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Dustin
Coffman is completing his third year of coaching college baseball. He began his
coaching career as a student manager at Indiana University in 2009 and was
promoted the following year to volunteer assistant. Coffman spent the 2010
summer in the Coastal Plain League with the Edenton Steamers, who finished Top 5
in the country. From Edenton, Coffman took his first paid position at Wabash
Valley College. Over the past two seasons, the Warriors have compiled a 93-30
record and have been ranked as high as No. 3 in NJCAA baseball. In summer 2011,
Coffman was hired to be an assistant baseball coach with the Bourne Braves in
the storied Cape Cod League where he will return this summer.
A
native of Granger, Ind., Coffman earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science
from Indiana in 2009 and is working on a master’s degree in applied sports
studies from IU.
Coffman will share his thoughts throughout the 2012 Cape Cod season.
click here
for other journal entries
August 13, 2012
Next Level Guy
I am truly thankful
and blessed Harvey [Shapiro] gave me the chance to coach in the Cape League.
I am truly thankful
and blessed to have had the opportunity to coach the best hitter in the country
(Colin Moran).
I am truly thankful
and blessed to have had the opportunity to meet and hang out with New York
Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long.
I am truly thankful
and blessed to have had the opportunity to spend an hour picking Ron Polk’s
mind.
I am truly thankful
and blessed to have shared the Cape experience with those closest to me.
Wow, what a summer! I
can’t believe it’s over, at least for me.
 I
stopped in Indianapolis and was having a conversation with my old coach. He told
me how when you learn, you have to frame things in a way where people can
receive it, and sometimes people aren’t ready to receive it. For example, if you
tell a kid in high school not to have sex, he will say OK, but he will never
understand you thoroughly unless he has a kid young and has to deal with the
responsibilities. It’s funny, that’s kind of how my summer was. You always hear
all these rules in baseball, clichés, but until it’s beaten into your head every
day, you don’t truly understand it. For a guy whose team got the [crap] beat out
of it all summer, I feel pretty damn good. I soaked it all up; I’ve been hit in
the mouth so much by every little thing I don’t flinch anymore.
 Probably
the highlight of my summer was spending time with Yankee coach Kevin Long. You
don’t meet many people like that; there are probably only a handful. Go out and
buy his video, watch it 100 times, then go teach your kids to hit. But before
you coach or are allowed to coach, you should have to read his book “Cage Rat.”
I truly think that before any kid says he wants to play pro ball or before any
guy says he wants to coach, you should have to read that book and take a test.
That guy paid the price, he wasn’t handed anything. There is this line from my
favorite book, “The Flinch,” that says you tell yourself you are working hard,
but you’re not. After I read his book, I looked back at my first three years of
coaching and really had to think about life. If I want to get to a high level
I’m going to have to step my game up.
 I’d
like to give a special shout out to one of my best friends, Lance Rhodes on his
new job at SEMO Tech. Remember, if you see any good players, send them our way!
Shout out to my biggest fans, my mom and dad, Larry and Lori Coffman. Thanks for
everything! As for those special people that had the opportunity to come to
Lobster Land and share this great experience with me, thank you! 1 Day Closer.
Best
DC
(photos courtesy of Dustin Coffman) |
