Don't miss this one...TBR Interview--Coach Bagwell, Ardrey Kell

I asked Coach Bagwell if he would consider doing an interview for us. He, understandably, was somewhat relunctant. I explained to him that he has a ton of experience and has touched many players and parents across the state with his involvement with the State Games and being the head coach at South Mecklenburg High school.

But more important, I thought Coach had something to say. Something that would be a learning experience for everyone and anyone. Even if it was to confirm your own beliefs or the way one goes about coaching. He has a blueprint that has brought him and his program acclaim and I thought it was a terrific gesture on his part to take some quality time to share his views.

This will be a little longer than our standard interviews, so I will break it up into three parts. I appreciate the professionalism from our members by welcoming a guest to our board and I hope everyone will join me in thanking Coach Bagwell for his time....here it is:

Tell our members about your baseball background?

I started playing baseball at the age of 4. I played at Carmel Junior High my 7th, 8th and 9th grade years and then played catcher at South Meck for my 3 years there. I also played for the Pineville Legion Post 337 for 3 years. I initially signed with Lenoir Ryhne to play baseball but ended up walking on at Applachian State University. I made the team but only played during the 1986 season. I had multiple injuries that forced me out of the game but, realistically, I probably wouldn't have made a significant contribution at that level anyway ( I found out how average I actually was). At that point, I decided to stay in the game and make a career as a coach and teacher. After graduating from Applachian State, I began my career officially in the fall of 1990 at Carmel Middle School. I served as baseball and football coach for four years and also was the athletic director for three. I moved to South Mecklenburg High School in 1994 and began coaching JV football and basketball. I was appointed head baseball coach in 1997 (my dream come true). From 1997 until now I have had an opportunity to manage the Pineville Legion team for one year, been involved with the State Games from 1998 thru 2003 for Region 6 and served as On Deck's pitching coordinator for two years. I have served on the NCBA all state selection committe for Region 6 (4A classification) for the last five years.

You have been involved with the State Games for a long time. Tell us about your experience with the games?

It was a phenomenal experience. I was able to meet college coaches, high school coaches and professional scouts from all over. I used it as a learning experience. Believe me, I asked many questions and took hundreds of pages of notes and didn't say much! The quality of high school and college coaching in our state is remarkable. I literally bugged them to death for information and insight into the game and everyone was gracious enough to help me. The beauty of our sport is that there are no secrets and knowledge is shared freely. I learned a tremendous amount about the game and made friendships that still continue today. The level of play is remarkable. It is a significant accomplishment for a player to be chosen for tryouts and an honor to be chosen to represent his region. The way it's set up and the exposure the players get in the ultra competitive environment is priceless. College and professional scouts are all over the place! It also shows the players how they compare to the best talent statewide and raises the level of play for everyone. It is always a pleasure to coach the best of the best. I always tried to take care of the entire region 6 so that no deserving players were left out. That means lots of extra phone calls and time, but well worth it to know I may have contributed in a positive way to help a young man's baseball future.

In the extremely competitive SW4A, you have two former assistants that are now HC's in your conference. That must be a little difficult to play them. How do you feel about that?

First, let me say that every school in our conference has outstanding coaches! I have been blessed to have oustanding assistants during my tenure. Coach Rummage (Pineville Post 337 Head Coach has been with me 6 years), Coach Wright ( he's been with me since day 1) and Coach McCoury (our new J.V. coach), along with myself is our current staff. Each of them could be head coaches at our level and do very well, if given the opportunity. I will do anything in my power to allow any of my assistants to become head coaches. I believe that in order to become a successful head coach, you must be willing, first, to be a loyal assistant coach. Believe me when I tell you that a big reason for our success has been my staff. I am very demanding of my assistants and hold them accountable. I expect them to be on time, act professional, study the game, coach their rear ends off and to take pride in our program. They do more than I ask of them (which is a bunch) and make me look good in many ways. We are always on the same page and that, in turn, filters down to our players. We are constantly assessing personnel, practice organization and game strategy. I encourage them to be honest with me (I don't want them to tell me what they think I want to hear) and I constantly ask for their feedback. In other words, the egos are left at the front door. The bottom line is that we want to give our players an environment where they learn the great game of baseball; learn how to interact with teammates and coaches in a positive way and become good citizens. I am proud and consider it an honor that Coach Hignight and Coach Greeson worked with me at South Mecklenburg. I hated to lose them, but was pleased that they received what they deserved. They are outstanding teachers of the game, tremendous motivators and class acts. Their teams are always well prepared, well coached and tough to beat. They were always loyal to me and never gave less than 100%. For that I will always be loyal to them and help them any possible way that I can. I learned a tremendous amount from them. I stay in contact with them and pull for their team unless they are playing South Meck....I want to beat them as bad as they want to beat us!!! I'm also proud that each coach has an assistant that worked with me at South Meck as well.

