WEBVTT
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Hello and welcome to the K Zone Baseball Development Podcast.
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Today we sit down with a Division I head coach who is just one season removed from coaching in Omaha.
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I'm Hunter Woodham here with the founder of K Zone Baseball Development, Jimmy Keating.
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This is going to be a big one today.
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Before we get started, chasing the baseball dream has never been more confusing than it is right now.
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We're in it every day, helping real players and their families figure out what makes the most sense for them.
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We would love to do the same for you.
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We want to invite you to step into the dugout and join our players and families.
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Head over to Kzone Baseball Development.com backslash dugout and use code work to get the first month free.
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After that, it's eleven ninety nine a month for less than a gate fee each month.
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You might just end up with a real plan and how to do this thing.
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All right, so today we are joined by Murray State head coach Dan Skirka.
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He's prepping for his ninth season in leading the Racers, and he's transformed Murray State and One of the Premier programs in college baseball.
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Since taking over in 2019, he's guided the Racers to more than 200 wins, their first Missouri Valley Conference Championship, an NCAA regional title, a super regional title, and the program's first ever trip to the College World Series in Omaha.
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Along the way, he's developed numerous professional players and built a culture centered on player development, toughness, and consistency.
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From helping build powerhouse programs as an assistant to now leading one of college baseball's biggest success stories, Coach Skirka has established himself as one of the brightest minds in the game.
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We are excited to talk about the racers' historic run, his philosophy in building a program, and what's next for Murray State Baseball.
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Coach Skirka, how are you?
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Very blessed.
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I'm very blessed, man.
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That's the cool thing about you, man, is you could be a pretty intimidating guest to get on here with.
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And you jump on and and you're so you're so easygoing, and we're super excited about the information that you're going to lay down for families and players today.
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All right, Coach Skerka, you guys are building something super special at Murray State.
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Um, and many people, even in Kentucky, may not know about it.
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I recall Coach Skerka, summer of 2020 twelve, um, and going on a visit at Murray State, and we had to set up that's what I was at least told.
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You would have to set up batting cages in the auxiliary gym to hit.
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Um there was no locker room.
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Uh I don't even know if there was bleachers at the time.
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It was just kind of grass there around the um the home plate area.
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So uh tell us what you've been doing there in Murray and what has led to all of this.
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Man, little by little, you know, and it's been amazing.
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I mean, it really has.
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I was so you know, a little backstory.
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I was an assistant coach um 2010 through 2014 at Murray State.
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And uh we were behind, you know, like you like you mentioned.
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There was no bleachers, there was no outfield wall, it was a chain link fence.
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We didn't have lights, um, no press box.
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Uh we did have a locker room.
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Um, but uh, you know, like you said, nowhere for the guys to hit day in and day out to to develop and and work on their craft.
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And little by little, man, I got here in 19 and and our administrators, my assistant coaches, and and ultimately the players, you know, they were bought in and in what we were trying to build, and and you know, every year we're just trying to get a little bit better, right?
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And and we talk about leaving it better and we find it as as coaches, as players, you know, being good stewards of our program and and buying into that culture and tradition.
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And, you know, ultimately we've we've had some success, but I think that's what it starts with.
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And, you know, last year our our uh kind of our motto after going to Omaha was was process don't change.
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Um and those guys were were just as good, right?
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We had 20, 20 some newcomers last year, and it was the same thing, man.
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Just just getting after it and trying to leave it better than we found it.
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And um, you know, now we're we're building new buildings and turfing our field and all kinds of stuff going on.
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And it's it's been awesome to be on the journey to see where it started and and where we're headed because we're a long ways from done.
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In this arms race of facilities and and all that stuff in baseball right now, it can be really easy to be caught off guard by the flashy stuff.
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But one thing I think we're pretty confident with as it comes to you, everything we know about you, is the process is not going to change.
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For a pitcher, you can throw one ball at a time, and you're either throwing that to a target or a mit.
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Wherever that is, it might be colder or warmer.
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As a hitter, you know, like there's one ball you can hit at a time, and it might be coming from a really good machine or you know, somebody's soft toss, whatever it is.
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At the end of the day, you've got to be really good at baseball, and wherever you're hitting or pitching in large part is fairly insignificant.
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So it's just about the consistency in this game and laying down the work over time.
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Coach, you guys have won at least 30 games in every season since the 2020 COVID shortened season.
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Uh, to many around the country, watching you guys beat Duke in 2025 to punch that ticket to Omaha, it may have come as a shock.
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Um, I want you to answer this question, talk specifically about that season in 2025, but I want you to talk about the years leading up to it.
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At what point did you, as a coach, maybe on the drive into work or maybe after a long fall practice, did you go, This thing is turning the tide?
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And you know, I I remember Coach Myers at Western, my first two years, you know, gathering us up and saying, you know, the mission is Omaha.
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And but I never really believed that within myself that we could do that.
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When did the tide actually start turning where you go, we've got a chance to really, really win some ball games?
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You know, I'll I'll be honest, I we we don't really talk about that, man.
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It's it's just you know, trying to be the best versions of ourselves.
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And I know that's cliche, but it's just the way it's been.
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And and each year, um, you know, you take you take a you know, you want to zoom out here and take a view at this.
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Each year we've been given kind of different parameters with with recruiting, with, with the rules, with with everything, right?
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Since I've taken over.
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Um, you know, 19, I get here, there was no transfer portal, right?
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Half our roster was gone.
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We had to do it the old-fashioned way, driving around to Legion games.
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I I watched a catcher in a men's league that I got him in, right?
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I drive all the way up to Chicago.
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There was a JUCO catcher, he had no team.
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I had to find a men's league to get this guy on a team so I could watch him play a double header.
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And and, you know, so it was crazy, right?
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Um, but that was what we were dealt, and we we found a way to get it done.
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And then 2020, the COVID, you know, year shuts us down.
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21, we come back with some fifth-year seniors.
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And those guys were excited to come back and use that bonus year because, you know, of what we were building, of you know, winning baseball, being a part of something bigger than themselves.
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So 21, we won a lot of games.
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We we ended up uh regular season runner-up, tournament runner-up.
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So we were close to a regional there.
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Um 22, we had a little bit of a down year, still won 30 games, but but weren't really competing at the top of our league.
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Um, then we changed leagues.
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So, you know, we went from the Ohio Valley to the Missouri Valley.
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Um, and again, kind of changed our parameters.
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The transfer portal gets introduced, NIL gets introduced.
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Um, so we've been kind of, you know, every year it's kind of been a different, different challenge with everything we've done.
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But we've never really focused on, you know, Omaha.
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We it's just been, man, let's let's make this team the best we can.
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Let's recruit the best players, the best people we can.
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And then when we get here, let's get to work and see how good we can be.
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You know, 20 2024, the year before we went to Omaha, we won 37 regular season games.
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We were we were loaded.
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Our Friday night guy was a draft, our shortstop was a draft.
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We had multiple pros in in the outfield.
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Um, we were really good.
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And we finished second in the regular season behind Indiana State, who you know is hosting a regional.
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Um, but we get to our tournament, we go two and out.
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You know, that's that's that's college baseball, that's tournament baseball.
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You never know what's gonna happen.
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And you know, Evansville wins it as the three seed, and they go on to a super regional.
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One one went away from Omaha themselves.
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So you just never know, right?
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And then kind of a rebuild.
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We had 22 seniors on that team.
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So, you know, the fall of 24 was was 28 newcomers, three new assistant coaches for me, and it was ugly, man.
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It was not good.
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We were, we were some days we were just bad, some days we were lazy, some, you know, we were not a championship team, but we felt like we had the right people.
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And and little by little, guys were buying in, assistant coaches were getting on board, you know, and and it kind of started to look like that.
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But, you know, we there you mentioned a drive home.
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I don't think there was a drive home where I was like, man, we've got this figured out.
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In fact, you know, my wife jokes about it because she, you know, I she's my sounding board right when I get home at night.
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And, you know, during our whole postseason run, she's like, I didn't know you were that bad.
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But then she heard all our players talk about how bad we were and how ugly those practices were and and how upset I was getting, and and just trying to get those guys, you know, on board with with how we play and what we do.
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But they did, you know, they they ended up building some momentum.
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And you know, we started conference play that year two and four, lost our first two series.
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Um, you know, so it wasn't like it was smooth sailing.
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We didn't we didn't win the regular season.
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Um we trailed Missouri State the whole year until the last series and finally were able to clinch that one seed, and then you got to the tournament and we kind of got on a roll.
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But um yeah, just just kind of that same process every year, though.
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You know, let's you know, I'm excited to get these guys here next weekend.
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And um, again, it's 20, I think it's 26 newcomers again, and and you know, start building it, you know, from from brick one.
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The cool thing about college baseball right now, and I'm not super jealous of of what you have of what your responsibilities are right now.
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The cool thing is I don't know if you can actually become like an expert right now because you're talking about how everything changed it.
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We we actually, but this way, or much later than when we're filming it, but we just had new legislation that changed everything.
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And it's up in the air on if some of those 22 high school grads are actually gonna get what they're supposed to get, or are they owed that, or is there gonna be an appeal process?
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Are you gonna bring people on campus and train them all fall and then it's ruled they can't play now?
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There's nobody that's an expert at this because we don't know what the rules are half the time.
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So we're we're trying to figure out who we can bring in, who's gonna be allowed to play and do all those things, and it forces you guys to never take a break.
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And what it turns into the exact opposite of what I thought it was gonna turn into when we introduced NIL and all that stuff.
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I thought it was just gonna turn into like, okay, these 10 schools are competing for a national championship because they'll just buy all the talent.
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What you realize about baseball is it doesn't work that way.
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There's a lot of really talented guys, so now it's it's all everywhere, like it's all scattered around because the guys that you took to Omaha and for many of them have panned out this way, they were good enough to play in the SEC and do those things.
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But but you had them there, and for one year you put it together and you did that, and it's awesome.
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And and now 20 of them are gone, and now we've got to figure out what we do.
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So instead of being like, hey man, we had that year, we're gonna be able to build you know four years of success off of this.
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It's the exact opposite of how it works now.
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So you you look at you guys, you look at Evansville going on the run the the year prior, you look at Troy, you look at Little Rock.
