Dustin Coffman is in his fourth 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 was again this past 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 2013 season as he did through the 2012 Cape Cod campaign.

 

click here for other journal entries

 

Oct. 11, 2012

 

Next Phase

 

Day 1 early morning lifting:

 

This morning our baseball team started its early morning lifting routine. We are now starting to phase out of fall ball and go into our off season lifting program. This is always an exciting time of year for me. I get to actually use my degree and all my knowledge I learned as a strength & conditioning intern at Indiana University to help young kids turn into men. We lift four times a week in the mornings and on average our kids will put on between 15 and 20 pounds before the season starts.

 

People come up to me all the time telling me how much they like to lift and how they want to get bigger and stronger, but it’s a little different when you are up early morning and you have somebody in your face. People always ask me: What can I do to get stronger? What can I do to lose weight? I get these questions all the time and here is my answer: THERE ARE NO SECRETS. DO MORE THAN YOU DID LAST TIME! That’s my secret formula as a strength coach. I have an Excel sheet for each kid. I make them get to failure on each set, we write it down and then the following week they go up in weight and fail again. BOOM! I wish I could charge everybody that reads this. That’s it! That’s all S&C is.

 

Over my first four years as a coach, I have been very blessed to be around some special players: Josh Phegley at Indiana University (1st round), Travis Jankowski from Stony Brook (1st round), and Pat Cantwell from Stony Brook (3rd round). I knew they were special when I had them but I never truly appreciated them until they were gone. These guys were gifted with unbelievable tools but I think their best asset was their work ethic.  And when I say work ethic, I mean they worked at everything they did. Raking the field, picking up equipment, weight room, staying after hitting, interviews with the media, everything. A pro is an everyday guy that is a pro in everything he does and that’s why I believe all three will have a chance to have long professional careers. Right now I think I have another one in a kid named Garrett Gordon (pictured above). Garrett Gordon is 6’1, 210 pounds, throws 90-plus from the outfield, runs a 6.5 60, hits for power, hits for average, and just works his butt off in everything he does. I don’t like to tell kids they are going to be a draft, but this dude is a pro in everything he does. I love it! It’s guys like this that make coaching fun. Thank you Garrett!

 

Best

 

DC

(photos courtesy of Dustin Coffman)