17th baseball coach in Washington State history June 3, 2019.
If you know one thing about Coach Green, his teams can hit. In the 2021 season they lead the Pac-12 and fifth in the country in doubles-per-game (2.4), second in the conference in hitting (.302), third in extra-base hits (101) and third in scoring (7.2 runs/g) while pacing the league with 74 doubles in conference games. 
So on the show, we discuss how they spend the first third of the fall on culture, and we go over his process of developing hitters during the fall. Here's Brian Green!
Time Stamps
2:00- Vision of the program
7:00- Staff Development
21:00- Fall Outline
27:00- "hitting talk"
Resources
Gary Ward ABCA
Mental Game of Baseball- HA Dorfman
Heads up baseball- Ken Ravizza
The Winner Within- Pat Riley
Contact
b.green@wsu.edu
https://twitter.com/coachbriangreen
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Toby DeMello- Hitting Coach, University of Arizona

Bio
DeMello joined the Wildcats after spending three seasons at Sacramento State from 2019-21. He began his tenure with the Hornets serving as the program's Director of Operation and Analytics in 2019 before moving into the volunteer assistant role for the 2020 and 2021 campaigns. While at Sacramento State, DeMello's primary duties included serving as the team's catching coach, assisting with the hitters, aligning the defense, and coaching first base. Under his direction, the Hornets posted a record of 84-54 (.609) and improved their team batting average from .235 in 2019 to an impressive .283 in 2021. DeMello's coaching journey has also seen him make stops at Southern Illinois (2018), Occidental College (2017), and Sierra College (2016-17)

Time Stamps
01:00- New Staff/new players and the transition 
07:30- Fall Foundation
12:30- "coaches are translators"
20:00- Fall Drills and 2K Tuesdays
Resources
Pitch Decision Chart-https://twitter.com/Tyler_Coolbaugh/status/1450933903867330561?s=20
https://www.theprogram.org/
Contact
https://twitter.com/tobydemello
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Robert Woodard- Head Baseball Coach, Charlotte

Bio
https://charlotte49ers.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/robert-woodard/846
On July 1, 2019, Robert Woodard returned home to the Queen City as the fifth Head Coach of the Charlotte 49ers Baseball program. He does so coming off of being an assistant coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, for three seasons. Woodard, a Charlotte native, has also served as pitching coach at UNCW and Virginia Tech.
In his first full season of 2021, Woodard guided the 49ers to a 40-win season, Conference USA Regular Season Championship and berth back into NCAA Postseason play for the first time since the 2011 season.
Woodard, also took home C-USA's Keith LeClair Coach of the Year honors
So on the show we discuss his first steps in year one, we talk building the foundation and we go over what theyre doing this fall! You're gonna love this episode with Robert Woodard!
Time Stamps
01:00- Intro
05:00- Building the foundation
12:30- Recruiting
17:10- Offseason Schedule
26:50- Building the culture on a daily basis
Contact
Email- charlottebaseball@uncc.edu
Twitter- @rwoodardCLT
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Bobby Magallanes- Assistant MLB Hitting Coach, Atlanta Braves

Bio
Bobby's pro career began when the Seattle Mariners selected him in the 50th round of the 1989 MLB draft. He played in professional baseball for 12 years, with six of them in the Mexican League.
Bobby's coaching career started in the Los Angeles Angels' organization in 2002. And since, he been a manager or hitting coach in the MiLB until he was brought up to the major leagues with the Atlanta Braves. In 2020, the Braves promoted him to the major league coaching staff as assistant hitting coach. and most recently he was a member of the 2021 World Series champions.
On the show we discuss what separated this Braves club and we take a deep dive into what makes a great hitter and a great hitting coach.
Time Stamps
01:00- What makes a world series champion
05:43- Relationships are huge
10:00- Peak Performers and how they separate themselves 
12:00- Blocked and Random Practice
20:00- On Field BP and Routines
26:00- Pressure filled moments in the World Series
34:30- 2K Approach
41:00- Team Chemistry and Makeup
45:16- Quick Hitters
Resources
Mindset- Carol Dweck
Motor learning and performance- Schmidt and Lee
https://thelearnerlab.com/train-ugly/
The Bible
Contact (Instagram)
@magallanesbobby
@SwingUgly
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Kevin Kimball- Head Baseball Coach, Phoenix College (AZ)