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We're seeing parity in college baseball right now, and it's it's awesome because you really have a chance from everywhere right now.
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And if you had a bad year last year, it doesn't mean you're gonna have a bad year this year.
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And on the flip side of that, if you had a really good year last year, it probably means a lot of your guys are gonna be playing elsewhere.
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So that that is it's awesome that you guys do it and that you love chasing them and and and finding them that way.
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Well, I love to watch it.
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I don't know that I would love driving around to it.
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So I'm glad you do.
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And we're gonna be pulling for you.
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But for you guys to stack the 30-win seasons right now, the the thing that you're an expert in is adapting right now.
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Uh and the guys that do that, that have the energy for it, that genuinely love it, that think it's funny when there's rule changes like, hey, we'll figure it out instead of complaining about it.
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Those are the guys we're seeing consistently have success.
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Yeah, Coach Kirk, you've got a fan in me.
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Uh the something you're building down there is really special.
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And of course, I'm already getting the sense you're a super, super humble coach.
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Uh, but looking at Johnny Reaganfield packed to the brim in the conference tournament last year, uh, was some of the most fun baseball that I got to see all year because once again, I went back 13 years and I said, that place didn't used to look like that.
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So you've got a fan in us, and and and you're doing a wonderful job.
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So, coach, your teams are consistently developing players who are maybe outperforming their expectations and moving on to professional baseball.
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Uh so what separates the players who maximize their potential or the ones who just never quite get there?
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And this is speaking more to the high school player now.
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Um, what separates those that really go and get it and those that maybe don't achieve their best baseball?
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Well, you we always uh we're always trying to develop the whole person, and and I think all that stuff goes hand in hand.
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And and I was probably guilty of it too as a as a high school player.
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You know, you you get tunnel vision, right, on that goal, on that dream, on on what you gotta do.
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But um that's that's where coaches I think come in.
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And we have to make sure these guys are taking care of business and everything because those those are the people that are gonna uh really excel, really achieve, you know, their their potential.
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And you know, whether it's a high school kid coming in, JUCO kid coming in, or a transfer, it's like, man, we we're gonna we're gonna develop, right?
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And and that I think is what help kids get well-rounded, you know, to be able to deal with failure, to be able to um handle all the adversity that and things that throw at you.
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You know, if we if we just throw all our eggs in this baseball basket and you go old for four that day with four punches, you're gonna feel terrible about yourself.
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You don't have anything else to escape, to rely on, to, you know, just and I think that's huge, you know.
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So when when guys get on our campus, you know, we we we challenge them, right?
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We're gonna get in the community, we're gonna, we're gonna serve, um, we're gonna have conversations about life.
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We're gonna have book clubs, you know, sometimes it's baseball, sometimes it's faith, sometimes it's it's life, leadership, you know, all the above.
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Um, and I think that helps these guys get comfortable.
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So then when they do have a an 0 for four day or a bad outing on the mound, they know that's not their identity, that's not their their self-worth.
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Um, and they're able to bounce back and and kind of get back to work.
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And, you know, we we kind of avoid those those really low lows that that the game can hand you.
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Um but I I I don't know if that answers your question, but I think that's kind of how we attack that part of it, right?
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And I think that's why we've had some success um, you know, getting high school kids here and developing them through the program.
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Um, same thing with JUCO guys, or or even if it's just a grad transfer for 10 months, you know, I tell them the same thing.
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Like, I I I got 10 months to impact you, man.
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Like we're gonna do it.
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And it's not like you're not gonna get any less effort, or I'm not gonna um coach you any differently because you're only here for 10 months.
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It's like, man, this is my that's my window.
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That's my window to to impact this guy and to to help him move on to be a better baseball player, you know, hopefully a pro baseball player, but you know, definitely a a dad, a husband, a future boss, CEO, whatever, whatever they're gonna go into.
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I think that's that's kind of our mission.
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And and when we do that with these guys and when they buy in, like you said, that's that's where we've been able to develop and sustain some success.
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We feel a lot of responsibility working with teenagers who are chasing a dream.
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Whether they attain that dream or not, we know adulthood is coming.
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And there's so many things that you can do to chase this dream that work against that adulthood coming after it.
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And you know, we know it as well as you do, most of the guys that pro that play pro baseball beyond college are making insignificant money or maybe even losing money to play pro ball.
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So I came I came from a background where it was gonna lose me money to play pro ball and there was no money to lose, there was nothing there.
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So I had to move on and and start adulthood, and as I did that, you mentioned this, my entire identity was I was d the dude that threw the ball.
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And when people that write paychecks didn't want to give me enough money to do that and actually sustain myself with it, I had to move on into the regular world.
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And I had you know, I had the degree and you start that you start that job and you're doing a good job every day and nobody notices because it's just a job and it's you're not getting the all conference award and all that stuff, and nobody's picking you up all the time.
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And you can lose who you are a little bit in okay, is this what I do now?
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And if you go through your whole playing career and it's just about how good am I?
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.680
Am I gonna get drafted?
00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.519
Am I gonna be the Friday night guy?
00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:42.400
When you start the real world and you haven't thought about the other parts of your of your character, the other interests that you have, the other things that are meaningful to you that are important, this game ends before 30 for everyone in large part.
00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.759
Like there's a handful of guys that make it past that.
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.559
Almost everybody, this game ends at 23 now.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.079
For many, it's eighteen.
00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:57.599
We have to focus on what are we doing while we're chasing this thing to build them into the man that they're gonna be beyond it.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:05.839
And in Division I baseball right now, man, we're we're happy to sit down with you because I don't know how many people are actually still trying to do that.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:17.599
And you are a testament to you can you can go be in Omaha and figure out your morning routine in in the hotel before you head out to the stadium and still care about the whole person.
00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:27.279
Before becoming a head coach, uh your background included success as the RC at Murray and at Walter State Community College.
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:33.920
And from what we have seen, you may be more involved in recruiting than any divisional head coach that we know or we've worked with.
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:43.440
Um so, coach, when you're evaluating a high school recruit in particular, we train just about all high school guys, although we've got a large crop going off to be college guys right now.
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.839
How do you decide if they should be a racer?
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:51.279
What is something that's going to stick out to you as this guy is someone that needs to be in our locker room?
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:57.440
You know, the tools, I'll be honest, the tools are always the thing that catch your eye, right?
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:05.119
It's whatever side of the ball they're on, you know, they got to have a tool that's that's gonna really be an immediate impact, right?
00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.039
So you're talking if it's a position player, you know, can they can they really hit?
00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.680
Like, is this guy gonna get on campus as a freshman and be able to hit college pitching?
00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:15.039
Can they really, really run?
00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:17.920
You know, can they can they really defend at a premier position?
00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:24.880
Is it a is it a catcher that you know can go back there and catch day one, a shortstop, a a center fielder that can go get it?
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:36.240
Um, you know, and then on the pitching side, you know, does he have a, you know, is it plus plus VLO or is it a breaking ball that's gonna get some swing and miss in the zone, you know, or or um I even still say plus command, right?
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:43.359
Is it a dude that just absolutely fills up the strike zone that you know is gonna go out and throw strikes when you hand him the ball?
00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.000
So one of the tools is gotta stand out.
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:51.359
That's what's gonna catch our eye and and kind of get us digging in on you, right?
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.400
And then, and then, you know, that's that's like anybody.
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.240
It's all right, let's do our homework.
00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:58.160
Is this dude, you know, is he tough?
00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.920
Is he is he a good teammate?
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:00.880
Is he a good person?
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.799
Is he somebody we want in our culture?
00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:10.319
I mean, they're we're lucky enough to be able to recruit and and and to be able to hand pick, you know, who we offer.
00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:17.359
Um, and I think we've gotten pretty good in that process of of bringing in the right guys to make sure they're on board.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.799
Um and and that's what's going to ultimately decide if if we offer a high school kid to be a racer.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:23.839
We're we're not opposed to it.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.440
Our numbers have been down the last few years.
00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:26.799
You can look at our roster.
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.119
There's some different factors that go into that.
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:37.119
Obviously, you know, turnover of assistant coaches for me in the summer and doing the portal thing, you're you're less likely to go to a high school tournament.
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:46.000
Um you know, the Omaha run kind of wiped away a lot of the high school showcases that summer for us when you you know you don't get home until the end of June.
00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.880
Um, but we still have them and and the ones we got, we're really excited about.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.519
Uh I think they got a chance to contribute right away.
00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:58.640
So um I think again, it's it's tools to catch our eye, something, right?
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:04.799
Whether it's it's stats that have just been astronomical at the high school level or the or the just the tool set.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:11.039
And then there we're going to dig in on you and see what coaches have to say, see what your opponents have to say, um, hopefully watch you.
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:13.200
That's become harder and harder nowadays.
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:21.200
And and I'll be honest, we've taken more off recommendation and video where we've we've dug in as opposed to going and seeing in person.
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.640
Um, and then we're gonna recruit the pro you know the process ain't gonna change with that.
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:32.240
It's gonna be get on the phone, we're gonna get on Zooms like this and talk to the player and the family and and see if they're a fit for us and both sides.
00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:35.359
They if they want to be a racer and if we want them to be a racer.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.839
The tools take a long time to develop.
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.240
That's that's weight room stuff, that's nutrition stuff, it's getting your reps, it's doing all those things.
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:49.359
And throughout that process, high school players sometimes want it to be a little bit flashier and more exciting than it is.
00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:59.680
But if you can get really good as a high school player, or even middle school early on, if you can get really good and mastering the boring things that lead to that.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:12.559
Tools, the consistency of of knowing when you're supposed to go to bed and getting your extra reps in, and and when it's a rest day, actually resting, not going and playing four hours of pickleball or whatever it is.
00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:25.279
If you can get really good at living a boring high school life consistently towards a goal, you're probably gonna end up shaping into a lot of what Coach Skirka is saying that he's gonna be digging into.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:33.359
Because if you get on the phone with a with a high school coach and they're like, Yeah, I mean he's social in the locker room, but I don't think he's at a lot of the after school stuff.
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:39.440
He he kind of just gets his work in, hangs out with his buddies, and goes to bed pretty early, from what I've heard.
00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:48.480
Like those are things that we're gonna want to hear when we're evaluating an 18-year-old and their potential to transition to having unlimited freedom in college.