 

PART II

In your opinion, have the players changed since you started coaching?

I think the overall level of talent has increased. There are more outstanding players now than there was ten years ago. Players are playing more now than ever before. More emphasis is placed on off season strength and speed training and now they are bigger, stronger and faster. Skill development workouts are more common than ever before and playing during the summer and fall season is emphasized. Gosh, when I started at South, they thought I was crazy when I announced skill development workouts during the off season. At that time, I had three players playing on teams in the fall. Now, 100% of our players play during the summer and fall for various teams. We encourage our players to shutdown and do other things at certain times during the off season. I believe it is critically important in the development of our players. With that said, our player are encouraged to play other sports. You are only in high school once. Any coach that demands a player only play his particular sport is selfish to the player, the school and obviously cares more for himself than his players. He should not be coaching period!! As far as attitude and work ethic, to me, it has not changed. Most players, I believe, whether now or ten years ago, will do anything for you as long as you show genuine interest in them and their future.

Some HS coaches don't get involved in the recruiting process, yet you are very active. What do you do behind the scenes?

First of all, I have worked very hard in trying to establish and maintain credible relationships with professional scouts in our area. The first thing we do when a player enters our program is stress the importance of academics. We stress the importance of core GPA, class rank, SAT scores and extra curricular activities. Typically, we will track a player to make sure he is being successful in the classroom. If not, a meeting is set up with the player and his parents and strategies for his academic success are implemented. If that means after school tutoring replaces practice, so be it. It's amazing the academic results we get when the player tutoring instead of practicing finds someone else is playing his position! Next, we identify strengths and weaknesses of each player and implement individual plans and strategies for his development. We constantly evaluate each players's development and make adjustments, if necessary. Immediately after tryouts, I meet individually with each current junior player and his parents to put together a game plan for the recruiting process. We make sure the player is NCAA Clearinghouse eligible or is in the process of doing so. We complete a detailed player profile information sheet consisting of general information, academic information and baseball information. This information sheet also includes summer and fall team complete with schedules (as soon as I can get them), coaches names and phone #'s. I will inform the player at what level of college I believe he can play. We discuss current skill level, projectibility and which tools he needs to improve.. Next, we create a long list of potential colleges. I forward the players profile information to those colleges and also make an immediate initial phone contact with the coach. I continue close dialogue (3-4 times per week) with these coaches and inform them of upcoming showcases, tournaments, etc. I am always honest and straight forward about each of our prospect's strengths, weaknesses, and character and constantly updating coaches on their progress. I encourage our players and their parents to be proactive in the recruiting process. I advise them with what questions to ask and which questions not to ask college coaches. I will also use my professional contacts to promote a player. Once a player is ready to make a commitment, I sit down with him and make sure it is the right decision for him. After he commits, I require him to write a thank you letter to each college that recruited him. I take the recruiting process very seriously. I work just as hard at this as I do when preparing to win a game. I don't care if it means being on the phone five hours per day (very common), seven days a week, or traveling on a Saturday or Sunday to meet with a coach to discuss a player. I will do everything I possibly can to allow my players the best opportunity to realize their dream of playing college baseball!!! We have 15 former South Mecklenburg baseball players playing at the college level next year. I take a lot of pride in what we've done here for our college level athletes.

Who has influenced you the most in your coaching career?

Three people come to mind. My father, Kerry Bagwell, introduced me to athletics at a very young age and was very supportive throughout my playing days. He was there for the good and bad and never missed a game (pretty tough for a traveling salesman). To this day, he is still very active and involved in South Mecklenburg Baseball. Next, Coach Burch (my coach at Carmel) taught me so much about the organization and motivational side of coaching. I owe him for mentoring me and giving me the ability to be in the position I am today. Finally, Coach Hillier ( my coach at South) believed in me and gave the opportunity to be head coach at South Mecklenburg. I still confide in him for advice to this day.

