Continuing on the off season trend of coaches outside the football landscape sharing knowledge that can benefit the entire coaching profession, Louisiana Lafayette head coach Tony Robichaux dished some great stuff last night worth passing along while answering a question about one of his pitchers that had to wait some time before getting his opportunity on the mound.
Coach Robichaux went off on topics like travel ball (aka - "daddy ball"), the lost art of "working while you wait," and why so we're finding so many kids quitting sports today, specifically baseball.
"We tell them all the time, you've got to work while you wait. Most people, in their personal life, they stop working until the door opens, and then they want to work again now that the door is open. But in this profession you've got to work while you wait."
"That's why the select model is such a bad model, you know? Because nobody sits the bench. But then in high school, you're going to sit the bench. Then in college you're going to sit the bench. In rookie ball, you're going to sit the bench. In low A and high A, you're going to sit the bench. Double A, you're going to sit the bench. Triple A, you're going to sit the bench, and at the big league level you're going to sit the bench," Robichaux explained.
"Why would we go down and create a stupid model that doesn't allow people to sit the bench, when every other model after that, you're going to sit the bench?"
"That's why so many kids quit. That's also why they stop working while they wait, because someone created a model that promised them that they would never sit. Then they get ready to get in the real world, they get out of 'daddy ball,' and they get into 'big boy baseball' and they can't handle it, because they have to sit maybe."
Hear his full comments in the clip.
University of Louisiana Head baseball coach Tony Robichaux talks about "Daddy Ball" and how it's hurting baseball. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/yGRKhkauCW
— Matt Lisle (@CoachLisle) March 28, 2017