00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.720
It's gonna take a consistent personality that's not super flashy.
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.480
But you do have to have tools.
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:58.799
If you're gonna pitch a Division I baseball, you gotta throw hard and you gotta throw something else with it.
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.079
If you're gonna hit, like it's it's gotta go over the outfielders and you gotta be fast enough to get to second.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.559
So those things are are automatic.
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.000
You have to be good at baseball.
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:12.160
But all the other stuff usually is gonna determine how your experience in college goes.
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:18.079
Yeah, there's been so many cool things happening at Murray State, and we've talked about a lot of them already.
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.000
Um I love this question because I think you're a great guy to answer it.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.240
So this is what I found.
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:30.160
I found uh in my playing career that the only one that really knew my numbers was me.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.839
Um my wife doesn't care what I hit as a junior in college.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:41.920
Um and and what's gonna end up happening is is you probably know, possibly, the exact record each year, you're 21, you're 22, you're 23.
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.119
You might know the exact record.
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.960
You might remember that pitch that you know uh was left up in the zone.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:51.599
But really, this is what I'm finding now as I get older, you know, I'm 30, 31 years old.
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.000
Um, people they remember other things.
00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:03.359
Um so 20 years from now, um, what is uh are some of the things that you hope people remember about Dan Skirkka and Dan Skirka's teams?
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.720
Oh wow, yeah, that's a that's a good question, man.
00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:19.200
And and I'll I'll put it this way, you know, it's it's what we've done has been reinforced a little bit with with the transfer portal.
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:26.480
Some of the some of the neat things, like neat conversations I've had this summer are from transfers in our league, right?
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.559
Guys, guys that played against us.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:32.720
And you know, I'll just kind of ask the question, you know, like, you know, what do you what do you know about Murray?
00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:33.680
You know, you ever been here?
00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:37.759
Are you ever, you know, you know, been on campus, you know anybody on our team?
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:48.960
And and a lot of guys, like, man, you know, when we played against the coach, like it was something we want, you know, I was I was jealous, like, you know, you guys played hard, you had fun, you competed, you did it the right way.
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.400
Like, yeah, it's something, it's something I'm definitely interested in being a part of.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:54.720
And it's like, I never think about that, right?
00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:55.519
Like during the game.
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.880
I'm competitive, right?
00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.480
We're just trying to trying to get after it and and we worry about our dugout.
00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.480
We don't, you know, worry about really what they do or or what they're doing over there.
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.559
And but to hear some guys say that, right?
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:15.440
Just just candid off the, you know, not prodded, not, you know, I don't think they're trying to, I'm calling the recruit, so it's not like they need to suck up to me, right?
00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:18.559
But um, they're just, you know, they they see the way we do it.
00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:20.559
And I think that's that's what's neat.
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:26.480
And it's kind of reinforced, like, man, we're we're doing things right, um, we're attracting the right guys.
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.240
Um, but I think that's it, man.
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:35.759
You know, we're built on a on a foundation of of hard work, competing, loving each other, and and having fun.
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.799
You know, I think we can do all those things with a smile on our face and and enjoy this game.
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:46.319
So um, you know, again, we're we're trying to give our guys the best experience they can get, right?
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:50.400
That's that's what college baseball, I think some places have lost focus on that.
00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:55.359
You know, you you guys have mentioned multiple times this is a a small fraction of these guys' life.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:08.960
Like, and it's it's supposed to be enjoyed, it's supposed to be something they look back on when they're when they're 30, when they're 40, when they're 50, and say, man, you know, that time with my boys in the dugout on the bus, um, even at practice, like that that was awesome.
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.400
Like that was the best time.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.599
You know, those are the guys that you know you want to see standing up at their wedding and and you know coming back.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:26.640
You know, we have a golf outing every August and we have great participation in that and to hear the stories and and just see the see the joy on those guys' face when they see each other and around each other.
00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.000
That's what we're striving for.
00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:51.119
And I think, you know, if if you know when I'm when I'm done and and we pass this program on to somebody else and I could come back to that golf outing, hopefully, you know, those are those are the stories, and that's the the joy I want to see on those guys' eye, whether they were, like you said, were all conference or didn't play or injured, like I still want them to have an absolute great experience that they that they learned, they were pushed, they were challenged, and and that they enjoyed.
00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:58.400
One problem I'm super excited for us to have here in a couple years is is to have to schedule all the former player weddings.
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:07.119
And and I know I know you've experienced that, and and that is such a true thing, and it's something one of my coaches talked about when I was in college.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.960
You are gonna be standing at your wedding with guys in this locker room that you haven't met yet.
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:28.240
And with all the transient behavior of guys leaving and moving all the time, I I'm kind of excited to see the NCAA tighten down on it a little bit because I think some of that was getting lost there for a couple years with just freely transferring as many times as you wanted to.
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:31.920
And I think it's gonna bring back some of what you're talking about there.
00:27:32.079 --> 00:28:06.480
Like you're probably gonna remember the time in the dugout, the bus rides when you were headed to the middle of nowhere together, and you know, there's 14 people watching the game changer of your fall scrimmage, and there's there's so much that goes into being a good college baseball player, but there's something unique about building it with those guys around you that's really hard to understand unless you've done it or been part of it, that I think is gonna come back to the game a little bit here more with with a restriction on transfers and with more years of eligibility.
00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:13.599
I think there may be a little bit more likelihood of guys stringing two and three years together with some guys in a locker room that they care about.
00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:15.359
I think that's very positive for our game.
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:20.640
And I think something you're talking about is is the whole the whole person.
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.880
Who are they gonna be beyond the game?
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.880
Those are the type of coaches that one, we're trying to get on here, and and two, that we're hoping our players end up playing for.
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.319
Whether that's stop one right out of high school, I'm gonna be honest with you.
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.480
It's hard to be talented enough to play for Dan Skirk at Murray State right out of high school.
00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:41.440
There's gonna be a big genetic factor into that.
00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:43.200
You had to have some tools early.
00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.400
But we talked to our guys about Southwestern Cornfield State.
00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:52.880
It's a fictional school that we've built that they may go to stop one and then they're looking for stop two.
00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:02.160
We're hoping that we've got some guys that are willing to do the consistent, gritty, unnoticeable work that lead to playing for a coach like you at stop number two.
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:09.680
So, coach, when you start directly competing for uh a national championship, things get pretty wild.
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.119
Uh you've already spoken of it.
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:16.880
You know, you've you I think you laid out five or six straight years where something humongous changed in college baseball.
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:20.319
Um so now we have the five years to play five.
00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:28.240
NIL, junior college talent seemingly off the charts, division two talent seemingly off the charts, division three talent seemingly off the charts.
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:32.319
There was 25 guys drafted from NAI baseball this past draft.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:36.720
Um players are getting Instagram messages um with blank checks.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:41.839
Um how has this approach uh changed what you guys do at Murray State?
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:47.680
And I'm trying not to ask the same question every time, but how is it has any of that changed on what you do?
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:55.920
No, you know, uh outside of some some frustration here and there with some with some certain situations, it it really hasn't.
00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.440
And I think you know, I'm blessed.
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:10.640
I I have some really good friends in this, I have some really good mentors in this, and and just kind of decided like when the transfer portal opened and and you know, we could pay guys, like I wasn't gonna change how I coach.
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:18.079
Like I'm not gonna go to practice afraid, you know, to to to pour into the guys because they may they may leave after a year.
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.319
Like I just I don't want to coach that way.
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.400
Um and I don't want to recruit that way.
00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:31.279
Like I'm recruiting these guys in because they're gonna get 100% of me, 100% of our staff, and and that's that's part of it.
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.920
You know, so I I don't I'm not gonna coach in fear.
00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.720
I'm not gonna coach, you know, with that thought on my mind.
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.680
It's just man, this is we're gonna do what's right, and and you know, we're gonna hold guys accountable.
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:43.759
We're gonna we're gonna love them, we're gonna push them.
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.319
And, you know, if they end up transferring after the year, we're we were not the program for them, you know.
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:51.920
But um lucky enough, you know, the last few years, we've had some guys transfer.
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.160
You can look at the numbers and see all the data, but a lot of those conversations are, you know, coach, I want to I want to go somewhere and play.
00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.960
And and I help them find somewhere to go play.
00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:06.960
Because we and especially in our program, our guys work so hard day in and day out, and they care about it so much.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.039
I couldn't imagine, you know, just not getting the opportunity to to compete.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:16.480
And unfortunately, with a with a roster of you know 34 plus, you know, nine guys are playing.
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.400
Jimmy said it earlier, you know, one ball, one one pitcher at a time, one hitter at a time.
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:22.400
There's only so many opportunities to go around.
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:27.119
And and I never blame those guys one bit when they want to leave and and go play somewhere.
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:29.279
So I think that's the good side of the transfer portal.
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:35.039
That's the the good side of the five for five is that you know guys are gonna get opportunities, right?
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:38.000
You're gonna go somewhere and and maybe you weren't good enough.
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:44.960
You know, maybe you got injured, maybe, maybe the the culture, maybe the the coaching setting, the philosophy didn't fit.
00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:52.559
And and nothing wrong, I don't think, with with finding something that does fit um to get you that opportunity to compete.
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:55.200
Um so we're gonna keep doing it, keep doing it the same way.
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:59.440
You know, when I put my head on a pillow at night, man, it's it's they got everything for me.
00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:01.119
I'm ready to, you know, I'm done.
00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:06.400
I'm empty, and and I'm gonna recharge and and give them all again the next day.
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:12.960
Coach, you um you started in this thing, I'm I'm guessing right after college.
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:19.519
Uh I did a short time as the graduate assistant coach at Ohio University while I was still playing indie ball.
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.960
And I thought people cared that I just hit 313 the year before, and no one did.
00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.880
Uh I found out a few things.
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:48.640
How little you know about coaching, far different from playing, and that coaching is something that um it's it's you're going to take your your bumps, you're gonna learn, and it takes time, and you can you you can literally in this game not have success as a player, but be so much more effective as a coach.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:53.039
And you can also be really effective as a player and not know how to coach.
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:58.640
So we have coaches that listen to this, high school coaches, travel coaches, college coaches, I'm sure.
00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:06.400
Um take yourself back to Coach Skirka um as a 23 or 24-year-old, just upstart coach.