You have had numerous opportunities to coach at the college level. Why have you remained at the high school level?

I wouldn't say numerous opportunities. The chance to be a college assistant has presented itself on a few occasions. Financially, it would be impossible. My wife, Lisa, and i believe it is very important for her to be at home with the children. I dont want to inconvenience my family any more than I already do. Also, I enjoy the rivalries and competitive atmosphere the high school game brings. Taking a player and developing him into a college/ professional prospect is also very rewarding. Personally, there are many more accomplishments I wish to achieve for our program. I am very competitive and highly motivated (borderline obsessive) in regards to winning and having a successful program.

You have always had a successful program at South Meck. How do your keep the program reloaded?

Most important, we have been very fortunate to have many talented players. My goal is to develop each player to become a better player and person than he ever imagined. I also let them know how much I care about them and constantly relate life lessons as it relates to baseball. I am very open and honest with my players and I am always approachable. I want to know how their social life is, how things are going at home, etc. Player roles are specifically defined. I communicate to them what their individual role is for the team's success and expect them to fulfill it. We provide a highly structured, competitive, enthuasiastic (we get after it), and organized practice. Each player knows exactly what is expected of him every day he comes to practice. We pay attention to specific details in every phase of the game with our preparation and leave no stones unturned. We are well aware of our opponents strength's and weaknesses and work very hard on game planning and scouting reports. We will not tolerate mental errors. In practice, we put our players in high pressure, game like situations and expect them to execute. Offensively, we want to create scoring opportunities, pressure the defense, and push the pace of the game. Defensively, we ask our players to make the routine play, be in the correct position, and make no unnecessary throws ( we talk about keeping the force in order to limit big innings all the time). Our pitchers are asked to throw strikes, limit walks, and make our opponents hit their good pitches. They are well aware of the speed threats, running counts, player tendencies, and the hitters who can hurt us. We practice J.V. and varsity together for the majority of practice on a typical day. Sometimes we will seperate for team defense, while other days we run the varsity team defense against the jv team offense or vice versa. The junior varsity system is exactly the same as our varsity system. We spend as much time developing our young players as we do our varsity players. I believe our jv players develop and are prepared at a faster rate because of this and also because they see what pace they need to be at on the varsity level. Our off season workouts begin in October and end the week prior to tryouts ( excluding mandatory dead periods, exam week and the holidays). We practice ( with the maximum 8 players) four days per week. Monday is our offensive day with cage and main field hitting routines and base running ( usually live reads off the bat). Tuesday is our defensive day with throwing progressions, individual defense, and mass. Wednesday is our pitching day with individual work, PFP, pickoffs, live bullpens, and a mental session. Thursday is a combination of offense and defense. Offensively, we'll do a cage routine and base running (pick reads vs RHP, LHP, dirt reads, bunt reads and a 5 man base running drill). Defensively, we'll do our IF/OF routine followed by team defense. (1st and 3rd, bunt, pressure plays, fly ball communication, tandems, and passed ball coverage). I communicate quite often with our players' fall coaches during this time to make sure they understand what we are doing and that we are all on the same page. Ultimately, we hope to never be outworked, out prepared or out conditioned by our opponents! Also, each player is encouraged to sign up for weight training/physical conditioning classes and to follow our specific baseball strength training program during the school day..

 

PART lll

If you had an opportunity to change anything in high school baseball, what would that be?

We would change our playoff format from 32 to 48 teams. Too many good teams miss the opportunity for a state title. Also, the 24 game limitation (which includes an endowment game) would be waived. Many teams would be able to play at least 4, maybe 5 games per week. I'm not saying it would be mandatory for every team, just simply allow teams capable and willing to schedule as many non conference games as possible. Pitchers that normally would not get innings would get them now and ultimately develop at a faster rate. Finally, allow us to have 9th grade (freshman) teams. Again, players would develop at a faster rate because they will be playing more often.

You have a young son that is just starting to get involved in youth baseball. Has that changed you in any way?

Sure has. I have a new respect for all T-Ball coaches in the world! WOW!!!!! I want my son, Jake, to play only if he wants to. Fortunately, at this point he loves it. Those kids have so much fun and the game is pure. They don't know, nor do they care, who wins. It has mellowed me quite a bit. Don't get me wrong. We prepare our team to win every game, but the game is exciting and fun. We should never lose sight of that.