Bio
Kevin Kimball enters his 11th year at the helm of the Bears Baseball program. In July of 2010 Kimball was hired after two years as an assistant at Gateway Community College. At the time, the Phoenix College baseball program had only one winning season since 1993. Since Kimball took the reins his teams have produced 3 of the top 5 win totals in school history. Kimball’s 2015 Bears squad was a few outs away from a World Series birth after eliminating the defending national champions in the Region I semifinals. In 2017 Kimball finally did break through and won a region championship. That 2017 team also broke the school record for wins in a season and was ranked in the top 20 for 9 consecutive weeks – which was another first for the program
Time Stamps
01:00- Intro
03:00- Changing the culture
06:00- BP Rounds
24:00- Mentality / Mental Game
34:00- There are always exceptions to the rule
38:00- Swing Decisions and Timing
Contact
Phone: 602.285.7293
Email: kevin.kimball@phoenixcollege.edu
https://twitter.com/kimballk11
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Dave Turgeon- National Head Coach, IMG Academy (FL)

Bio
This week I got the pleasure of interviewing Dave National Team Head Coach at IMG Academy. Dave has enjoyed a career in baseball that includes thirteen years of professional playing experience that has spanned the globe combined with decades of managing and coaching experience at the professional and collegiate levels. Dave was drafted out of Davidson College in North Carolina in the 1987 by the New York Yankees and on to play thirteen seasons of professional baseball. 
As a Coach, Turgeon has managed and coached at the professional level as well as coached at the collegiate level. His first stop was in the Cleveland Indians organization in 1999. After which he spent time in various college coaching roles with Boston College, UConn, Duke and Virginia Tech. His passion for working with professional players steered his career to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010.
Dave is also a contributing blogger on USA Baseball’s website.
Show Notes
01:00- Intro
05:00- Ins and outs of IMG Academy
15:00- A day in the life at IMG
19:00- Fall Instructs 
Contact
https://twitter.com/davidturgeon45
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Tom Marker- Head Baseball Coach, Olentangy Orange HS (OH)

Bio
The 2021 season was the 3rd as head coach at Olentangy Orange for Tom Marker. During his tenure Marker has turned the Pioneers into a state and district power, leading Orange to a number one State Ranking and top 50 National Ranking last season.  Marker’s record of 48-11 (.814) is first all-time in winning percentage at Orange. In his career as a head coach Marker is 247-143 (.633). Marker’s efforts have paid off in the win column and across the board as Prep Baseball Report has tabbed Orange as the top program in the state in the final State Poll Rankings. Over the last seven seasons, Marker has led his teams to five district final appearances, winning the district in 2021. Marker was named Ohio State Baseball Coach of the Year, Central District Baseball Coach of the Year, and Ohio Capital Conference Coach of the Year in 2021. Along with that, he was named Central District Baseball Coach of the Year in 2013. He also served as President of the Central District Coaches Association and is currently a member of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association staff. Several players from Orange have gone on to play at the next level, including a 2021 roster with commitments to Vanderbilt, Wright State, Toledo (3), King University, West Liberty University and Ohio Northern University. Marker teaches sixth grade math at Olentangy Orange Middle School and lives in Lewis Center with his wife (Amie) and three children (McKenzie 9, Jackson 4, and Lainey 1). He has been on numerous podcasts including most recently being asked to be on the “Making Math Moments” podcast.
Time stamps
01:00- First 100 days
09:00- Offseason Outline
15:00- Videoing Practice 
18:22- Rules and Standards
21:30- Parent Communication
31:00- Very intentional with time
Resources
Greg Canvel Podcast
Contact
https://twitter.com/coachmarker
thomas_marker@olsd.us
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