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:12.079
Uh what is one lesson that you would give that coach that you've learned in your time in college baseball?
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:17.519
Man, yeah, to to go back, you realize you know, you you didn't know anything, right?
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:23.680
Just and unlike yourself, my coaches were already pushing me to coach while I was playing.
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.440
So that's the kind of player I was, right?
00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:30.000
Like they already knew like you're gonna be, you're gonna be, you need to give this coaching thing a try.
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:33.599
And I'm like, well, I guess professional baseball is out of the mix.
00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:38.559
So I got in it, I did, I got in it right away, man, and I was blessed to get a GA job.
00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:46.640
And and I think all those um playing experiences really helped me become a better coach.
00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:50.240
And I and I try to keep that in the forefront of my mind.
00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:53.440
I mean, you know, I went to junior college, right?
00:33:53.599 --> 00:34:01.440
Um, found my way on the field as a freshman, uh played through an injury, had to have surgery uh on my on my lower shin.
00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:03.200
Um I got replaced.
00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:07.839
You know, I showed up year two as a sophomore, um, expecting to be the shortstop.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.239
Coach moved me out to left field because they brought in a freshman shortstop with more tools than me.
00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.840
You know, I had to had to go through surgery and earn my position back.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.800
Um I led that team to a championship uh in a in a 33-game winning streak.
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.360
So I can talk to my guys about consistency.
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:25.760
I mean, you want to talk about consistency and discipline.
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:27.920
33 JUCO games in a row, man.
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:31.199
You're showing up like you talked about Cornfield State or whatever you see.
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:43.119
Like I did that up in Michigan, you know, fields that were awful, places that were terrible, umpires were terrible, conditions that were terrible, but we showed up every single day, um, ultimately lost in a regional final.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:44.719
So I know the heartbreak, right?
00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:49.280
Then I had to go through the recruiting process and and and find a new team.
00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:52.239
And as a junior, step into somebody else's team.
00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:57.440
I went I decided to go to Grand Valley State the year before they were national, uh D2 national runner-up.
00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:04.559
So I'm, you know, a JUCO nobody stepping foot into a program that was established, and and I remember those feelings.
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.039
Um again, had to compete with three or four different shortstops for my position.
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.800
Um, earned, you know, earned the starting spot, hitting the two-hole.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.559
We had some guys outperforming me.
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.039
I got moved down in the batting order as a junior.
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:18.800
Um, so I dealt with that.
00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:25.840
Um, came back as a senior again, led the team, you know, kind of was the guy, hit leadoff, hit 400, you know, had some slut.
00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.320
Like I remember all those feelings.
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:29.920
I remember how hard it was to hit.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:38.000
I remember the pressure I put on myself to to win, to lead, to, to be the guy, to try to chase the championship, to try to get to a world series.
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:45.039
So I keep all those kind of in my mind as a coach and and and try to remember like one, this game's hard, right?
00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.480
And I know my guys are trying.
00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:50.800
Like they didn't, they didn't try to pop up with a runner on third in less than two, right?
00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.000
They, you know, they didn't they didn't try to throw a hanging slider, you know.
00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:55.760
So I I try to remember that.
00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:03.840
And then again, how hard the grind is of that opportunity of of not getting an opportunity, of getting replaced, of getting on a new team.
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.599
And when I keep that man, that that empathy, you know, seeing it through their eyes, I just think that helps us as coaches.
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:24.079
You know, we get we get some some tunnel vision on on winning, we get some tunnel vision on on developing these guys, on being perfect, on you know, practice, on games, you know, and just and we forget, I think, how hard this game could be and and what it's like for a college kid.
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:31.360
I mean, again, they're they're still dealing with academics and girlfriends and and dad up in the crowd breaking down his video every single night.
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:33.199
And, you know, those things are real.
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:43.519
And, you know, whatever it is, whatever factor they have they're dealing with, I think us as coaches, we got to remember that and kind of you know meet them in the middle and and help them along with that, with that day to day.
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:54.159
It's tough to remind yourself sometimes how deep those emo emotions run for a high school kid, or really even early in college, like like your parents' opinion of how you're playing matters so much.
00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:57.519
And then late in college, like it it really doesn't anymore.
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:02.800
Or like your your hometown girlfriend, what she thinks about your playing time, like you're feeding into that.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:05.840
You're like, you're right, person that's never played baseball.
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:14.159
And and those opinions can be can be really confusing, and and there's so much different information going on in a kid's head.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:21.360
And baseball, I don't know if any other sports are like this, but I I've noticed this being around the game, especially with like the middle school age group.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:26.000
Baseball is the only sport I've ever seen where like every dad knows the exact right way.
00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:29.760
And they're they're coaching every single flip that they give.
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:31.360
No, no, no, you gotta do this.
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:33.840
And I don't know if other sports are that way.
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.559
Like, I I don't know anything about basketball really.
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:47.199
I played some pickup, but if my son gets really into basketball, I think my idea would probably be to find somebody that really knows what goes on in basketball and be like, hey, we trust you, and we're gonna listen to you.
00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:49.679
So that sets me up for this next one.
00:37:49.920 --> 00:38:00.239
So I'm sure you don't remember at all, but I was a tall kid flinging somewhere around 90 in a small town, and I wanted to go to a Division I in Kentucky.
00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:03.519
I knew I wasn't gonna be a UK or U of L guy.
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:06.880
So going to Western with Hunter was probably at the top of the list.
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:08.719
I I was wanting to do that thing.
00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:10.639
I was emailing back and forth with you.
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:13.119
You responded to email in 2013.
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.960
That's uh I remember you being one of the coaches that would actually hit back.
00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:23.039
So I was set up to go to a camp with you, and I got an ad I got a piece of advice that that negatively impacted my career.
00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:30.079
A travel ball coach scheduled this Wednesday thing out of nowhere, and he was like, we'll get you in front of Murray whenever you want, man.
00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:33.360
Cancel that camp and go up here and throw it to showcase thing.
00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:36.079
So I go throw it to showcase, nobody talks to me.
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:41.760
It was like schools that weren't going to be on me anyway, and I never heard, I never connected with Murray again.
00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:47.280
And that's just kind of some of the advice that's going on from people that tell these kids that they know everything.
00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:55.360
And a lot of the advice that goes out to these to these high school guys, these middle school families, is going to parents that are trying to do right by their kids.
00:38:55.519 --> 00:39:06.880
They're trying to give them every opportunity, and they're taking advice from somebody that, though they seem confident, may have never played on a college baseball scale, or if they did, it was definitely not this version of college baseball.
00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:15.519
And it it may be advice that's coming in really impactful from somebody that doesn't even know any college coaches or or try to stay informed on what's going on.
00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:24.880
So we want to make sure that we connect our families and players directly to coaches like you and hear the real advice coming from the people that make real decisions and build programs.
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:27.360
So this question is one we care a lot about.
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:34.159
If you could give one piece of advice to a family of a middle school or early high school age baseball player, what would it be?
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:36.960
Do your homework.
00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:39.519
Do your homework.
00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:43.280
I mean, there's there's so many, like you said, voices.
00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:45.599
Uh I don't even know the word for it, right?
00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:47.199
I think voices might be the best thing.
00:39:47.280 --> 00:40:02.000
There's a lot of people out there trying to make money in this game and and do your homework because there's a lot of good people out there, you know, that that are really trying to do right by these kids, trying to trying to give back to the game that that gave so much to them.
00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:09.280
So when you do your homework and ask around and and you know, I think you're gonna find your answer, right?
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:14.480
And and that's the best thing that I've told people when when they've come to me and asked me how to navigate this thing.
00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:17.360
I say, yeah, showcases are good, videos good.
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:20.400
You know, there's good in in a lot of different things.
00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:24.239
There's scouting services that are good, there's people, summer coaches, high school coaches.
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.440
There's a lot of good in this game.
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:33.119
You just gotta do your homework and and figure out who those people are, what what your your son needs and and go with that.
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:41.920
Coach, this uh episode has been super helpful, encouraging, uplifting, and uh it's just so awesome to talk with a coach.
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:48.239
I mean, uh your your faith uh is coming through the screen, and uh it's just so good to see good people in baseball.
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:49.599
So we thank you so much for your time.
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:53.519
We hope this has been helpful for coaches, players, families, et cetera.
00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:54.480
We've enjoyed it.
00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:56.559
Thank you so much for your time today, Coach Kirka.
00:40:56.880 --> 00:40:57.840
Appreciate you guys.
00:40:58.320 --> 00:40:58.719
All right.
00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:02.000
Until next time, this is the K Zone Baseball Development Podcast.
00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:04.000
Remember that Christ is king.
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:07.039
Baseball is just a game, and work works.
00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.400
Hello and welcome to the K Zone Baseball Development Podcast.
00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:20.719
Today we sit down with a Division I head coach who is just one season removed from coaching in Omaha.
00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.320
I'm Hunter Woodham here with the founder of K Zone Baseball Development, Jimmy Keating.
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:25.839
This is going to be a big one today.
00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.480
Before we get started, chasing the baseball dream has never been more confusing than it is right now.
00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:35.280
We're in it every day, helping real players and their families figure out what makes the most sense for them.
00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.960
We would love to do the same for you.
00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.799
We want to invite you to step into the dugout and join our players and families.
00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:47.039
Head over to Kzone Baseball Development.com backslash dugout and use code work to get the first month free.
00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.799
After that, it's eleven ninety nine a month for less than a gate fee each month.
00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:54.000
You might just end up with a real plan and how to do this thing.
00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:58.320
All right, so today we are joined by Murray State head coach Dan Skirka.
00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:06.000
He's prepping for his ninth season in leading the Racers, and he's transformed Murray State and One of the Premier programs in college baseball.
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:19.359
Since taking over in 2019, he's guided the Racers to more than 200 wins, their first Missouri Valley Conference Championship, an NCAA regional title, a super regional title, and the program's first ever trip to the College World Series in Omaha.
00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:26.319
Along the way, he's developed numerous professional players and built a culture centered on player development, toughness, and consistency.
00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:36.000
From helping build powerhouse programs as an assistant to now leading one of college baseball's biggest success stories, Coach Skirka has established himself as one of the brightest minds in the game.