What advice would you give a young player wanting to play for, as my young son says, "Coach Bagwell"?

First of all, don't believe it when someone tells you that I have already picked my teams. Not true!! I am a very fair man and it makes no difference to me if I know you or don't know your father, mother, brother, sister, etc. We are in the business of picking the most talented players in order to be successful. As a matter of fact, you will have the same opportunity as anyone else who wishes to become a Sabres Baseball player. Prepare yourself to perform during tryouts. Come with the mindset that you will become a member of our program and make me keep you with your attitude, hustle and performance. Relax, I promise you'll play better. Believe me, I will notice you! If you make it, be prepared to represent the program positively around campus, in the classroom and around the community. Be respectful to the coaching staff and your teammates. Understand the role given to you and raise the intensity level and competition for your teammates in practice every single day. You must genuinely understand that the team is always more important than you and apply it through your actions. I will hold you accountable! Unfortunately, if you are dismissed, i will speak with you individually and will encourage your continued playing. I will guide you in the areas of your game which need improvement and show genuine compassion for you. I believe I owe that to the player and the game. I have never posted a "cut" list and never plan on it. I understand a young man may never play the game again if he is dismissed by me. He may love the game as much as any player, regardless of his abilities. I do not want a young man who has played and loved the game his whole life to have a bad taste in his mouth because he was dismissed by me. That's why the tryout period is the worst part of the season for me.

What can we expect from the Sabres this year?

We have some big shoes to fill with the loss of last year's seniors and the leadership they provided. If our seniors don't step up with leadership, and the players don't buy into their individual roles, we will not fulfil our team goals. I believe in our players 100% and always, without question, have their backs. I have no doubt that they will step up to my challenges and we will be successful. We have a very capable team. The most talented senior class I've ever coached. We probably have the best pitching top to bottom since I have been here. Defensively, we are solid. We need to continue to perform and execute in high pressure situations, don't try to do too much and take what the game gives us. Offensively, we will understand our approach, push the pace of the game and try to create big inning opportunities. The beauty for me and my staff is that during games, we'll be spectators as well. Sure, we'll manage to a certain degree. But with our practice preparation and attention to detail, it is our players' day, not mine. They will take more ownership in themselves and ultimately, play as well as they are capable of playing. We will play the game right, with high intensity and class. We refuse to be intimidated by anyone, yet we respect EVERYONE! With some luck, execution and a refuse to lose attitude, it could be a very special year for the Sabres

EDIT This particular team ended up being runner-up for the 4A State Championship

 

I have known Coach for a long time now. He reminds me of Coach John Fox with the Panthers...he is what he is. No pretenses; if you ask him a question..he will give you an answer. But Coach has compassion..for his players and his friends. Loyalty is a big issue with Hal and he returns it in kind. I thought it was important for those outside of Charlotte to get to know one of our coaches....and to realize how lucky we are.

 

Thanks

Thanks to Coach Bagwell for taking the time to share his philosophies and insights with us. And thanks to Braves for arranging it. The South program has clearly set the standard for excellence in the Charlotte community and Coach Bagwell is one of the main reasons. The rest of us are just trying to keep up!

This will be a very special year for the Sabres. With college signees and high-level prospects at every spot and two or three deep at some, some of the toughest match-ups for the Sabres all season will be in practice!

Hopefully, the rising tide at South will continue to raise all our boats!

 

I too have known Hal for a while and would just like to add that he is a credit to the coaching profession both as a coach and as a person. Hal....if you're listening, it will be good to see you again this year.

 

Any thoughts or comments from Coach Bagwell on his blossoming career as an umpire?

 

A Man With Class

Great article, and what Coach Bagwell said about helping players that aren't his own is true. My son didn't play for Coach B. In his junior year, Coach B spoke to him after a game against South Meck. It was Coach B, not my son's coach, who helped get him the paperwork and encouraged him to try out for the State Games. Now that was class.

 

I'm sure it will lead to a kinder, gentler Coach Bagwell ..... I can hear him talking this year to his players...

"Look, Junior Braves," Bagwell said, "you know the principles of good sportsmanship. You know that South Mecklenburg doesn't allow temper tantrums, shouting at the umpire, or abusive language."

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Good. Now. would you please explain that to your father."

 

I already told you. I don't yell at umpires....
















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