Mongero Monday #15 with guest, Jack Leggett, Legenday Former Clemson Head Coach. Leggett is currently the head coach of the Team USA 18U National Team. He also consults with and mentors many of the top baseball players, coaches, and programs in the country. He served as the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015, making 21 NCAA appearances, 9 Super Regional appearances, and 6 trips to the College World Series. Throughout his storied career with the Tigers, Coach Leggett compiled a 955-480 record. Leggett coached over 140 professional baseball signees, 9 first rounders, and 25 players who have played in the Major Leagues. His career record as a head coach was 1,332–770 with 26 NCAA Tournament appearances. His 1,332 wins ranks 9th all time for Division 1. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Coach of the year in 1994, 1995 and 2006. In 1994, his team won 57 games, a record for the second most single-season wins in ACC history.
Show Notes:
- Work routines, individual routines and work routines with a partner.
- Being honest with your players, making adjustments, handling adversity, body language.
- Recruiting process.
- Good fundamental coaching.
- “You got to go home and you got to practice and you got to work at it and you got to dedicate yourself to it.”
- “You gotta do extra with the person next to you, so you can out work the person next to you.”
- Want to learn and pay attention, visual learners.
- Coaches create responsibilities for the players and the assistant coaches.
- “I think budgeting your time is very important, while being well-organized and utilizing the space that you may have.”
- Surround yourself with knowledgeable people.
- Work smarter, not harder.
- Use your time wisely.
- The will to learn about the game and want more.
- You’re never done learning!
- It’s hard to fix bad habits from poor technique and poor drills. Make sure you are doing the right drills with the right intent.
- “How much work it was going to take, become a good player, how much dedication, how many repetitions, how much a learning curve that has to be and much more fundamentally.”
- It’s a game of handling failure and making adjustments.
- Weight room, nutrition.
- Multi sport athletes…it helps them be more competitive and creates toughness.
- Passion, Work ethic.
- Overcoming adversity with the tough challenges baseball gives you.
- Preparation, routine, mental game.
- Hitting to the opposite field.
- Freedom to fail! When you expect perfection in a game that doesn’t allow it…it creates tension, anxiety and pressure.
- Most kids figure out how to hit with trial and error!
- Parents need to be careful and keep their emotions in check and watch to not overreact.
- Baseball IQ, Baseball Savviness
- “I wanted to have the most prepared team when they went out onto the field.”
- “I want players to have a plan when they come to practice.”
- Reckless abandoned and no fear of failure.
- Practice requires focus, concentration and execution.
- Practice how you want to play.
- Your throwing routine should be the most important part of your game.
- Confidence comes from quality repetition.
- Emphasize the importance of rhythm in your catch play.
- Attention to detail.
- Fundamentals, Accuracy.
- Players are truly elite for a reason, they’re blessed, but they also put in the time and they pay attention to detail.
- When’s the last time somebodys held a conversation while making a play.
- Don’t practice what you won’t do in the game.
- Buy in!
- Always work hard because you never know when your opportunity is going to come.
- “I don’t think the average high school kid has any clue what it takes from a commitment standpoint to play college baseball.”
- Passion.
- Attitude.
- “You can tell a lot about a kid based on who he hangs out with.”
- Looking for players who have thick skin.
- Have a little bit of balance in your life away from sports.
- Criticism, honestly, valuation.
- Energy, enthusiasm.
- Come to the field with a smile.
- Confidence, belief
- Repetition, intensity, accountability, adversity.