00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:43.040
We are excited to talk about the racers' historic run, his philosophy in building a program, and what's next for Murray State Baseball.
00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:44.879
Coach Skirka, how are you?
00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:54.159
Very blessed.
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I'm very blessed, man.
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That's the cool thing about you, man, is you could be a pretty intimidating guest to get on here with.
00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:10.080
And you jump on and and you're so you're so easygoing, and we're super excited about the information that you're going to lay down for families and players today.
00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:15.840
All right, Coach Skerka, you guys are building something super special at Murray State.
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.960
Um, and many people, even in Kentucky, may not know about it.
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I recall Coach Skerka, summer of 2020 twelve, um, and going on a visit at Murray State, and we had to set up that's what I was at least told.
00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.680
You would have to set up batting cages in the auxiliary gym to hit.
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Um there was no locker room.
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Uh I don't even know if there was bleachers at the time.
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It was just kind of grass there around the um the home plate area.
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So uh tell us what you've been doing there in Murray and what has led to all of this.
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Man, little by little, you know, and it's been amazing.
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I mean, it really has.
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I was so you know, a little backstory.
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I was an assistant coach um 2010 through 2014 at Murray State.
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And uh we were behind, you know, like you like you mentioned.
00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:04.719
There was no bleachers, there was no outfield wall, it was a chain link fence.
00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.520
We didn't have lights, um, no press box.
00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:09.280
Uh we did have a locker room.
00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:16.240
Um, but uh, you know, like you said, nowhere for the guys to hit day in and day out to to develop and and work on their craft.
00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:30.879
And little by little, man, I got here in 19 and and our administrators, my assistant coaches, and and ultimately the players, you know, they were bought in and in what we were trying to build, and and you know, every year we're just trying to get a little bit better, right?
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:40.719
And and we talk about leaving it better and we find it as as coaches, as players, you know, being good stewards of our program and and buying into that culture and tradition.
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And, you know, ultimately we've we've had some success, but I think that's what it starts with.
00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.319
And, you know, last year our our uh kind of our motto after going to Omaha was was process don't change.
00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:55.039
Um and those guys were were just as good, right?
00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.280
We had 20, 20 some newcomers last year, and it was the same thing, man.
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:02.400
Just just getting after it and trying to leave it better than we found it.
00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:08.240
And um, you know, now we're we're building new buildings and turfing our field and all kinds of stuff going on.
00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:15.439
And it's it's been awesome to be on the journey to see where it started and and where we're headed because we're a long ways from done.
00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:23.680
In this arms race of facilities and and all that stuff in baseball right now, it can be really easy to be caught off guard by the flashy stuff.
00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:31.839
But one thing I think we're pretty confident with as it comes to you, everything we know about you, is the process is not going to change.
00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.199
For a pitcher, you can throw one ball at a time, and you're either throwing that to a target or a mit.
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Wherever that is, it might be colder or warmer.
00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:50.160
As a hitter, you know, like there's one ball you can hit at a time, and it might be coming from a really good machine or you know, somebody's soft toss, whatever it is.
00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:58.639
At the end of the day, you've got to be really good at baseball, and wherever you're hitting or pitching in large part is fairly insignificant.
00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:04.000
So it's just about the consistency in this game and laying down the work over time.
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Coach, you guys have won at least 30 games in every season since the 2020 COVID shortened season.
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Uh, to many around the country, watching you guys beat Duke in 2025 to punch that ticket to Omaha, it may have come as a shock.
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Um, I want you to answer this question, talk specifically about that season in 2025, but I want you to talk about the years leading up to it.
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At what point did you, as a coach, maybe on the drive into work or maybe after a long fall practice, did you go, This thing is turning the tide?
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And you know, I I remember Coach Myers at Western, my first two years, you know, gathering us up and saying, you know, the mission is Omaha.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.800
And but I never really believed that within myself that we could do that.
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When did the tide actually start turning where you go, we've got a chance to really, really win some ball games?
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You know, I'll I'll be honest, I we we don't really talk about that, man.
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It's it's just you know, trying to be the best versions of ourselves.
00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:05.279
And I know that's cliche, but it's just the way it's been.
00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:11.199
And and each year, um, you know, you take you take a you know, you want to zoom out here and take a view at this.
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:18.240
Each year we've been given kind of different parameters with with recruiting, with, with the rules, with with everything, right?
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.519
Since I've taken over.
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Um, you know, 19, I get here, there was no transfer portal, right?
00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:24.639
Half our roster was gone.
00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.240
We had to do it the old-fashioned way, driving around to Legion games.
00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.839
I I watched a catcher in a men's league that I got him in, right?
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I drive all the way up to Chicago.
00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:35.759
There was a JUCO catcher, he had no team.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:40.639
I had to find a men's league to get this guy on a team so I could watch him play a double header.
00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:44.399
And and, you know, so it was crazy, right?
00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.560
Um, but that was what we were dealt, and we we found a way to get it done.
00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.759
And then 2020, the COVID, you know, year shuts us down.
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21, we come back with some fifth-year seniors.
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And those guys were excited to come back and use that bonus year because, you know, of what we were building, of you know, winning baseball, being a part of something bigger than themselves.
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.480
So 21, we won a lot of games.
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.680
We we ended up uh regular season runner-up, tournament runner-up.
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.600
So we were close to a regional there.
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:18.000
Um 22, we had a little bit of a down year, still won 30 games, but but weren't really competing at the top of our league.
00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:19.519
Um, then we changed leagues.
00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.800
So, you know, we went from the Ohio Valley to the Missouri Valley.
00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:25.360
Um, and again, kind of changed our parameters.
00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:29.279
The transfer portal gets introduced, NIL gets introduced.
00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:36.720
Um, so we've been kind of, you know, every year it's kind of been a different, different challenge with everything we've done.
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.600
But we've never really focused on, you know, Omaha.
00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:43.360
We it's just been, man, let's let's make this team the best we can.
00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:46.319
Let's recruit the best players, the best people we can.
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.000
And then when we get here, let's get to work and see how good we can be.
00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:55.920
You know, 20 2024, the year before we went to Omaha, we won 37 regular season games.
00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:56.959
We were we were loaded.
00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.920
Our Friday night guy was a draft, our shortstop was a draft.
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.720
We had multiple pros in in the outfield.
00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:04.399
Um, we were really good.
00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:10.079
And we finished second in the regular season behind Indiana State, who you know is hosting a regional.
00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:12.319
Um, but we get to our tournament, we go two and out.
00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:15.360
You know, that's that's that's college baseball, that's tournament baseball.
00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:16.720
You never know what's gonna happen.
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:20.959
And you know, Evansville wins it as the three seed, and they go on to a super regional.
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.199
One one went away from Omaha themselves.
00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:24.879
So you just never know, right?
00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.480
And then kind of a rebuild.
00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:28.480
We had 22 seniors on that team.
00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:36.159
So, you know, the fall of 24 was was 28 newcomers, three new assistant coaches for me, and it was ugly, man.
00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:37.679
It was not good.
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:46.080
We were, we were some days we were just bad, some days we were lazy, some, you know, we were not a championship team, but we felt like we had the right people.
00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:52.799
And and little by little, guys were buying in, assistant coaches were getting on board, you know, and and it kind of started to look like that.
00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.519
But, you know, we there you mentioned a drive home.
00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:59.039
I don't think there was a drive home where I was like, man, we've got this figured out.
00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:04.799
In fact, you know, my wife jokes about it because she, you know, I she's my sounding board right when I get home at night.
00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:08.720
And, you know, during our whole postseason run, she's like, I didn't know you were that bad.
00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:20.639
But then she heard all our players talk about how bad we were and how ugly those practices were and and how upset I was getting, and and just trying to get those guys, you know, on board with with how we play and what we do.
00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.600
But they did, you know, they they ended up building some momentum.
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.440
And you know, we started conference play that year two and four, lost our first two series.
00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.480
Um, you know, so it wasn't like it was smooth sailing.
00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:32.399
We didn't we didn't win the regular season.
00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:41.200
Um we trailed Missouri State the whole year until the last series and finally were able to clinch that one seed, and then you got to the tournament and we kind of got on a roll.
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.639
But um yeah, just just kind of that same process every year, though.
00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.840
You know, let's you know, I'm excited to get these guys here next weekend.
00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:55.600
And um, again, it's 20, I think it's 26 newcomers again, and and you know, start building it, you know, from from brick one.
00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:03.600
The cool thing about college baseball right now, and I'm not super jealous of of what you have of what your responsibilities are right now.
00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:10.399
The cool thing is I don't know if you can actually become like an expert right now because you're talking about how everything changed it.
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:17.279
We we actually, but this way, or much later than when we're filming it, but we just had new legislation that changed everything.
00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:27.679
And it's up in the air on if some of those 22 high school grads are actually gonna get what they're supposed to get, or are they owed that, or is there gonna be an appeal process?
00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.919
Are you gonna bring people on campus and train them all fall and then it's ruled they can't play now?
00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:36.960
There's nobody that's an expert at this because we don't know what the rules are half the time.
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:44.960
So we're we're trying to figure out who we can bring in, who's gonna be allowed to play and do all those things, and it forces you guys to never take a break.
00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:51.279
And what it turns into the exact opposite of what I thought it was gonna turn into when we introduced NIL and all that stuff.
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:58.320
I thought it was just gonna turn into like, okay, these 10 schools are competing for a national championship because they'll just buy all the talent.
00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.279
What you realize about baseball is it doesn't work that way.
00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:15.039
There's a lot of really talented guys, so now it's it's all everywhere, like it's all scattered around because the guys that you took to Omaha and for many of them have panned out this way, they were good enough to play in the SEC and do those things.
00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:19.919
But but you had them there, and for one year you put it together and you did that, and it's awesome.
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.360
And and now 20 of them are gone, and now we've got to figure out what we do.
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:30.159
So instead of being like, hey man, we had that year, we're gonna be able to build you know four years of success off of this.
00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:32.559
It's the exact opposite of how it works now.
00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:39.279
So you you look at you guys, you look at Evansville going on the run the the year prior, you look at Troy, you look at Little Rock.
00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:47.279
We're seeing parity in college baseball right now, and it's it's awesome because you really have a chance from everywhere right now.
