By Staff
Coaching Management, 9.6, September 2001, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0906/qamooney.htm
In 1987, Tim Mooney took on what most would consider a huge coaching challenge: resurrecting the sport of baseball at an NAIA school in the Far West. But, 14 years later, he had taken Albertson College, in Caldwell, Idaho, to three straight NAIA national tournaments, a national title in 1998, and a .689 winning percentage.
One year ago, Mooney took on a challenge just as great, albeit quite different. Hired as Head Coach at Washington State University, Mooney stepped into a tradition-rich baseball program, which is sixth among NCAA Division I teams with 2,261 all-time victories.
Mooney is also only the fifth head coach at Washington State since 1927. The Cougars play their home games at Bailey-Brayton Field, named for Buck Bailey and Bobo Brayton, whose combined tenure as head coaches covered an amazing span from 1927 to 1994.
In his first season at the Pullman campus, Mooney's Cougars finished 15-39 overall and 6-18 in the highly competitive Pac-10. In this interview, Mooney talks about moving from a dominant NAIA program to a rebuilding NCAA Division I school, recruiting players and assistant coaches, and the importance of playing good baseball regardless of the opponent, or the score.
CM: What spurred you to leave Albertson after your success there?
Mooney: Initially there were no balls, no uniforms, and no players at Albertson, but we built that program and won the national championship, so I really felt a lot of ownership there. But Washington State is a school I'd known for years. I got both my undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Idaho, which is only eight miles away. I respected Coach Brayton, who'd been here for 30 years, and the school's program.
It was a point in my life where I said, "If I don't do this now, then I'll never do it." I thought that this was an opportunity to do something special at a school I'd really enjoy doing it at. And this wasn't just any Division I job--it was at a program I really respected. It took something special to make me leave Albertson. This was it.
What was so interesting to you about the program?
It's a residential campus, and very similar to what I had experienced at Idaho. The students, faculty, and alumni are like a big family, and I really value that in a school. And it gave me the opportunity to compete in one of the best baseball conferences the country, the Pac-10.
Is it intimidating to follow in the footsteps of two coaching legends?
I would not use the word "intimidating," but I do feel a real sense of responsibility to Washington State and the traditions they have here. I try to always instill that in our players--that it's not just about us, but it's about the 100 years of people that came before us.
Have you adapted your coaching style from NAIA to NCAA Division I?
One thing I have seen is that with aluminum bats and the quality of hitters in the Pac-10, some of the strategy is gone. They have a weapon in there, which means a pitcher can do everything right but it still becomes more like a slow-pitch softball game.
Teams don't manufacture runs as much as they did in the NAIA, where you didn't have as many physical guys. You can be patient because somebody's going to lift one out of the park any minute now and get three runs with one swing of the bat. You also hate to give up an out by bunting.
I like the wood-bat type of game. I like that the management of the game becomes much more important, execution becomes much more important, and to hit a home run, it has to really be hit. You can't hit the cheap home run.
Off the field, what are the biggest differences in how you work?
The timing of recruiting is really accelerated earlier and earlier. This summer, we're pushing real hard on '02 and actually making our list for the '03 evaluation process. That early signing process in November becomes very, very important, and you have to be working way ahead--almost a year ahead.
What were your initial goals taking over?
I don't think we set a numerical goal, like "We're going to win 22 games," because how do you know what the opponents' abilities are? I think all you can do is control what you can control, which is your team. If they play the game well, and do things the right way, then we've accomplished our goals. Then those wins will take care of themselves. We really believe that.
What do you look for when you're hiring assistant coaches?
First is loyalty. The second thing, before we even get into their skills, is, "Are they a good person? Do they understand the Cougar tradition and do they respect those traditions? Are they a good citizen, whom you want to work with?" We work very closely together, many hours, seven days a week, and you want someone you want to be around every day you come to work. If they don't pass the first two measures, then it's not going to work.
Next, I start asking about their skills on the field--do they understand the game, and can they communicate it to the athletes? What are their skills off the field--in their recruiting, can they evaluate talent and can they communicate well with prospective players and their parents?
What did you learn from this past season?
We spent most of the year figuring out who we were and what our capabilities were. Now we know who we are and what we need to do with our players, and maybe which areas we need to strengthen.
I'd never gone into a season not knowing my own team. We got through that. It's certainly going to put us ahead next year. Plus, we tried to improve ourselves with our recruiting class.
What did you do to make sure that the players' initial impression of you was a positive one?
We had a team meeting the very first day and we gave them our plan and our goals. We communicated what we wanted to do and how we were going to do it, and let them know that our number-one goal was to let them become the very best players they could become and the best team we could become. And then we told them how and when we're going to do it--what we were going to do in the fall, what we were going to do during our individual time, what we were going to do in the season.
How did you keep the players motivated during a difficult season?
Whatever our record was at the time, we said the game was over and we couldn't change the result. All we could change was the next day, the game ahead of us. So every practice was geared toward improving our performance and preparing for the next contest--all the way up to the very last game of the year.
At the end of each game, we evaluated how we went about the game, things we had to improve, and things we did well. We kept them focused on the process of the game versus just the outcome of the game. They were great at it. If you keep your team focused that way, it's pretty easy to keep them motivated.
Do you find that kids today have good baseball minds?
You'll have 10-15 guys in your dugout and three or four of them are thinking the game: They're looking at the signs, noticing things about a guy's lead, thinking about the count, watching a guy's swing, anticipating the game. Some guys think the game like a coach and they're analyzing the game all the time. And for other guys sitting right next to them, it's like the game is passing them by, or they're just not able to focus in on the intricacies of the game.
When I recruit, I'm looking for a team full of thinkers. But that's hard to evaluate. I can see arm strength, but I can't look in their head and see what's going on as the game's going on. Every once in a while, an opportunity will come by where you can see that they're trying to create a play: a full-arm fake, or they're looking for a back door. Although you don't really know if that's drilled into them or they just thought about creating something there.
What do you think of the status of college baseball?
I think it's on the way up. It's getting much more television exposure. More and more colleges are building nice facilities, making it more comfortable for the fans and much more of a spectator sport, which I think it needs to be.
The only thing that I think could improve it is to alter the season. Some teams are starting in January. Who wants to go anywhere in the country, even some places in the South, in January and freeze? Start the season where people can enjoy being at the park. Make the starting date for the season April 1, and let it run to July 1. With playoffs, a lot of our season is played after our school season ends, anyway.
Here and at my previous school, the biggest factor as to how many people came to the game was the weather. It wasn't who the opponent was, or any other factor. If it was a nice day, we had big crowds.