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:52.159
And if you had a bad year last year, it doesn't mean you're gonna have a bad year this year.
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:59.200
And on the flip side of that, if you had a really good year last year, it probably means a lot of your guys are gonna be playing elsewhere.
00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:06.399
So that that is it's awesome that you guys do it and that you love chasing them and and and finding them that way.
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:07.600
Well, I love to watch it.
00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.840
I don't know that I would love driving around to it.
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:11.440
So I'm glad you do.
00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:13.759
And we're gonna be pulling for you.
00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:21.120
But for you guys to stack the 30-win seasons right now, the the thing that you're an expert in is adapting right now.
00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:29.519
Uh and the guys that do that, that have the energy for it, that genuinely love it, that think it's funny when there's rule changes like, hey, we'll figure it out instead of complaining about it.
00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.639
Those are the guys we're seeing consistently have success.
00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.360
Yeah, Coach Kirk, you've got a fan in me.
00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:37.600
Uh the something you're building down there is really special.
00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:41.440
And of course, I'm already getting the sense you're a super, super humble coach.
00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:54.720
Uh, but looking at Johnny Reaganfield packed to the brim in the conference tournament last year, uh, was some of the most fun baseball that I got to see all year because once again, I went back 13 years and I said, that place didn't used to look like that.
00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.240
So you've got a fan in us, and and and you're doing a wonderful job.
00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:06.720
So, coach, your teams are consistently developing players who are maybe outperforming their expectations and moving on to professional baseball.
00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:12.480
Uh so what separates the players who maximize their potential or the ones who just never quite get there?
00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.519
And this is speaking more to the high school player now.
00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:21.600
Um, what separates those that really go and get it and those that maybe don't achieve their best baseball?
00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:29.120
Well, you we always uh we're always trying to develop the whole person, and and I think all that stuff goes hand in hand.
00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:34.240
And and I was probably guilty of it too as a as a high school player.
00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:39.279
You know, you you get tunnel vision, right, on that goal, on that dream, on on what you gotta do.
00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:42.960
But um that's that's where coaches I think come in.
00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:54.320
And we have to make sure these guys are taking care of business and everything because those those are the people that are gonna uh really excel, really achieve, you know, their their potential.
00:13:54.559 --> 00:14:01.600
And you know, whether it's a high school kid coming in, JUCO kid coming in, or a transfer, it's like, man, we we're gonna we're gonna develop, right?
00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:13.120
And and that I think is what help kids get well-rounded, you know, to be able to deal with failure, to be able to um handle all the adversity that and things that throw at you.
00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:21.679
You know, if we if we just throw all our eggs in this baseball basket and you go old for four that day with four punches, you're gonna feel terrible about yourself.
00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:29.279
You don't have anything else to escape, to rely on, to, you know, just and I think that's huge, you know.
00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.840
So when when guys get on our campus, you know, we we we challenge them, right?
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:39.600
We're gonna get in the community, we're gonna, we're gonna serve, um, we're gonna have conversations about life.
00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:48.240
We're gonna have book clubs, you know, sometimes it's baseball, sometimes it's faith, sometimes it's it's life, leadership, you know, all the above.
00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.960
Um, and I think that helps these guys get comfortable.
00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:58.159
So then when they do have a an 0 for four day or a bad outing on the mound, they know that's not their identity, that's not their their self-worth.
00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.600
Um, and they're able to bounce back and and kind of get back to work.
00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:07.679
And, you know, we we kind of avoid those those really low lows that that the game can hand you.
00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:14.720
Um but I I I don't know if that answers your question, but I think that's kind of how we attack that part of it, right?
00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:20.960
And I think that's why we've had some success um, you know, getting high school kids here and developing them through the program.
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:26.799
Um, same thing with JUCO guys, or or even if it's just a grad transfer for 10 months, you know, I tell them the same thing.
00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:29.039
Like, I I I got 10 months to impact you, man.
00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:30.240
Like we're gonna do it.
00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:36.879
And it's not like you're not gonna get any less effort, or I'm not gonna um coach you any differently because you're only here for 10 months.
00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:39.039
It's like, man, this is my that's my window.
00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:53.279
That's my window to to impact this guy and to to help him move on to be a better baseball player, you know, hopefully a pro baseball player, but you know, definitely a a dad, a husband, a future boss, CEO, whatever, whatever they're gonna go into.
00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.440
I think that's that's kind of our mission.
00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:02.000
And and when we do that with these guys and when they buy in, like you said, that's that's where we've been able to develop and sustain some success.
00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:06.720
We feel a lot of responsibility working with teenagers who are chasing a dream.
00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.799
Whether they attain that dream or not, we know adulthood is coming.
00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:17.200
And there's so many things that you can do to chase this dream that work against that adulthood coming after it.
00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:30.000
And you know, we know it as well as you do, most of the guys that pro that play pro baseball beyond college are making insignificant money or maybe even losing money to play pro ball.
00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:39.679
So I came I came from a background where it was gonna lose me money to play pro ball and there was no money to lose, there was nothing there.
00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:47.919
So I had to move on and and start adulthood, and as I did that, you mentioned this, my entire identity was I was d the dude that threw the ball.
00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:57.919
And when people that write paychecks didn't want to give me enough money to do that and actually sustain myself with it, I had to move on into the regular world.
00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:12.640
And I had you know, I had the degree and you start that you start that job and you're doing a good job every day and nobody notices because it's just a job and it's you're not getting the all conference award and all that stuff, and nobody's picking you up all the time.
00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:18.799
And you can lose who you are a little bit in okay, is this what I do now?
00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:24.160
And if you go through your whole playing career and it's just about how good am I?
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.680
Am I gonna get drafted?
00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.519
Am I gonna be the Friday night guy?
00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:42.400
When you start the real world and you haven't thought about the other parts of your of your character, the other interests that you have, the other things that are meaningful to you that are important, this game ends before 30 for everyone in large part.
00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.759
Like there's a handful of guys that make it past that.
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:48.559
Almost everybody, this game ends at 23 now.
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.079
For many, it's eighteen.
00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:57.599
We have to focus on what are we doing while we're chasing this thing to build them into the man that they're gonna be beyond it.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:05.839
And in Division I baseball right now, man, we're we're happy to sit down with you because I don't know how many people are actually still trying to do that.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:17.599
And you are a testament to you can you can go be in Omaha and figure out your morning routine in in the hotel before you head out to the stadium and still care about the whole person.
00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:27.279
Before becoming a head coach, uh your background included success as the RC at Murray and at Walter State Community College.
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:33.920
And from what we have seen, you may be more involved in recruiting than any divisional head coach that we know or we've worked with.
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:43.440
Um so, coach, when you're evaluating a high school recruit in particular, we train just about all high school guys, although we've got a large crop going off to be college guys right now.
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.839
How do you decide if they should be a racer?
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:51.279
What is something that's going to stick out to you as this guy is someone that needs to be in our locker room?
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:57.440
You know, the tools, I'll be honest, the tools are always the thing that catch your eye, right?
00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:05.119
It's whatever side of the ball they're on, you know, they got to have a tool that's that's gonna really be an immediate impact, right?
00:19:05.279 --> 00:19:09.039
So you're talking if it's a position player, you know, can they can they really hit?
00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.680
Like, is this guy gonna get on campus as a freshman and be able to hit college pitching?
00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:15.039
Can they really, really run?
00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:17.920
You know, can they can they really defend at a premier position?
00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:24.880
Is it a is it a catcher that you know can go back there and catch day one, a shortstop, a a center fielder that can go get it?
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:36.240
Um, you know, and then on the pitching side, you know, does he have a, you know, is it plus plus VLO or is it a breaking ball that's gonna get some swing and miss in the zone, you know, or or um I even still say plus command, right?
00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:43.359
Is it a dude that just absolutely fills up the strike zone that you know is gonna go out and throw strikes when you hand him the ball?
00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.000
So one of the tools is gotta stand out.
00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:51.359
That's what's gonna catch our eye and and kind of get us digging in on you, right?
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.400
And then, and then, you know, that's that's like anybody.
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.240
It's all right, let's do our homework.
00:19:56.319 --> 00:19:58.160
Is this dude, you know, is he tough?
00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.920
Is he is he a good teammate?
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:00.880
Is he a good person?
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.799
Is he somebody we want in our culture?
00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:10.319
I mean, they're we're lucky enough to be able to recruit and and and to be able to hand pick, you know, who we offer.
00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:17.359
Um, and I think we've gotten pretty good in that process of of bringing in the right guys to make sure they're on board.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:22.799
Um and and that's what's going to ultimately decide if if we offer a high school kid to be a racer.
00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:23.839
We're we're not opposed to it.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:25.440
Our numbers have been down the last few years.
00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:26.799
You can look at our roster.
00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.119
There's some different factors that go into that.
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:37.119
Obviously, you know, turnover of assistant coaches for me in the summer and doing the portal thing, you're you're less likely to go to a high school tournament.
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:46.000
Um you know, the Omaha run kind of wiped away a lot of the high school showcases that summer for us when you you know you don't get home until the end of June.
00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.880
Um, but we still have them and and the ones we got, we're really excited about.
00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:53.519
Uh I think they got a chance to contribute right away.
00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:58.640
So um I think again, it's it's tools to catch our eye, something, right?
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:04.799
Whether it's it's stats that have just been astronomical at the high school level or the or the just the tool set.
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:11.039
And then there we're going to dig in on you and see what coaches have to say, see what your opponents have to say, um, hopefully watch you.
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:13.200
That's become harder and harder nowadays.
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:21.200
And and I'll be honest, we've taken more off recommendation and video where we've we've dug in as opposed to going and seeing in person.
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.640
Um, and then we're gonna recruit the pro you know the process ain't gonna change with that.
00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:32.240
It's gonna be get on the phone, we're gonna get on Zooms like this and talk to the player and the family and and see if they're a fit for us and both sides.
00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:35.359
They if they want to be a racer and if we want them to be a racer.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.839
The tools take a long time to develop.
00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:42.240
That's that's weight room stuff, that's nutrition stuff, it's getting your reps, it's doing all those things.
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:49.359
And throughout that process, high school players sometimes want it to be a little bit flashier and more exciting than it is.
00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:59.680
But if you can get really good as a high school player, or even middle school early on, if you can get really good and mastering the boring things that lead to that.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:12.559
Tools, the consistency of of knowing when you're supposed to go to bed and getting your extra reps in, and and when it's a rest day, actually resting, not going and playing four hours of pickleball or whatever it is.
00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:25.279
If you can get really good at living a boring high school life consistently towards a goal, you're probably gonna end up shaping into a lot of what Coach Skirka is saying that he's gonna be digging into.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:33.359
Because if you get on the phone with a with a high school coach and they're like, Yeah, I mean he's social in the locker room, but I don't think he's at a lot of the after school stuff.
00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:39.440
He he kind of just gets his work in, hangs out with his buddies, and goes to bed pretty early, from what I've heard.
00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:48.480
Like those are things that we're gonna want to hear when we're evaluating an 18-year-old and their potential to transition to having unlimited freedom in college.
00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:52.720
It's gonna take a consistent personality that's not super flashy.
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:54.480
But you do have to have tools.
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:58.799
If you're gonna pitch a Division I baseball, you gotta throw hard and you gotta throw something else with it.
00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:04.079
If you're gonna hit, like it's it's gotta go over the outfielders and you gotta be fast enough to get to second.
00:23:04.319 --> 00:23:06.559
So those things are are automatic.
00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.000
You have to be good at baseball.
00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:12.160
But all the other stuff usually is gonna determine how your experience in college goes.
00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:18.079
Yeah, there's been so many cool things happening at Murray State, and we've talked about a lot of them already.
00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.000
Um I love this question because I think you're a great guy to answer it.
00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:24.240
So this is what I found.
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:30.160
I found uh in my playing career that the only one that really knew my numbers was me.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.839
Um my wife doesn't care what I hit as a junior in college.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:41.920
Um and and what's gonna end up happening is is you probably know, possibly, the exact record each year, you're 21, you're 22, you're 23.
00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:43.119
You might know the exact record.
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.960
You might remember that pitch that you know uh was left up in the zone.
00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:51.599
But really, this is what I'm finding now as I get older, you know, I'm 30, 31 years old.
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:54.000
Um, people they remember other things.
00:23:54.160 --> 00:24:03.359
Um so 20 years from now, um, what is uh are some of the things that you hope people remember about Dan Skirkka and Dan Skirka's teams?
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.720
Oh wow, yeah, that's a that's a good question, man.
00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:19.200
And and I'll I'll put it this way, you know, it's it's what we've done has been reinforced a little bit with with the transfer portal.
00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:26.480
Some of the some of the neat things, like neat conversations I've had this summer are from transfers in our league, right?
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.559
Guys, guys that played against us.
00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:32.720
And you know, I'll just kind of ask the question, you know, like, you know, what do you what do you know about Murray?
00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:33.680
You know, you ever been here?
00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:37.759
Are you ever, you know, you know, been on campus, you know anybody on our team?
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:48.960
And and a lot of guys, like, man, you know, when we played against the coach, like it was something we want, you know, I was I was jealous, like, you know, you guys played hard, you had fun, you competed, you did it the right way.
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.400
Like, yeah, it's something, it's something I'm definitely interested in being a part of.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:54.720
And it's like, I never think about that, right?
00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:55.519
Like during the game.
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.880
I'm competitive, right?
00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.480
We're just trying to trying to get after it and and we worry about our dugout.
00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:04.480
We don't, you know, worry about really what they do or or what they're doing over there.
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:06.559
And but to hear some guys say that, right?
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:15.440
Just just candid off the, you know, not prodded, not, you know, I don't think they're trying to, I'm calling the recruit, so it's not like they need to suck up to me, right?
00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:18.559
But um, they're just, you know, they they see the way we do it.
00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:20.559
And I think that's that's what's neat.
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:26.480
And it's kind of reinforced, like, man, we're we're doing things right, um, we're attracting the right guys.
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.240
Um, but I think that's it, man.
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:35.759
You know, we're built on a on a foundation of of hard work, competing, loving each other, and and having fun.
00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:40.799
You know, I think we can do all those things with a smile on our face and and enjoy this game.
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:46.319
So um, you know, again, we're we're trying to give our guys the best experience they can get, right?
00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:50.400
That's that's what college baseball, I think some places have lost focus on that.
00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:55.359
You know, you you guys have mentioned multiple times this is a a small fraction of these guys' life.
00:25:55.519 --> 00:26:08.960
Like, and it's it's supposed to be enjoyed, it's supposed to be something they look back on when they're when they're 30, when they're 40, when they're 50, and say, man, you know, that time with my boys in the dugout on the bus, um, even at practice, like that that was awesome.
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:10.400
Like that was the best time.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:15.599
You know, those are the guys that you know you want to see standing up at their wedding and and you know coming back.
00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:26.640
You know, we have a golf outing every August and we have great participation in that and to hear the stories and and just see the see the joy on those guys' face when they see each other and around each other.
00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.000
That's what we're striving for.
00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:51.119
And I think, you know, if if you know when I'm when I'm done and and we pass this program on to somebody else and I could come back to that golf outing, hopefully, you know, those are those are the stories, and that's the the joy I want to see on those guys' eye, whether they were, like you said, were all conference or didn't play or injured, like I still want them to have an absolute great experience that they that they learned, they were pushed, they were challenged, and and that they enjoyed.
00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:58.400
One problem I'm super excited for us to have here in a couple years is is to have to schedule all the former player weddings.
00:26:58.640 --> 00:27:07.119
And and I know I know you've experienced that, and and that is such a true thing, and it's something one of my coaches talked about when I was in college.
00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.960
You are gonna be standing at your wedding with guys in this locker room that you haven't met yet.
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:28.240
And with all the transient behavior of guys leaving and moving all the time, I I'm kind of excited to see the NCAA tighten down on it a little bit because I think some of that was getting lost there for a couple years with just freely transferring as many times as you wanted to.
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:31.920
And I think it's gonna bring back some of what you're talking about there.
00:27:32.079 --> 00:28:06.480
Like you're probably gonna remember the time in the dugout, the bus rides when you were headed to the middle of nowhere together, and you know, there's 14 people watching the game changer of your fall scrimmage, and there's there's so much that goes into being a good college baseball player, but there's something unique about building it with those guys around you that's really hard to understand unless you've done it or been part of it, that I think is gonna come back to the game a little bit here more with with a restriction on transfers and with more years of eligibility.
00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:13.599
I think there may be a little bit more likelihood of guys stringing two and three years together with some guys in a locker room that they care about.
00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:15.359
I think that's very positive for our game.
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:20.640
And I think something you're talking about is is the whole the whole person.
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:22.880
Who are they gonna be beyond the game?
00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.880
Those are the type of coaches that one, we're trying to get on here, and and two, that we're hoping our players end up playing for.
00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:34.319
Whether that's stop one right out of high school, I'm gonna be honest with you.
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:38.480
It's hard to be talented enough to play for Dan Skirk at Murray State right out of high school.
00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:41.440
There's gonna be a big genetic factor into that.
00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:43.200
You had to have some tools early.
00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.400
But we talked to our guys about Southwestern Cornfield State.
00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:52.880
It's a fictional school that we've built that they may go to stop one and then they're looking for stop two.
00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:02.160
We're hoping that we've got some guys that are willing to do the consistent, gritty, unnoticeable work that lead to playing for a coach like you at stop number two.
00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:09.680
So, coach, when you start directly competing for uh a national championship, things get pretty wild.
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:11.119
Uh you've already spoken of it.
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:16.880
You know, you've you I think you laid out five or six straight years where something humongous changed in college baseball.
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:20.319
Um so now we have the five years to play five.
00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:28.240
NIL, junior college talent seemingly off the charts, division two talent seemingly off the charts, division three talent seemingly off the charts.
00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:32.319
There was 25 guys drafted from NAI baseball this past draft.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:36.720
Um players are getting Instagram messages um with blank checks.
00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:41.839
Um how has this approach uh changed what you guys do at Murray State?
00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:47.680
And I'm trying not to ask the same question every time, but how is it has any of that changed on what you do?
00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:55.920
No, you know, uh outside of some some frustration here and there with some with some certain situations, it it really hasn't.
00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.440
And I think you know, I'm blessed.
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:10.640
I I have some really good friends in this, I have some really good mentors in this, and and just kind of decided like when the transfer portal opened and and you know, we could pay guys, like I wasn't gonna change how I coach.
00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:18.079
Like I'm not gonna go to practice afraid, you know, to to to pour into the guys because they may they may leave after a year.
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:20.319
Like I just I don't want to coach that way.
00:30:20.480 --> 00:30:22.400
Um and I don't want to recruit that way.
00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:31.279
Like I'm recruiting these guys in because they're gonna get 100% of me, 100% of our staff, and and that's that's part of it.
00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.920
You know, so I I don't I'm not gonna coach in fear.
00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:36.720
I'm not gonna coach, you know, with that thought on my mind.
00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:41.680
It's just man, this is we're gonna do what's right, and and you know, we're gonna hold guys accountable.
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:43.759
We're gonna we're gonna love them, we're gonna push them.
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:48.319
And, you know, if they end up transferring after the year, we're we were not the program for them, you know.
00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:51.920
But um lucky enough, you know, the last few years, we've had some guys transfer.
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.160
You can look at the numbers and see all the data, but a lot of those conversations are, you know, coach, I want to I want to go somewhere and play.
00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.960
And and I help them find somewhere to go play.
00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:06.960
Because we and especially in our program, our guys work so hard day in and day out, and they care about it so much.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.039
I couldn't imagine, you know, just not getting the opportunity to to compete.
00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:16.480
And unfortunately, with a with a roster of you know 34 plus, you know, nine guys are playing.
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.400
Jimmy said it earlier, you know, one ball, one one pitcher at a time, one hitter at a time.
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:22.400
There's only so many opportunities to go around.
00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:27.119
And and I never blame those guys one bit when they want to leave and and go play somewhere.
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:29.279
So I think that's the good side of the transfer portal.
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:35.039
That's the the good side of the five for five is that you know guys are gonna get opportunities, right?
00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:38.000
You're gonna go somewhere and and maybe you weren't good enough.
00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:44.960
You know, maybe you got injured, maybe, maybe the the culture, maybe the the coaching setting, the philosophy didn't fit.
00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:52.559
And and nothing wrong, I don't think, with with finding something that does fit um to get you that opportunity to compete.
00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:55.200
Um so we're gonna keep doing it, keep doing it the same way.
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:59.440
You know, when I put my head on a pillow at night, man, it's it's they got everything for me.
00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:01.119
I'm ready to, you know, I'm done.
00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:06.400
I'm empty, and and I'm gonna recharge and and give them all again the next day.
00:32:07.759 --> 00:32:12.960
Coach, you um you started in this thing, I'm I'm guessing right after college.
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:19.519
Uh I did a short time as the graduate assistant coach at Ohio University while I was still playing indie ball.
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.960
And I thought people cared that I just hit 313 the year before, and no one did.
00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.880
Uh I found out a few things.
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:48.640
How little you know about coaching, far different from playing, and that coaching is something that um it's it's you're going to take your your bumps, you're gonna learn, and it takes time, and you can you you can literally in this game not have success as a player, but be so much more effective as a coach.
00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:53.039
And you can also be really effective as a player and not know how to coach.
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:58.640
So we have coaches that listen to this, high school coaches, travel coaches, college coaches, I'm sure.
00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:06.400
Um take yourself back to Coach Skirka um as a 23 or 24-year-old, just upstart coach.
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:12.079
Uh what is one lesson that you would give that coach that you've learned in your time in college baseball?
00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:17.519
Man, yeah, to to go back, you realize you know, you you didn't know anything, right?
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:23.680
Just and unlike yourself, my coaches were already pushing me to coach while I was playing.
00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.440
So that's the kind of player I was, right?
00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:30.000
Like they already knew like you're gonna be, you're gonna be, you need to give this coaching thing a try.
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:33.599
And I'm like, well, I guess professional baseball is out of the mix.
00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:38.559
So I got in it, I did, I got in it right away, man, and I was blessed to get a GA job.
00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:46.640
And and I think all those um playing experiences really helped me become a better coach.
00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:50.240
And I and I try to keep that in the forefront of my mind.
00:33:50.400 --> 00:33:53.440
I mean, you know, I went to junior college, right?
00:33:53.599 --> 00:34:01.440
Um, found my way on the field as a freshman, uh played through an injury, had to have surgery uh on my on my lower shin.
00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:03.200
Um I got replaced.
00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:07.839
You know, I showed up year two as a sophomore, um, expecting to be the shortstop.
00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:12.239
Coach moved me out to left field because they brought in a freshman shortstop with more tools than me.
00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.840
You know, I had to had to go through surgery and earn my position back.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.800
Um I led that team to a championship uh in a in a 33-game winning streak.
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:23.360
So I can talk to my guys about consistency.
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:25.760
I mean, you want to talk about consistency and discipline.
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:27.920
33 JUCO games in a row, man.
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:31.199
You're showing up like you talked about Cornfield State or whatever you see.
00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:43.119
Like I did that up in Michigan, you know, fields that were awful, places that were terrible, umpires were terrible, conditions that were terrible, but we showed up every single day, um, ultimately lost in a regional final.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:44.719
So I know the heartbreak, right?
00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:49.280
Then I had to go through the recruiting process and and and find a new team.
00:34:49.360 --> 00:34:52.239
And as a junior, step into somebody else's team.
00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:57.440
I went I decided to go to Grand Valley State the year before they were national, uh D2 national runner-up.
00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:04.559
So I'm, you know, a JUCO nobody stepping foot into a program that was established, and and I remember those feelings.
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.039
Um again, had to compete with three or four different shortstops for my position.
00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.800
Um, earned, you know, earned the starting spot, hitting the two-hole.
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:14.559
We had some guys outperforming me.
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:17.039
I got moved down in the batting order as a junior.
00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:18.800
Um, so I dealt with that.
00:35:18.960 --> 00:35:25.840
Um, came back as a senior again, led the team, you know, kind of was the guy, hit leadoff, hit 400, you know, had some slut.
00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.320
Like I remember all those feelings.
00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:29.920
I remember how hard it was to hit.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:38.000
I remember the pressure I put on myself to to win, to lead, to, to be the guy, to try to chase the championship, to try to get to a world series.
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:45.039
So I keep all those kind of in my mind as a coach and and and try to remember like one, this game's hard, right?
00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.480
And I know my guys are trying.
00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:50.800
Like they didn't, they didn't try to pop up with a runner on third in less than two, right?
00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.000
They, you know, they didn't they didn't try to throw a hanging slider, you know.
00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:55.760
So I I try to remember that.
00:35:55.840 --> 00:36:03.840
And then again, how hard the grind is of that opportunity of of not getting an opportunity, of getting replaced, of getting on a new team.
00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:09.599
And when I keep that man, that that empathy, you know, seeing it through their eyes, I just think that helps us as coaches.
00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:24.079
You know, we get we get some some tunnel vision on on winning, we get some tunnel vision on on developing these guys, on being perfect, on you know, practice, on games, you know, and just and we forget, I think, how hard this game could be and and what it's like for a college kid.
00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:31.360
I mean, again, they're they're still dealing with academics and girlfriends and and dad up in the crowd breaking down his video every single night.
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:33.199
And, you know, those things are real.
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:43.519
And, you know, whatever it is, whatever factor they have they're dealing with, I think us as coaches, we got to remember that and kind of you know meet them in the middle and and help them along with that, with that day to day.
00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:54.159
It's tough to remind yourself sometimes how deep those emo emotions run for a high school kid, or really even early in college, like like your parents' opinion of how you're playing matters so much.
00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:57.519
And then late in college, like it it really doesn't anymore.
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:02.800
Or like your your hometown girlfriend, what she thinks about your playing time, like you're feeding into that.
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:05.840
You're like, you're right, person that's never played baseball.
00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:14.159
And and those opinions can be can be really confusing, and and there's so much different information going on in a kid's head.
00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:21.360
And baseball, I don't know if any other sports are like this, but I I've noticed this being around the game, especially with like the middle school age group.
00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:26.000
Baseball is the only sport I've ever seen where like every dad knows the exact right way.
00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:29.760
And they're they're coaching every single flip that they give.
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:31.360
No, no, no, you gotta do this.
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:33.840
And I don't know if other sports are that way.
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.559
Like, I I don't know anything about basketball really.
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:47.199
I played some pickup, but if my son gets really into basketball, I think my idea would probably be to find somebody that really knows what goes on in basketball and be like, hey, we trust you, and we're gonna listen to you.
00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:49.679
So that sets me up for this next one.
00:37:49.920 --> 00:38:00.239
So I'm sure you don't remember at all, but I was a tall kid flinging somewhere around 90 in a small town, and I wanted to go to a Division I in Kentucky.
00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:03.519
I knew I wasn't gonna be a UK or U of L guy.
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:06.880
So going to Western with Hunter was probably at the top of the list.
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:08.719
I I was wanting to do that thing.
00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:10.639
I was emailing back and forth with you.
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:13.119
You responded to email in 2013.
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.960
That's uh I remember you being one of the coaches that would actually hit back.
00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:23.039
So I was set up to go to a camp with you, and I got an ad I got a piece of advice that that negatively impacted my career.
00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:30.079
A travel ball coach scheduled this Wednesday thing out of nowhere, and he was like, we'll get you in front of Murray whenever you want, man.
00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:33.360
Cancel that camp and go up here and throw it to showcase thing.
00:38:33.519 --> 00:38:36.079
So I go throw it to showcase, nobody talks to me.
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:41.760
It was like schools that weren't going to be on me anyway, and I never heard, I never connected with Murray again.
00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:47.280
And that's just kind of some of the advice that's going on from people that tell these kids that they know everything.
00:38:47.440 --> 00:38:55.360
And a lot of the advice that goes out to these to these high school guys, these middle school families, is going to parents that are trying to do right by their kids.
00:38:55.519 --> 00:39:06.880
They're trying to give them every opportunity, and they're taking advice from somebody that, though they seem confident, may have never played on a college baseball scale, or if they did, it was definitely not this version of college baseball.
00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:15.519
And it it may be advice that's coming in really impactful from somebody that doesn't even know any college coaches or or try to stay informed on what's going on.
00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:24.880
So we want to make sure that we connect our families and players directly to coaches like you and hear the real advice coming from the people that make real decisions and build programs.
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:27.360
So this question is one we care a lot about.
00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:34.159
If you could give one piece of advice to a family of a middle school or early high school age baseball player, what would it be?
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:36.960
Do your homework.
00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:39.519
Do your homework.
00:39:39.599 --> 00:39:43.280
I mean, there's there's so many, like you said, voices.
00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:45.599
Uh I don't even know the word for it, right?
00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:47.199
I think voices might be the best thing.
00:39:47.280 --> 00:40:02.000
There's a lot of people out there trying to make money in this game and and do your homework because there's a lot of good people out there, you know, that that are really trying to do right by these kids, trying to trying to give back to the game that that gave so much to them.
00:40:02.159 --> 00:40:09.280
So when you do your homework and ask around and and you know, I think you're gonna find your answer, right?
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:14.480
And and that's the best thing that I've told people when when they've come to me and asked me how to navigate this thing.
00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:17.360
I say, yeah, showcases are good, videos good.
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:20.400
You know, there's good in in a lot of different things.
00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:24.239
There's scouting services that are good, there's people, summer coaches, high school coaches.
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.440
There's a lot of good in this game.
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:33.119
You just gotta do your homework and and figure out who those people are, what what your your son needs and and go with that.
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:41.920
Coach, this uh episode has been super helpful, encouraging, uplifting, and uh it's just so awesome to talk with a coach.
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:48.239
I mean, uh your your faith uh is coming through the screen, and uh it's just so good to see good people in baseball.
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:49.599
So we thank you so much for your time.
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:53.519
We hope this has been helpful for coaches, players, families, et cetera.
00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:54.480
We've enjoyed it.
00:40:54.559 --> 00:40:56.559
Thank you so much for your time today, Coach Kirka.
00:40:56.880 --> 00:40:57.840
Appreciate you guys.
00:40:58.320 --> 00:40:58.719
All right.
00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:02.000
Until next time, this is the K Zone Baseball Development Podcast.
00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:04.000
Remember that Christ is king.
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:07.039
Baseball is just a game, and work works.
